Poe, Edgar Allan (Ferlinghetti, Lawrence)

Great Short Works of Edgar Allan Poe

New York, NY, USA: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1970. First Edition Thus. From the library of Lawrence Ferlinghetti, with his stylized ownership initial. "We need a new way of reading Poe, a way just as informed as the new readings of Mark Twain and Herman Mellville, which in the last few decades have saved their works from consignment to the adolescent's bookshelf. We must divorce ourselves from the traditional Gothicist view of Poe..." (G. R. Thompson, back cover). Offered today we present Great Short Works of Edgar Allan Poe compiled by American editor and romantic irony expert G.R. Thompson (1937-2019), featuring gothic horror literary legend Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), the Great American author whose works have long been canonized around the world for nearly two centuries. Included in this collection are Poe’s reviews and candid opinions of the leading literary figures of his day: Charles Dickens (1812-1870), Washington Irving (1783-1859), Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), and Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892), among many others, Poe also reviews long-forgotten writers, reviews that are interesting not so much for their subjects as for Poe’s unflinching and witty candor. Many of his then controversial judgments have been vindicated by time. You'll also find most of Poe's macabre storytelling ranging from the ubiquitous poems The Raven (pg. 73) & Annabelle Lee (pg. 88) to his terrifying tales in The Masque of the Red Death (pgs. 359-364) and The Tell-Tale Heart (pgs. 386-390). Ending with a most interesting and detailed chronological account of Poe's life, starting with his unremarkable birth in Boston, Massachusetts to his fittingly mysterious death at age 40 in Baltimore, Maryland. All culminating in what must be the most complete one-volume edition ever put forth. From the library of the late, great Lawrence Ferlinghetti, (1919-2021) canonical American poet & founder of City Lights Books, publisher of many Beat Generation writers. At half-title page, Ferlinghetti has written his stylized ownership symbol in No. 2 pencil: ("LF"). Softcover: First edition thus, later printing. A superb Poe/Ferlinghetti collectible with most distinguished & ultimately relevant provenance. In relatively poor-to-fair condition due to front cover cracking at crease near spine and coming detached from book; a small half inch enclosed tear at center near fine edge & chipping of approxiamately one inch of corner to same; moderate chipping to corners of back cover; minor rubbing, scratching to front, back covers & spine; moderate age-toning to text block. Interior poor-to-fair with major age-toning to inner and back covers, mostly to margins and fine edges; moderate age-toning to mostly blank margins and fine edges of all page leaves. Poor-Fair. [Item #8180]

Price: $30.00