Tales

Title: Tales

Tall 12mo. 1845. Poe, Edgar Allan. London: Wiley and Putnam 6, Waterloo-Place. Full green polished calf with blind stamp decorative frame border, gilt author and title to front cover. Spine with gilt title, author, and place/date with small gilt floral devices. Marbled endpapers. BAL 16146

FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. Rare re-issue A with 1845 American first-state sheets with cancel title page with London imprint. Last signature (17) of ads not present as is common to every edition other than first American. Supposedly, there were 1500 copies of these first printing sheets with an unknown number sent to London for this English edition. BAL notes three points of which this copy exhibits two; pg 187 - "E" in Roget at top of page broken (see pic), pg 224 - "S." missing from running head Poe's Tales. Tales includes Murders in The Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, and The Purloined Letter which are considered the advent of the modern Detective fiction genre with his character C. Auguste Dupin. As for Tales, it's influence is vast: "... the first important book of detective stories, the first and greatest, the cornerstone of cornerstones ... the highest of all high spots ... contains for the first time in book form all three Dupin stories" (Ellery Queen's Queen's Quorum #1).

Free shipping via USPS for United State purchaser within the continental U.S., International shipping determined using USPS Priority Express, DHL, FedEx, or Parcel Monkey.