Tales
Edgar Allan Poe
London, 1845
 
First English edition, comprised of American first printing sheets from the same year with a cancel title-page bearing a London imprint - the subsequent 1846 English edition used second printing sheets. There were perhaps 1500 copies of these first printing sheets with an unknown number sent overseas for this English edition - it’s a noted rarity. No other copies in the sales records since the height of the second World War. I’ve seen only one copy in the trade, and its pages were so foxed that it could have had a place in a grotesque Poe story. An exceptionally scarce copy of an iconic book.
 
228 pp. and (4) pp. of advertisements. Late 19th century half-calf, browned title page repaired, another leaf with a tiny corner restoration, tear to last ad leaf repaired. Old owner signature in red pencil on title page. Minor sporadic smudges at the margins, otherwise the pages are quite clean. The text block is entirely untrimmed. Overall, a Very Good copy housed in a custom slipcase.
 
Ex-Vincent Starrett(1886-1974), signature on front endpaper - journalist, bibliophile, and author of detective novels.
 
With the character of C. Auguste Dupin, Poe popularized the modern detective genre. Dupin would be the model for subsequent characters like Sherlock Holmes. This volume contains the first appearance in book form of all three Dupin stories, Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Rogêt, and The Purloined Letter. Among other horror and suspense classics found herein are The Gold-Bug and Fall of the House of Usher.
 
Poe resides in literature’s inner sanctum, and here is one of his landmark works - a most worthy addition to the collection, a joyful acquiescence to one’s bibliomania.
 
Ref: Queen’s Quorum, Ellery Queen