Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination.

POE, Edgar Allan; Illustrations by Harry Clarke.

Item Number: 77964

London: George G. Harrap & Company, 1933.

Finely bound edition of Poe’s classic work, bound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Small quarto, bound in three quarters red morocco, gilt titles to the spine, raised bands, marbled endpapers, with numerous illustrations including 8 color plates mounted on heavier paper. In fine condition, bookplate. Illustrated by Harry Clarke.

The title "Tales of Mystery and Imagination" was first used by The World's Classics and printed by Grant Richard in 1902. The title of this collection was then adopted by Padraic Colum in 1908 in view of the growing reputation of Poe's taste for suspense, especially in the context of what his French critic M. Brunetiere called events "on the margin" of life. The original collection, in keeping with its title, deliberately excluded Poe's poems, comedies and essays. There are twenty-five tales including The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Fall of the House of Usher and The Descent into the Maelstrom.