1842 Masque of Red Death Poe 1st Printing + Reviews of Dickens, Hawthorne, Etc.

Description: Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine. Embellished with the Finest Mezzotinto and Steel Engravings, Elegant Embossed Work, Fashions and Music. Philadelphia: George R. Graham, 1842. Vol. XX: 356 pp, Vol. XXI: 344 pp. Full Year, 12 monthly editions bound together in tan calf & marbled binding measuring 10 x 6.5", large octavo. **See list below for Edgar Allan Poe contents. In fair condition. Boards are scuffed at edges and worn at leather corners. Head and tail of spine rubbed; head beginning to split at front hinge. Marbled boards generally scuffed from shelf-wear. Gilt lettering and ruling on leather spine lightly dulled, but still presentable. Both front and rear gutters split; cording exposed. Front fly-leaf is torn in half, but still attached to binding. Previous ownership signature found on top edge of Vol. XX's title page (difficult to read). Color fashion plate adjacent to page 1 of Vol. XX almost detached from binding - very fragile. Age-related toning throughout text-block, with instances of age-staining. Tissue guards exhibit off-setting from respective plates. Some tissue guards lacking. Pages 89-92 of Vol. XXI moderately scuffed and chipped at fore-edge; text remains legible. Binding intact; hinges fragile. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. 1842 - January (vol. XX, no. 1) Poe is listed as a contributor to the magazine on the rear paper wrapper, as “Edgar A. Poe” Misc - An Appendix of Autographs (first printing) (This article is a followup to the prior two installments of A Chapter on Autography.) Criticism - Review of New Books (pp. 68-72)Review of Cockton - Stanley ThornReview of Goldsmith - The Vicar of Wakefield Review of Rives - Tales and Souvenirs Review of Heber - The Poetical Works Review of Byron - The Poetical Works Review of North - Critical and Miscellaneous Essays Review of Sigourney - Pocahontas Review of Walpole - The Letters Review of Charlton - The Early English Church Review of De Foe - The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Review of Ellis - Somerville Hall Review of Jones - Wild Western Scenes 1842 - February (vol. XX, no. 2) Essay - Harpers Ferry (rejected) (first attributed by B. Pollin, but more accurately a collaborative piece, with Poe adapting material by N. P. Willis) Criticism - A Few Words About Brainard (pp. 119-121) (article, first printing) Criticism - Review of New Books (pp. 124-132) Review of Dickens - Barnaby Rudge Review of Mathews - WakondahNotice of G. Hill - The Ruins of Athens, Titania's Banquet, A Mask; and other Poems Notice of Charles Jarvis - Lady's Musical Library Notice of Maria Sedgwick - Wealth and Worth Notice of Francis Harriet Whipple - The Mechanic Notice of Rev. G. W. Montgomery - Illustrations of the Law of Kindness Notice of Thomas Miller - Rural Sketches 1842 - March (vol. XX, no. 3)Poem - To One Departed (reprint) Edgar Allan Poe (p. 137) Criticism - Review of New Books (pp. 186-192) Review of Lever - Charles O’Malley Review of Longfellow - Ballads and Other Poems Review of Brougham - The Critical and Miscellaneous Writings Review of Roswell Park - Pantology Review of Howitt - Student Life Review of Smyth - Lectures Review of Ruschenberger - First Book of Natural History Review of Comstock - Elocution Review of Romer - Sturmer Review of Hawthorne - Famous Old People Review of James - History Review - The Effinghams Review of Leibig - Organic Chemistry Review of Arbitrary Power Review of Ruschenberger - Second Book of Natural History Review - Amazonian Republic Review of Walter - St. John Chrysostom Review of TTT - Life in China Review of Sigourney - Select Poems 1842 - April (vol. XX, no. 4) Tale - Life in Death (first printing) (this story was later renamed as “The Oval Portrait”) Criticism - Review of New Books (pp. 248-254) Review of Longfellow - Ballads and Other Poems Review of Algernon - Ideals and Other Poems Review of Hawthorne - Twice Told Tales Review of Casserly - A Translation of Jacob's Greek Reader Notice of T. Campbell - Frederick the Great and His TimesNotice of T. C. Clarke - The American Pocket Library of Useful Knowledge Notice of R. Coates - Physiology for Schools Notice of C. Soran - The Patapsco and Other Poems Notice of S. C. Hall - Gems of the Modern Poets 1842 - May (vol. XX, no. 5) Tale - The Mask of the Red Death (first printing) (pp. 257-259) Criticism - Review of New Books (pp. 298-300) Review of Hawthorne - Twice Told Tales Review of Hoffman - The Vigil of Faith Review of Roscoe - The Life of Lorenzo de’Medici Review of R. W. Griswold - The Poets and Poetry of America Review of W. G. Simms - Beauchampe 1842 - June (vol. XX, no. 6) Criticism - Review of New Books (pp. 354-356) Review of Bulwer - Zanoni (problematic since Poe repudiated the review in a letter to J. E. Snodgrass, June 4, 1842) Review of Griswold - The Poets and Poetry of America (rejected — This item, suspected as not being by Poe in Campbell, “The Poe Canon,” The Mind of Poe and Other Studies, p. 224-225, is attributed to C. J. Peterson in the Poe Log, pp. 367-368, based on a letter from Peterson to Lowell, April 25, 1842) 1842 - October (vol. XXI, no. 4) Criticism - The Poetry of Rufus Dawes: A Retrospective Criticism (first printing) (pp. 205-209). Most notably of this list, debatably, is the first printing of The Masque of Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe. The short story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball in seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as Red Death enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose "costume" proves to contain nothing tangible inside it. Poe follows many traditions of Gothic fiction & this work is often analyzed as an allegory for the inevitability of death. Another notable work is An Appendix of Autographs, in which Poe uses examples of people's signatures & analyzes their personalities based on their penmanship. Included as an example is Ralph Waldo Emerson's signature. Poe begins Emerson's analysis by saying: "Mr. Ralph Waldo Emerson belongs to a class of gentlemen with whom we have no patience whatever - the mystics for mysticism's sake... ...His love of the obscure does not prevent him, nevertheless, from the composition of occasional poems in which beauty is apparent by flashes." Poe's literary reviews are quite unforgiving, and sometimes funny. When reviewing Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens, Poe ends his analysis by saying: "He [Dickens] has done this thing well, to be sure - he would do anything well in comparison with the herd of his contemporaries - but he has not done it so thoroughly well as his high and just reputation would demand." RAREA1842HQRX04/24 - HK1434

Price: 800 USD

Location: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2024-12-13T18:48:31.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.63 USD