Author | Edgar Allan Poe |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Scientific textbook |
Publisher | Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell |
Publication date | 1839 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type |
The Conchologist's First Book (sometimes subtitled with Or, A System of Testaceous Malacology) is an illustrated textbook on conchology issued in 1839, 1840, and 1845. The book was originally printed under Edgar Allan Poe's name. The text was based on Manual of Conchology by Thomas Wyatt, an English author and lecturer. [1]
Wyatt's original book, Manual of Conchology, had been published by Harper & Brothers. Wyatt's book contained multiple illustrations of shells and carried the cover price of $8, a price too high for both beginners and advanced students of conchology. Wyatt intended a cheaper, concise edition to be used in schools with a price of $1.50, but Harper's did not want to produce a second edition that would compete with sales of the first. [2] Poe was an experienced editor at the time, but was still facing financial difficulties. Wyatt had said, "Poe needed money very sorely at the time," and so Poe allowed the use of his name to popularize the book. [3] The Philadelphia-based publishing firm Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell paid Poe $50 for the right to use his name on the title page. [1] However, Poe's contribution was not just his name. In addition to writing the preface and introduction, Poe made some significant changes to Wyatt's original text. Poe translated the French text by Georges Cuvier into English, worked on the accounts of the animals, constructed a new classification scheme, and organized the book. [4] [5] Poe also drew on his acquaintance and association with Dr. Edmund Ravenel, an "eminent conchologist", who had resided on Sullivan's Island during Poe's army service. [6]
The new edition sold out within two months and was used in schools as had been hoped, though Poe received no royalties for its sales. [2] It was the only volume by Poe to go into a second edition in the United States during his lifetime. [7] The edition was the cause of several accusations of plagiarism against Poe. [8] In 1844, Poe tried to publish more of his work with Harper's (which had also printed his novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket ) but was informed by a friend, "They have complaints against you... grounded on certain movements of yours." [9]
Poe denied the charges and wrote that he would sue over the allegation: "This charge is infamous, and I shall prosecute for it, as soon as I settle my accounts with the 'Mirror.'" [10] As he explained the book:
I wrote it in conjunction with Professor Thomas Wyatt, and Professor McMultrie... my name being put to the work, as best known and most likely to aid its circulation. I wrote the Preface and Introduction, and translated from Cuvier, the accounts of the animals, etc. All School-books are necessarily made in a similar way. [11]
A second edition appeared in 1840 with Poe's name on the title page, but the 1845 edition appeared without it.
Wyatt's book, in turn, had taken much material from The Conchologist's Textbook by the British naturalist Thomas Brown without attribution. Brown's book had been published in Glasgow, Scotland in 1837. [12] Brown had based his text on the previous work of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Carl Linnaeus, noting on the title page that his book was "embracing the arrangements of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and Linnaeus". Poe had penciled in as the last sentence to the preface of his personal copy of the first edition an acknowledgment to Brown: "Also to Mr. T. Brown upon whose excelent [sic] book he has very largely drawn". However, this acknowledgement was not incorporated into the second edition.
The American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote that Poe made significant contributions to the text by his editing and, more importantly, by translating Cuvier's passages into English. [13] [14] John H. Lienhard contends that in simplifying a rather esoteric subject, Poe made significant contributions in popularizing science in the United States. [15]
"Annabel Lee" is the last complete poem composed by American author Edgar Allan Poe. Like many of Poe's poems, it explores the theme of the death of a beautiful woman. The narrator, who fell in love with Annabel Lee when they were young, has a love for her so strong that even angels are envious. He retains his love for her after her death. There has been debate over who, if anyone, was the inspiration for "Annabel Lee". Though many women have been suggested, Poe's wife Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe is one of the more credible candidates. Written in 1849, it was not published until shortly after Poe's death that same year.
"William Wilson" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in The Gift, with a setting inspired by Poe's formative years on the outskirts of London. The tale features a doppelgänger. It also appeared in the 1840 collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, and has been adapted several times.
"Al Aaraaf" is an early poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1829. It tells of the afterlife in a place called Al Aaraaf, inspired by A'raf as described in the Quran. At 422 lines, it is Poe's longest poem.
"The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" is a short story by the American author Edgar Allan Poe about a mesmerist who puts a man in a suspended hypnotic state at the moment of death. An example of a tale of suspense and horror, it is also to a certain degree a hoax, as it was published without claiming to be fictional, and many at the time of publication (1845) took it to be a factual account. Poe admitted it to be a work of pure fiction in letters to his correspondents.
The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is a preserved home once rented by American author Edgar Allan Poe, located at 532 N. 7th Street, in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though Poe lived in many houses over several years in Philadelphia, it is the only one which still survives. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962.
"Metzengerstein: A Tale in Imitation of the German" is a short story by American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe, his first to see print. It was first published in the pages of Philadelphia's Saturday Courier magazine, in 1832. The story follows the young Frederick, the last of the Metzengerstein family, who carries on a long-standing feud with the Berlifitzing family. Suspected of causing a fire that kills the Berlifitzing family patriarch, Frederick becomes intrigued with a previously unnoticed and untamed horse. Metzengerstein is punished for his cruelty when his own home catches fire and the horse carries him into the flame. Part of a Latin hexameter by Martin Luther serves as the story's epigraph: Pestis eram vivus—moriens tua mors ero.
"Eldorado" is a poem written by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in April 1849.
"Eleonora" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842 in Philadelphia in the literary annual The Gift. It is often regarded as somewhat autobiographical and has a relatively "happy" ending.
Graham's Magazine was a nineteenth-century periodical based in Philadelphia established by George Rex Graham and published from 1840 to 1858. It was alternatively referred to as Graham's Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine, Graham's Magazine of Literature and Art, Graham's American Monthly Magazine of Literature and Art, and Graham's Illustrated Magazine of Literature, Romance, Art, and Fashion.
The Broadway Journal was a short-lived New York City-based newspaper founded by Charles Frederick Briggs and John Bisco in 1844 and was published from January 1845 to January 1846. In its first year, the publication was bought by Edgar Allan Poe, becoming the only periodical he ever owned, though it failed after only a few months under his leadership.
"Eulalie", or "Eulalie — A Song", is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in the July 1845 issue of The American Review and reprinted shortly thereafter in the August 9, 1845 issue of the Broadway Journal.
Thomas Dunn English was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who represented the state's 6th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895. He was also a published author and songwriter, who had a bitter feud with Edgar Allan Poe. Along with Waitman T. Barbe and Danske Dandridge, English was considered a major West Virginia poet of the mid 19th century.
"Never Bet the Devil Your Head: A Moral Tale" is a short story by American author Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1841. The satirical tale pokes fun at the notion that all literature should have a moral and spoofs transcendentalism.
"Thou Art the Man", originally titled "Thou Art the Man!", is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1844. It is an early experiment in detective fiction, like Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", though it is generally considered an inferior story.
"The Business Man" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe about a businessman boasting of his accomplishments. It was published in February 1840 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. The story questions the concept of a self-made man.
"Bon-Bon" is a comedic short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in December 1832 in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier. Originally called "The Bargain Lost", it follows Pierre Bon-Bon, who believes himself a profound philosopher, and his encounter with the Devil. The story's humor is based on the verbal interchange between the two, which satirizes classical philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. The Devil reveals that he has eaten the souls of many of these philosophers.
William Henry Leonard Poe, often referred to as Henry Poe, was an American sailor, amateur poet and the older brother of Edgar Allan Poe and Rosalie Poe.
The works of American author Edgar Allan Poe include many poems, short stories, and one novel. His fiction spans multiple genres, including horror fiction, adventure, science fiction, and detective fiction, a genre he is credited with inventing. These works are generally considered part of the Dark romanticism movement, a literary reaction to Transcendentalism. Poe's writing reflects his literary theories: he disagreed with didacticism and allegory. Meaning in literature, he said in his criticism, should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface; works whose meanings are too obvious cease to be art. Poe pursued originality in his works, and disliked proverbs. He often included elements of popular pseudosciences such as phrenology and physiognomy. His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Though known as a masterly practitioner of Gothic fiction, Poe did not invent the genre; he was following a long-standing popular tradition.
David Poe Jr. was an American actor and the father of Edgar Allan Poe.
"The Duc de L'Omelette" is a humorous short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in the Philadelphia Saturday Courier on March 3, 1832, and was subsequently revised a number of times by the author.