Last Update: Oct. 17, 20076  Navigation:  Main Menu    Poe's Works    Editions    Poe's Poems    Poe's Tales
 
The Works of the Edgar Allan Poe (Ingram Edition)


(Under Construction)

Rescuing Poe's reputation, both personal and literary, from the clutches of Griswold became the self-imposed mission of a single-minded Englishman named John Henry Ingram (1842-1916).
 

The Works of the Edgar Allan Poe (The Ingram Edition) (1874-1875)

  • Volume I: Tales (First printed in November 1874, advertised as early as October 16, 1874)
  • Volume II: Tales -- Continued (First printed in December 1874, advertised as early as October 31, 1874)
  • Volume III: Poems and Essays, including Eureka, Marginalia, etc., etc. (First printed in January 1875, advertised as early as January 9, 1875)
  • Volume IV: Autography, Criticism, and Index (First printed in February 1875, advertised as early as February 13, 1875)


On the copyright page of an edition of this set printed in 1900 appears the following note: "Published in Monthly Volumes 1874-75 and reissued in 1880 [.] Reprinted for Standard Edition 1890 and again 1900."

Ingram replaced the Sartain portrait of Poe with a new engraving of a daguerreotype owned by Sarah Helen Whitman. Poe is shown with a mustache, and wearing a white shirt, a dark cravat wrapped around his collar and tied at his throat, a black suit coat, and a "greatcoat" with wide lapels. (The very fine engraving was made by Robert Anderson, of the Royal Scottish Academy, see Deas, pp. 42-46). Below the portrait was reproduced Poe's signature, from a letter ??????


Ingram to Mrs. Whitman, March 19, 1874: "I am now negotiating with one of our very first publishing firms for a complete edition of the entire works of Edgar Poe in about 6 library volumes, with 'Memoir' by self. This, mind is strictly entre nous. There is little doubt that if this edition be brough out, & I foresee no impediment, it will become the standard edition & its life, the standard biography of Poe" (Miller, Poe's Helen, p. 85).

Ingram wrote to Mrs. Whitman, July 15, 1874: "Poe's Works progress rapidly. --- Vol. 1 is in print all but 'Memoir' & the first proof of that came yesterday. . . . Vol. 1 is to appear on 1st Oct." (see Miller, Poe's Helen, pp. 188-189).

Ingram wrote to Mrs. Whitman on Oct. 7, 1874, including the note: "Vol. 1 of Poe's works is not out yet" (see Miller, Poe's Helen, p. 216). On Nov. 10, 1874, Ingram wrote Mrs. Whitman again, asking "Have you received either, or both, of the copies I sent you of Vol. 1 of Poe's Works?" (see Miller, Poe's Helen, p. 223). Mrs. Whitman replied on Nov. 13, 1874: "I have just recieved The Book, and though I have in consequence of many interruptions only had time to give a hurried reading to the 'Memoir,' I must write you a word of heartfelt congratulations" and commenting that "The portrait is much more like E.A.P. than the photograph from which it was taken. How could that happen?" (see Miller, Poe's Helen, pp. 225 and 226).

As the basis for his texts, Ingram started with a copy of the 1864 or 1863 edition of Griswold's 4 volume set. (See Ingram to G. W. Eveleth, March 10, 1874, where Ingram comments "I shall be glad to purchase any paper or publication containing anything not included in the 4 vol. collection of his works (New York, Widdleton, 1864)." Quoted by Miller, Building Poe Biography, p. 3. See also Ingram's letter to Mrs. S. H. Whitman: "By the way, my collection, in 4 vols., was published in 1863 by Widdleton, New York, and now I see in Allibone, that later editions have some 200 or 300 more pages. What date is yours? If the more recent ones contain more matter, I must get them." Quoted by Miller, Poe's Helen, p. 44. Ingram's concern was unfounded; later editions did not contain more pages.) From James Wood Davidson he obtained original issues of Graham's: "Mr. Davidson has been very kind --- sent 2 vols. of Graham's --- 1841 --- 2 (2nd & 3rd of Poe's editorship). Am still minus Vol. 1 (that is Vol. 18). Mr. D. also sent the number with Graham's letter . . ." (Miller, Poe's Helen, p. 165). Most importanly, from Mrs. Whitman he obtained the 2 volumes of the Broadway Journal which Poe himself had given to her.



Bibliographic data:

12mo (7 1/2 in x 4 5/8 in also 7 3/8 in x 4 9/16 in). xxxx



A Chronology of Printings and Reprintings:
  • Adam and Charles Black (Edinburgh)
    • 1874 - volume I (first printing of this volume)
    • 1874 - volume II (first printing of this volume)
    • 1875 - volume II (first printing of this volume)
    • 1875 - volume II (first printing of this volume)
    • 1883 - reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1874-1875 format, but with some corrections) (noted on the title page as the third edition)
    • 1890 - reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1883 format)
    • 1899 - reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1883 format) (noted as the "Standard Edition")
    • 1900 - reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1883 format)
  • W. J. Widdleton 
    • 1876 - reprint of volumes I-IV, with some notable formatting differences. Maria Clemm's "To the Reader" notice has been removed. (Mrs. Clemm had died in 1871). Griswold's memoir is replaced by Ingram's (although Ingram's sequencing of material has not been adopted). The sequence of the volumes has been altered, so that Vol. I is now Poems  and Miscellanies (including "The Poetic Principle" and "Eureka"); Vol. II is The Literati, and etc.; Vol. III is Tales; and Vol. IV is still "Pym" (with the same additional tales and critical material in the same volume in prior editions, except for "Letter to B—," which was moved to vol. II). "Marginalia" has been moved from vol. III to vol. I, but Ingram's additional "Marginalia" and formatting have not been adopted. The poem "Alone" has been added as a new item in vol. I (from the text printed in facsimile in Scribner's Magazine). Five other items have been added to vol. II from the Ingram edition of 1874-1875: "A Chapter on Autography," "Pinakidia," "Some Secrets of the Magazine Prison-House," "Anastatic Printing" and "Cryptography." An account of the new Poe memorial grave dedication is added, as is an article from the New York Herald (October 28, 1875) by Dr. John J. Moran about Poe's death. Several illustrations have also been added, including an engraving of the Poe monument and a "frontispiece" for "The Raven." Sartain's frontispiece portrait of Poe has been replaced with one by Frederick W. Halpin (a different one than that used for the 1859 Redfield one-volume edition of Poe's Poems).
    • 1880 - reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1876 format, but without the dedication to Mrs. Whitman)
    • 1881 - reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1880 format)
  • W. C. Bush
    • 1882 - not seen, but presumably a reprint of volumes I-IV (in Widdleton's 1876 format) (It is possible that Bush held the copyright, but allowed others, primarily A. C. Armstrong, to actually print the set, which would mean that no set was issued under the Bush imprint.)

  • John C. Nimmo (London)
    • 1884 - Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe; with Biographical Essay by John H. Ingram  (This was the first collected edition of the full text for Poe's "Journal of Julius Rodman." American editions would not include the story for another decade. A "Publisher's Notice" appears at the bottom of the list of illustrations in volume I, stating: "One thousand copies of the Edition have been pritnted and the type ditributed. No more will be published." The preface is dated "London 1884." There is no copyright page. The set includes 14 etchings and 3 photogravuers spread across the four volumes, and a newly etched portrait of Poe as the frontispiece of volume I.)
    • 1885 - reprint of volumes I-IV (from the 1884 edition). (A note on the copyright page states: "Fifty Copies of this Edition on laid paper, medium 8vo, with proof Etchings on Whatman paper, have been printed for American market, and are numbered consecutively." Perhaps because it was intended for sale in the US, the copyright page lists J. S. Redfield, 1856; W. J. Widdleton, 1876 and 1880; W. C. Bush, 1882; and A. C. Armstrong & Song, 1884.)
  • A. C. Armstrong 
    • 1884 - reprint of volumes I-IV (in Widdleton's 1876 format, retaining the frontispiece but dropping all other illustrations) (The 6 volume set appeared from the same publisher about the same time.)
    • 1884 - expanded to 6 volumes (Although the text is newly typeset and some obvious errors are corrected, others remain. This fact indicates that the basis for the text is still the Griswold edition.)
    • 1887 - not seen, but apparently a reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1876 format)
    • 1894 - reprint of volumes I-VI (in 1884 format. Called the "Fordham Edition")
  • Miscellaneous Publishers  
    • 1885 - The Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, (edited by John Henry Ingram) 4 vols., New York: Scribner and Welford, 1885
    • 1889 - not seen, but apparently a reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1876 format) (Publisher is given as Macmillian.)
    • 1894 - not seen, but apparently a reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1876 format) (Publisher is given as Macmillian.)
    • 1894-1895 - George M. Barrie (6 volumes) (vols. I & II - Tales of Imagination and Humor; vol. III - Tales of Humor; vol. IV - Narrative of A. Gordon Pym; vol. 5 - miscellaneous tales; vol. VI - Life and Poems.)
    • 1899 - not seen, but apparently a reprint of volumes I-IV (in 1876 format) (Publisher is given as Macmillian. Called the "Standard Edition")
    • @1900 - New York and Boston: E. B. Hall - (6 volumes, reprinted from Barrie edition) (called the "Buckner Library Edition")
    • . . . and others.



Census of Copies:

There are so many surviving copies of these volumes that a listing is impractical and unnecessary.



Bibliography:
  • American Art Association Auction Catalogue, The Stephen H. Wakeman Collection of Books of Nineteenth Century American Writers, April 1924 (items 958 and 959).
  • Bayless, Joy, Rufus Wilmot Griswold: Poe's Literary Executor, Nashville, Tennesee: Vanderbilt University Press, 1943. (The edition of Poe's works is chiefly discussed in Chapter VIII: "Liteary Executor of Edgar Allan Poe," pp. 161-200.)
  • Blanck, Jacob, "Edgar Allan Poe," Bibliography of American Literature; volume 7: James Kirke Paulding to Frank Richard Stockton, New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1983. (Volume 7 is edited and completed by Virginia L. Smyers and Michael Winship. For Griswold's editions, see items 16158- 16161, pp. 123-125.)
  • Campbell, Killis, "The Poe-Griswold Controversy," The Mind of Poe and Other Studies, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1933, pp. 63-98. (This article originally appeared in PMLA, XXXIV, Sept. 1919, pp. 436-464.)
  • Derby, James Cephas, Fifty Years Among Authors, Books, and Publishers, New York: G. W. Carleton & Co., 1884 (reprinted in 1885 and 1886).
  • Gimbel, Colonel Richard, "Quoth the Raven: An Exhibition of the Work of Edgar Allan Poe," The Yale University Library Gazette, vol. 33, No. 4, Paril 1959, pp. 138-189. (The cotnract between Mrs. Clemm and Griswold is item 123, on pages 180-181. It is reproduced in facsimile facing page 185. Other relevant items are 125, 126-127, 128, 131 and 133.)
  • Griswold, Rufus Wilmot, ed., The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, New York: J. S. Redfield, 4 vols, 1850-1856.
  • Harrison, James A., "Editor's Preface," in The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, New York: T. Y. Crowell, 1902. (vol. I, pp. vii-xx. The preface is dated "March 25, 1902.") (Volume XVII contains letters by and about Poe. It was reprinted as volume II of The Life and Letters of Edgar Allan Poe, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1903.)
  • Hatvary, George Egon, "The Whereabouts of Poe's 'Fifty Suggestions'," Poe Studies, IV, No. 2, December 1971, p. 47.
  • Heartman, Charles F and James R. Canny, A Bibliography of First Printings of the Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, 1943, pp. 129-133. (Reprinted, Millwood, New York: Kraus Reprint Co., 1977.)
  • O'Neill, Edward H., "The Poe-Griswold-Harrison Texts of the 'Marginalia'," American Literature, XV, November 1943, pp. 238-250.
  • Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc. Auction Catalogue, The Frank J. Hogan Library: Part One - American Authors, First Editions, Autograph Lettes, Manuscripts, January 23 and 24, 1945 (items 584 and 585). (The only significant information here is the description of item 584, which includes the volume with N. P. Willis' autographs.)
  • Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, volume I: Poems (1969); volumes II & III: Tales and Sketches (1978), Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  • Miller, John Carl, Building Poe Biography, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1977.
  • Miller, John Carl, Poe's Helen Remembers,
  • Moldenhauer, Joseph J., "Mabbott's Poe and the Question of Copy-Texts," Poe Studies, XI, no. 2, December 1978, pp. 41-46. (Moldenhauer questions T. O. Mabbott's reliance on Griswold's versions of Poe's works as his chief source for a definitive text.)
  • Pollin, Burton R., "Introduction: Marginalia," The Collected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe; volume 2: The Brevities, New York: Gordian Press, 1985, pp. xv-xxii.
  • Pollin, Burton R., "The Living Writers of America:  A Manuscript by Edgar Allan Poe," Studies in the American Renaissance 1991, Charlottesville, Virginia: The University Press of Virginia, 1991, pp. 151-211.
  • Pollin, Burton R., "A Comprehensive Bibliography of Editions and Translations of Arthur Gordon Pym,"  ATQ (American Transcendental Quarterly), Winter 1978, pp. 93- 110. (Pollin lists several printings of the Griswold edition on page 106, items 2 and 4.)
  • Quinn, Arthur Hobson, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography, New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1941.
  • Thompson, John Ruben, The Genius and Character of Edgar Allan Poe, privately printed, 1929. (Edited and arranged by James H. Whitty and James H. Rindfleisch.)
  • Southeby Auction Catalogue, The Library of H. Bradley Martin: Highly Important American and Children's Literature, New York, January 30 and 31, 1990, item 2213.
  • Woodberry, George E. (assigned as writer of this anonymous review by Killis Campbell), The Nation, December 4, 1902, p. 445-447.
  • Woodberry, George E. and Edmund Clarence Stedman, "General Preface," The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Chicago: Stone and Kimball, 1894-1895 (reprinted by New York: The Colonial Company, 1903 and Charles Scribners's Sons, 1920).


[S:0 - JAS]