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The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe (1843)









This pamphlet was probably issued about July 20, 1843, as the earliest known advertisements are from the Philadelphia Public Ledger of that date. Another advertisement appears in Godey's Lady's Book for September of 1843 and a third in the New-York New Mirror for September 9, 1843.

The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe (1843)


The number of copies printed is uncertain. Only about 14 copies survive, 5 with the title page and rest in an incomplete state. Many of the original copies may have been destroyed by a fire which apparently consumed William Graham's offices at 98 Chestnut Street in 1845.

There is at least one known presentation copy: Poe to Francis J. Grund, "Francis J. Grund Esqre [/] with Mr Poe's respects [/] U. S. Hotel" (the last two lines being underlined with one single stroke each). Poe also appears to have sent a copy to Rufus W. Griswold on February 24, 1845. Poe's letter to Griswold states, "In the tale line I send you 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' and 'The Man that was Used Up' " coincidentally the two items included in this pamphlet. Poe's own copy seems not to have survived. The 1845 text for "Murders in the Rue Morgue" printed in Tales includes many of the changes first given in this version, along with numerous other changes presumably made by Poe in manuscript on the printed text, as was commonly his habit. His own copy, then, was quite possibly cut up, separated and used in preparation of the 1845 Tales.

(Francis J. Grund, who was the recipient of the only know surviving presentation copy, contributed a series in 1843 on "The History, Politics, Literature, and Manners of the Germans" to a periodical called The New World. The first of these letters appeared on Jan. 21, 1843, and the eighth on June 24, 1843. )

One of the earliest known advertisements, from the Public Ledger (Philadelphia, PA), July 20, 1843, p. 3, col. 1:

      
A NEW BOOK FOR THE PEOPLE.
Just Published and for sale, Wholesale or Retail, by
WM. H. GRAHAM,      
No. 98 CHESTNUT Street.  

THE PROSE ROMANCES OF EDGAR A. POE,
Author of “THE GOLD-BUG,” “Gordon Pym,”
“Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque,” &c.
UNIFORM SERIAL EDITION,
Each Number complete in itself.
NO. I,
Containing the
MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE,
And
THE MAN THAT WAS USED UP.
Price only 12 1/2 Cents.
All orders for the above work to be addressed to
WM. H. GRAHAM,      
No. 98 CHESTNUT Street.  




Two other notices appear in Philadelphia newspapers dated July 19, 1843.








Bibliographic data:




8vo (8 7/8 in x 5 3/4 in or 226mm x 144 mm, BAL gives 9 1/16 in x 5 13/16 in). Pages [9]- 48. Paper wrappers, described as "pale tan."

Charles P. Everitt  (p. 14) describes this pamphlet as "an offprint from a magazine, made up as a salesmen's sample in an edition of possibly fifty or sixty, and the salesmen had not been able to get any orders." It is clearly not an "offprint," however, since the layout (a single column across the entire page) does not match that used in Graham's (in which the text is divided into two columns). It also contains a number of minor changes from the Graham's text, indicating that it was newly set in type, specifically for this edition. Everitt's speculation about the surviving copies being from salesmen's samples does not appear to be supported by any other documentation or bibliographical evidence. Although the edition does not seem to have sold well, it was reviewed and was presumably available for purchase through the normal channel of book sellers. In a brief note added to a 1968 facsimile edition, Thomas Ollive Mabbott comments that, "A good deal of nonsense has been printed about Prose Romances, largely by people who never saw a copy of the original" (p. vi).








Census of Copies:

This census is believed to record all known surviving copies of The Prose Romances by Edgar A. Poe. The provenance of each entry is established as authoritatively as possible, given the sketchy and often convoluted bits of information available. In nearly all cases, the chain of owners has gaps, especially among the early owners, whose names are generally known only if the owner left an inscription.

Copies with paper cover intact:

  • Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA (Wrappers)  The list of prior owners is as follows: 1. George D. Smith (discovered in 1890 in Boston, purchased for 15 cents); 2. Scribners' Bookstore (purchased for $60); 3. Frederick W. French, New York collector (purchased from Scribner's for $120); 4. J. P. Morgan (purchased in a sale of the French collection in April 1901 for $1,000)
  • Albert A. Berg Collection, New York Public Library, New York, NY (wrappers) (Berg-Young copy) The list of prior owners is as follows: 1. Dauber and Pine, New York book dealers (according to C. O. Everitt, pp. 13-14, it was discovered in 1926 in a large collection of pamphlets); 2. Owen D. Young (1874-1962), New York attorney (purchased around 1929 for $20,000 - $25,000, apparently through Gertrude Hills, an associate of Dauber and Pine. According to C. P. Everitt, the price paid was $25,000); 3. Albert A. Berg (1872-1950), New York collector (Berg purchased Owen's entire library in 1941); 4. New York Public Library (donated by Berg and Young in 1941).
  • Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago Library, Chicago, IL (rebound, with wrappers intact)

Copies with damaged or missing covers:
  • Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, NY (front cover only)  (purchased by Morgan prior to 1929 for $3,800) The list of prior owners is as follows: 1. Unknown 2. Louis Cole (according to C. P. Everitt, pp. 14-15, Cole sold his copy for $2 to a secondhand bookstore in New York, but was given another $625 after it was sold to Maier) 3. Frank J. Maier (purchased for $1250); 4. J. P. Morgan (purchased in a sale of the Maier collection, November 22, 1909 for $3,800, according to ABC, or $3,900, according to C. P. Everitt)
  • Library of Congress, Washington, DC (inscribed by Poe to Francis Joseph Grund) (front cover only)
  • Yale University Library, New Haven, CN (facsimile wrappers) (In his brief bibliographical note to the 1968 facsimile, Thomas Ollive Mabbott comment that this copy has "a made-up printed title page, giving George B. Zieber as the publisher," but dismissing this with "I find no evidence that he ever published books" (p. vi).
  • J. K. Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN (wrappers lost) 1. A bookdealer in Evanston, IL; 2. Frank Rosengren, Chicago bookseller; 3. Josiah Kirby Lilly (1893-1966) (purchased from Rosengren about 1930 for $13,000, plus a commission of $500 to another dealer for bringing the book to Mr. Lilly's attention.)
  • Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA  (covers lost, bound in a sammelband)
  • University of Texas (wrappers in facsimile) (not from the Koester collection as this is the one Poe title Koester never acquired) (This is possibly the copy noted by Heartman & Canny as belonging to Edward Eberstadt of New York City (p. 79).)
  • Private Collection (?) (formerly in the collection of H. Bradley Martin) (wrappers lost) The list of prior owners is as follows: 1. Grandfather of Aylsworth Brown; 2. Aylsworth Brown, Providence, RI; 3. Scribner's Book Store, New York (purchased from Mr. Brown by David A. Randall, for Scribner's, in January 1952, paid February 5, 1952, for $3,500, plus a 10% commision paid to New York bookdealers Dauber & Pine); 4. H. Bradley Martin (1906-1988), New York; 5. Current owner unknown, presumaby a private collector (purchased at the Martin sale at Southeby's, January 30-31, 1990. The estimate is noted as $60,000/80,000 and the final sale price recorded as $60,500).
  • Richard Gimbel Collection, Philadelphia Free Library, Philadelphia, PA (lacking covers)
  • William Self, Los Angeles  (facsimile covers)
  • Private Collection, New York (wrappers lost, bound in a sammelband)
  • Private Collection (?) (formerly in the collection of William Stockhausen) (Stockhausen to John F. Fleming, Inc. in 1974) (facsimile wrappers)







Bibliography:
  • Everitt, Charles P., The Adventures of a Treasurer Hunter: A Rare Bookman in Search of American History, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1952.
  • Hatvary, George Egon and Thomas Ollive Mabbott, "Introduction and Bibliography," Edgar Allan Poe: Prose Romances, St. John's University Press, 1968. (A facsimile edition of the copy owned by the Library of Congress.)
  • 19th Century Bookshop sale Catalogue, The Poe Catalogue, Baltimore, 1992, p. 55. (Prose Romances is item 117. The price guide lists it only as "pl inqu. [please inquire].")
  • Quoth the Raven: Selections from the Susan Jaffe Tane Edgar Allan Poe Collection, 1997, pp. 46-48.
  • Randall, David A., The J. K. Lilly Collection of Edgar Allan Poe: An Account of Its Formation, Indiana: The Lilly Library, 1964, pp. 10-15.
  • Southeby Auction Catalogue, The Library of H. Bradley Martin: Highly Important American and Children's Literature, New York, January 30 and 31, 1990, item 2204.





 
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