Text: Ezra Holden, “[Review of Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque],” Philadelphia Saturday Courier (Philadelphia, PA), vol. IX, whole no. 455, December 14, 1839, p. 2, cols. 5-6

[page 2, col. 5, continued:]

Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Lea & Blanchard

Two 12mo. volumes of Tales from the pen of Edgar A. Poe, are here presented to the public. — There are twenty-five of them, and no one can read the volumes without coming to the conclusion that they embrace as much variety as could be given in the same compass, of the species of writing of which they are composed. They are generally wildly imaginative in plot; fanciful in description, sometimes to the full boundaries of the grotesque; but throughout indicating the polished writer, possessed of rare and varied learning. Some of them will bear good comparison with the productions of Coleridge, and it is not surprising that the author has often been compared with that author. The tale of “William Wilson,” and that of “The House of Usher,” are, to our judgment, the best in the volumes, and may be quoted as examples of the author's powers. [column 6:] On the whole, we think these tales highly creditable to the literature of our country, and we have no doubt they will be well received by the public.