The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Vol. 1

by Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe, An Appreciation
Life of Poe, by James Russell Lowell
Death of Poe, by N. P. Willis
The Unparalled Adventures of One Hans Pfall
The Gold Bug
Four Beasts in One
The Murders in the Rue Morgue (Audio version)
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt
The Balloon Hoax
MS. Found in a Bottle
The Oval Portrait

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Horror, Poetry, Short Stories, Ebooks, Mystery

ebook

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

The name Poe brings to mind images of murderers and madmen, premature burials, and mysterious women who return from the dead. His works have been in print since 1827 and include such literary classics as The Tell-Tale Heart, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher. This versatile writer’s oeuvre includes short stories, poetry, a novel, a textbook, a book of scientific theory, and hundreds of essays and book reviews. He is widely acknowledged as the inventor of the modern detective story and an innovator in the science fiction genre, but he made his living as America’s first great literary critic and theoretician. Poe’s reputation today rests primarily on his tales of terror as well as on his haunting lyric poetry.

Just as the bizarre characters in Poe’s stories have captured the public imagination so too has Poe himself. He is seen as a morbid, mysterious figure lurking in the shadows of moonlit cemeteries or crumbling castles. This is the Poe of legend. But much of what we know about Poe is wrong, the product of a biography written by one of his enemies in an attempt to defame the author’s name.

The real Poe was born to traveling actors in Boston on January 19, 1809. Edgar was the second of three children. His other brother William Henry Leonard Poe would also become a poet before his early death, and Poe’s sister Rosalie Poe would grow up to teach penmanship at a Richmond girls’ school. Within three years of Poe’s birth both of his parents had died, and he was taken in by the wealthy tobacco merchant John Allan and his wife Frances Valentine Allan in Richmond, Virginia while Poe’s siblings went to live with other families. Mr. Allan would rear Poe to be a businessman and a Virginia gentleman, but Poe had dreams of being a writer in emulation of his childhood hero the British poet Lord Byron. Early poetic verses found written in a young Poe’s handwriting on the backs of Allan’s ledger sheets reveal how little interest Poe had in the tobacco business.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_al...

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comments on these Volumes overall:

I haven't figured out how the editor is organizing Poe's works among the 5 volumes in this series. It seems clear that Poe was prodigious enough to require 5 volumes, but wouldn't they be better presented in chronological order? As it is, it is possible they are grouped by theme, with this volume being the scientifically based stories, but I will have to review the contents of the succeeding volumes to determine the truth of this, and whether it is an effective method of ordering. And at the least, why aren't the stories in this volume presented chronologically?

Review of this Volume:
I am rating Volume One 3 stars. I can see why there are so many "best of" Poe books, as not all of his pieces are classics, and the deviations interrupt the mood a bit. There are a few 4 star works here, but they are offset by the 2 star content. As many of these stories are scientifically based, this Volume suffers a bit from obsolescence: we no longer can suspend our belief that a balloon ride to the moon is possible, and the idea of a balloon with passengers crossing the Atlantic is no longer a cause for (much) awe. I still enjoyed reading it, if purely to discover that Poe was also a science fiction writer!

I have written detailed reviews of each part of this Volume, which will also appear as reviews on the individual story pages here at Goodreads.

This Volume contains the following prefaces:

Appreciation - 3 stars
A passable quick biography, but mainly makes me more interested in the fine details. Also not as well written as a Poe story!

Edgar Allen Poe - 2 stars
There are one or two interesting points here, but they could have been relayed in two sentences. This author just likes hearing themselves talk, and make allegories.

Death of Edgar A. Poe - 4 stars
A beautiful and earnest rebuttal to criticisms of Poe's character upon the time of his death.


This Volume contains the following stories:

The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal/Notes to Hans Pfaal - 3 stars
Original Publication June, 1835
An amazing experience to read this because I had no idea Poe wrote science fiction, or hoaxes, or social commentary. As a story, though, it dragged a bit in details, and the notes were even more tedious.

The Gold Bug - 3 stars
Original Publication June, 1843
Again, I had no idea Poe wrote stories like this, it reminded me of Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. An interesting combination of analysis, ratiocination, and adventure. One star taken off because of the mocking portrayal of the African American servant.

Four Beasts in One: The Homo-Cameleopard - 4 stars
Original Publication March, 1836
He does such an amazing job instilling a sense of wonder on these scenes, arrgh, I was so upset when it was over! I wanted to find out what happens at the Hippodrome!

The Murders in the Rue Morgue - 4 stars
Original Publication April, 1841
Translation of final sentence: I can't believe he ended the tale with an untranslated French quote! Perhaps his readers were more familiar with French and with La Nouvelle Heloise than I am. I used BableFish.com to get the English for those who are curious: "to deny what is and explain only what is not"

The analysis vs ingenuity preface was way too wordy. The main story was captivating, though - I am always enthralled by the analysis of these Sherlock-type detectives. (Or should I now say Dupin-type, since I see now that he predated Holmes by 45 years!) It seems like a simple solution, but then I realize I never would have thought of it, it only seems simple in hindsight! Those are the best mysteries.

The Mystery of Marie Roget - 2 stars
Original Publication November 1842 - February, 1843
Okay, I don't really know how to rate this. It was a completely different experience from Murders in the Rue Morgue because Dupin basically decided to not let the narrator speak and just talk endlessly about his deductions without even pausing for a trip to the loo. It was almost unreadable. And then when it gets to the very end, suddenly the editors decided not to leave the part in where he solves it, "for reasons which we shall not specify". WTF??

They did leave in his epilogue, but as a final affront it is founded on a gross misstatement about the facts of probability. He had to explain how it is possible that Dupin is solving a case unbelievably similar to an actual case in New York, even though it's all a ruse in order for Poe to try to solve the actual case with this hoax publication. But he didn't need to blaspheme mathematics to do it!

The fact that Poe/Dupin's analysis turned out to be correct on a number of points, according to later confessions by witnesses in New York, has got to be worth at least one extra star, but really, if you are calling this a short story then it should really be written as a short story and not just a letter to the editor with quotes around it and preceded by "Dupin said".

The Balloon Hoax - 3 stars
Original Publication April, 1844
This is actually a very well done fictional account of a balloon expedition across the Atlantic Ocean. It suffers as a story only because of its success as a hoax - it is so realistic and scientifically detailed that it becomes somewhat boring, any excitement is based on the notion that this might have actually happened, in a time when such a feat had not yet been accomplished. It's interesting, though, to think of Poe creating such a fuss in his day over this "news".

Ms. Found In A Bottle - 3 stars
Original Publication October, 1833
This has quite a bit of horror imagery in it, but ultimately I was not invested in the character and the purpose of the other boat was unclear - is it a harbinger of doom, an apparition, or simply the demonstration of a worse scenario? I think the ending would be more effective in the time it was written, as it preys on the fear of the unknown; in our current day and age, however, we know all about what's at the Earth's poles, so it diluted the horror with a sense of the outlandish.

The Oval Portrait - 3 stars
Original Publication April, 1842
This should have been 4 stars, but I had problems with the execution. He really packs in the atmosphere in very few words here, but that is the thing, it ends so abruptly I couldn't help feeling there were a few too few words. It would have been better if he had connected back to the original room and conveyed how the image would continue to haunt him or something. Or even if he had written the painter's story as the whole piece, instead of leaving it as a footnote in a book.

[Melanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm used to thinking of Poe as a horror writer, but this anthology isn't like that! It has a few Jules Verne-ish sci-fi/adventure stories and a couple of Sherlock Holmes-ish mysteries, and it isn't until the last couple of very short stories that we saw any of his more well-known horror.

I wasn't a fan of the mysteries. I know they're more or less the origin of modern mysteries (these inspired Doyle when he was writing his Holmes stories) but they just didn't interest me at all.

Some of the sci-fi/adventure parts were amusing, though the science was WAY WAY off and they were a bit repetitive.

I'm looking forward to the second volume a lot more! That's the collection with most of his more well known stories.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edgar Allan Poe, An Appreciation, by W.H.R. - 5 Stars
Edgar Allan Poe, by James Russell Lowell - 2 Stars
Death of Poe, by N. P. Willis - 2 Stars
The Unparalled Adventures of One Hans Pfall - 4 Stars
The Gold Bug - 5 Stars
Four Beasts in One - 4 Stars
The Murders in the Rue Morgue - 5 Stars
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt - 5 Stars
The Balloon Hoax - 3.5 Stars
MS. Found in a Bottle - 5 Stars
The Oval Portrait - 4 Stars

[Jorge Rubén · Rating 4 out of 5]

The unparalled adventures of one Hans Pfaal 4/5 heavy and scientific, good ending.

The gold bug 5/5 classic Poe adventure with cryptic adventures.

Four beasts in one 4/5 weird and epopeyic.

The murders in the Rue Morgue 5/5 outstanding development and ending. A real treat for mystery readers.

The mystery of Marie Roget 3/5 I respect the audacity to take a real life story and put it into your our own world. But the ending is too loose and boring; and for a long story, that's just painful.

The ballon-hoax 2/5 I don't know if Poe actually wanted to publish this. It has almost no structure, nor ending. It seemed as a draft of the fisrt short story.

MS. Found in a bottle 5/5 I didn't grasp the idea of the story until the very end. A really poetic and experimental writing evoking picturesque mental images of a voyage towards the end of the world.

The Oval Portrait 5/5 absolute master class of a short story to give you goosebumps. It's actually the only really short one in this volume.

It's a really crude first approach to Poe's writting. But if you manage to get throught the first pages , you will enjoy It a loooooot.

[Iryna K · Rating 4 out of 5]

У першому томі цього зібрання творів дуже круто видно контраст між По як репортажистом і автором історій про дедукцію, з точними описами та строгими умовиводами, та готичним По, з нічними бдєніями, книжництвом, загадковими будинками і таємничими портретами, які захопили душу зображеної людини.
Для мене цей контраст і поєднання - страшенно про ХІХ, добу не просто Розуму та Комерції, але вже втіленого у технології прогресу, добу урбанізації, глобалізації і машин, яка водночас народила готику, penny dreadful, психологію та інші породження з глибин людських душ.

[Galo Díaz Andrade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Si ta tenebroso 9.5/10

[Diana Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this first of five volumes we get a brief glimpse of Edgar Allan Poe in a biography at the beginning of the volume, followed by a text concerning his death, The artist Vincent Van Gogh applied paint to canvas as Edgar Allan Poe applied pen to paper, both brilliant in their own right, both a genius in their chosen medium of expression: both misunderstood and unappreciated until after their deaths at very young ages, We will never know what they could have accomplished had they lived to old age. On reading the text on his death the person who wrote it included Poe's notice in the news paper, unflattering to say the least., On reading this first volume of his work and life, what I feel is this man had a beautiful soul but being of a melancholy nature was misunderstood and rebuffed socially, The work included in this volume are some of his short stories, In the first "The unparalleled adventures of one Hans Pfaal" we are taken on at what first appears to be a sci-fi story,but with characters by the names of Rub-a-dub and Sauerkraut you can't help but enjoy this brilliant quest. "The Gold Bug"...ever heard the expression "bitten by the gold bug" or "out on a limb"...equally enjoyable, next Poe takes us an adventure in "Four Beasts in One-The Homo-Cameleopard" picture a future age in earth's history, hopefully we never come to this sort of government but none the less very well written; "The Murders in the Rue Morgue",,is there anyone besides me who would think the setting would be a morgue? This one and "The Mystery of Marie Roget" both feature the same protagonists, a pair of gentleman who will remind you of Sherlock Holmes and Dr, Watson in the way they analyze crime scenes and make deductions, Might this have inspired other writers? "The Balloon-Hoax" is very believable and reeks of Jules Verne and his story written years later in "Around the World in Eighty Days". "MS. Found in a Bottle" is a manuscript written by a fellow who is on a voyage that doesn't fare well, "The Oval Portrait" is paranormal no doubt and I find Oscar Wilde's "A Picture of Dorian Gray" peeking out of the frame on this one, So whether this works truly did inspire other writer's, or just a coincidence they are a wonderful collection of short stories and very enjoyable, On a final note Van Gogh and Poe may not have achieved their due during their life times but after all is said and done, the critics are lost to time and the world can reflect and enjoy the works of these two amazing beautiful souls.

[Mohannad Hassan · Rating 3 out of 5]

الجزء الأول من مجموعة بو الكاملة

جانب مشوق أن تعرفت عليه من بو، وإن كان، حتماً، بعيداً عن قائمة المفضلة من مجموع كتاباته. تقييمي بدءاً كان نقطتين، ثم زدته نقطة لمقالات التعريف ببو ومماته؛ ثلاث مقالات تناولت الكثير من حياته، لم يكن بو عادياً، ولكنه لم يكن بقوطية المزاج التي تظهر جلياً في قصصه وأشعاره الأشهر.

أول طراز ظهر في هذه المجموعة كان الخيال العلمي، وأحدّد منه جانب الخيال المنبهر بالعلم، لعلنا نرى هنا مجال الخيال العلمي في طور بدائي مقارنة بما ظهر في آخر ذاك القرن، كتابات ويلز، مثلاً. كتب قصتين تعمد إظهارهما بداية كمقالات مكذوبة لا كقصص، ثم تبين بعد ذلك أمرهما. لعل حداثة المجتمع حينذاك بالعلم، والاتجاه الفكري والأدبي المسيطر يظهر نمطياً في هذه الكتابات، كان المجتمع لم يتجاوز انبهار المحدَث بالعلم. قصة ثالثة تُدرَج تحت باب الخيال العلمي، وإن خالطه باب المغامرة. في هذه القصص، يفرد الكاتب مساحات غير قليلة من القصة، لشرح المبادئ العلمية من وراء أحداث القصة، حتى تبدو وكأنها مقالة تعريفية، أو أن القصة كاملة مجرد سياق مخصص لشرح هذه المبادئ، لا أعلم تقبل الجمهور لهذا الجانب آنذاك، وإن كان قليل التشويق بالنسبة لي.

الطراز الآخر هو طراز المحققين في قصص أوجوست دوبين، ويعتبر الكثيرون أن قصص دوبين الثلاث كانوا أساس هذا المجال من بعده، وقد بدا بعدُ تأثر كونان دويل بقصص بو حين نشر مجموعة شيرلوك هولمز، هذا جانب نقي من طراز المحققين، حيث لا تتناول القصة سوى تسلسل البطل في استنتاجه، ولا يشمل عناصر التشويق كما هي لازمة في طراز المحققين خاصة، والجريمة عامة في شكلهما الحديث، تشبه هذه القصص مجموعة بو في الخيال العلمي في بساطتها، حيث يشمل تحليل واستنتاج البطل الجانب الأعظم من القصة دون استغراق طويل في غيرهما، وفي حالة إحدى القصص ـ لغز ماري روجيه ـ لم تكن القصة سوى محاولة من بو لتحليل حادثة مشابهة لفتاة في نيويورك، وقد حازت على انتباه العامة والصحف ، لم يتدخل الخيال فيها سوى في تحويل سياق القصة من نيويورك إلى باريس.

كانت القصة الأخيرة ـ اللوحة البيضوية ـ بمثابة تمهيد للجزء الثاني من بعده، ظهرت فيها قوطية بو المعروفة عنه، خالفت كل ما سبقها في هذه المجموعة، وطغت عليه، رغم صغرها، وقلة شهرتها بالنسبة لباقي مجموعة بو القوطية، ولا تبرير لهذا سوى أن هذا المجال هو ـ حقاً ـ ركن بو الذهبي، وسلطته الأبرز.

[Abram Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poe Vol 1

As I spent a considerable time delaying finishing this book collection, I can really only comment on the last four stories. The Mystery of Marie Roger is a murder mystery, written from the perspective of someone critiquing the hasty conclusions of a newspaper. Still, the narrator comes off as a bit haughty and moneymaking some assumptions of his own which do not stand the force of time. Speaking of, although I do enjoy a venture into science fiction with Mr. Poe, I can't help but think that his next story, The Balloon Hoax, was too filled with faux scientific drivel. Poe 's eloquence can't forgive his need to confusingly present all sorts of balloon aeronautics minutiae, although he surely has an active imagination. The last two stories, Ms. found in a bottle and The oval portrait, are Poe at his eerie greatest. The former is perhaps the story of a ship passenger becoming a ghost on a mysterious hurricane-driven Titanic, and the later is a short and delightful mix of insomniacs delirium and an artist's pursuit for perfection in his craft. Is the ability to transfer life from the living to a painting a mechanism for gaining immortality? In a way it is a reverse Dorian Gray. Altogether these stories were a sumptuous read, though sometimes Poe's words can drown even the most assiduous of readers.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This first volume has two stories that show Poe's potential to become master of macabre later in his career, The Oval Portrait and MS. In a Bottle. The set a cool and creepy tone even if they don't deliver the oomph of some of his later work. Also included are the stories The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Murder of Marie Roget. These are both excellent detective stories, only surpassed by Sherlock Holmes tales. And I think the only reason Holmes is better is because Arthur Conan Doyle had enough space to do some real and interesting character development while Poe stuck to the facts of the mystery primarily. But the answer to the riddle of how the murders were committed are extremely intriguing. The rest of the volume deals chiefly with balloon adventures. Those I would not recommend to anyone except the most die hard of Poe fans. It's due to the ballooning that this only gets four instead of five stars.

[Andrew Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

these are presumably chronological, so I'm willing to make some allowances, but even so vol 1 has stories of wildly> differing quality. the gold-bug is a real winner, along with murders in the rue morgue. I will cop to skimming some of these. adventures of hans pfaal was more like hans pfffffffffffffffal, even if it is of historical interest as proto-sci fi.

the poe that you remember from HS English class (team cask of amontillado '98) represent pretty spectacular advances in form from baseline poe; murders of the rue morgue would be an all time classic if the opening movement wasn't so chaotic. vol 1 poe can definitely deliver a bow-tied, out-of-left-field narrative resolution, but he struggles to get the chess pieces of said worlds out into the open in a way that generates suspense or to be more blunt doesn't just put you to sleep.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains:

- The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal: Unexpected sci-fi, also inadvertently funny

- The Gold-Bug: pirate treasure mystery, fun and short

- Four Beasts in One - The Homocameleopard: Gotta admit, couldn't finish it. Bleh...

- Murders in the Rue Morgue - My first Poe mystery, I liked this one a lot, but I've been reading a lot of Sherlock Holmes lately too.

- Mystery of Marie Roget - This was good, but then lost me at the end.

- The Balloon Hoax: More balloon adventures, along the lines of Hans Pfaal, but too much detail...

- Ms. Found in a Bottle: I have no idea what was going on here. Ghost ship story, but kind of vague.

- The Oval Portrait: Short, very short, but finally getting to the macabre.

[R J Royer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of some of the greatest works of one of my favorite authors. I really love these even though most of the science that he uses in his stories is very outdated. I mean a hot air balloon that can reach the moon? But, even with those errors that have been proven wrong with time you can still find his ability to see what others do not in his stories and prose to be an amazing thing. He follows facts that he shows you right off the moment you meet the characters in his mysteries and paranormal stories. Unlike Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who lets you find them after the fact you are pointed to them as you go along in Mister Poe's works. Mind you I love both authors just pointing out that they approach stories very differently. Both are amazing.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently reading a book on Steam Punk that mentions The Balloon Hoax. The first time I read the story, didn't care too much about it, living in a time when humans make regular trips to space and have Curiosity using lasers on Mars. The Steam Punk bit allowed me to view this story in a new light and enjoy Poe even more (huge fan). Apparently, this was not his only successful hoax wherein he used science terms and names of the time to tell seemingly plausible yet false adventure stories.

My favorite of this first volume is The Oval Portrait. Short, sad, and lovely.

[Jordi · Rating 4 out of 5]

to say that Poe was a genuis is an understatement. although I was not crazy about the stories which delved into details about flight, chess, and other technical matters, they showed the vastness of Poe's mind, and that he is not by any means limited to an incredible talent in the literary arts and story weaving, but also in mattress of science. I thoroughly enjoyed the murder on rue morgue (I should have read it before I read "Borges ans the eternal orangutan"). i am looking forward to reading the four following volumes.

[Cydni Perkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I download this for free, I was really excited to delve into some of Poe's lesser known stories. I thought I would discover hidden gems. What I'm discovering is that the stories I was exposed to back in school, and the ones included in carefully curated "best of" compilations are really is valuable work. What in this volume feels like hack writing that hasn't been edited at all. Knowing Edgar, it's also easy to feel that the stories were written under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol and morphine. Maybe I'll enjoy volume 2 more.

[Marina · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are good stories, but Poe is at his best when he writes his well-known creepy short stories.
Although I had already read it (ages ago, though), I particularly liked The Murders in the Rue Morgue: Auguste Dupin is the real father of Sherlock Holmes!

The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaal - 3/5
The Gold-Bug - 3/5
Four Beasts in One - The Homo-Cameleopard - 2/5
The Murders in the Rue Morgue - 4/5
The Mystery of Marie Roget - 3/5
The Balloon-Hoax - 2/5
Ms. Found in a Bottle - 3/5
The Oval Portrait - 4/5

[John Cress · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit to having some trouble filtering through the writing style of old language but many stories where worth the struggle. What surprised me was how Poe didn't just write horror which was my perception coming in. Yes, they were so gruesome stories involves decapitation and corpses but also included were works involving hot air balloons, sailing, and even a treasure hunt. I'll follow this up with volume 2.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is difficult to rate an anthology of different works, as some are bound to be better than others.

Overall, I can say I loved The Gold Bug and liked a couple others. There were too many stories that just bored me extensively, however, even as I tried to love them. I wanted to love this collection. Instead I'm hoping the next will be better.

[Sidney · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an English teacher, I adore teaching "Annabel Lee" and sharing some of Poe's other writings with my students. This book has made me respect Poe even more, and based on "Hand Pfaall" will broaden my recommending to those students who like Jules Verne and sci-fi. Thank you, Alice, for this treasured gift.

[Nicole C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this was just okay. "The Murder in the Rue Morgue" is a classic, but a lot of the rest of this collection just didn't cut it for me. The other murder mystery wasn't really even solved, as far as I could tell, so what was the point?

[Trudy Pomerantz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because this was a group of short stories it was hard to rate this volume. I particularly enjoyed his detective stories, but his science fiction were not quite so interesting. Version: Librivox audiobook of the raven edition.

[Lanko · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one actually was better than Part 2, it had more stories and more of them picked my interest. It was also free.

Two months that I read this and I still remember the story about the cat on the wall or the corpse under the living room.

[Christin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The volume 1 collection includes many of his non ooky spooky stuffs, like a great balloon ride to the moon, and the search for buried treasure with the help of a gold beetle and a skull up in a tree.

[Noah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was kind of a mixed bag, but the good outweighed the bad. Not being overly familiar with Poe, I was pleasantly surprised at the entertainment quality of the stories I had never even heard of. I am definitely excited for volume 2.

[J.R. Randle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edgar Allan Poe... No words needed!

[Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is Poe, to my mind the greatest of Americas poets and writers.

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume didn't have any of his poetry. It had an introduction that described his life. Stories include "The Gold Bug" and "Murders in the Rue Morgue".

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the first two stories, not so fond of the last three. I might read some more of Poe's works, but not any time soon.

[Aya · Rating 4 out of 5]

that is sooo going on my to read again list i loved it i really did