"Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine" Vol. III. London: Clarke & Beeton, (1855). First UK Appearance of two tales by Poe
Edgar Allan Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle” appeared for the first time in England in the August, 1855 issue of “The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine.” Poe scholar Scott Peeples summarizes the importance of "MS. Found in a Bottle" as "the story that launched Poe's career." Poe submitted it in a writing contest offered by the weekly “Baltimore Saturday Visiter.” The judges unanimously chose it as the contest’s winner, earning Poe a $50 prize. The story was then published in the October 19, 1833, issue of the “Visiter.”
The plot follows an unnamed narrator at sea who finds himself aboard an ill-fated ship. As he nears his own disastrous death while the ship drives ever southward, he writes an "MS.", or manuscript, telling of his adventures which he casts into the sea. The ship, manned by a strange crew and under the command of a strange, awesome captain, is destroyed in an improbable catastrophe and were it not for the fortuitous recovery of the manuscript, the narrative of the disastrous voyage would never have reached the public. The story was likely an influence on Herman Melville and bears a similarity to his 1851 novel “Moby-Dick.”
“Ligeia,” another short story by Poe, appeared in the October, 1855 issue of “The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine” and it, too, was the first UK appearance. This story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman, who falls ill. She quotes lines which suggest that life is sustainable only through willpower shortly before dying. After her death, the narrator marries the Lady Rowena, who also falls ill. She dies as well. The distraught narrator stays with her body overnight and watches as Rowena slowly comes back from the dead – though she has transformed into Ligeia. [Source: Wikipedia]
"Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine" Vol. III. London: Clarke & Beeton, (1855). First UK Appearance of two tales by Poe
Edgar Allan Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle” appeared for the first time in England in the August, 1855 issue of “The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine.” Poe scholar Scott Peeples summarizes the importance of "MS. Found in a Bottle" as "the story that launched Poe's career." Poe submitted it in a writing contest offered by the weekly “Baltimore Saturday Visiter.” The judges unanimously chose it as the contest’s winner, earning Poe a $50 prize. The story was then published in the October 19, 1833, issue of the “Visiter.”
The plot follows an unnamed narrator at sea who finds himself aboard an ill-fated ship. As he nears his own disastrous death while the ship drives ever southward, he writes an "MS.", or manuscript, telling of his adventures which he casts into the sea. The ship, manned by a strange crew and under the command of a strange, awesome captain, is destroyed in an improbable catastrophe and were it not for the fortuitous recovery of the manuscript, the narrative of the disastrous voyage would never have reached the public. The story was likely an influence on Herman Melville and bears a similarity to his 1851 novel “Moby-Dick.”
“Ligeia,” another short story by Poe, appeared in the October, 1855 issue of “The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine” and it, too, was the first UK appearance. This story follows an unnamed narrator and his wife Ligeia, a beautiful and intelligent raven-haired woman, who falls ill. She quotes lines which suggest that life is sustainable only through willpower shortly before dying. After her death, the narrator marries the Lady Rowena, who also falls ill. She dies as well. The distraught narrator stays with her body overnight and watches as Rowena slowly comes back from the dead – though she has transformed into Ligeia. [Source: Wikipedia]