Frontispiece Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe from “The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe” edited by R. W. Griswold et al. (1850). First edition
The engraving of the young Edgar Allan Poe is by Sartain. Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at the tender age of 41. News of his death reached his mother-in-law, Maria Clemm, in New York two days later. Shortly thereafter, she appears to have approached Rufus W. Griswold and requested that he edit and publish a collection of Poe’s writings. Mrs. Clemm had a contract written up on October 15, 1849 which granted Griswold full power of attorney. Griswold immediately set to work. He asked Nathaniel Parker Willis and James Russell Lowell to revise previously published essays they had written about Poe so that these could be used as introductory material.
The first two volumes of Poe’s works (shown here) were advertised as early as October of 1849, but were probably not actually available until about January 10, 1850. (Both of these first edition volumes carry the copyright date of 1849. In later editions, volume 1 continues to carry the 1849 copyright, while volume 2 carries a copyright date of 1850.) Poe’s works grew to four volumes by 1856. The two additional volumes, also edited by Griswold, collected more of Poe’s critical, editorial and miscellaneous writings. The four-volume Griswold set became the standard edition of Poe’s works for 25 years, and served as the model for nearly another quarter of a century. [Source: www.eapoe.org/works/editions/griswold.htm]
Frontispiece Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe from “The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe” edited by R. W. Griswold et al. (1850). First edition
The engraving of the young Edgar Allan Poe is by Sartain. Poe died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849, at the tender age of 41. News of his death reached his mother-in-law, Maria Clemm, in New York two days later. Shortly thereafter, she appears to have approached Rufus W. Griswold and requested that he edit and publish a collection of Poe’s writings. Mrs. Clemm had a contract written up on October 15, 1849 which granted Griswold full power of attorney. Griswold immediately set to work. He asked Nathaniel Parker Willis and James Russell Lowell to revise previously published essays they had written about Poe so that these could be used as introductory material.
The first two volumes of Poe’s works (shown here) were advertised as early as October of 1849, but were probably not actually available until about January 10, 1850. (Both of these first edition volumes carry the copyright date of 1849. In later editions, volume 1 continues to carry the 1849 copyright, while volume 2 carries a copyright date of 1850.) Poe’s works grew to four volumes by 1856. The two additional volumes, also edited by Griswold, collected more of Poe’s critical, editorial and miscellaneous writings. The four-volume Griswold set became the standard edition of Poe’s works for 25 years, and served as the model for nearly another quarter of a century. [Source: www.eapoe.org/works/editions/griswold.htm]