Text: Henry C. Whitaker, “[Review of Poe's Tales],” Providence Daily Journal (Providence, RI), vol. XIV, no. 167, July 15, 1845, p. 2, col. 2

TALES, by Edgar A. Poe; Wiley & Putnam's Library of American Books, No. 11. In these days of cheap publications and the universal, diffusion of knowledge, a man of principle will think twice before he praises a book, either as to the manner or the matter of it. In the first place we hold that any man who aids and abets in publishing a book, on poor paper, with worn type, is guilty of an offence against the public health, and whoever reads any such book, or any portion thereof, is an accessory after the fact. Neither the publishers nor the readers of Wiley & Putnam's series are guilty of this offence. In the next place, any man who publishes in an agreeable form, with clear type and elegant binding, any species of nonsense, is guilty of a palpable kind of deception, and ought to be indictable at common) law for cheating. Messrs. Wiley & Putnam are not guilty of this offence.

This volume contains a selection of tales by a very remarkable man. All the tales contained in this volume are good, and if the selection is not judicious, (as some who are acquainted with the other writings of Mr. Poe think,) we hope the publishers will atone for the error by issuing another volume, containing all the works of the author which arc omitted in this. Mr. Poe has written, besides numerous stories not contained in this volume, some excellent poetry, and some severe and discriminating criticisms.

Whoever will read the Gold Bug, (contained in this volume,) will be astonished at the analytical power of the author. His ability to detect secret writing, displayed in numerous instances, reveals powers of mind which ought to be devoted to some sustained and useful work The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget and the Purloined Letter could only have been written by a man of strong and disciplined mind, and rare original endowments. The accurate observation, the cautious analysis, the subtle discrimination revealed in these stories would have earned for the author distinction al the bar, or in the higher walks of metaphysical research.

Such powers are not bestowed without a purpose, and should not be used without a high sense, of responsibility. They should not be wasted in the ephemeral pages of a magazine. Concentrated and concecrated to the cause of letters, they would confer benefits upon the country and enduring fame upon the man thus highly endowed. Mr. Poe is little more than thirty years old, and it depends upon himself to say whether he will leave behind him a name in the very first rank of his countrymen, and an influence upon the literature of his native land, in noble contrast with the enervating sentiment and puny theories of the times. H. C. Whitaker.