Text: Anonymous, “[Review of The Works of Edgar A. Poe],” National Magazine (New York, NY), vol. 2, no. 1, January, 1853, p. 89, col. 1

[page 89, column 1, continued:]

The Works of Edgar A. Poe; Redfield, New York, 1852. — A new and revised edition of the prose and poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, to whom the English reviewers have of late taken a fancy. What Savage was in his day, and Coleridge in his, has Poe been in ours — the ruined man of genius, and dying he left not his equal. As a poet, a writer of tales, and a critic, he is alike unique; not much to be commended for the direction of his taste, nor to be recommended as a model, but, in his way, admirable and worthy of profound study. His walk was narrow, but in it he was a master, and worked powerful spells; as “The Raven/’ among his poems, and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” among his stories, bear witness. His criticism is keen and acute, often unjust, but always sharp and discriminating. Altogether, we consider him the most remarkable author America has yet produced, and in his life and works a psycho logical curiosity. He will appear in our series of American writers.