The Poets and Poetry of America (1842)

There were a number of anthologies of American poetry published during the 19th century, but the most important and enduring such collection was The Poets and Poetry of America, first printed in 1842 and running through many editions until about 1877. The original editor was Rufus Wilmot Griswold, but beginning in 1872, it was updated by Richard Henry Stoddard. The enumeration of editions is a royal mess.

The poems by Poe included in the 1st edition of 1842 (preface dated March 1842) are:

• “Coliseum”
• “The Haunted Palace”
• “The Sleeper”

The poems by Poe included in the 8th edition of 1847 are:

• “Coliseum”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Raven”
• “The Conqueror Worm”
• “The Haunted Palace”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Sleeper”  (reprinted from previous editions)

The poems by Poe included in the 10th edition (later referred to as the 11th edition) of 1850 (preface dated October 1, 1849) are:

• “The City in the Sea”
• “Annabel Lee”
• “Ulalume: A Ballad”
• “To Zante”
• “To —— —— ——”
• “Dream-Land”
• “Lenore”
• “Israfel”
• “For Annie”
• “To One in Paradise”
• “The Raven”  (reprinted from previous editions. Although Griswold prints a revised text in the 1850 edition of The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, the PPA version simply reproduces the earlier text, with no changes.)
• “The Conqueror Worm”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Haunted Palace”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Sleeper”  (reprinted from previous editions)

The poems by Poe included in the 16th edition of 1855 and 1856 (preface dated 1855) are:

• “The City in the Sea”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “Annabel Lee”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “Ulalume: A Ballad”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “To Zante”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “To —— —— ——”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “Dream-Land”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “Lenore”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “Israfel”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Bells”  (added)
• “To F. S. O.”  (added)
• “For Annie”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “To One in Paradise”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Raven”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Conqueror Worm”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Haunted Palace”  (reprinted from previous editions)
• “The Sleeper”  (reprinted from previous editions)

The editions are as follows:

• Printed by Philadelphia: Carey & Hart
  • 1842 (1st edtition and 2nd edition)  (The preface is dated March 1842. An additional note on the second edition is dated July 1842)   (According to Joy Bayless, p. 42, the first edition was published on April 18, 1842)
  • 1843 (3rd edition and 4th edition)
  • 1844 (5th edition)
  • 1845 (6th edition)
  • 1846 (7th edition)
  • 1847 (8th edition)  (the revised preface is dated April 1847, published May 29, 1847)
  • 1848 (9th edition)  (Officially, there was no edition in 1849, although the printing with 1850 on the title page was actually available in December of 1849, in time for Christmas. An edition may have been delayed because Griswold was busy preparing the Female Poets of America )
  • 1850 (10th edition)  (the newly revised preface is dated October 1, 1849)  (According to a notice in Literary World, it was published by Dec. 15, 1849)
  • 1851 (11th edition)
  • 1852 (12th edition noted as 11th edition)
  • 1853 (13th edition) (noted as published by A. Hart, late Carey & Hart)

• Printed by Philadelphia: Parry & Mcmillan  (successors to A. Hart, late Carey & Hart)
  • 1854 (14th edition, but called 12th edition)
  • 1855 (15th edition)  (preface is dated 1855)
  • 1855 (16th edition)
  • 1856 (16th edition, and 17th edition)
  • 1858

• Printed by New York: James Miller
  • 1873
  • 1874
  • 1877

• Printed by New York: Peter Fenelon Collier (with additons by R. H. Stoddard)
  • 1893 (printed in three volumes) (preface is signed R. H. Stoddard, but undated)

The edition was also printed in London by Scott, Webster, and Geary, 1842 (2nd edition, revised)