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This volume was first published in 1845. Based on the earliest known advertisements, the probable date of issue is June 25, 1845. (It is advertised in the New York Daily Tribune for June 20 as “TALES BY EDGAR A. POE: Will appear on WEDNESDAY NEXT.” A fuller advertisement appears in the Daily Tribune for June 26, clearly indicating that it is actually available, as projected.) The number of copies printed is uncertain, although it must be at least 1,500. (On November 13, 1845, Poe wrote to E. A. Duyckinck that, apparently from a report by the publisher, “1500 of the Tales have been sold.” When Poe is bragging about circulation numbers to friends, his information is generally not reliable, but here he is negotiating money with someone who can easily verify the numbers with the publisher, and is thus probably accurate.) Wiley and Putnam also published Poe's The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. The volume of Tales was re-issued in 1849, with a new title page. According to T. O. Mabbott, this re-issue was made to clear out the remainder of the book.
Tales, by Edgar A. Poe (1845)
The tales included in this volume were selected by Evert A. Duyckinck, and Poe was not particularly pleased with all of the choices. Poe wrote, in 1846, to Philip Pendleton Cooke, “The last selection of my Tales was made from about 70, by Wiley & Putnam's reader, Duyckinck. He has what he thinks a taste for ratiocination, and has accordingly made up the book mostly of analytic stories. But this is not representing my mind in it various phases — it is not giving me fair play. In writing these Tales one by one, at long intervals, I have kept the book-unity always in mind — that is, each has been composed with reference to its effect as part of a whole. In this view, one of my chief aims has been the widest diversity of subject, thought, & especially tone & manner of handling. Were all my tales now before me in a large volume and as the composition of another — the merit which would principally arrest my attention would be the wide diversity and variety” (Poe to P. P. Cooke, August 1846). Earlier in 1846, Poe had already written to Duyckinck: “For ‘particular reasons’ I am anxious to have another volume of my Tales published before the 1st of March. Do you not think it possible to accomplish it for me? Would not Mr. Wiley give me, say $50, in full for the copyright of the collection I now send. it is a far better one than the first — containing, for instance, ‘Ligeia,’ which is undoubtedly the best story I have written — besides ‘Sheherazade’, ‘The Spectacles’, ‘Tarr and Fether,’ etc.” (Poe to Duyckinck, January 8, 1846).
An advertisement for Wiley & Putnam's “Library of American Books,” printed in Poe's own Broadway Journal, includes an announcement for “POE's TALES. [[/]] TALES. By Edgar A. Poe. 50 Cents. [[/]] This excellent collection will include the most characteristic of the peculiar series of Tales written by Mr. Poe. Among others, will be found ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue,’ ‘The Purloined Letter,’ ‘Marie Roget,’ ‘The House of Usher,’ ‘William Wilson,’ ‘The Gold Bug,’ ‘The Descent into the Maelstrom,’ ‘The Premature Burial,’ ‘Mesmeric Revelations,’ &c. &c.” (Broadway Journal, July 19, 1845, p. 31, col. 1).
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8vo. (7 1/2 in x 5 in). Pages [i-viii], [1]-228, plus advertisments. Bindings: Tan paper wrappers, with printed text. The font appears to be Scotch Roman, or New Pica Roman Number 2, a typeface that was very popular in the United States in the early part of the Nineteenth Century.
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There are many surviving copies, although copies in the original paper covers are rare. It would be impractical to attempt a complete census of copies, but here are some significant ones. There are at least four known presentation copies of the 1845 edition, one of the single volume and two of the double volume:
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[S:0 - JAS] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Editions - Tales (1845)