Edgar Allan Poe — “Mystification”

Reading copy:

• “Mystification” — reading copy

Manuscripts and Authorized Printings:

• Text-01 — “Von Jung, the Mystific” — late 1836 - early 1837 — (There are no known draft manuscripts or scratch notes reflecting the original effort of composition. Mabbott does not offer any thoughts on the date of when the story was first written. He does accept (T&S, 2:292n) Burton R. Pollin's supposition that it “may be a burlesque of Theodore S. Fay.” Pollin's notion is presented in “Poe's ‘Mystification’: Its Source in Fay's Norman Leslie,’ Mississippi Quarterly, Spring 1972, pp. 112-130. Poe reviewed Norman Leslie harshly in the Southern Literary Messenger for December 1835. The suggestion would set 1836 as the earliest date of composition. Poe had fallen out with T. W. White by mid-January 1837, and severed his connection with the Southern Literary Messenger. The first two installments of Pym were the last works of fiction by Poe to appear in the pages of that magazine, respectively in the issues for January and February of 1837. Presumably, much of Poe's time would be preoccupied by completing Pym from this time until its publication as a full novel on July 30, 1838. It seems reasonable, therefore, to presume that Poe had written “Von Jung” about the end of 1836, and that he took the manuscript with him to New York about February 1837, making a quick sale to help cover expenses.)
• Text-02 — “Von Jung, the Mystific” — 1836-1837
  • Text-02a — “Von Jung, the Mystific” — last 1836 — (Speculated faircopy manuscript prepared for publication. This manuscript has not survived, but this version is presumably recorded in Text-02b. It is possible that Poe offered it to White for the Southern Literary Messenger, and it was rejected. Alternatively, Poe may have intentionally held the manuscript back, in anticipation of his move to New York.)
  • Text-02b — “Von Jung, the Mystific” — June 1837 — American Monthly Magazine — (Mabbott text A)
• Text-03 — “Von Jung” — 1837-1839
  • Text-03a — “Von Jung” — 1837-1839 — (speculated copy of American Monthly Magazine with changes made by Poe. This copy has not survived, but the text is presumably reflected in Text-03b.)
  • Text-03b — “Von Jung” — 1840 — TGA — (Mabbott text B)
• Text-04 — “Mystification” — 1842-1845
  • Text-04a — “Mystification” — 1842 — manuscript title revision in TGAPP — (This revision lost, but presumably recorded in Text-04b.)
  • Text-04b — “Mystification” — December 27, 1845 — Broadway Journal — (Mabbott text C — This is Mabbott's copy-text) (For Griswold's 1856 reprinting of this text, see the entry below, under reprints.)

Reprints:

• “Mystification” — June 3, 1837 — Boston Pearl and Galaxy  (noted by Ljungquist)
• “Mystification” — 1856 — WORKS — (Mabbott text D) (Griswold reprints Text-04b.)
• “Mystification” — 1867 — Prose Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, second series (New York: W. J. Widdleton), pp. 428-436 (This collection is extracted from the 1850-1856 edition of Poe's Works. It was reprinted several times.)
• “Mystification” — 1874 — Works of Edgar A. Poe, edited by J. H. Ingram, vol. II, pp. 481-489 (This collection was subsequently reprinted in various forms)

Scholarly and Noteworthy Reprints:

• “Mystification” — 1894-1895 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 3: Tales, ed. G. E. Woodberry and E. C. Stedman, Chicago: Stone and Kimball (3:289-300)
• “Mystification” — 1902 — The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 4: Tales III, ed. J. A. Harrison, New York: T. Y. Crowell (4:102-113, and 4:278-283)
• “Von Jung (Mystification)” — 1978 — The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 2: Tales & Sketches I, ed. T. O. Mabbott, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (2:292-305)
• “Mystification” — 1984 — Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales, ed. Patrick F. Quinn (New York: Library of America), pp. 253-261

Instream Comparative and Study Texts:

• “Mystification” — Comparative Text (American Monthly Magazine and TGA)
• “Mystification” — Comparative Text (TGA and BJ)
• “Mystification” — Comparative Text (BJ and WORKS)

Miscellaneous Texts and Related Items:

• “Une mystification” — 1882 — Contes Grotesques par Edgar Poe, Paris: Paul Ollendorff  (French translation by Émile Hennequin)
• “Mystification” — 1914 — Edgar Poe: Histories étranges et Merrveilleuses, Paris: Mercure de France (French translation by M. D. Calvocoressi)
• “Mystification” — 1934 — Les Sphinx et autres contes bizarres par Edgar Poë, Paris: Galliard (French translation by Matila C. Ghyka)
• “Mystification” — 1950 — Histories grotesques et sérieuse par Edgar Poe, Paris: Classiques Garnier  (French translation by Léon Lemonnier)

• Heartman, Charles F. and James R. Canny, A Bibliography of First Printings of the Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Hattiesburg, MS: The Book Farm, 1943.
• Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, ed., The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Vols 2-3 Tales and Sketches), Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1978.
• Pollin, Burton R.,”Poe's ‘Mystification’: Its Source in Fay's Norman Leslie,” Mississippi Quarterly, Spring 1972, 25:111-130.
• Wyllie, John Cooke, “A List of the Texts of Poe's Tales,” Humanistic Studies in Honor of John Calvin Metcalf, Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1941, pp. 322-338.