Edgar Allan Poe — “MS. found in a Bottle”

Reading copy:

• “MS. found in a Bottle” — reading copy

Manuscripts and Authorized Printings:

• Text-01 — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1832 — (There are no known draft manuscripts or scratch notes reflecting the original effort of composition.)
• Text-02 — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1832-1833
  • Text-02a — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1832-1833 (Speculated faircopy manuscript Poe prepared for eventual publication. This manuscript has not survived, but this version is presumably recorded in Text-02b.)
  • Text-02b — “MS. found in a Bottle” — October 19, 1833 — Baltimore Saturday Visiter — (Mabbott text A)
• Text-03 — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1833-1835
  • Text-03a — “Manuscript found in a Bottle” — 1833-1835  (This entry is a speculative intermediary form. Usually, Poe would have started with the previous text, from the Baltimore Saturday Visiter, and marked changes on that, but in Poe's letter of September 11, 1835 to J. P. Kennedy, he notes that “They [Carey and Hart] have published the M.S. found in a Bottle (, the prize tale you will remember,) although I not only told Mr Carey myself that it had been published, but wrote him to that effect after my return to Baltimore ....” It would presumably not have been necessary to point out the fact of publication had the printed pages been the form submitted. It seems unlikely that Poe would have taken the time to write a fully new manuscript, so it is possible that he had back the original manuscript from the Visiter and marked a few additional changes there. In some cases, that would undo minor changes that were merely imposed by the typesetter or editors of the Visiter. Whatever form this new text took, it does not appear to have survived, but is presumably reflected in Text-03b.)
  • Text-03b — “Manuscript found in a Bottle” — 1835 — The Gift for 1836 — (Mabbott text B)
• Text-04 — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1835
  • Text-04a — “MS. Found in a Bottle” — late 1835  (This entry is a speculative intermediary form. Since the source is attributed as being The Gift for 1836, this text was most likely printed pages from The Gift, with additional changes marked by Poe. By this time, Poe was actually in Richmond, and on the staff of the SLM, so it is possible that some changes were made on proof pages of the SLM. This intermediary form does not appear to have survived, but is presumably reflected in Text-06.)
  • Text-04b — “MS. found in a Bottle” — December 1835 — Southern Literary Messenger — (Mabbott text C)
• Text-05 — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1832-1833
  • Text-05a — “MS. found in a Bottle” — about 1839 — (This entry is a speculative intermediary form. Although these pages in the Duane copy of the Southern Literary Messenger show no sign of changes, the version published in TGA shows numerous modifications, which suggests an intermediary form. It is likely, therefore, that Poe made changes in copies other than those which were ultimately owned by Duane, and that those copies have not been located and possibly have not survived. Poe appears to have attempted to erase his changes in the Duane copies, and it is possible that a copy exists in which these erased changes have been overlooked. This missing text is presumably reflected in text-05b.)
  • Text-05b — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1840 — TGA — (Mabbott text D)
• Text-06 — “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1842-1845
  • Text-06a — “Manuscript found in a Bottle” — 1842 — TGAPP — (Mabbott text E)  (This version is a modified form of Text-05b.)
  • Text-06b — “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1843-1845  (This entry is a speculative intermediary form. There are different changes in the Broadway Journal text than appears in TGAPP, strongly suggesting that some other source was used for that printing. A fully new manuscript in this case is unlikely, due to the nature of the changes and the effort required to write out a new manuscript. The most plausible source is that Poe had another set of at least unbound pages from TGA and modified those. A number of other tales also fit this pattern, establishing the probable existence, at some time, of TGAPPB. This intermediary form does not appear to have survived, but is presumably reflected in Text-06c.)
  • Text-06c — “MS. found in a Bottle” — October 11, 1845 — Broadway Journal — (Mabbott text F)
• Text-07 — “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1845-1850
  • Text-07a — “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1845-1849  (This entry is a speculative intermediary form. Most of the changes in Text-07b are probably made by the typesetter, but there is an entirely new footnote that implies that it was written by Poe. The mostly likely form of this text is a copy of the printed pages from BJ, with the addition of the footnote, and perhaps a few of the other changes marked by Poe.)
  • Text-07b — “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1850 — WORKS — (Mabbott text G — This is Mabbott's copy-text)

Reprints:

• “MS. found in a Bottle” — October 26, 1833 — The People's Advocate (Newburyport, MA)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — October 19, 1849 — Richmond Semi-Weekly Examiner, p. 4, cols. 1-3 (noted as “From the late Edgar Poe's ‘Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque’.” (H&C lists October 10, 1849 and October 19, 1849, with the earlier date apparently an error.)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — November 9, 1833 — Cincinnati Mirror, and Western Gazette of Literature, Science, and the Arts (Cincinnati, OH) (Acknowledged as a reprint from the Baltimore Saturday Visiter.)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — August 1855, The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, UK, vol. III, pp. 193-198. The introductory note reads: “[This story (which here appears for the first time in England) is remarkable as being that which first brought the author, then in the very uttermost depths of poverty, into public notice. The proprietors of a Baltimore magazine offered a prize for the best story. Poe's beautiful caligraphy [sic] attracted attention; his story (the ‘MS’ Found in a Bottle’) was perused, and it was decided to give the prize to the ‘first of geniuses who had written legibly.’]”)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1858 — Sea Stories, New York: G. P. Putnam, pp. 171-183, (part of “Putnam's Library of Choice Stories”) (Curiously, Poe's name is given no where in the book. Indeed, the names of none of the authors of any of the stories are provided.)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1867 — Prose Tales of Edgar Allan Poe, first series (New York: W. J. Widdleton), pp. 150-160 (This collection is extracted from the 1850-1856 edition of Poe's Works. It was reprinted several times.)
• “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1874 — Works of Edgar A. Poe, edited by J. H. Ingram, vol. 1, pp. 138-149 (This collection was subsequently reprinted in various forms)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — April 25, 1893 — Marion Star (Marion, OH), vol. XVI, no. 133, p. 7, cols. 1-5 (with three woodcut illustrations)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — April 30 - May 2, 1893 — Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC),
  • “MS. found in a Bottle” — April 30, 1893 — Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), vol. LII, no. 34, p. 3, cols. 2-3 (with a woodcut illustration, same as in the Marion Star.)
  • “MS. found in a Bottle” — May 2, 1893 — Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC), vol. LII, no. 35, p. 3, cols. 3-5 (with a woodcut illustration, same as in the Marion Star.)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — May 6, 1893 — Meriden Daily Journal (Meriden, CN), vol. XI, no. 327, p. 12, cols. 2-6 (with three woodcut illustrations) (reprinted in the same issue as several of of Poe's short stories, all acknowledged as by “Edgar Allan Poe.”)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — July 5, 1893 — Wellsboro Gazette (Wellsboro, PA), vol. XL, no. 27, p. 1, cols. 4-7 (with three woodcut illustrations, same as in the Marion Star.)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — December 8-11, 1893 — Racine Journal-Times (Racine, WI)
  • “MS. found in a Bottle” — December 8, 1893 — Racine Journal-Times (Racine, WI), vol. XXVI, no. 289, p. 2, cols. 3-4 (with a woodcut illustration, same as in the Marion Star.)
  • “MS. found in a Bottle” — December 9, 1893 — Racine Journal-Times (Racine, WI), vol. XXVI, no. 290, p. 2, cols. 3-4 (with a woodcut illustration, same as in the Marion Star.)
  • “MS. found in a Bottle” — December 11, 1893 — Racine Journal-Times (Racine, WI), vol. XXVI, no. 291, p. 2, col. 3 (with a woodcut illustration, same as in the Marion Star.)
• “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1918 — Great Ghost Stories, Chicago: Cadmus Books, pp. 213-228 (included with Poe's “Ligeia.” Edited by J. Walker McSpadden, and noted as published by a special arrangment with Thomas Y. Crowell Co.)

Scholarly and Noteworthy Reprints:

• “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1894-1895 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 2: Tales, eds. E. C. Stedman and G. E. Woodberry (Chicago: Stone and Kimball), 2:222-236
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1902 — The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 2: Tales I, ed. J. A. Harrison (New York: T. Y. Crowell), 2:1-15 and 2:307-313
• “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1976 — The Science Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Harold Beaver (New York: Penguin Books), pp. 1-11 and pp. 333-338 (reprinted 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1982)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1978 — The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 2: Tales & Sketches I, ed. T. O. Mabbott (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press), 2:130-148
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — 1984 — Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales, ed. Patrick F. Quinn (New York: Library of America), pp. 189-199
• “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” — 2015 — The Annotated Poe, ed. Kevin J. Hayes (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press), pp. 36-48

Instream Comparative and Study Texts:

• “MS. found in a Bottle” — Comparative Text (Batimore Saturday Visiter and The Gift)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — Comparative Text (The Gift and SLM)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — Comparative Text (SLM and TGA)
• “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” — Study Text (TGAPP)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — Comparative Text (TGAPP and BJ)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — Comparative Text (BJ and WORKS)
• “MS. found in a Bottle” — Comparative Text (WORKS-1850 and WORKS-1855)

Miscellaneous Texts and Related Items:

• “Manuscrit trouvé dans une bouteille” — (French translation by Charles Baudelaire)
  • “Manuscrit trouvé dans une bouteille” — January 21-22, 1855 — Le Pays
    • “Manuscrit trouvé dans une bouteille” — Part I  (January 21, 1855)
    • “Manuscrit trouvé dans une bouteille” — Part II  (January 22, 1855)
  • “Manuscrit trouvé dans une bouteille” — 1856 — Histoires extraordinaires, Paris: Michel Lévy frères
• “Trovato in una Bottiglia” — 1876 — Racconti Incredibili, Milano, Italy: Tipografia Editrice Lombarda  (Italian translation, with several illustrations)
• “From the Tideless Sea” — April 1906 — Monthly Story Magazine by William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918) (In this story, a large ship, “The Homebird” becomes trapped in weeds in the Sargasso Sea. One of the survivors, Arthur Samuel Philips, unable to escape and accepting their fate, writes a long and detailed account of their predicament and related adventures. They have sufficient provisions for about 18 years, if carefully handled. This first-person account is sent out in a series of barrels, which are eventually discovered and published, with some introductory material. Although an original story by Hodgson, it combines elements from Poe, Wells, Verne, and Doyle. For Poe, the most obvious influence is from “MS. found in a Bottle” and The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, with the similarity of the name of the protagonist being quite striking. A sequel, “More News from the Homebird,” was printed in the Blue Book Magazine for August 1907, and forms a part of his “Sargasso Sea Mythos.”)
• “Ms. Found in a Bottle” — October 19, 1914 — New York: Winthrop Press (edited by John H. Eggers) (miniature edition, illustrated, in color) (copyrighted October 8, 1914)
• “MS. Found in a Bottle” — March 1934 — Amazing Stories, vol. 8, no. 11
• “MS. Found in a Bottle” — 1972 — a reading by Martin Donegan as part of volume X of Short Stories of Edgar Allan Poe, issued on the CMS Records label (CMS-655)
• “Message Found In a Bottle” — 2008 — Audio book (unabridged), read by Chris Aruffo

• Guilds, John C., Jr., “Poe's ‘Manuscript Found in a Bottle’: A Possible Source,” Notes & Queries, October 1956, 201:452
• 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 Use of Material from Barnardin de Saint-Pierre's Etudes,” Romance Notes, 1971, 12:1-8
• Richard, Claude, “ ‘Manuscript Found in a Bottle’ and the Folio Club,” Poe Newsletter, January 1969, 2:23
• Scherting, Jack, “The Bottle and the Coffin: Further Speculations on Poe and Moby-Dick,” Poe Newsletter, October 1968, 1:22
• Stauffer, Donald Barlow, “The Two Styles of Poe's ‘Manuscript Found in a Bottle’,” Style, Spring 1967, 1:107-120
• Thomas, J. D., “Composition of Wilde's The Harlot House,” Modern Language Notes, November 1950, 65:485-488
• Weber, Jean-Paul, “Edgar Poe on the Theme of the Clock,” La Nouvelle Revue Francais (August-September 1958), 68:301-311 and 69:498-508.
• 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.