(Under Construction)
Richard Henry Stoddard (1825-1903) was a minor poet, achieving notable success in his own day, but now largely
forgotten except by his connection with Poe. Although it is a convenient way to refer to this set, it is a little
misleading to designate it as the “Stoddard” edition. Previous editors, Griswold and Ingram, had both
devoted considerable editorial effort to their sets of Poe's works, while Stoddard chiefly relied on these
earlier sets and added only a memoir. Stoddard had been on close personal terms with John R. Thompson, who had
been the editor of the Southern Literary Messenger during Poe's final years. (When Thompson died in
April 1873, Stoddard served as his literary executor.)
The Works of the Edgar Allan Poe (The Stoddard Edition, 6 vols.) (1884)
- Volume I: The Genius of Poe; Life of Poe; Poetic Principle; Rationale of Verse; and
Poems (also includes the introductory essays by J. R. Lowell and N. P. Willis, as well as
Poe's “Cryptography”; “Pinakidia”; “Some Secrets of the Magazine
Prison-House”; “Anastatic Printing”; and “Fifty Suggestions”)
- Volume II: Tales (“Hans Pfaall,” etc., through “The
Tell-Tale Heart”)
- Volume III: Tales (“The Domain of Arnheim,” etc., through
“Narrative of A. Gordon Pym”)
- Volume IV: Tales (“The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor
Fether,” etc., through “Some Words with a Mummy.” Also includes Review of Stephen's
“Arabia Petraea”; “Magazine-Writing — Peter Snook”; Wilmer's “The
Quacks of Helicon — A Satire”; and Irving's “Astoria”)
- Volume V: Eureka, Marginalia, A Chapter on Autographs, and Literati (George
Bush through Mary E. Hewitt) (also includes “Philosophy of Composition.” “A Chapter on
Autographs” includes the material from Graham's Magazine, with the two installments and the
“Appendix of Autographs”)
- Volume VI: Literati (Richard Adams Locke through Charles Dickens) (also
includes “Letter to B—”)
The Works of the Edgar Allan Poe (The Stoddard Edition, 8-vols.) (1884)
- Volume I: Life of Poe; Poetic Principle; Rationale of Verse; and Poems (also
includes the introductory essays by J. R. Lowell and N. P. Willis) (drops the brief introductory note on
“The Genuis of Poe” and the five items which follow the poems are moved to another volume)
(dated April 21, 1884)
- Volume II: Tales (“Hans Pfaall.” etc., through “The Black
Cat”) (dated May 23, 1884)
- Volume III: Tales (“The Fall of the House of Usher,” etc.,
through “Lionizing”) (dated June 10, 1884)
- Volume IV: Tales (“Narrative of A. Gordon Pym,” etc., through
“Mellonta Tauta”) (dated July 3, 1884)
- Volume V: Tales (“Loss of Breath,” etc., through “Some
Words with a Mummy.” Also includes Review of Stephen's “Arabia Petraea”;
“Magazine-Writing — Peter Snook”; Wilmer's “The Quacks of Helicon — A
Satire”; and Irving's “Astoria”) (dated July 21, 1884)
- Volume VI: Eureka, Marginalia, and A Chapter on Autographs (also includes
“Philosophy of Composition.” “A Chapter on Autographs” includes the material from
Graham's Magazine, with the two installments and the “Appendix of Autographs”) (dated August 9,
1884)
- Volume VII: Literati (George Bush through “Mr. Griswold and the
Poets”) (dated September 3, 1884)
- Volume VIII: Literati (“Mr. Longfellow and Other Plagiarists”
through Charles Dickens, plus Letter to B—, Cryptography, Pinakidia, Some Secrets of the Magazine
Prison-House, Anastatic Printing, and Fifty Suggestions) (dated September 15, 1884)
The contents of the two sets are essentially identical, with the 6 volume set being printed on thinner paper and
having material slightly rearranged to fit in the smaller number of volumes. The 8-volume set is called “The
Amontillado Edition” and is published by G. P. Putnam and A. C. Armstrong. It is limited to 315 copies, and
dated April 21 - September 15, 1884.
Stoddard's memoir of Poe took the opposite route of Ingram's. Ingram wrote his for the collected
edtion of Poe's works (1874-1875), and later adapted it for use in various sets of Poe's poetry.
Stoddard's memoir of Poe first appeared in the 1875 edition of Poe's poetry, published by W. J.
Widdleton, and then in The Select Works of Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Prose, issued by the same publisher
in 1880. Even before 1875, Stoddard had already written several generally unfavorable articles about Poe.
Reprints of The Works of Edgar Allan Poe:
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A. C. Armstrong
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1900 - The Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Fordham Edition) (8 volumes)
Separate printings of The Select Works:
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W. J. Widdleton
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1880 - The Select Works of Edgar Allan Poe, Poetical and Prose (a one-volume edition, with
Stoddard's memoir, called the Household Edition.) (Widdleton had previously issued a one-volume
selection of Poe's prose and poetry in 1876, with a translation of Baudelaire's memoir of Poe.)
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A. C. Armstrong & Sons
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1884-1886 - reprint (the title page bears no date, but it must date after Armstrong acquired the
copyrights from Widdleton in 1884 and is probably about the time that Armstrong issued other reprints from
the Widdleton catalog of Poe editions. It is also called the Household Edition.)
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1887 - reprint (Household edition, dated on the title page)
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1896 - reprint