Text: Edgar Allan Poe (?), Literary, Broadway Journal (New York), May 24, 1845, vol. 1, no. 21, p. ???-???

[page 331, column 1, continued:]

The Big Bear of Arkansas, and Other Tales. — Illustrative of characters and incidents in the South and South-West — edited by W. T. Porter, with ten original engravings from Designs by Darley. Philadelphia: Carey and Hart.

Most of these sketches were originally published in the New York “Spirit of the Times,” where they attracted much attention. The two first in the volume are, we think, much overrated by the editor — they seem to us dull and forced. Many of the others are irresistibly comic and fresh. “The great Kalamazoo Hunt” is a study in this [column 2:] species of writing; and “Swallowing an Oyster “by our friend Field, of the inimitable “Reveille,” is a jewel of a thought, set to perfection. The designs by Darley (who has genius of a high order) are good, of course, but not so good as we expect to see from him.