COLLECTED TALES AND POEMS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE

Contains 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination' including The Fall of the House of Usher and The Premature Burial, 'Tales of Humour and Satire' including Loss of Breath, The Sphinx and Never Bet the Devil Your Head, 'Flights of Fancy' including King Pest and Von Kempelen and His Discovery, on page 787 the Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket and 'Miscellaneous Poems' including The Raven, A Valentine, Hymn, The Colosseum, To My Mother, Bridal Ballad, For Annie, Evening Star and Fairy-Land. With 20 atmospheric silhouette illustrations, a monumental 1038 page new paperback from Wordsworth. Poe was born the son of itinerant actors on January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusets. In 1836 he married his cousin Virginia but despite his prolific activities - journalism, poetry, lecturing, short stories, publishing, criticism and experimentation with fictional genres, including the detective novel which he virtually invented with the publication of 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue' (1841) - he received scant recognition for his efforts until the publication of 'The Raven' in 1845. The poem's instant popularity gave him a new visibility in literary circles, but his personal situation remained desperate: poverty, illness, drink, and the physical decline and ultimate death of Virginia in 1847 led to his untimely and premature decline. He died at the age of 40. Paperback, 1038 pages.