Tales of Mystery & Imagination -
Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Rackham (illustrator)
1935 - George G. Harrap &, London - First Rackham Edition
‘As for the murders, let us enter into some examinations for ourselves, before we make up an opinion respecting them. An inquiry will afford us amusement’ - Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin.
A fine copy in exceptional dust jacket, powerfully illustrated by Arthur Rackham with twelve colour plates tipped-in with captioned tissue guards, seventeen black and white plates, and in-text vignettes.
Presenting Poe’s three pioneering detective stories - ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, ‘The Mystery of Marie Rogêt’, and ‘The Purloined Letter’. In addition to Poe’s three detective stories, a further twenty six tales are contained within including ‘The Cask of Amontillado‘, ‘The Fall of The House of Usher‘, and ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.
But for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound... In the three short detective tales ‘Poe originated an astonishing number of conventions in detective fiction. The brilliant detective, the locked room mystery, and the bungling inept police are among the more obvious. The use of sleight of hand – placing all clues in sight while leading the reader to regard the from a point of view that will not reveal the truth–is another of Poe’s inventions. His construction of the detective story has become classic. The most salient feature of Poe’s detective tales is the introduction, as narrator, of an unnamed voice, the contrast with whose bland and obtuse normality dramatises the genius of the detective’ - Rosemary Herbert, A Who’s Who in Crime & Mystery Writing.
References: Riall, A New Bibliography of Arthur Rackham, 189. Rosemary Herbert, A Who’s Who in Crime & Mystery Writing, 152. Queen's Quorum (their first Cornerstone title). Eric Quayle, Detective Fiction. Peter Haining, Crime Fiction. Listed in 100 Books That Shaped World History [Raftery, 2002]. Bleiler, Checklist of Fantastic Literature [1972]. Book Collector No.271, 'The Great Illustrators'; No.273; 'American Sci-Fi'.
Quarto (book size 25.6x20cm), pp. [2] 318. In publisher’s grey-black cloth spine with small gilt vignette and lettering, tail of spine with ‘H HARRAP’ and vignette of Harrap logo all in gilt, gilt skeleton and lettering to front board, top edge tinted black, illustrated endpapers of skeletons at play. Thick paper dust jacket priced ‘21/- NET’ to lower edge of front flap. Condition: Fine but for some very light foxing to fore-edge, in near fine dust jacket with short closed tear to head of spine, and minor wear to corners. Ref: 112217 Price: HK$ 8,000
A fine copy in exceptional dust jacket, powerfully illustrated by Arthur Rackham with twelve colour plates tipped-in with captioned tissue guards, seventeen black and white plates, and in-text vignettes.
Presenting Poe’s three pioneering detective stories - ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, ‘The Mystery of Marie Rogêt’, and ‘The Purloined Letter’. In addition to Poe’s three detective stories, a further twenty six tales are contained within including ‘The Cask of Amontillado‘, ‘The Fall of The House of Usher‘, and ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’.
But for many minutes the heart beat on with a muffled sound... In the three short detective tales ‘Poe originated an astonishing number of conventions in detective fiction. The brilliant detective, the locked room mystery, and the bungling inept police are among the more obvious. The use of sleight of hand – placing all clues in sight while leading the reader to regard the from a point of view that will not reveal the truth–is another of Poe’s inventions. His construction of the detective story has become classic. The most salient feature of Poe’s detective tales is the introduction, as narrator, of an unnamed voice, the contrast with whose bland and obtuse normality dramatises the genius of the detective’ - Rosemary Herbert, A Who’s Who in Crime & Mystery Writing.
References: Riall, A New Bibliography of Arthur Rackham, 189. Rosemary Herbert, A Who’s Who in Crime & Mystery Writing, 152. Queen's Quorum (their first Cornerstone title). Eric Quayle, Detective Fiction. Peter Haining, Crime Fiction. Listed in 100 Books That Shaped World History [Raftery, 2002]. Bleiler, Checklist of Fantastic Literature [1972]. Book Collector No.271, 'The Great Illustrators'; No.273; 'American Sci-Fi'.
Quarto (book size 25.6x20cm), pp. [2] 318. In publisher’s grey-black cloth spine with small gilt vignette and lettering, tail of spine with ‘H HARRAP’ and vignette of Harrap logo all in gilt, gilt skeleton and lettering to front board, top edge tinted black, illustrated endpapers of skeletons at play. Thick paper dust jacket priced ‘21/- NET’ to lower edge of front flap. Condition: Fine but for some very light foxing to fore-edge, in near fine dust jacket with short closed tear to head of spine, and minor wear to corners. Ref: 112217 Price: HK$ 8,000