The Macabre Tales of Edgar Allan Poe

Illustrations by Harry Clarke
Introduction by Brian Stableford

Edgar Allan Poe is remembered for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of ‘mystery and imagination’, many of which are distinguished by a relish for the macabre. A major figure in American literature, Poe was one of the country’s earliest and leading practitioners of the short story, and is credited as the father of detective fiction, as well as a major influence on science fiction.

Poe’s best-known work is decidedly Gothic. Recurring themes include considerations of death, the process of decomposition, the possibility of reanimation, and fear of premature burial. But Poe wrote not only ‘horror’, but satire, humour and hoaxes. He delighted in the use of irony and extravagance and the horror tale ‘Metzengerstein’, the first story he had published, was intended as a burlesque.

Poe became one of the first American authors of the nineteenth century to become more popular in Europe than in the United States, and was particularly respected in France following translations of his work by Charles Baudelaire.

Contents:

• Introduction by Brian Stableford
• Metzengerstein
• MS. found in a bottle
• The assignation
• Berenice
• Morella
• King Pest
• Shadow—A Parable
• Silence—A Fable
• Ligeia
• How to Write a Blackwood Article
• The Devil in the Belfry
• The Fall of the House of Usher
• William Wilson
• The Conversation of Eros and Charmion
• The Man of the Crowd
• The Murders in the Rue Morgue
• A Descent into the Maelström
• The Colloquy of Monos and Una
• Never Bet the Devil Your Head
• Eleonora
• The Oval Portrait
• The Masque of the Red Death
• The Pit and the Pendulum
• The Mystery of Marie Rogêt
• The Tell-Tale Heart
• The Black Cat
• A Tale of the Ragged Mountains
• The Premature Burial
• Mesmeric Revelation
• The Oblong Box
• Some Words with a Mummy
• The Imp of the Perverse
• The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar
• The Cask of Amontillado
• Hop-Frog
• The Lighthouse

Harry Clarke (1889-1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator, and was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts movement. The Macabre Tales of Edgar Allan Poe contains all of the illustrations by Harry Clarke for the 1923 edition of Tales of Mystery and Imagination, with one illustration reinstated (for 'Morella'), and a variant added ('The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar'). In total there are 8 colour plates (tipped-in by hand), 23 full page black and white illustrations, and numerous ornaments.

Limited to:

• 400 numbered copies
• 8 tipped-in colour plates
• 23 full page black and white illustrations
• numerous ornaments
• printed lithographically on 150gsm Munken pure rough paper
• sewn sections
• decorated boards
• silk ribbon marker
• head and tailbands
• dustjacket