Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque

infobox Book |
name = Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Title page for volume I
author = Edgar Allan Poe
cover_artist =
country = flagicon|USA United States
language = English
series =
genre = Horror short stories and satire
publisher = Lea & Blanchard
release_date = 1840
media_type =
pages =
isbn =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque" is a collection of previously-published short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1840.

Publication

It was published by the Philadelphia firm Lea & Blanchard and released in two volumes. The publisher was willing to print the anthology based on the recent success of Poe's story "The Fall of the House of Usher." Even so, Lea & Blanchard would not pay Poe any royalties; he was only given 20 free copies as payment. [Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". Cooper Square Press, 1992. p. 113] Poe had sought Washington Irving to endorse the book, writing to him, "If I could be permitted to add "even a word or two" from yourself... "my fortune would be made"." [Neimeyer, Mark. "Poe and Popular Culture," collected in "The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe". Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 207. ISBN 0521797276] He dedicated the publication to William Drayton, a former member of Congress turned judge who may have subsidized the book's publication. [Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". Cooper Square Press, 1992. p. 113]

In his preface, Poe wrote the now-famous quote defending himself from the criticism that his tales were part of "Germanism." He wrote, "If in many of my productions terror has been the thesis, I maintain that terror is not of Germany but of the soul." He dedicated the collection to Colonel William Drayton, whom Poe likely met while stationed in Charleston, South Carolina and continued to correspond with when Drayton moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [Quinn, Arthur Hobson. "Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography". Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. p. 129. ISBN 0801857309]

Critical response

Contemporary reviews were mixed. The anonymous critic in the "Boston Notion" suggested that Poe's work was better suited for readers of the future; people of the time should consider it "below the average of newspaper trash... wild, unmeaning, pointless, aimless... without anything of elevated fancy or fine humor." "Alexander's Weekly Messenger", on the other hand, remarked that the stories were the "playful effusion of a remarkable and powerful intellect." Likewise, the "New York Mirror" complimented the author's intellectual capacity, his vivid descriptions, and his opulent imagination. Even with those positive reviews, the edition did not sell well. When Poe requested a second release in 1841 with eight additional tales included, the publisher declined. [Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". Cooper Square Press, 1992. p. 113-4.]

"Grotesque" and "Arabesque"

When its publication was announced in "Burton's Gentleman's Magazine", its one-line description said that its title "pretty well indicates their [stories'] character." ["Burton's Gentleman's Magazine", January 1840. p. 58] There has been some debate, however, over the meaning of Poe's terms "Grotesque" and "Arabesque." Poe probably had seen the terms used by Sir Walter Scott in his essay "On the Supernatural in Fictitious Composition" [Levin, Harry. "Notes from Underground" as collected in "Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales", William L. Howarth, editor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1971. p. 24 - Text of Scott's essay is [http://www.litgothic.com/Texts/scott_supernatural.pdf available online] ] Both terms refer to a type of Islamic art used to decorate walls, especially in mosques. These arts styles are known for their complex nature. Poe had used the term "arabesque" correctly in his essay "The Philosophy of Furniture." [Levin, Harry. "Notes from Underground" as collected in "Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales", William L. Howarth, editor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1971. p. 24]

Poe may have been using these terms as subdivisions of Gothic art or Gothic architecture in an attempt to establish similar subdivisions in Gothic fiction. For example, the "grotesque" stories are those where the character becomes a caricature or satire, as in "The Man That Was Used Up." The "arabesque" stories focus on a single aspect of a character, often psychological, such as "The Fall of the House of Usher." [Hoffman, Daniel. "Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe". Louisiana State University Press, 1998. pp. 203-6] Even so, accurately defining Poe's intentions for the terms is difficult and subdividing his tales into one category or another is even more difficult. [Levin, Harry. "Notes from Underground" as collected in "Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales", William L. Howarth, editor. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc, 1971. p. 25]

Contents

"Vol. I"
*"Morella"
*"Lionizing"
*"William Wilson"
*"The Man That Was Used Up — A Tale of the Late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign"
*"The Fall of the House of Usher"
*"The Duc de L'Omelette"
*"MS. Found in a Bottle"
*"Bon-Bon"
*"Shadow — A Parable"
*"The Devil in the Belfry"
*"Ligeia"
*"King Pest — A Tale Containing an Allegory"
*"The Signora Zenobia"
*"The Scythe of Time"Vol. II"
*"Epimanes"
*"Siope"
*"The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall"
*"A Tale of Jerusalem"
*"Von Jung"
*"Loss of Breath"
*"Metzengerstein"
*"Berenice"
*"Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling"
*"The Visionary"
*"The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion"
*"Appendix" (to be appended to the "Hans Pfaall" story.

References