The Fall of the House of Usher [and 8 Others]; in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine
by Poe, Adgar Allan
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Very good
- Seller
-
Century City, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Philadelphia: William E. Burton, 1839. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. A annual volume (12 months, starting in July 1839 and ending June 1840). Contemporary 3/4 calf and marbled boards, binding worn, sporadic foxing throughout, but, otherwise, clean internally. Seven stories and poems by Poe, first appeared in these issues of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and 2 more are reprinted for the first time. They are:
"The Conversation of Eiros and Chairman"
"The Fall of the House of Usher" (September 1839)
"The Journal of Julius Rodman" (one chapter per issue; January-June 1840)
"The Man That Was Used Up" (August 1839)
"Peter Pendulum" aka "The Business Man" (February 1840)
"The Philosophy of Furniture" (May 1840)
"To——" (a variation of "Lines Written in an Album", 1835) (August 1839)
"To Ianthe in Heaven" (July 1839)
"William Wilson" (1st appeared in "The Gift [...] for 1840, September 1839 reprinted here October 1839)
The Fall of the House of Usher has all the essential features of the Gothic, a haunted house, dreary landscape, granite sky, inclement weather, mysterious sickness, and doubled personality. For all its Gothic elements, however, the terror of this story is its vagueness because we never know where or when it takes place (there are no narrative markers). The reader is alone with the narrator in this haunted space, and neither we nor the narrator know why. Although he is Roderick's most intimate boyhood friend, the narrator apparently does not know much about him—like the fact that Roderick has a twin sister. Poe asks us to question the reasons both for Roderick's decision to contact the narrator in this time of need and the bizarre tenacity of the narrator's response. While Poe provides the recognizable building blocks of the Gothic tale, he contrasts this standard form with a plot that is inexplicable, sudden, and full of unexpected disruptions. The story begins without complete explanation of the narrator's motives for arriving at the house of Usher, and this ambiguity sets the tone for a plot that continually blurs the real and the fantastic.
"The Conversation of Eiros and Chairman"
"The Fall of the House of Usher" (September 1839)
"The Journal of Julius Rodman" (one chapter per issue; January-June 1840)
"The Man That Was Used Up" (August 1839)
"Peter Pendulum" aka "The Business Man" (February 1840)
"The Philosophy of Furniture" (May 1840)
"To——" (a variation of "Lines Written in an Album", 1835) (August 1839)
"To Ianthe in Heaven" (July 1839)
"William Wilson" (1st appeared in "The Gift [...] for 1840, September 1839 reprinted here October 1839)
The Fall of the House of Usher has all the essential features of the Gothic, a haunted house, dreary landscape, granite sky, inclement weather, mysterious sickness, and doubled personality. For all its Gothic elements, however, the terror of this story is its vagueness because we never know where or when it takes place (there are no narrative markers). The reader is alone with the narrator in this haunted space, and neither we nor the narrator know why. Although he is Roderick's most intimate boyhood friend, the narrator apparently does not know much about him—like the fact that Roderick has a twin sister. Poe asks us to question the reasons both for Roderick's decision to contact the narrator in this time of need and the bizarre tenacity of the narrator's response. While Poe provides the recognizable building blocks of the Gothic tale, he contrasts this standard form with a plot that is inexplicable, sudden, and full of unexpected disruptions. The story begins without complete explanation of the narrator's motives for arriving at the house of Usher, and this ambiguity sets the tone for a plot that continually blurs the real and the fantastic.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Biblioctopus (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 1018
- Title
- The Fall of the House of Usher [and 8 Others]; in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine
- Author
- Poe, Adgar Allan
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition
- Publisher
- William E. Burton
- Place of Publication
- Philadelphia
- Date Published
- 1839
- Keywords
- Periodicals
Terms of Sale
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About the Seller
Biblioctopus
Biblio member since 2017
Century City, California
About Biblioctopus
Biblioctopus sells first editions of the classics of fiction, high spots in history, science, and historical ephemera
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Calf
- Calf or calf hide is a common form of leather binding. Calf binding is naturally a light brown but there are ways to treat the...
- Marbled boards
- ...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...