Poe and the printed word

168 Pages·2000·0.884 MB·English

by  Poe, Edgar Allan, Hayes, Kevin J., Poe, Edgar Allan

PoeandthePrintedWord
Edgar Allan Poe continues to be a fascinating literary figure to
students and scholars alike. Increasingly the focus of study
pushes beyond the fright and amusement of his famous tales
and seeks to locate the author within the culture of his time. In
PoeandthePrintedWord,KevinJ.Hayesexplorestherelationship
betweenvarious facets of print culture and Poe’s life and works
by examining how the publishing opportunities of his time
influenced his development as a writer. Hayes demonstrates
how Poe employed different methods of publication as a show-
case for his verse, criticism, and fiction. Beginning with Poe’s
early exposure to the printed word, and ending with the
ambitious magazine and book projects of his final years, this
reappraisalofPoe’scareer providesanengagingaccountthatis
part biography, part literary history, and part history of the
book.
kevin j. hayes is Associate Professor of English at the
UniversityofCentralOklahoma.Hismostrecentbooksinclude
A Colonial Woman’s Bookshelf (1996), Folklore and Book Culture
(1997),andMelville’sFolkRoots(1999),histhirdbookonHerman
Melville. He also edited Henry James: The Contemporary Reviews
(1996).

cambridge studies in american literature
and culture
Editor
RossPosnock,UniversityofWashington
FoundingEditor
AlbertGelpi,StanfordUniversity
AdvisoryBoard
NinaBaym,UniversityofIllinois,Urbana-Champaign
SacvanBercovitch,HarvardUniversity
RonBush,St.John’sCollege,OxfordUniversity
AlbertGelpi,StanfordUniversity
MyraJehlen,RutgersUniversity
CarolynPorter,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
RobertStepto,YaleUniversity
Booksintheseries:
123 JeffreyA.Hammond,TheAmericanPuritanElegy:ALiteraryand
CulturalStudy
122 CaroleDoreski,WritingAmericaBlack:RaceRhetoricandthePublicSphere
121 EricWertheimer,ImaginedEmpires:Incas,Aztecs,andtheNewWorld
ofAmericanLiterature,1771–1876
120 EmilyMillerBudick,BlacksandJewsinLiteraryDialogue
119 MickGidley,EdwardS.CurtisandtheNorthAmericanIndian,Inc.
118 WilsonMoses,Afrocentrism,Antimodernism,andUtopia
117 LindonBarrett,BlacknessandValue:SeeingDouble
116 LawrenceHowe,MarkTwainandtheNovel:TheDouble-CrossofAuthority
115 JanetCasey,DosPassosandtheIdeologyoftheFeminine
114 CarolineLevander,VoicesoftheNation:WomenandPublicSpeechin
Nineteenth-CenturyAmericanLiteratureandCulture
113 HarryetteMullen,FreeingtheSoul:Race,Subjectivity,andDifferencein
SlaveNarratives
112 DennisA.Foster,SublimeEnjoyment:OnthePerverseMotivein
AmericanLiterature
Listcontinuesatendofbook

POE AND THE
PRINTED WORD
KEVIN J. HAYES
publishedbythepresssyndicateoftheuniversityofcambridge
ThePittBuilding,TrumpingtonStreet,Cambridge,UnitedKingdom
cambridgeuniversitypress
TheEdinburghBuilding,Cambridge,cb22ru,UK http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk
40West20thStreet,NewYork,ny10011–4211,USA http://www.cup.org
10StamfordRoad,Oakleigh,Melbourne3166,Australia
#KevinJ.Hayes2000
Thisbookisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexceptionandtotheprovisionsofrelevant
collectivelicensingagreements,noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthe
writtenpermissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2000
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
TypesetinBaskerville11/12.5pt [ce]
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongresscataloguinginpublicationdata
Hayes,KevinJ.
Poeandtheprintedword/KevinJ.Hayes.
p. cm.–(CambridgestudiesinAmericanliteratureandculture)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn0521662761
1.Poe,EdgarAllan,1809–1849–Authorship.
2.Poe,EdgarAllan,1809–1849–Booksandreading.
3.Publishersandpublishing–Maryland–Baltimore–History–19thcentury.
4.Poe,EdgarAllan,1809–1849–Knowledge–Bookindustriesandtrade.
5.Authorsandpublishers–UnitedStates–History–19thcentury.
6.Literaturepublishing–UnitedStates–History–19thcentury.
7.Fantasyliterature,American–Historyandcriticism.
8.Authors,American–19thcentury–Biography.
i.Title. ii.Series.
ps2636.h39 2000
818’.309–dc21 99–16684 cip
isbn0521662761hardback
In honor of
Lawrence C. Wroth

Contents
Preface pagexi
Listofabbreviations xvii
1 Thestudentandthebook 1
2 Poetryinmanuscriptandprint 17
3 Baltimorebookculture 30
4 Booksellers’banquet 45
5 Thenovel 58
6 Poe’slibrary 74
7 Cheapbooksandexpensivemagazines 87
8 TheroadtoLiteraryAmerica 98
Conclusion 112
Notes 116
Bibliography 130
Index 138
ix