Poe and the Printed Word

Kevin Hayes examines the impact of nineteenth-century print culture on Edgar Allan Poe's work.

Kevin J. Hayes (Author)

9780521109628, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 April 2009

168 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1 cm, 0.26 kg

"informative and engaging at every turn...a stimulating account of Poe's development as a professional author." Edgar Allan Poe Review

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 Poe and the Printed Word, Kevin Hayes explores the relationship between various facets of print culture and Poe's writings. His study provides a fuller picture of 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 showcase 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 reappraisal of Poe's career provides an engaging account that is part biography, part literary history and part history of the book.

Preface
1. The student and the book
2. Poetry in manuscript and print
3. Baltimore book culture
4. Booksellers' banquet
5. The novel
6. Poe's library
7. Cheap books and expensive magazines
8. The road to Literary America
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900 [DSBF]