POE, Edgar Allan. Tales. (THE TRUE FIRST LONDON EDITION - 1845)

AUTHOR: POE, Edgar Allan

TITLE: Tales.

PUBLISHER: London: Witley & Putnam, 1845.

DESCRIPTION: THE TRUE FIRST LONDON EDITION. 1 vol., (ii)228pp.,(ii)ads, complete, bound in contemporary 1/2 straight grained red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, sprinkled edges.

CONDITION: Occasional foxing throughout, inner hinges restored. 

REFERENCE: BAL: 16146 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: "The cornerstone of cornerstones... the highest of high spots" (Queen). This is the American first edition sheets with a cancel title-page bearing a London imprint and a date on the title of 1845 (and according to a Lilly library catalog rarer than the 1846 edition which used second printing American sheets).  
Tales included the landmark detective stories Poe had perfected as well as many of his tales of horror and suspense and contains, "...the marrow of Poe." (Bennett) Containing the first appearance in book form of "Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter". While the earlier volume "Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque" contains a larger number of Poe's tales of horror, which set the standard for the genre, this volume adds 'The Fall of the House of Usher,' 'The Descent into the Maelstrom,' and 'The Gold Bug'.