The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. In Four Volumes. New York: W.J. Widdleton, 1870.
-------------------
This 1870 edition of The Works of Edgar Allan Poe forms part of the final and most mature phase of the celebrated Griswold collected edition. Following the publisher, Widdleton’s, acquisition of the stereotype plates from J. S. Redfield in 1860, the series was reissued in a stable four-volume format, distinguished by its revised title and a newly rendered steel-engraved portrait of Poe. Textually, this edition preserves the canonical Griswold framework, including the influential prefatory material by N. P. Willis and J. R. Lowell, while also perpetuating the characteristic readings and typographical peculiarities introduced through successive stereoplate revisions. Issued on the eve of the series’ discontinuation following Maria Clemm’s death in 1871, the present printing represents one of the last expressions of the original Griswold tradition, before its later modification and replacement in subsequent collected editions.
A notably beautiful example of this highly desirable set in the original format of how Poe's Works were collectively disseminated following their first release in 1850.
RARE in the original cloth in such bright condition as presented here.
-------------------
Size: 135 x 196 mm (approx., each)
Condition:
Contemporary (original) full cloth bindings, spines lightly sunned, mild rubbing with minor discolouration, some pulling to heads of backstrips as usual, else externally an excellent copy, bright and attractive, with the gilt titles legible without loss. All boards are attached and the bindings are secure. Externally very good indeed. Minor shelf and edge wear. Internally toned, frontispiece portrait of Poe offset to title page recto as typical, mild spotting/foxing, else clean.
A very attractive early edition of Poe's Works, rare in this condition in the original cloth.
