Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

Slobodan Sucur (University of Alberta)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.2: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth Century, 1783-1900.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1838

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

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The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket

(1837-8), Poe’s only novel, was first partially published in

The Southern Literary Messenger

in two installments, for January and February of 1837. Poe’s idea was that he continue with serialization of the novel, but this did not materialize and it was published (in full) by Harper’s in July of 1838. Though often thought of as not being one of Poe’s better works, Burton Pollin’s discovery in the mid-1970s of several positive, 19th-century reviews of

Pym

indicates that the novel was rarely ignored or entirely condemned. There are over 320 translations of the novel, around the world, and it has never been out of print since its first publication. It has influenced such writers as Melville, Baudelaire, Jules Verne, H.P. Lovecraft,…

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5077 words

Citation: Sucur, Slobodan. "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 March 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16224, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

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