Edgar Allan Poe, The Purloined Letter

Slobodan Sucur (University of Alberta)

Ed. by Stephen E. Meats, Pittsburg State University
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 1844

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Story

Resources

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Poe wrote to J.R. Lowell in 1844 that “The Purloined Letter” is probably “the best of [his] tales of ratiocination” (

Poe

3:972). Mabbott believes that its “great merit” lies in the “purely intellectual plot” and “absence of the sensational” (

Poe

3:972). The tale was “hastily completed” for the Philadelphian annual

The Gift,

in which it was published in September of 1844; an abridged version followed in Chambers’

Edinburgh Journal

in November of that same year (

Poe

3:972). By 1845 the tale was again reprinted, in Poe’s own collection

Tales,

and a French translation soon followed in the Parisian

Magasin pittoresque

for August of 1845 (

Poe

3:973). While possible that the Queen of France at the time, Marie Amélie (c. 1830s), is being referenced in the story, as is…

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3987 words

Citation: Sucur, Slobodan. "The Purloined Letter". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 January 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7496, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Edgar Allan Poe, The Purloined Letter

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