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On Poe

The Best from American Literature

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Best from American Literature

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Book

Pages: 288

Published: November 1992

From 1929 to the latest issue, American Literature has been the foremost journal expressing the findings of those who study our national literature. The journal has published the best work of literary historians, critics, and bibliographers, ranging from the founders of the discipline to the best current critics and researchers. The longevity of this excellence lends a special distinction to the articles in American Literature.
Presented in order of their first appearance, the articles in each volume constitute a revealing record of developing insights and important shifts of critical emphasis. Each article has opened a fresh line of inquiry, established a fresh perspective on a familiar topic, or settled a question that engaged the interest of experts.

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Author/Editor Bios

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Louis J. Budd in James B. Duke Professor, Emeritus, at Duke University.

Edwin H. Cady is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities, Emeritus, at Duke University. Both scholars have served as Managing Editor and Chair of the Board of Editors of American Literature.

Table Of Contents

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Series Introduction vii

Poe and Phrenology (1930) / Edward Hungerford 1

Poe as Social Critic (1934) / Ernest Marchand 24

Edgar Allen Poe, Cryptographer (1936) / William F. Fiedman 40

Edgar Allen Poe: A Crisis in the History of American Obscurantism (1937) / Yvor Winters 55

Poe and the Chess Automaton (1939) / W. K. Wimsatt, Jr. 78

The Refrain in Poe's Poetry (1953) / Anthony Caputi 92

Poe and His Nemesis--Lewis Gaylord Clark (1956) / Sidney P. Moss 102

Poe as Literary Theorist: A Reappraisal (1961) / Emerson R. Marks 122

The Comic in Poe's Fiction (1962) / Stephen L. Mooney 133

Poe's "Metzengerstein": Not a Hoax (1971) / Benjamin F. Fisher 142

Poe's Sense of an Ending (1973) / Paul John Eakin 150

The Limits of Reason: Poe's Deluded Detectives (1975) / J. Gerald Kennedy 172

Usher's Hypochondriasis: Mental Alienation and Romantic Idealism in Poe's Gothic Tales (1976) / David W. Butler 185

Poe and the Theme of Forbidden Knowledge (1978) / Jules Zanger 197

"The language of the cipher": Interpretation in "The Gold-Bug" (1982) / Michael Williams 208

The Psychology of "The Murders in the Rue Morge" (1982) / J. A. Leo Lemay 223

Poe's Re-Vision: The Recovery of the Second Story (1987) / Cynthia S. Jordan 247

Index 267

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Sales/Territorial Rights: World

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Additional Information

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Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-8223-1311-3 / eISBN: 978-0-8223-7991-1 /

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