PSA Newsletter, Spring 2000: Poe in CyberspaceA New Census of Poe E-Texts
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Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. The Codes 3. Census Table 4. Electronic References (URLs) |
1. Introduction:Just ten years ago, scholars were grateful for any Poe electronic texts they could get their hands on. The 28 tales at Internet Wiretap may have been indifferently scanned, rekeyed, and documented plain texts, but no one could afford to complain about them at the time. Then came HTML markup with better screen fonts and page numbers. Now, under the spirit of historical preservation, electronic texts are expected to correspond exactly to known printed editions. For copyright reasons the scholarly Mabbott and Pollin editions of Poe are unlikely to be posted on the Web or Internet very soon. But there is no legal obstacle in the way of making and distributing electronic facsimilies of historical Poe editions, including the early poems, Arthur Gordon Pym (1838), Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840), Tales (1845), The Raven and Other Poems (1845), and Eureka (1848). All these works and many others are now freely available on the Internet -- often in more than one version.
Nevertheless, finding Poe e-texts online is not as simple as it sounds. The familiar CMU index to Online Books (now at Penn) lists only 20 assorted individual works or web sites. The Internet Public Library index has 43 items, chiefly tales at the University of Virginia site. But two old standby electronic collections are with us no more: the historical Internet Wiretap site has now been closed, and when the Eris collection at Virgina Tech shut down in 1998, its 125 items apparently perished forever. But when e-texts die, they are sometimes reborn as clones take their place. Thus the Eris e-texts are reborn in two unexpected places: in the frozen Alex index and at www.concordance.com. Of course, one can also search narrowly for titles or words within the Virginia or Michigan local text archives -- or broadly with a global Web search engine such as Altavista, then coping with untold legions of unwanted hits. Of the one thousand or so works or items which Poe signed (or which have been atrributed to him convincingly), ranging in size from complete books to brief book notices, about 350 are currently available on the Internet. But to find them you will need help.
The first Poe e-census, which appeared in Poe Studies, 30 (1997) 1-26, was hardly up to date when it was printed in May 1999. This revision expands the list to more than twice its previous size by adding particulars of the J. H. Whitty edition of the Complete Poems (1911) at the American Verse Project of the University of Michigan, the five volume "Raven" edition (Collier, 1903) at Project Gutenberg, and the near-miraculous expansion of the Poe Society of Baltimore, under the direction of Jeffrey Savoye, which promises to put online just about everything Poe published or revised in his lifetime. The Baltimore project notably contains a substantial body of Poe's non-fiction prose -- his essays, articles, criticisms, and reviews -- which constitute his largest yet least studied body of work.
This census is in three parts: the codes to identify each site, the e-text census, and the electronic references. The five groups of Poe e-texts represent 1) books published in his lifetime, 2) his tales and sketches, 3) his poetry, 4) his essays and articles on general subjects, and 5) his reviews and notices of particular authors or works. This census does not include about 80 early versions of Poe's writings in the Southern Literary Messenger, which are available in the Making of America e-archive at the University of Michigan <http://www.umdl.umich.edu/moa/>.
In this census, items of uncertain authorship have a question mark (?); sets of ephemera too extensive to describe in detail have a plus sign (+); and items unprinted in Poe's lifetime or in the Griswold Works are marked (u). This census is quantitative; it does not explore the qualitative differences among e-texts, some of which are considerable.
2. THE CODES:
Codes | Archive | Items (approx.) |
---|---|---|
P | Poe Society of Baltimore (historical editions) | c. 350 |
G | Project Gutenberg ("Raven" edition) | 130 |
L | U-M-StL ("Borzoi" edition) | 120 |
W | American Verse Project (Michigan)` (Whitty, Complete Poems) | 60 |
V | Electronic Text Center (Virginia) | 30 |
M | Humanities Text Initiative (Michigan) | 27 |
E | Early American Fiction (Virginia/Chadwyck Healey) | by sub. |
O | Oxford Text Archive | 15 |
S | Digitized Library of Southern Literature (North Carolina) | 13 |
R | Representative Poetry (Toronto) | 8 |
(?) | Attribution to Poe uncertain | |
(+) | Set contains additional items | |
(u) | Unpublished in Poe's lifetime |
A. BOOKS (see also individual works) | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Codes | ||||||||||
P | G | L | W | V | M | E | O | S | R | |
Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827) | P | W | ||||||||
Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems (1829) | P | |||||||||
Poems (1831) | P | |||||||||
Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838) | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Tales of Grotesque and Arabesque (1840) | P | E | ||||||||
Tales (1845) | P | E | S | |||||||
The Raven and Other Poems (1845) | P | W | ||||||||
Eureka (1848) | P | |||||||||
Works (1850--) | P | |||||||||
"Raven" Edition (1903) | G | |||||||||
J. H. Whitty, ed. Complete Poems (1911) | W | |||||||||
"Borzoi" edition (1946) | L | |||||||||
Letters, ed. John Ostrom (1948) | P | |||||||||
Burton Pollin, Poe, Creator of Words (1973-1994) | P |
B. FICTION AND SKETCHES | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Codes | ||||||||||
P | G | L | W | V | M | E | O | S | R | |
Angel of the Odd, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Assignation, The (The Visionary) | P | G | L | V | M | E | ||||
Balloon Hoax, The | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
Berenice | P | G | L | V | M | E | ||||
Black Cat, The | P | G | L | V | M | E | S | |||
Bon-Bon | P | G | L | |||||||
Business Man, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Cask of Amontillado, The | P | G | L | V | M | O | ||||
Colloquy of Monos & Una, The | P | G | L | V | M | E | S | |||
Conversation of Eiros and Charmion, The | P | G | L | V | M | E | S | |||
Descent into the Maelstrom, A | P | G | L | V | M | E | O | S | ||
Devil In the Belfry, The | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Diddling | P | G | L | |||||||
Domain of Arnheim, The | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
Duc De L'omlette, The | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Eleonora | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
Eureka | P | |||||||||
Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Fall of the House of Usher, The | P | G | L | V | E | O | S | |||
Four Beasts In One (Epimanes) | P | G | L | |||||||
Gold-Bug, The | P | G | L | V | E | O | S | |||
Hop-Frog | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
How To Write a Blackwood Article | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Imp of Perverse, The | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
Island of Fay, The | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
Journal of Julius Rodman, The | P | |||||||||
King Pest | P | G | L | V | M | E | ||||
Landor's Cottage | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
Landscape Garden, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Lighthouse, The | P | |||||||||
Ligeia | P | G | L | V | O | |||||
Lionizing | P | G | L | E | S | |||||
Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq., The | P | G | L | |||||||
Loss Of Breath | P | G | ||||||||
Man in the Crowd, The | P | G | L | V | M | E | S | |||
Man That Was Used Up, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Masque of the Red Death, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Mellonta Tauta | P | G | L | V | M | O | ||||
Mesmeric Revelation | P | G | L | E | S | |||||
Metzengerstein | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Morella | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Ms. Found In Bottle | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Murders in the Rue Morgue | P | G | L | V | M | E | O | S | ||
Mystery of Marie Roget, The | P | G | L | V | M | E | O | S | ||
Mystification (Von Jung) | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym | P | G | L | |||||||
Never Bet the Devil Your Head | P | G | L | |||||||
Oblong Box, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Oval Portrait, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Pit and the Pendulum, The | P | G | L | V | M | O | ||||
Power Of Words, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Predicament, A | P | G | L | |||||||
Premature Burial | P | G | L | |||||||
Purloined Letter, The | P | G | L | V | M | O | S | |||
Shadow | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Silence (Siope) | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Some Words with a Mummy | P | G | L | |||||||
Spectacles, The | P | G | L | V | M | O | ||||
Sphinx, The | P | G | L | |||||||
System of Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Tale of Jerusalem, A | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Tale of the Ragged Mountains, A | P | G | L | V | M | |||||
Tell-Tale Heart, The | P | G | L | V | M | O | ||||
"Thou Art the Man" | P | G | L | V | M | O | ||||
Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherezade, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Three Sundays in a Week | P | G | L | |||||||
Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Phaall | P | G | L | E | ||||||
Von Kempelen and His Discovery | P | G | L | |||||||
Why the Little Frenchman Wears His Hand in a Sling | P | G | L | E | ||||||
William Wilson | P | G | L | V | M | E | O | |||
X-ing A Paragrab | P | G |
C. POETRY | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Codes | ||||||||||
P | G | L | W | V | M | E | O | S | R | |
Al Aaraaf | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Alone (u) | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Acrostic, An (u) | P | |||||||||
An Enigma | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Annabel Lee | P | G | L | W | V | M | O | R | ||
Bells, The | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Beloved Physician (u) | P | |||||||||
Bridal Ballad | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Campaign Song, A (u) | P | |||||||||
City in the Sea, The | P | G | L | W | R | |||||
Coliseum, The | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Conqueror Worm, The | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Deep in Earth (u) | P | |||||||||
Divine Right of Kings, The | P | |||||||||
Dream, A | P | G | L | W | R | |||||
Dream Within Dream, A | P | G | L | W | R | |||||
Dreamland | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Dreams | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Eldorado | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Elizabeth (u) | P | G | L | W | E | |||||
Enigma [On Shakepeare] | P | |||||||||
Epigram for Wall Street (u) | P | |||||||||
Eulalie | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Evangeline | P | |||||||||
Evening Star | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Fairy-land | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Fanny | P | |||||||||
For Annie | P | G | L | W | R | |||||
"Happiest Day, The" | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Haunted Palace, The | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Hymn ("Catholic Hymn") | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Imitation | P | |||||||||
Impromptu -- to Kate Carol | P | W | ||||||||
Israfel | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Lake, The | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Latin Hymn | P | W | ||||||||
Lenore | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Lines on Ale (u) | P | |||||||||
Lines on Joe Locke | P | |||||||||
May Queen Ode (u) | P | |||||||||
Oh Tempora! Oh Mores! (u) | P | W | ||||||||
Paean, A (u) | P | |||||||||
Poetry (u) | P | |||||||||
Raven, The | P | G | L | W | R | |||||
Romance | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Scenes from Politian | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Serenade | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Sleeper, The | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Song | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Song of Triumph | P | W | ||||||||
Sonnet - Silence | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Sonnet - To Science | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Sonnet - To Zante | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Spirits of the Dead | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Spritual Song (u) | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Stanzas | P | |||||||||
Stanzas (To. F. S. O.) | P | |||||||||
Song | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Tamerlane | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To F--s. S. O--d | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To Elizabeth Winchester | P | |||||||||
To Elmira ("The bowers") | P | |||||||||
To Frances | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To Helen | P | G | L | W | R | |||||
To Helen [Sarah Whitman] | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To -- ("Should my early life seem...") | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To Isaac Lea (u) | P | |||||||||
To -- ("Sleep on...") | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To M -- | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To Margaret (u) | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To M. L. S. (Marie Louise Shew) | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To Miss Louise Olivia Hunter (u) | P | |||||||||
To Octavia (u) | P | |||||||||
To My Mother | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To One In Paradise | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To The River | P | G | L | W | ||||||
To Violet Vane | P | |||||||||
Ulalame | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Valentine, A | P | G | L | W | ||||||
Valley Of Unrest, The | P | G | L | W |
D. ESSAYS AND ARTICLES | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Codes | ||||||||||
P | G | L | W | V | M | E | O | S | R | |
Alexander's Weekly Messenger (+) | P | |||||||||
American Drama | P | G | L | |||||||
American Novel-Writing | P | |||||||||
American Poetry | P | |||||||||
Appendix of Autographs, An | P | |||||||||
Autography | P | |||||||||
Cabs and A Moving Chapter | P | |||||||||
Chapter of Suggestions | P | |||||||||
Chapter on Autography, A | P | |||||||||
Chapter on Science and Art, A (?) | P | |||||||||
Conchologist's First Book, The | P | |||||||||
Cryptographs, Puzzles and Conundrums | P | |||||||||
Daguerreotype, The | P | |||||||||
Desultory Notes on Cats | P | |||||||||
Doings of Gotham (+) | P | |||||||||
Exordium | P | L | ||||||||
Few Words on Etiquette, A (?) | P | |||||||||
Fifty Suggestions | P | |||||||||
Harpers Ferry | P | |||||||||
Instinct vs Reason -- A Black Cat | P | |||||||||
Intemperance | P | |||||||||
Letter to B -- | P | G | L | |||||||
Literati of New York City, The (1846-1849): (Godey's, Democratic Review) | P | |||||||||
Maelzel's Chess-Player | P | G | ||||||||
Marginalia (complete, 1844-1849): (Demo. Rev., Godey's, Graham's, SLM) | P | |||||||||
Marginalia (+) | L | |||||||||
Morning on the Wissahiccon | P | G | L | |||||||
Omniana (?) | P | |||||||||
Opinion on Dreams, An (?) | P | |||||||||
Philosophy of Composition, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Philosophy of Furniture, The | P | G | ||||||||
Pinakidia | P | |||||||||
Poetic Principle, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Rationale of Verse, The | P | G | L | |||||||
Secret Writing (+) | P | |||||||||
Some Account of Stonehenge | P | |||||||||
Some Secrets of the Magazine Prison-House | P | |||||||||
Street-Paving | P |
E. REVIEWS AND NOTICES | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Codes | ||||||||||
P | G | L | W | V | M | E | O | S | R | |
Ainsworth, William Harrison: Guy Fawkes | P | |||||||||
Anderson, William: Rev. Joseph Caldwell, D. D. | P | |||||||||
Annuals and Gift Books: The Gift (1836) -- English Annuals (1836) | P | |||||||||
Anthon, Charles: Sallust's Jurgurthine War Select Orations of Cicero A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities | P | |||||||||
Barrett, E. S. The Heroine, or Cherubina (?) | P | |||||||||
Barrett, Elizabeth Barrett: The Drama of Exile | P | |||||||||
Bird, Robert Montgomery Calavar (?) The Infidel (?) Sheppard Lee The Hawks of Hawk-Hollow | P | |||||||||
Bolles, William: Phongraphic Dictionary | P | |||||||||
Brainard, John Gardiner Calkins: "A Few Words About Brainard" | P | |||||||||
Bridgeman, T.: Young Gardener's Assistant | P | |||||||||
Bryant, William Cullen: Poems: William Cullen Bryant (SLM) Complete Poetical Works (Godey's) | P | G | L | |||||||
Bulwer, Edward Lytton: Rienzi, The Last of the Tribunes Bulwer Used Up Night and Morning Critical and Miscellaneous Writings | P | |||||||||
Butler, Frances Anne: Journal (?) | P | |||||||||
Byron and Miss Chaworth | P | |||||||||
Carey, Mathew: Carey's Autobiography | P | |||||||||
Chamier, Frederick: The Spitfire | P | |||||||||
Chandler, J. R.: Goethean & Diagnothian Address | P | |||||||||
Channing, William Ellery: Our Amateur Poets William Ellery Channing | P | |||||||||
Chorley, Henry Fothergill: Conti | P | |||||||||
Cockton, Henry: Stanley Thorn | P | |||||||||
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor: Note on Table Talk (?) | P | |||||||||
Cone, Spencer Wallace: The Proud Ladye | P | |||||||||
Cooper, James Fenimore: History of the Navy Wyandotte, or the Hutted Knoll | P | |||||||||
Dacre, Lady Barbarina Brand: Tales of Peerage and Peasantry | P | |||||||||
Dawes, Rufus: The Poetry of Rufus Dawes | P | |||||||||
Dickens, Charles: Life & Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Old Curiosity Shop and Master Humphrey's Clock Barnaby Rudge | P | G | L | |||||||
Drake, Joseph Rodman: The Culprit Fay and Alnwick Castle | P | |||||||||
Duncan, Henry: Sacred Philosophy of Seasons | P | |||||||||
Euripides: The Classical Family Library | P | |||||||||
Fauvel-Gouraud, Francis: Phreno-Mnemotechny | P | |||||||||
Fay, Theodore Sedgwick: Norman Leslie | P | |||||||||
Fouqué, Baron Fredrich de la Motte: Undine | P | |||||||||
Glass, Francis: Washingtonii Vita | P | |||||||||
Godwin, William: Lives of the Necromancers | P | |||||||||
Gooch, Richard: Nuts to Crack | P | |||||||||
Griswold, Rufus Wilmot: The Poets and Poetry of America The Female Poets of America | P | |||||||||
Haldeman, Samuel: A Monograph of The Limniades | P | |||||||||
Hale, Sarah Josepha: Traits of American Life The Good Housekeeper (?) | P | |||||||||
Hawks, Francis Lister: Ecclesiastical History of U.S. | P | |||||||||
Hawthorne, Nathaniel: Twice-Told Tales (Graham's) Twice-Told Tales and Mosses (Godey's) | P | G | L | |||||||
Hewitt, Mary E.: The Songs of Our Land | P | |||||||||
Horne, Richard H.: Orion | P | |||||||||
Irving, Washington: The Crayon Miscellany Astoria | P | |||||||||
Jones, George: Ancient America | P | |||||||||
Kennedy, J. P.: Horse-Shoe Robinson | P | |||||||||
Lever, Charles: Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon | P | |||||||||
Leslie, Eliza: Pencil Sketches | P | |||||||||
Lewis, Estelle Anna: The Child of the Sea | P | |||||||||
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth: Outre-Mer Hyperion, a Romance Voices of the Night Tennyson vs Longfellow Ballads and other Poems The Little Longfellow War (+) Longfellows' Poems | P | G | L | |||||||
Lowell, James Russell: Pioneer Poems A Fable for Critics | P | |||||||||
Macaulay, T. B.: Critical and Miscellaneous Essays | P | |||||||||
Magazines and Newspapers:
The New England Magazine The American Quarterly Review The Edinburgh Review The American Almanac The Westminster Review The London Quarterly Review The North American Review New York Mirror Southern Literary Messenger The Virginia Star | P | |||||||||
Malibran, Mme. M.: Memoirs and Letters | P | |||||||||
Marryatt, Frederick: Joseph Rushbrook | P | |||||||||
Martin, Joseph: Gazetteer of Virginia | P | |||||||||
Mathews, Cornelius: Wakondah; The Master of Life | P | |||||||||
Mattson, Morris: Paul Ulric | P | |||||||||
Maxwell, William: Reverend John H. Rice | P | |||||||||
Minor, Lucian: An Address on Education | P | |||||||||
Miscellaneous: Critical Notices and Literary Intelligence Blackbeard The Canons of Good Breeding Note on French Tragedy (?) | P | |||||||||
Moore, Thomas Alciphron, a Poem The History of Ireland | P | |||||||||
Morris, George Pope: National Melodies Where Hudson's Wave, Ida | P | |||||||||
Osborn, Laughton: Confessions of a Poet | P | |||||||||
Osgood, Frances Sargent: A Wreath of Wild Flowers and Poems Notice of Frances Sargent Osgood | ||||||||||
Poe, Edgar Allan: Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (?) Tales (?) | P | |||||||||
Power, Marguerite: The Governesss | P | |||||||||
Reed, Andrew et al: American Churches | P | |||||||||
Rose Hill | P | |||||||||
Reynolds, Jeremiah N.: Voyage of the U. S. Frigate Potomac Expedition to Pacific Ocean and South Seas | P | |||||||||
Roget, Peter Mark: Animal & Vegetable Physiology | P | |||||||||
Sedgwick, Catherine Maria: The Linwoods | P | |||||||||
Slidell, Lt. Alexander: The American in England | P | |||||||||
Smith, Mr. Seba: Powhatan | P | |||||||||
Southey, Robert: The Early Naval History of England | P | |||||||||
Thomas, Frederick William: Clinton Bradshaw | P | |||||||||
Tucker, Judge N. B.: George Balcombe | P | |||||||||
Tuckerman, Henry T.: The Italian Sketch-Book (?) | P | |||||||||
Walsh, R. M.: Living Characters of France | P | |||||||||
Ward, Thomas: Our Amateur Poets - Flaccus | P | |||||||||
Warren, Samuel: Ten Thousand a Year | P | |||||||||
Williams, R. F.: Mephistopheles in England | P | |||||||||
Willis, Nathaniel Parker: Tortesa, The Userer. A Play Romance of Travel American Prose Writers, No. 2 | P | |||||||||
Wilmer, Lambert A. The Confessions of Emilia Harrington The Quacks of Helicon | P | G | L |
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/alex/
www.altavista.com
www.concordance.com
http://www.ipl.org/reading/books/
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/authors.html
http://ota.adhs.ac.uk. http://www.eapoe.org http://promo.net/pg/index.html http://www.hti.umich.edu/english/pd-modeng/bibl.html http://www.hti.umich.edu/bin/amv-idx.pl?page=bibl gopher://gopher.umsl.edu:70/11/library/stacks/books/poe http://metalab.unc.edu/docsouth/poe/poe.html http://library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/authors/poe.html http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/modeng/modengP.browse.html http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/eaf/authors/first/eap.html |
Credits:"Poe in Cyberspace" columns are at http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~ehrlich/psa"A Poe Webliography: Edgar Allan Poe on the Internet," Poe Studies, 30 (1997), 1-26, is online at http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~ehrlich/poesites.html (updated). Heyward Ehrlich, Dept. of English, Rutgers Univ., Newark, NJ 07102, USA |