Edgar Allan Poe remains the unsurpassed master of works of mystery and madness. In this outstanding collection of Poe's prose and poetry are sixteen of his finest tales, including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The Pit and the Pendulum," "William Wilson," "The Black Cat," "The Cask of Amontillado."and "Eleonora." Here too is a major selection of what Poe characterized as the passion of his life, his poems--"The Raven," "Annabel Lee," "Ulalume,""Lenore," "The Bells," and more, plus his glorious prose poem "Silence--A Fable" and only full-length novel. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

EDGAR ALLAN POE, in his short, troubled life, originated the mystery story, brought new psychological depth to the tale of horror, and made inimitable contributions to Romantic poetry and literary criticism. Yet bad luck, pride, and a difficult temperament kept him in a lifelong struggle with poverty and illness.

Born in Boston in 1809 to itinerant actors, Poe was orphaned as an infant and sent to live with a Richmond merchant,John Allan. Allan sent him to the University of Virginia in 1826, but Poe withdrew because of gambling debts. In 1830,with his first book of poems already published, he entered West Point but was dishonorably discharged the next year, and his re lationship with Allan, always stormy, broke off completely. In the next five years Poe"s stories began to be published and praised, and Poe grew close to a young cousin, Virginia Clemm In 1835 Poe was chosen editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. In 1836 he married Virginia, listing her age as twenty-one; she was actually thirteen years old.

STORIES

 The Tell-Tale Heart

 The Black Cat

 The Cask of Amontillado

 The Fall of the House of Usher

 The Masque of the Red Death

 The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

 Ligeia

 The Murders in the Rue Morgue

 The Purloined Letter

 A Descent into the Maelstrom

 The Pit and the Pendulum

 Ms. Found in a Bottle

 The Premature Burial

 William Wilson

 Eleonora

 Silence--A Fable

 The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym

POEMS

 Stanzas

 Romance

 To Helen

 Israfel

 The city in the Sea

 The Sleeper

 The Valley of Unrest

 Lenore

 The Raven

 A Valentine

 Ulalume--A Ballad

 For Annie

 Annabel Lee

 The Bells

 Alone

 Bibliography