cambridge studies in american literature
and culture
Editor
Ross Posnock, University of Washington
Founding Editor
Albert Gelpi, Stanford University
Advisory Board
Nina Baym, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Sacvan Bercovitch, Harvard University
Ron Bush, St. John's College, Oxford University
Albert Gelpi, Stanford University
Myra Jehlen, Rutgers University
Carolyn Porter, University of California, Berkeley
Robert Stepto, Yale University
Books in the series:
123 Jeffrey A. Hammond, The American Puritan Elegy: A Literary and
Cultural Study
122 Carole Doreski, Writing America Black: Race Rhetoric and the Public Sphere
121 Eric Wertheimer, Imagined Empires: Incas, Aztecs, and the New World
of American Literature, 1771±1876
120 Emily Miller Budick, Blacks and Jews in Literary Dialogue
119 Mick Gidley, Edward S. Curtis and the North American Indian, Inc.
118 Wilson Moses, Afrocentrism, Antimodernism, and Utopia
117 Lindon Barrett, Blackness and Value: Seeing Double
116 Lawrence Howe, Mark Twain and the Novel: The Double-Cross of Authority
115 Janet Casey, Dos Passos and the Ideology of the Feminine
114 Caroline Levander, Voices of the Nation: Women and Public Speech in
Nineteenth-Century American Literature and Culture
113 Harryette Mullen, Freeing the Soul: Race, Subjectivity, and Difference in
Slave Narratives
112 Dennis A. Foster, Sublime Enjoyment: On the Perverse Motive in
American Literature
List continues at end of book
POE AND THE
PRINTED WORD
KEVIN J. HAYES
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA
477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia
Ruiz de Alarcón 13, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Dock House, The Waterfront, Cape Town 8001, South Africa
http://www.cambridge.org
First published in printed format
ISBN 0-521-66276-1 hardback
ISBN 0-511-03381-8 eBook
Kevin J. Hayes 2004
2000
(Adobe Reader)
©
In honor of
Lawrence C. Wroth
Contents
Prefacepagexi
Listofabbreviationsxvii
1Thestudentandthebook1
2Poetryinmanuscriptandprint17
3Baltimorebookculture30
4Booksellers'banquet45
5Thenovel58
6Poe'slibrary74
7Cheapbooksandexpensivemagazines87
8TheroadtoLiteraryAmerica98
Conclusion112
Notes116
Bibliography130
Index138
ix
Preface
Modern criticism often ignores the signi®cance of the printed page.
Such neglect is partially understandable. As literary texts grow in
reputation, they are perpetuated in numerous popular and scholarly
editions. Texts become increasingly removed from the form of their
original publication, and these removals affect interpretation. The
appearance of the printed page, however, shapes the reader's
understanding of the text it contains. ``The Balloon Hoax'' provides
a useful example. In most modern editions of Edgar Allan Poe's
short stories, its text is uniform with the rest of the pieces in the
collection. Each story appears in the same-sized type with identically
spaced margins and the same or similar headings. The uniform
appearance of the work among other short stories removes any
doubt about its ®ctional nature. So does its title. Originally, it was
not called ``The Balloon Hoax.'' It only gained that title in the oral
culture after its ®ctional status became known. Containing the word
``hoax,'' the title lets readers know the story is undoubtedly a
product of Poe's imagination.
The story's ®rst appearance in print was designed to make it
closely resemble a factual account. Poe convinced Moses Y. Beach,
editor of the New York Sun, to publish it as part of an Extra Sun.In
terms of format, the story looked similar to any of the day's
newspaper articles. It had a dateline as well as a multi-part headline
characteristic of urgent news with bold-faced capitals, bold italics,
and exclamation marks. The story was set in multiple columns, and
the paper included other items, as any paper would. It also
contained a woodcut illustration of the model balloon on which the
full-scale one purportedly was based. The woodcut image made the
technology Poe described more tangible and added further credence.
When it ®rst appeared, the hoax was a success, and many people
accepted it as truth until they heard reports to the contrary. Unlike
xi
his earlier balloon story, ``Hans Phaall,'' this new article contained
nothing beyond the pale of contemporary scienti®c technology. Well
aware that an ocean-crossing balloon was feasible, Poe had only to
convince his readers. The story's publication as a newspaper extra,
however, even more than its realistic detail, made it convincing. Had
the work appeared in another medium, say as a magazine article or
a separately published pamphlet, few contemporary readers would
have been duped. The newspaper extra was the medium for urgent
news. Perhaps more than its text, the story's printed appearance
made the hoax successful.
Sensitive to the impact of print on interpretation, Poe developed
as a writer, in part, by allowing changes in print culture to shape his
work. In the present study, I examine the interrelationship between
various facets of print culture and Poe's writings ± verse, criticism,
and ®ction. Organized thematically, this volume devotes different
chapters to separate print genres or to separate aspects of Poe's life
and works. It is also organized in a rough chronological order,
starting with Poe's early exposure to the printed word and ending
with the ambitious magazine and book projects of his ®nal lustrum.
In a way, the present study can be considered a focused biography,
for it examines Poe's life and work as they speci®cally relate to
contemporary print culture. Part biography, part literary history, and
part history of the book, this volume examines Poe's art and thought
from a new perspective.
While I assume my readers are generally familiar with Poe's work,
it is not essential to have read all of his writings to follow this book. I
have tried to give enough background information to allow initiates
to read with ease, yet not so much to weary seasoned Poe scholars.
The volume has been designed for a wide readership: undergradu-
ates taking their ®rst survey course in American literature, graduate
students, Poe scholars, historians of the book, or anyone who
appreciates Poe's writings and enjoys learning more about the man
and his oeuvre. Though this book speci®cally concentrates on Poe's
relationship to contemporary print culture, it also serves as a general
overview of his writing.
The ®rst chapter, ``The Student and the Book,'' examines Poe's
earliest contacts with the printed word, looking at the books he read
as a student in England and Virginia. Poe's British education opened
his eyes to the world of books, and he read a variety of schooltexts
and rudimentary literature there. Returning to Richmond, Virginia,
xii Preface
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