The Raven: by Edgar Allan Poe with Classic Illustrations

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) was an American writer and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a one of the key figures of American Literature Romanticism and was one of the United States earliest practitioners of the short story. Equally Poe is often considered the inventor of both the detective fiction genre and helping the emergence of the science fiction genre. With all this still to this day “The Raven” stands out as the most often synonymous with his name. Gustave Dore (1832-1883) was one of the busiest, most in-demand artists of the 19th century, made his name illustrating works by such authors as Rabelais, Balzac, Milton, and Dante. The engravings here made just before his death (and published posthumous) are a example of the skill he possessed to bring such vivid tales to life. Here they are presented in a new way. Not with single line accompaniments but whole stanzas to shed a new way at seeing them both. Part of a new six-volume series of the best in classic horror. The Raven, Tales and Poems is a landmark new anthology of Poe’s work, which defied convention, shocked readers, and confounded critics. This selection of Poe’s writings demonstrates the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. “The Fall of the House of Usher” describes the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In “The Tell Tale Heart,” a murderer’s insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Cask of Amontillado” explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate. The title narrative poem, maybe Poe’s most famous work, follows a man’s terrifying descent into madness after the loss of a lover.