Edgar Allan Poe, The Purloined Letter

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Poe wrote to J.R. Lowell in 1844 that “The Purloined Letter” is probably “the best of [his] tales of ratiocination” (Poe 3:972). Mabbott believes that its “great merit” lies in the “purely intellectual plot” and “absence of the sensational” (Poe 3:972). The tale was “hastily completed” for the Philadelphian annual The Gift, in which it was published in September of 1844; an abridged version followed in Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal in November of that same year (Poe 3:972). By 1845 the tale was again reprinted, in Poe’s own collection Tales, and a French translation soon followed in the Parisian

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Citation: Sucur, Slobodan. "The Purloined Letter". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 January 2017 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7496, accessed 28 March 2024.]

7496 The Purloined Letter 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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