Bierce and the Poe Hoax
San Francisco: The Book Club of California, 1934.
Limited Edition. Hardcover.
#143 of a Limited Edition of 250 copies printed at the Windsor Press. With an Introduction by Carey McWilliams.
In a plot hatched by Ambrose Bierce, San Francisco Examiner editor Carroll Carrington, and poet Hermann Scheffauer, a poem entitled The Sea of Serenity and purporting to be an unpublished work by Edgar Allan Poe was published in the Examiner on March 12, 1899. Bierce lauded the poem and encouraged readers and scholars to weigh in on whether or not they liked the poem or believed it to be a lost Poe masterpiece. The furor Bierce hoped to kindle with the poem's publication and his reaction to it never materialized and Scheffauer eventually admitted in print that the poem had been written by him. This work describes the events leading up to publication of the poem and its reception. The poem is printed in full here as well. Carrol Hall suggests that there were many notable headlines following the poem's publication that grabbed readers' attention - including events during the Spanish American War and publication of a new poem by Edwin Markham (The Man with the Hoe, published January 15, 1899, followed by publication of fresh material by and about him) - that absorbed readers' interest and commentary in the early part of 1899.
Item #9019377-5/8 x 10-5/8", blue cloth with paper title label spine and front board, vi, 24pp, frontis. portrait of Ambrose Bierce, 3 illustrations in the text.
In fine condition.
Price: $150.00