The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe: Poe's Legacy and Griswold's Authority

As the first of the posthumous attempts at a comprehensive collection of Poe's works, the edition prepared by Rufus Wilmot Griswold has long held a significant place in the history of Poe's texts. In some cases, it serves as a repository for what may be the final versions authorized by Poe, but this status has often been overshadowed by Griswold's complicated relationship with his subject. Aside from its dominant role in the formative period of Poe's evolving reputation, questions have repeatedly been raised, dismissed, and debated in regard to the authority of the edition, and consequently the proper place of the texts it contains in modern appraisals of Poe's literary legacy.