1889 Rare Book - Arthur Gordon Pym by Edgar Allan Poe, Illustrated by McCormick
Author: Edgar Allan Poe. Illustrated by A. D. McCormick.
Title: Arthur Gordon Pym. A Romance.
Publisher: New York: New Amsterdam Book Company, [circa 1889].
Language: Text in English.
Size: 8 x 5 inches.
Pages: vi + 265 pages + publisher's add.
Binding: Attractive and very good, publisher’s original royal-blue cloth binding, richly decorated in bright gilt with floral vertical motifs and a radiant sun-over-waves design to the front board, gilt titles and ornaments to the spine(hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. A clean, bright, and highly decorative example of this late-Victorian illustrated printing.
Content: Very good content (clean, tight, and bright, with light toning to the margins and only occasional foxing – as shown).
Illustrations: Illustrated with eight full-page black-and-white plates by A. D. McCormick, including the striking “Death Ship” frontispiece. All illustrations are present as listed.
Estimate: (Scarce with no or few other copies of this particular edition available for sale worldwide).
The book: A handsome late-19th-century illustrated edition of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, Poe’s only full-length novel and one of the most enigmatic and influential adventure tales of its era. First published in 1838, the novel blends nautical realism, shipwreck, survival, and supernatural mystery, culminating in one of the most haunting endings in American literature.
This New Amsterdam Book Company edition captures the drama and atmosphere of Poe’s narrative through the expressive artwork of A. D. McCormick. His plates, from the terrifying wreck scenes to the ghostly closing vision, vividly enhance the tension and mood of the novel. Copies in such bright, richly gilt original cloth are increasingly scarce and highly desirable to collectors of Poe and 19th-century illustrated fiction.
The author: Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was one of America’s defining literary voices—poet, editor, critic, and pioneer of the modern short story. Renowned for The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher, Poe shaped the genres of horror, detective fiction, and psychological suspense. Arthur Gordon Pym stands alone in his oeuvre as his only novel, a work that later inspired Herman Melville, Jules Verne, and H. P. Lovecraft, and that continues to fascinate for its symbolism, ambiguity, and visionary intensity.
The illustrator: A. D. McCormick (1860–1943) was a British artist and illustrator celebrated for his dynamic and atmospheric contributions to adventure and maritime literature. His illustrations for Arthur Gordon Pym are among his most evocative, capturing both the perilous physical world of the novel and its growing sense of the uncanny. Through dramatic compositions and bold contrasts, McCormick’s artwork deepens Poe’s narrative and provides one of the most memorable visual interpretations of the text.