1895 Rare Book - Weird Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, Illustrated

Author: Edgar Allan Poe.
Title: Weird Tales.
Publisher: Philadelphia, Henry Altemus, 1895.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 6 x 4.5 inches.
Pages: 258 pages + publisher’s catalogue.
Binding: Very good publisher’s original green cloth binding, richly decorated in gilt and red with an ornate central panel and decorative border; spine lettered and ornamented in gilt (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown, upper cover with slight staining - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. A striking and refined late Victorian binding.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing or toning - as shown, small paper clip offsetting now removed of page 28 - as shown). 
Illustrations: Illustrated with a portrait frontispiece of Poe and eight full-page black-and-white illustrations. Complete.

Estimate: (USD 250–325).

The book: A finely produced late 19th-century edition of Poe’s haunting tales, issued by Henry Altemus, a publisher renowned for elegant and affordable literary editions; this volume gathers some of Poe’s most celebrated stories, including The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher, and The Pit and the Pendulum, presented in a compact and highly decorative format; the ornate binding, with its rich gilt and red arabesque design, reflects the aesthetic sensibilities of the period, where even modestly priced books were conceived as objects of beauty; a compelling and atmospheric edition that captures the enduring fascination of Poe’s dark imagination.

The author: Edgar Allan Poe remains one of the most influential figures in American literature; a master of the macabre and the psychological tale, he shaped the modern short story and laid the foundations of detective fiction; his works continue to captivate readers with their intensity, musical prose, and exploration of the human psyche.