Originally published in 1848, Edgar Allen Poe's "Eureka" stands as the single most important expression of the philosophic views on which all of his literary endeavours depend. Put in the context of Melville's "Moby Dick", Thoreau's "Walden", Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", and the music of Liszt and Wagner, it is an explosive, startlingly unconventional creation of the High Romantic era. Representing Poe's fantastical thoughts on how the universe was formed and what its future might be, this user-friendly critical edition is also the first to put "Eureka" in proper context. It includes Poe's proposed emendations to the text and sources and explains the setting in which it was produced, tying "Eureka" to world trends in philosophy and fast-breaking news in astronomy. To compile this definitive text, the Levines travelled to the special collections departments of various libraries to examine Poe's own notes on the various drafts. They also consulted with Poe scholars, classicists, and historians of astronomy. The result of their meticulous scholarship is a deep, broad, and thoroughly useful volume, essential for Poe scholars and valuable to anyone interested in American literature or the roots of science fiction.

Review

"Eureka, Poe's testament, the synthesis of his analytic ideas, offers itself as a treatise on nothing less than cosmology. Having begun as a scientific lecture, it winds up as an apocalyptic revelation... It may be read as a rationalistic counterstatement to the metaphysics of Transcendentalism, or as a pioneering experiment in the embryonic genre of science fiction... 'Eureka!' is his heart-cry. 'I have found it!' he breathlessly seems to announce." -- Harry Levin in The Power of Blackness

From the Publisher

Hesperus Press, as suggested by their Latin motto, Et remotissima prope, is dedicated to bringing near what is far—far both in space and time. Works by illustrious authors, often unjustly neglected or simply little known in the English–speaking world, are made accessible through a completely fresh editorial approach or new translations. Through these short classic works, which feature forewords by leading contemporary authors, the modern reader will be introduced to the greatest writers of Europe and America. An elegantly designed series of exceptional books.