ABSTRACT
(a) We have in this volume a number of tales, many of which show the ingenuity, rather than the capacity, of the author's mind. Mr Poe is familiar to us as a poet of considerable power. 1 We remember the fine conception and the musical execution of some of his stanzas, and, with these fresh in our mind, we confess ourselves disappointed by the present volume of Tales. The first story, ‘The Gold-Bug’, is only interesting from its strangeness. It tells of the discovery of some hidden treasure, by the solving of certain enigmatical figures. Viewed with the moral, the tale may be useful, as showing what a patient, earnest mind may accomplish. This is barely probable, and the tale will add no more to the stock of choice literature than the thousand and one stories that yearly fill the penny novelists.
