One of the Tales of the Folio Club which comprised of eleven tales, (although he later claimed that there were sixteen tales). Since the collection was never actually published, and Poe did not leave a table of contents for this collection, the precise tales it contained are the subject of some discussion. Nine of the tales have generally been accepted, while the remaining two are a matter of conjecture. Following each of the tales listed below is the name, in parentheses, of the fictious author from Poe's introduction.
- "Introduction"
- "Lionizing" - (Mabbott gives the author as Mr. Snap. Hammond attributes it to the anonymous narrator.)
- "The Visionary" (later renamed "The Assignation") - (Both Mabbott and Hammond give the author as Convolvulus Gondola.)
- "Bon-Bon" - (Both Mabbott and Hammond give the author as De Rerum Natura.)
- "MS. Found in a Bottle" - (Both Mabbott and Hammond give the author as Mr. Solomon Seadrift.)
- "Metzengerstein" - (Both Mabbott and Hammond give the author as Horrible Dictu.)
- "Loss of Breath" - (Both Mabbott and Hammond give the author as Mr. Blackwood Blackwood.)
- "The Duc de L'Omelette" - (Both Mabbott and Hammond give the author as Mr. Rouge-et-Noir.)
- "Epimanes" (later renamed "Four Beasts in One") - (Mabbott give the author as the unnamed "stout gentleman who admired Sir Walter Scott". Hammond attributes it to Chronolgos Chronology.)
- "Siope--A Fable" (later renamed "Silence--A Fable") - (Mabbott gives the author as the anonymous narrator. Hammond attributes it to the unnamed "very little man in the black coat.")
- T. O. Mabbott gives as the other two tales:
- "Shadow" - (The unnamed "very little man in a black coat.")
- "A Tale of Jerusalem" - (Chronologos Chronology)
- Alexander Hammond gives instead, these tales:
- "Raising the Wind; or Diddling Considered as One of the Exact Sciences" - (Hammond attributes it to Mr. Snap.)
- "King Pest" - (Hammond attributes it to the unnamed "stout gentleman who admired Sir. Walter Scott.")
The story begins:
THE MOST notorious ill-fortune must in the end yield to the untiring courage of philosophy -- as the most stubborn city to the ceaseless vigilance of an enemy. Shalmanezer, as we have it in holy writings, lay three years before Samaria; yet it fell. Sardanapalus -- see Diodorus -- maintained himself seven in Nineveh; but to no purpose. Troy expired at the close of the second lustrum; and Azoth, as Aristaeus declares upon his honour as a gentleman, opened at last her gates to Psammetichus, after having barred them for the fifth part of a century....
Download Loss Of Breath from Project Gutenberg
or find a hard copy