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.")
Begins:
HORROR and fatality have been stalking abroad in all ages. Why then give a date to this story I have to tell? Let it suffice to say, that at the period of which I speak, there existed, in the interior of Hungary, a settled although hidden belief in the doctrines of the Metempsychosis. Of the doctrines themselves - that is, of their falsity, or of their probability - I say nothing. I assert, however, that much of our incredulity - as La Bruyere says of all our unhappiness - "_vient de ne pouvoir être seuls_." {*1}
But there are some points in the Hungarian superstition which were fast verging to absurdity. They - the Hungarians - differed very essentially from their Eastern authorities. For example, "_The soul_," said the former - I give the words of an acute and intelligent Parisian - "_ne demeure qu'un seul fois dans un corps sensible: au reste - un cheval, un chien, un homme meme, n'est que la ressemblance peu tangible de ces animaux._"
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