Poe, Edgar Allan

8vo (7 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.; 186 x 122 mm). Publisher's tan printed wrappers; lacking rear wrapper, spine mostly perished but with printed spine title largely intact, front wrapper detached with loss at corners outside of printed rule, some light soiling and dampstaining, the blank endpaper, half-title, title and contents page with light dampstain which becomes more marginal and fainter through 60 pages with remainder of text unusually clean and unfoxed, ads at rear. Modern cloth box.

BAL 16146; Grolier American 55

see cataloguing
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First edition, second issue with the omission of the Ludwig imprint. A newly discovered Tales in wrappers, Just over a handful of  copies of the first issue in wrappers survive  (six or  seven in varying states of defect or repair). Another copy with the wrappers well preserved but bound into a later morocco binding was sold in these rooms 14 December, 2012, lot 76 ($80,000 hammer). Without a doubt the first issue of Tales in any unsophisticated binding is rare, but the second issue is also distinctly scarce as the majority were bound up with copies of  The Raven and so only usually seen in that 2 volumes in 1 reissue.  No example of this issue as originally intended, as a single volume, can be found  in ABPC as having sold in the past 30 years and certainly not one in the wrappers  (apparently not seen by BAL either).

The birth of the detective story and the "cornerstone of cornerstones and the highest of high spots." (Queen's Quorum 1).