The Conchologist's First Book
The Conchologist's First Book (sometimes subtitled with Or, A System of Testaceous Malacology) is an illustrated textbook on conchology issued in 1839, 1840, and 1845. The book was originally printed under Edgar Allan Poe's name. The text was based on Manual of Conchology by Thomas Wyatt, an English author and lecturer.[1]
Author
English
Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell
1839
United States
Preparation of the text and publication[edit]
Wyatt's original book, Manual of Conchology, had been published by Harper & Brothers. Wyatt's book contained multiple illustrations of shells and carried the cover price of $8, a price too high for both beginners and advanced students of conchology. Wyatt intended a cheaper, concise edition to be used in schools with a price of $1.50, but Harper's did not want to produce a second edition that would compete with sales of the first.[2] Poe was an experienced editor at the time, but was still facing financial difficulties. Wyatt had said, "Poe needed money very sorely at the time," and so Poe allowed the use of his name to popularize the book.[3] The Philadelphia-based publishing firm Haswell, Barrington, and Haswell paid Poe $50 for the right to use his name on the title page.[1] However, Poe's contribution was not just his name. In addition to writing the preface and introduction, Poe made some significant changes to Wyatt's original text. Poe translated the French text by Georges Cuvier into English, worked on the accounts of the animals, constructed a new classification scheme, and organized the book. [4][5] Poe also drew on his acquaintance and association with Dr. Edmund Ravenel, an "eminent conchologist", who had resided on Sullivan's Island during Poe's army service.[6]
Significance[edit]
The American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould wrote that Poe made significant contributions to the text by his editing and, more importantly, by translating Cuvier's passages into English.[13][14] John H. Lienhard contends that in simplifying a rather esoteric subject, Poe made significant contributions in popularizing science in the United States.[15]