The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present – 1843: (Includes the first appearance of Edgar A Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum")

The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843- (Includes the first appearance of Edgar A Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum") was copywritten in 1842 and published in 1843 by Carey and Hart in Philadelphia. The 328 gilt-edged page book is bound in a medium tan, age toned leather binding with beautiful ornate floral gilt tooling on both front and back pages. The book measures approximately 4 ¾ inches wide by 7 ½ inches tall by 1 inch thick.

The book, which was intended to be presented as a gift during the year end holidays, has an inscription on the front end paper that reads "Walter Port?? Manton From his Grandfather Joseph Manton, 25 december 1870". On the following page is written "Joseph B. Manton, Oct 10, 184?". On the rear end paper is written "Jan 5, 1843 – E. J. M., Providence". It appears that this copy of the book may have been passed between generations.

The contents of the book consists of 23 literary pieces by many authors, with the highlight, from today's perspective, being the first appearance of Edgar A Poe's story, "The Pit and the Pendulum" (pages 133-151). As cited in Wikipedia, ""The Pit and the Pendulum" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The narrator of the story describes his experience of being tortured. The story is especially effective at inspiring fear in the reader because of its heavy focus on the senses, such as sound, emphasizing its reality, unlike many of Poe's stories which are aided by the supernatural."

The illustrations accompanying this description show the book's covers, a 2-page spread of the copyright page and Publisher's Advertisement, the first page of the table of Contents, with The Pit and the Pendulum shown to begin on page 133, , a 2-page spread showing the remainder of the table of Contents and the List of the eight illustrative Plates (all of which are in place with their tissue guards), and the first page of the Poe story.

The book's cover is a bit rubbed at the edges, shows signs of age and usage. The text pages are clear and easily read. Some pages are detached. The overall condition of the book is good/very good.

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor, and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. [Wikipedia]