Poe wrote to J.R. Lowell in 1844 that “The Purloined Letter” is probably “the best of [his] tales of ratiocination” (Poe 3:972). Mabbott believes that its “great merit” lies in the “purely intellectual plot” and “absence of the sensational” (Poe 3:972). The tale was “hastily completed” for the Philadelphian annual The Gift, in which it was published in September of 1844; an abridged version followed in Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal in November of that same year (Poe 3:972). By 1845 the tale was again reprinted, in Poe’s own collection Tales, and a French translation soon followed in the Parisian Magasin pittoresque for August of 1845 (Poe 3:973). While possible that the Queen of France at the time, Marie Amélie (c. 1830s), is being referenced in the story, as is the “Citizen King” Louis Philippe, Mabbott doubts...
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Citation: Sucur, Slobodan. "The Purloined Letter". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 January 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7496, accessed 09 June 2026.]
