A Tale of the Ragged Mountains

Edgar Allan Poe’s short story, A Tale of the Ragged Mountains was originally published in 1844.

An unnamed narrator recounts the story of Augustus Bedloe, a sufferer of neuralgia who was once under the care of an aged physician and devotee to the theory of mesmerism. After imbibing his daily dose of coffee and morphine, Bedloe embarks on his usual walk to the Ragged Mountains, but finds himself in entirely unusual surroundings. This tale is a classic example of Poe’s early science fiction.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American author, editor, poet, and critic. Most famous for his stories of mystery and horror, he was one of the first American short story writers, and is widely considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre.

We are republishing this vintage text, A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

Extract from Edgar Allan Poe’s A Tale of the Ragged Mountains:

The temperature of Bedloe was, in the highest degree sensitive, excitable, enthusiastic. His imagination was singularly vigorous and creative; and no doubt it derived additional force from the habitual use of morphine, which he swallowed in great quantity, and without which he would have found it impossible to exist. It was his practice to take a very large dose of it immediately after breakfast each morning- or, rather, immediately after a cup of strong coffee, for he ate nothing in the forenoon- and then set forth alone, or attended only by a dog, upon a long ramble among the chain of wild and dreary hills that lie westward and southward of Charlottesville, and are there dignified by the title of the Ragged Mountains.

Upon a dim, warm, misty day, toward the close of November, and during the strange interregnum of the seasons which in America is termed the Indian Summer, Mr. Bedloe departed as usual for the hills. The day passed, and still he did not return.

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Here, at edgarallanpoe.co.uk, you can find the best of this fantastic author’s novels, short stories, essays, and poems.

You can also find a biography of Edgar Allan Poe, along with some of his most famous quotes and loved poems.

Through republishing works such as ‘A Tale of the Ragged Mountains’, it is hoped that the writing of this author of mystery and the macabre, can continue to delight – almost two centuries after its initial publication.

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