The Domain of Arnheim
Edgar Allan Poe’s The Domain of Arnheim was originally published in 1842.
The Domain of Arnheim is a tale of an extremely wealthy man named “Ellison” who desires to express “the true character, the august aims, the supreme majesty and dignity of the poetic sentiment”. He achieves his goal through creating “Arnheim”, a castle and landscape-garden of supreme loveliness. As Ellison says, man can’t affect the “general condition of man”, but must be “thrown back…upon self”. The first half of the story is a discussion of Ellison’s philosophies concerning man and nature, and the second a detailed description of Arnheim itself.
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, The Domain of Arnheim, in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
Extract from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Domain of Arnheim:
Mr. Ellison would have found himself precipitated, by the very extraordinary success of his life, into the common vortex of unhappiness which yawns for those of pre-eminent endowments. But it is by no means my object to pen an essay on happiness. The ideas of my friend may be summed up in a few words. He admitted but four elementary principles, or more strictly, conditions of bliss. That which he considered chief was (strange to say!) the simple and purely physical one of free exercise in the open air. “The health,” he said, “attainable by other means is scarcely worth the name.” He instanced the ecstasies of the fox-hunter, and pointed to the tillers of the earth, the only people who, as a class, can be fairly considered happier than others. His second condition was the love of woman. His third, and most difficult of realization, was the contempt of ambition. His fourth was an object of unceasing pursuit; and he held that, other things being equal, the extent of attainable happiness was in proportion to the spirituality of this object.
***
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 ‘The Domain of Arnheim’, 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.
