Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1919) – by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Harry Clarke

This haunting 1919 edition of Tales of Mystery & Imagination presents Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre masterpieces through the mesmerizing, nightmarish illustrations of Harry Clarke. Published by George G. Harrap & Co. in London, the book features Clarke’s intricate black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings, where sinewy figures, spectral landscapes, and gothic architecture coil together in hypnotic detail. His artwork for stories like The Fall of the House of Usher and The Pit and the Pendulum amplifies Poe’s psychological horror, blending Art Nouveau flourishes with a grotesque, almost hallucinatory intensity. The volume also includes stunning color plates, where Clarke’s use of jewel tones—deep blues, blood reds, and eerie greens—lends a surreal, stained-glass luminosity to the tales.

The Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales was Clarke’s first printed work in 1916 – a title that included 16 color plates and more than 24 monotone illustrations. This was closely followed by an illustrations for an edition of Edgar Alan Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination – the first version of that title was restricted to monotone illustrations while a second edition with 8 new color plates and more than 24 monotone images was later published in 1923. Both are present in our illustrations gallery.

A masterpiece of dark artistry, this Clarke-illustrated Poe is a must for lovers of gothic horror and bibliophiles alike—a tome where every page whispers with dread and beauty.

About the Illustrator
Harry Clarke (1889–1931) was an Irish artist and stained-glass designer whose illustrations became synonymous with the darker realms of fantasy. Influenced by Aubrey Beardsley and Symbolism, Clarke’s style fused meticulous detail with decadent horror, making him the perfect interpreter of Poe’s work. Though he died young, his legacy endures in this edition, considered one of the greatest illustrated books of the 20th century.

Recommended for Collectors

• Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1916) illustrated by Clarke – For his equally chilling take on fairy tales
• The Raven (1884) illustrated by Gustave Dore – A stark, earlier visual interpretation of Poe
• The Vinegar Works (1963) by Edward Gorey – For a modern heir to Clarke’s gothic whimsy

Other books illustrated by the great Harry Clarke are also available for perusal in our gallery: Faust, The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault, Selected Poems of Charles Swinburne, Andersen’s Fairy Tales, Year’s at the Spring.

Art Gallery: Harry Clarke – Edgar A. Poe’s Tales of Mystery & Imagination 1919