Robinson Crusoe es un marino de York que, en una expedicion por Africa en barco, es capturado por unos piratas y se convierte en esclavo. Consigue escapar y es ayudado por un capitan de marina portugues, que se dirige a Brasil. En este ultimo lugar se establece por un tiempo pero surge la opcion de navegar nuevamente a Africa en busca de negros para asistir las necesidades domesticas de el y un grupo de inmigrantes en Brasil; es alli donde el barco naufraga y es el unico superviviente, logrando llegar a una isla de la que parece ser el unico habitante.

Poe's detective character C. Auguste Dupin and his sidekick the unnamed narrator undertake the unsolved murder of Marie Roget in Paris. The body of Roget, a perfume shop employee, is found in the Seine River and the press takes a keen interest in the mystery. Dupin remarks that the newspapers "create a sensation ... rather] than to further the cause of truth." Even so, he uses the newspaper reports to get into the mind of the murderer.

Nonostante Poe sia universalmente conosciuto come scrittore di storie di mistero, di introspezione - spesso dolorosa - e di morte, fu anche autore di racconti satirici e spesso comici molti dei quali tesi a una feroce critica di certa letteratura popolare del suo tempo.

Dans cette nouvelle, William Legrand, trouve un magnifique scarabee dore sur l'Ile Sullivan en Caroline du Sud ou ce fils de bonne famille dechu est venu fuir la misere. Apparemment en or massif, le scarabee va tourmenter son esprit jusqu'a l'obsession. La decouverte d'un message mysterieux, esquisse griffonnee sur un vieux parchemin, va alors engendrer pour les protagonistes une serie de rebondissements melant suspense et cryptologie: Legrand, accompagne par son fidele serviteur Jupiter et suivi par son ami narrateur, se lance a la poursuite du tresor du celebre Cap'tain Kidd dans une...

William Legrand has relocated from New Orleans to Sullivan's Island in South Carolina after losing his family fortune, and has brought his African-American servant Jupiter with him. The story's narrator, a friend of Legrand, visits him one evening to see an unusual scarab-like bug he has found. The bug's weight and lustrous appearance convince Jupiter that it is made of pure gold. Legrand has lent it to an officer stationed at a nearby fort, but he draws a sketch of it for the narrator, with markings on the carapace that resemble a skull.

Cuenta el hallazgo de un tesoro. La aventura ocurre en el siglo XVIII en la isla de Sullivan, cerca de Charleston. El narrador relata un suceso de la amistad que entablo con William Legrand (un hombre solitario), quien vivia en la isla con un ya liberado sirviente llamado Jupiter. En una de sus visitas a su amigo Legrand, el melancolico hombre le comento que habia encontrado un escarabajo que parecia de oro. Legrand dibujo el insecto en un pergamino y lo entrego a su amigo para que lo observara, pero su allegado solo atino a decir que el dibujo parecia una calavera, Legrand malhumorado tomo...

When its publication was announced in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, its one-line description said that its title "pretty well indicates their stories'] character." There has been some debate, however, over the meaning of Poe's terms "Grotesque" and "Arabesque." Poe probably had seen the terms used by Sir Walter Scott in his essay "On the Supernatural in Fictitious Composition." Both terms refer to a type of Islamic art used to decorate walls, especially in mosques. These art styles are known for their complex nature. Poe had used the term "arabesque" in this sense in his essay "The...

Double assassinat dans la rue Morgue (The Murders in the Rue Morgue dans l'edition originale) est une nouvelle d'Edgar Allan Poe, parue en avril 1841 dans le Graham's Magazine, traduite en francais d'abord par Isabelle Meunier puis, en 1856, par Charles Baudelaire dans le recueil Histoires extraordinaires. C'est la premiere apparition du detective invente par Poe, le Chevalier Dupin qui doit faire face a une histoire de meurtre incomprehensible pour la police.

The story opens with a lengthy explanation of ratiocination. Dupin demonstrates his prowess by deducing his companion's thoughts as if through apparent supernatural power. The story then turns to the baffling double murder of Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter at their home in the Rue Morgue, a fictional street in Paris. According to newspaper accounts, the mother was found in a yard behind the house, with multiple broken bones and her throat so deeply cut that her head fell off when the body was moved. The daughter was found strangled to death and stuffed upside down into a chimney.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Brookenham host an effete, rather corrupt social circle. They are the parents of worthless Harold and sweet but knowledgeable Nanda (age eighteen). Mr. Longdon attends one of their social functions and is amazed at how much Nanda resembles her grandmother, his long-ago love who married another man. Vanderbank, a young civil servant with little money, admires both Mrs. Brookenham (nicknamed "Mrs. Brook") and Nanda. Mrs. Brook seems to want an affair with "Van" but he appears more interested in Nanda. Mr. Longdon promises him a dowry if he marries Nanda.