A Classic Crime Collection (40 page)

18
.   
Epicurus:
Greek philosopher (341–270
B
.
C
.) who taught that all matter is made up of atoms floating in space.

19
.   
Perdidit antiquum litera prima sonum:
Poe gives a quote from the Roman poet Ovid’s
Fasti:
“The first letter has lost its original sound.”

20
.   
Napoleons:
Twenty-franc gold coins.

21
.   
métal d’Alger:
A metal made in Algiers from a combination of lead, tin, and antimony.

22
.   
robe-de-chambre—pour mieux entendre la musique:
That is, calling for his robe so that he can understand the music better. Dupin is quoting a play by Molière,
Le bourgeois gentilhomme,
in which Jourdain, the eponymous bourgeois, believes that the trappings of nobility will give him the finer sensibilities of a nobleman. In the same way, Dupin says, the French police make a big show of their efficiency, although they have no real intelligence.

23
.   
Vidocq:
Eugène François Vidocq (1775–1857), Napoleon Bonaparte’s minister of police, whom critics have speculated was an inspiration for Dupin.

24
.   
Truth is not always in a well:
A reference to the Greek philosopher Democritus’ claim that “Truth lies at the bottom of a well.”

25
.   
loge de concierge:
A doorkeeper’s apartment.

26
.   
Je les ménageais:
French (idiomatic): “I handled them carefully” (or tactfully).

27
.   
outré:
Unusual, strange.

28
.   
a posteriori:
Latin: “after the fact”; drawn based on previous experience and empirical evidence.

29
.   
Maison de Santé:
Sanitarium, or insane asylum.

30
.   
Cuvier:
French naturalist Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), author of
The Animal Kingdom
(1817).

31
.   
au troisième:
French: “on the third floor.”

32
.   
Neufchâtelish:
A reference to the supposedly uncultured people of the Neufchâtel region of France.

33
.   
Jardin des Plantes:
A botanical garden in Paris.

34
.   
Laverna:
The Roman goddess of impostors and frauds.

35
.   
‘de nier . . . n’est pas.’:
The French translates thus: “of denying what is, and explaining what is not,” a line from Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s
Julie ou la Nouvelle Héloise
(1760).

The Purloined Letter

1
.   
The Purloined Letter:
Originally published in
The Gift: A Christmas, New Year, and Birthday Present
(1845).

2
.   
Nil sapientiæ . . . —
Seneca:
Latin: “Nothing is more hateful to wisdom than too much cunning.” Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger, c. 4
B
.
C
.–
A
.
D
. 65,) was a Roman dramatist, statesman, and Stoic philosopher.

3
.   
meerschaum:
A kind of pipe, named for the hard white clay material used to make the bowl.

4
.   
au troisième:
French: “on the third floor.”

5
.   
au fait:
Well informed.

6
.   
Abernethy:
John Abernethy (1764–1831), a London-born physician known for his sense of humor as well as his medical expertise.

7
.   
escritoire:
A writing desk.

8
.   
Procrustean bed:
In Greek legend, Procrustes (“He who stretches”) was a villainous host who fitted his guests to the bed he had for them, stretching them on a rack if they were too short for it and cutting off their legs if they were too long. He was killed by the hero Theseus.

9
.   
Rochefoucault . . . Campanella:
François, duc de la Rochefoucauld (1613–1680), French moralist and author; La Bougive: possibly a mistaken reference to Jean de la Bruyère (1645–1696), a French writer; Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), Italian political philosopher; Tommaso Campanella (1568–1639), Dominican monk and author imprisoned for heresy.

10
.   
recherchés:
Exotic, strange, or elaborate.

11
.   
non distributio medii:
Latin: “undistributed middle,” a logical fallacy that makes an illegitimate connection between the major premise and the minor premise of an argument. Example: All students wear blue jeans. My mother wears blue jeans. My mother is a student.

12
.   
‘Il y a . . . plus grand nombre’:
Roughly, “It is safe to wager that every idea that is popular is a bit of stupidity, because it is suited to the opinion of the majority.” Chamfort was the pen name of Sébastien-Roch Nicholas, an eighteenth-century French writer, known for his epigrams.

13
.   
“if a term . . . ‘
honorable
men’ ”:
Dupin is making a distinction between distinguished men in society and honorable men, just as
ambitus
(a circuit, revolution) is distinct from “ambition” and
religio
(duty) is distinct from “religion.”

14
.   
Bryant:
Jacob Bryant (1715–1804), author of
A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology
.

15
.   
intrigant:
One who engages in secret plots or intrigues.

16
.   
vis inertiæ:
Latin: “power of inertia,” or the tendency for a body to remain at rest or in motion unless some force is applied to it.

17
.   
facilis descensus Averni:
Latin: “The descent to Hades is easy,” a line from Virgil’s
Aeneid
.

18
.   
Catalani:
Italian opera singer Angelica Catalani (1780–1849).

19
.   
monstrum horrendum:
Latin: “horrendous monster,” from Book III of the
Aeneid
; refers to the cyclops Polyphemus.

20
.   
Un dessein si . . . digne de Thyeste:
“So malevolent a plan, if unworthy of Atreus, is yet worthy of Thyeste.” From the play
Atrée et Thyeste
(1707), by Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (1674–1762).

The Gold-Bug

1
.   
The Gold-Bug:
Originally published in two installments in the Philadelphia
Dollar Newspaper,
June 21 and June 28, 1843.

2
.   
What ho! . . . —
All in the
Wrong
: Despite Poe’s attribution, these lines are not in Arthur Murphy’s 1761 comedy
All in the Wrong
. Poe either got the lines from another source or made them up. They refer to the conventional wisdom that the bite from a tarantula causes a mania for dancing.

3
.   
Huguenot:
A group of Calvinist Protestants who were driven out of France and relocated in America, among other places.

4
.   
Fort Moultrie:
U.S. Army fort on Sullivan’s Island near Charleston, South Carolina. Poe was stationed there from 1827 to 1828.

5
.   
Swammerdamm:
Dutch naturalist Jan Swammerdamm (1637–1680) pioneered use of the microscope.

6
.   
foolscap:
A long sheet of writing paper, originally named for its fool’s cap watermark.

7
.   
scarabœus caput hominis:
Latin: “man’s-head beetle.”

8
.   
him ’noovers:
Or “his maneuvers.”

9
.   
pissel:
Jupiter’s pronunciation of “epistle,” or letter.

10
.   
brusquerie:
An instance of being rude, or brusque.

11
.   
solus:
Latin: “alone.”

12
.   
empressement:
Pressure.

13
.   
curvets and caracols:
Equestrian terms for a leap (curvet) or a capering turn (caracol).

14
.   
bi-chloride of mercury:
A substance used to prevent deterioration of wood objects or museum pieces.

15
.   
Zaffre . . .
aqua regia:
Legrand is referring to an alchemical process: Zaffre is oxidized cobalt, and aqua regia is a solvent made from hydrochloric and nitric acids.

16
.   
regulus:
Metallic sludge that sinks to the bottom of a furnace during smelting.

17
.   
caloric:
Heating element.

18
.   
Golconda:
Or Golkonda, an ancient city in India, near present-day Hyderabad, famed for its diamond mines.

Ms. Found in a Bottle

1
.   
Ms. Found in a Bottle:
Originally published as the winner of a contest sponsored by the
Baltimore Saturday Visiter
, October 19, 1833.

2
.   
Qui n’a plus . . .
Quinault
—
Atys:
“He who has no more than a moment to live has nothing more to lie about,” a line from Philippe Quinault’s libretto for the opera
Atys
(1676), composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully.

3
.   
German moralists:
German writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, known for their rigorous moral and philosophical works.

4
.   
Pyrrhonism:
Skepticism; after Pyrrho, a Greek philosopher of the third century
B
.
C
.

5
.   
ignes fatui:
Latin: “foolish fire”; things that dazzle or deceive.

6
.   
Lachadive Islands:
Present-day Laccadive coral atolls in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of the Malabar region of India.

7
.   
coir, jaggeree, ghee:
Coir:
a fiber produced from the shells of coconuts;
jaggeree:
a sugar product made from palm sap;
ghee:
clarified butter, traditionally made from the milk of a water buffalo.

8
.   
crank:
Listing with unbalanced cargo and in danger of capsizing.

9
.   
grabs:
A variety of sailing ship used in the East India shipping trade.

10
.   
Malays:
People of Southeast Asia, particularly from the Malay Peninsula.

11
.   
simoon:
A strong, dry desert wind, here used to convey a powerful storm at sea.

12
.   
New Holland:
Former name of Australia.

13
.   
kraken:
Sea monster from Norse mythology, possibly based on the giant squid, which it resembles.

14
.   
East Indiaman:
A large merchant ship involved in the East India trade.

15
.   
press of sail:
The greatest amount of sail that a ship can carry safely.

16
.   
hove in stays:
A reference to a vessel as it tacks, that is, when the wind shifts from one side of the sails to the other.

17
.   
shifting-boards:
Removable partitions in the hold of a ship to keep cargo from shifting.

18
.   
ratlin-stuff:
Material for rope ladders.

19
.   
yawl:
A small utility boat for a ship.

20
.   
studding-sail:
A small sail used for extra thrust in good weather.

21
.   
top-gallant yard-arms:
The uppermost horizontal poles from which a ship’s sails are hung.

22
.   
sibyls:
Female prophets of Greek and Roman legend.

23
.   
Balbec, and Tadmor, and Persepolis:
Balbec:
also known as Baalbek, a city in current-day Lebanon;
Tadmor:
city in Syria, legendarily founded by King Solomon;
Persepolis:
capital of Persian kings, later looted by Alexander the Great.

24
.   
poop:
Enclosed superstructure of the stern of a ship.

A Descent into the Maelström

1
.   
A Descent into the Maelström:
Originally published in
Graham’s Magazine
, May 1841.

2
.   
The ways of God . . .
—Joseph Glanvill:
Poe is paraphrasing slightly a passage from Glanvill’s
Essays on Several Important Subjects in Philosophy and Religion
(1676). The “well of Democritus” refers to the Greek philosopher’s well-known claim that “truth lies at the bottom of a well.”

3
.   
Lofoden:
Or Lofoten, a Norwegian island group.

4
.   
Mare Tenebrarum:
Latin: “sea of darkness,” refers to the Atlantic Ocean, so called by al Idrisi, the “Nubian geographer” to whom the narrator refers.

5
.   
Jonas Ramus:
Jonas Danilssønn Ramus (1649–1718) was a Norwegian priest and historian. Ramus identified Scylla and Charybdis, the whirlpool and clashing rocks of the
Odyssey
, as the Maelström and its surrounding region.