Originally published in 1848, Edgar Allen Poe's "Eureka" stands as the single most important expression of the philosophic views on which all of his literary endeavours depend. Put in the context of Melville's "Moby Dick", Thoreau's "Walden", Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", and the music of Liszt and Wagner, it is an explosive, startlingly unconventional creation of the High Romantic era. Representing Poe's fantastical thoughts on how the universe was formed and what its future might be, this user-friendly critical edition is also the first to put "Eureka" in proper context. It includes Poe's proposed emendations to the text and sources and explains the setting in which it was produced, tying "Eureka" to world trends in philosophy and fast-breaking news in astronomy. To compile this definitive text, the Levines travelled to the special collections departments of various libraries to examine Poe's own notes on the various drafts. They also consulted with Poe scholars, classicists, and historians of astronomy. The result of their meticulous scholarship is a deep, broad, and thoroughly useful volume, essential for Poe scholars and valuable to anyone interested in American literature or the roots of science fiction.

埃德加·爱伦·坡————作者

（Edgar Allan Poe，1809—1849）

美国诗人、小说家、评论家，文学史上罕见的天才，其留世作品具有非凡的文学价值。他被世人尊为侦探小说的先驱、科幻小说的奠基人、悬念小说大师。他对宇宙和生命的思考近年来越来越受到学界的重视。美国文学史家、《诺顿美国文选》第2至8版主编妮娜·贝姆认为：“对于今天任何层次的读者，爱伦·坡的声誉都比他同时代的任何美国作家更为稳固，唯一的例外也许只有马克·吐温。”

曹明伦——译者

翻译家，北京大学博士，四川大学教授、博导，中国作协会员，中国译协理事，享受国务院特殊津贴专家。译有《爱伦·坡集》《弗罗斯特集》《威拉·凯瑟集》《莎士比亚十四行诗集》《司各特诗选》《培根随笔集》等。