The Works of Edgar Allan Poe -

An interesting collection of stories that have gone on to influence whole genres of fiction (Science Fiction and Mystery specifically). One can see how important these stories are in the development of these genres, though in some aspects they do not date well. The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall--and the subsequent Great Moon Hoax by Richard Adams Locke--served to influence Jules Verne and later H. G. Wells. While the science doesn't hold up, and the story rests on a number of assumptions since proven to be fallacies, the story itself uses the science of the time to explore possibilities. The Gold-Bug, which was an influence on Treasure Island, and uses ciphers and hidden maps, is an influential story as well, though this one suffers from the endemic racism of the time period it was written, and the unfortunate technique of portraying a different mode of speaking using a clumsy representation of dialect that doesn't play well.