Anthologies as Tools of Literary Hospitality: The Case of Edgar Allan Poe in Spain (1850–1936)

Abstract

This article examines the presence of Poe’s fiction in Spain, focusing on the reception of his anthologized short stories in the second half of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, and taking this as a case of literary hospitality that helped to develop the fantasy genre in the country. In the early decades of publication, collections of Poe’s short stories were generally introduced into Spain as translations of anthologies of Baudelaire’s French versions. These anthologies appealed to a broad readership and sold well, being published by both large, professional houses and smaller, family-run presses. Poe came to form part of the literary canon that was being shaped in the final decades of the nineteenth century in Spain, and was thus published alongside major literary figures, which attests to the kind of literary hospitality he enjoyed in Spain’s cultural world in the decades following his introduction into the country.