What's in the box?
Love and death, two themes Edgar Poe seems to have mastered in his storytelling. The Oblong Box is a sea tale, and one of three Poe set in the Charleston, South Carolina area. While in the Army, Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island, a stone's throw from Charleston itself. It was a wise choice, and one that he could craft stories around with some authority.
The story is a consummate tragedy that seems to be a thread with tales set in the region known as the American South. Published originally in The Dollar Newspaper in Philadelphia on August 28, 1844, it was quickly picked up and publish in September 1844 by Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book. The story as printed in Godey's is as it appeared in The Dollar, and we have an extant copy. I cannot find even a transcription of the "first edition" as printed in August of 1844...so Godey's will have to do: