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47-426: The Oblong Box may refer to: "The Oblong Box" (short story) , an 1844 short story by Edgar Allan Poe The Oblong Box (film) , a 1969 horror film starring Vincent Price Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title The Oblong Box . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

94-471: A cryptogram , which Legrand deciphered as a set of directions for finding a treasure buried by the infamous pirate Captain Kidd . The final step involved dropping a slug or weight through the left eye of the skull in the tree; their first dig failed because Jupiter mistakenly dropped the bug through the right eye instead. Legrand muses that the skeletons may be the remains of two members of Kidd's crew, who buried

141-432: A child—interest that he later put to use in deciphering Japan 's PURPLE code during World War II . "The Gold-Bug" also includes the first use of the term cryptograph (as opposed to cryptogram ). Poe had been stationed at Fort Moultrie from November 1827 through December 1828 and utilized his personal experience at Sullivan's Island in recreating the setting for "The Gold-Bug". It was also here that Poe first heard

188-509: A code-breaker. He took advantage of the popularity of cryptography as he was writing "The Gold-Bug", and the success of the story centers on one such cryptogram . Modern critics have judged the characterization of Legrand's servant Jupiter as racist , especially because of his dialect speech. Poe submitted "The Gold-Bug" as an entry to a writing contest sponsored by the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper . His story won

235-486: A greater circulation than any other American story and "perhaps it is the most ingenious story Mr. POE has written; but... it is not at all comparable to the ' Tell-tale Heart '—and more especially to ' Ligeia '". Poe's friend Thomas Holley Chivers said that "The Gold-Bug" ushered in "the Golden Age of Poe's Literary Life". The popularity of the story also brought controversy. Within a month of its publication, Poe

282-484: A large tree; this proved to be the skull through which a weight had to be dropped from the left eye in order to find the treasure. "The Gold-Bug" includes a simple substitution cipher. Though he did not invent "secret writing" or cryptography (he was probably inspired by an interest in Daniel Defoe 's Robinson Crusoe ), Poe certainly popularized it during his time. To most people in the 19th century, cryptography

329-665: A maid posed as the wife so as not to arouse suspicion. In writing "The Oblong Box", Poe recalled his experience while stationed as a soldier at Fort Moultrie many years earlier by setting the ship's embarking point as Charleston, South Carolina to New York. The Charleston area is also referenced in Poe's stories " The Gold-Bug " and " The Balloon-Hoax ". Just a few months before the publication of "The Oblong Box", Poe experienced his own sea voyage when he moved to New York via steamboat . His wife, Virginia , had begun showing signs of her illness about two years before in 1842. "The Oblong Box"

376-485: A month after the incident, the narrator happens to meet the captain. Hardy explains that the box had, in fact, held the corpse of Wyatt's recently deceased young wife. He had intended to return the body to her mother but bringing a corpse on board would have caused panic among the passengers. Captain Hardy had arranged, then, to register the box merely as baggage. As both Wyatt and his wife were already registered as passengers,

423-512: A series which includes " The Murders in the Rue Morgue ". Scott Peeples compares "The Oblong Box" to this genre as well but notes that it is not strictly a detective story because it did not emphasize the character of the detective and his method. He also notes that the protagonist is "bumbling" because he allows his personal opinions to taint the physical evidence, leading him to incorrect conclusions. In On Poe , scholar J. Gerald Kennedy saw

470-475: A speaking role was. Critics and scholars, however, question if Jupiter's accent was authentic or merely comic relief, suggesting it was not similar to accents used by blacks in Charleston but possibly inspired by Gullah . Though the story is often included amongst the short list of detective stories by Poe, "The Gold-Bug" is not technically detective fiction because Legrand withholds the evidence until after

517-651: A stage version opened on August 8, 1843. The production was put together by Silas S. Steele and was performed at the American Theatre in Philadelphia. The editor of the Philadelphia newspaper The Spirit of the Times said that the performance "dragged, and was rather tedious. The frame work was well enough, but wanted filling up". In film and television, an adaptation of the work appeared on Your Favorite Story on February 1, 1953 (Season 1, Episode 4). It

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564-399: A writing contest sponsored by Philadelphia's Dollar Newspaper . Incidentally, Poe did not return the money to Graham and instead offered to make it up to him with reviews he would write. Poe won the grand prize; in addition to winning $ 100, the story was published in two installments on June 21 and June 28, 1843, in the newspaper. His $ 100 payment from the newspaper may have been the most he

611-486: Is a loose adaptation of Poe's story. The CBS Radio Mystery Theater , which ran from January 1974 to December 1982, did an adaptation of "The Oblong Box" which aired on January 8, 1975. It is available at archive.org. The Gold-Bug " The Gold-Bug " is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe published in 1843. The plot follows William Legrand, who becomes fixated on an unusual gold-colored bug he has discovered. His servant Jupiter fears that Legrand

658-491: Is going insane and goes to Legrand's friend, an unnamed narrator, who agrees to visit his old friend. Legrand pulls the other two into an adventure after deciphering a secret message that will lead to a buried treasure . The story, set on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina , is often compared with Poe's "tales of ratiocination " as an early form of detective fiction . Poe became aware of the public's interest in secret writing in 1840 and asked readers to challenge his skills as

705-415: Is made of pure gold . Legrand has lent it to an officer stationed at the nearby Fort Moultrie , but he draws a sketch of it for the narrator, with markings on the carapace that resemble a skull. As they discuss the bug, Legrand becomes particularly focused on the sketch and carefully locks it in his desk for safekeeping. Confused, the narrator takes his leave for the night. One month later, Jupiter visits

752-611: The Citizen Soldier that the story was "characterised by thrilling interest and a graphic though sketchy power of description. It is one of the best stories that Poe ever wrote." Graham's Magazine printed a review in 1845 which called the story "quite remarkable as an instance of intellectual acuteness and subtlety of reasoning". Thomas Dunn English wrote in the Aristidean in October 1845 that "The Gold-Bug" probably had

799-469: The Independence passes Cape Hatteras it is caught in a terrible hurricane . Escape from the damaged ship is made via lifeboat , but Wyatt refuses to part with the box. He issues an emotional plea to Captain Hardy but is denied. Wyatt returns to the ship, and ties himself to the box with a rope. "In another instant both body and box were in the sea—disappearing suddenly, at once and forever." About

846-921: The New Mirror , but Willis suggested it was better suited for the Opal , a gift book edited by Sarah Josepha Hale . It was first published on August 28, 1844, in the Dollar Newspaper in Philadelphia. It was also published in the September 1844 issue of Godey's Magazine and Lady's Book , also edited by Hale. The story was also reprinted in The Broadway Journal , in the Saturday, December 13, 1845, edition. Poe biographer James Hutchisson equates "The Oblong Box" with Poe's series of "tales of ratiocination" or detective fiction stories,

893-628: The Revue Britannique under the title, "Le Scarabée d'or", becoming the first literal translation of a Poe story into a foreign language. In the French version, the enciphered message remained in English, with a parenthesized translation supplied alongside its solution. The story was translated into Russian from that version two years later, marking Poe's literary debut in that country. In 1856, Charles Baudelaire published his translation of

940-463: The African servant Jupiter is often considered stereotypical and racist . Jupiter is depicted as superstitious and so lacking in intelligence that he cannot tell his left from his right. Poe scholar Scott Peeples summarizes Jupiter, as well as Pompey in " A Predicament ", as a "minstrel-show caricature". Leonard Cassuto, called Jupiter "one of Poe's most infamous black characters", emphasizes that

987-418: The actual worth when they eventually sell the items. Legrand explains that on the day he found the bug on the mainland coastline, Jupiter had picked up a scrap piece of parchment to wrap it up. Legrand kept the scrap and used it to sketch the bug for the narrator; in so doing, though, he noticed traces of invisible ink , revealed by the heat of the fire burning on the hearth . The parchment proved to contain

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1034-620: The alias "James P. Johnson". "The Gold Bug" episode on the 1980 ABC Weekend Special series starred Roberts Blossom as Legrand, Geoffrey Holder as Jupiter, and Anthony Michael Hall . It won three Daytime Emmy Awards : 1) Outstanding Children's Anthology/Dramatic Programming, Linda Gottlieb (executive producer), Doro Bachrach (producer); 2) Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming, Steve Atha (makeup and hair designer); and, 3) Outstanding Individual Achievement in Children's Programming, Alex Thomson (cinematographer) . It

1081-500: The bug through one eye socket and Legrand paces out to a spot where the group begins to dig. Finding nothing there, the three return to the tree and Legrand repositions the peg he had used to mark the spot where the bug landed. He paces out from it to a new area, which yields two skeletons and a chest filled with gold coins and jewelry when the group resumes digging. They estimate the total value at $ 1.5 million (equivalent to $ 49.1 million in 2023), but even that figure proves to be below

1128-465: The buried-treasure genre in his short story "Supply and Demand". One character learns that the main characters are searching for treasure, and he asks them if they have been reading Edgar Allan Poe. The title of Richard Powers ' 1991 novel The Gold Bug Variations is derived from "The Gold-Bug" and from Bach 's composition Goldberg Variations , and the novel incorporates part of the short story's plot. The story proved popular enough in its day that

1175-547: The character has been manumitted but refuses to leave the side of his "Massa Will". He sums up Jupiter by noting, he is "a typical Sambo : a laughing and japing comic figure whose doglike devotion is matched only by his stupidity". Poe probably included the character after being inspired by a similar one in Sheppard Lee (1836) by Robert Montgomery Bird , which he had reviewed. Black characters in fiction during this time period were not unusual, but Poe's choice to give him

1222-470: The chest and were then killed to silence them. The story involves cryptography with a detailed description of a method for solving a simple substitution cipher using letter frequencies . The encoded message is: The decoded message with spaces, punctuation, and capitalization is: A good glass in the bishop's hostel in the devil's seat forty-one degrees and thirteen minutes northeast and by north main branch seventh limb east side shoot from

1269-823: The grand prize and was published in three installments, beginning in June 1843. The prize also included $ 100 (equivalent to $ 3,270 in 2023), probably the largest single sum that Poe received for any of his works. An instant success, "The Gold-Bug" was the most popular and widely read of Poe's prose works during his lifetime. It also helped popularize cryptograms and secret writing. William Legrand has relocated from New Orleans to Sullivan's Island , South Carolina after losing his family fortune, and has brought his African-American servant Jupiter with him. The story's narrator, Legrand's friend and physician, visits him one evening to see an unusual scarab-like bug he has found. The bug's weight and lustrous appearance convince Jupiter that it

1316-599: The idea for "The Gold-Bug" from "Imogine; or the Pirate's Treasure", a story written by a schoolgirl named Miss Sherburne. "The Gold-Bug" was republished as the first story in the Wiley & Putnam collection of Poe's Tales in June 1845, followed by " The Black Cat " and ten other stories. The success of this collection inspired the first French translation of "The Gold-Bug", published in November 1845 by Alphonse Borghers in

1363-399: The left eye of the death's-head a bee line from the tree through the shot fifty feet out. Legrand determined that the "bishop's hostel" referred to a group of rocks and cliffs on the mainland, where he found a narrow ledge that roughly resembled a chair (the "devil's seat"). Using a telescope and sighting at the given bearing and elevation, he spotted something white among the branches of

1410-404: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Oblong_Box&oldid=892179989 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Oblong Box (short story) The story opens with

1457-430: The narrator on behalf of his master and asks him to come immediately, fearing that Legrand has been bitten by the bug and gone insane. Once they arrive on the island, Legrand insists that the bug will be the key to restoring his lost fortune. He leads them on an expedition to a particular tree on the mainland and has Jupiter climb it until he finds a skull nailed at the end of one branch. At Legrand's direction, Jupiter drops

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1504-480: The numerous readers of the journal. Letters poured in upon the editor from all parts of the country." In July 1841, Poe published "A Few Words on Secret Writing" and, realizing the interest in the topic, wrote "The Gold-Bug" as one of the few pieces of literature to incorporate ciphers as part of the story. Poe's character Legrand's explanation of his ability to solve the cipher is very like Poe's explanation in "A Few Words on Secret Writing". The actual "gold-bug" in

1551-681: The skeleton [in my novel] is conveyed from Poe." "The Gold-Bug" also inspired Leo Marks to become interested in cryptography at age 8 when he found the book in his father’s bookshop at 84 Charing Cross Road . Marks would go on to lead Britain’s code-breaking efforts during World War Two as a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Poe played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines in his time period and beyond. William F. Friedman , America's foremost cryptologist, initially became interested in cryptography after reading "The Gold-Bug" as

1598-556: The solution is given. Nevertheless, the Legrand character is often compared to Poe's fictional detective C. Auguste Dupin due to his use of "ratiocination". "Ratiocination", a term Poe used to describe Dupin's method, is the process by which Dupin detects what others have not seen or what others have deemed unimportant. Poe originally sold "The Gold-Bug" to George Rex Graham for Graham's Magazine for $ 52 (equivalent to $ 1,700 in 2023) but asked for it back when he heard about

1645-453: The state-room with Wyatt and his wife, while the second room is shared by the two sisters. For several nights, the narrator witnesses his friend's surprisingly unattractive wife leaving the state-room every night around 11 o'clock and going into the third state-room before returning first thing in the morning. While she is gone, the narrator believes he hears his friend opening the box and sobbing, which he attributes to "artistic enthusiasm". As

1692-479: The stories of pirates like Captain Kidd. The residents of Sullivan's Island embrace this connection to Poe and have named their public library after him. Local legend in Charleston says that the poem " Annabel Lee " was also inspired by Poe's time in South Carolina. Poe also set part of " The Balloon-Hoax " and " The Oblong Box " in this vicinity. O. Henry alludes to the stature of "The Gold-Bug" within

1739-428: The story as a satire. He wrote, "Though not a major work in the Poe canon, 'The Oblong Box' delivers, through the narrator's grotesque misinterpretations, a clever satiric version of the detective hero." NBC Short Story aired a dramatic reading of "The Oblong Box" in the 1950s. It is available at archive.org . A 1969 film directed by Gordon Hessler starring Vincent Price carries the name The Oblong Box . It

1786-509: The story is not a real insect. Instead, Poe combined characteristics of two insects found in the area where the story takes place. The Callichroma splendidum , though not technically a scarab but a species of longhorn beetle (Cerambycidae), has a gold head and slightly gold-tinted body. The black spots noted on the back of the fictional bug can be found on the Alaus oculatus , a click beetle also native to Sullivan's Island. Poe's depiction of

1833-414: The tale in the first volume of Histoires extraordinaires . Baudelaire was very influential in introducing Poe's work to Europe and his translations became the definitive renditions throughout the continent. "The Gold-Bug" inspired Robert Louis Stevenson in his novel about treasure-hunting, Treasure Island (1883). Stevenson acknowledged this influence: "I broke into the gallery of Mr. Poe... No doubt

1880-422: The unnamed narrator recounting a summer sea voyage from Charleston, South Carolina , to New York City aboard the ship Independence . The narrator learns that his old college friend Cornelius Wyatt is aboard with his wife and two sisters, though he has reserved three state-rooms. After conjecturing the extra room was for a servant or extra baggage, he learns his friend has brought on board an oblong pine box: "It

1927-427: Was about six feet in length by two and a half in breadth." The narrator notes its peculiar shape and especially an odd odor coming from it. Even so, he presumes his friend has acquired an especially valuable copy of Leonardo da Vinci 's The Last Supper . The narrator has never met Wyatt's wife but heard she is a woman of "surpassing beauty, wit, and accomplishment". The box, the narrator is surprised to learn, shares

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1974-423: Was accused of conspiring with the prize committee by Philadelphia's Daily Forum . The publication called "The Gold-Bug" an " abortion " and " unmitigated trash " worth no more than $ 15 (equivalent to $ 491 in 2023). Poe filed for a libel lawsuit against editor Francis Duffee. It was later dropped and Duffee apologized for suggesting Poe did not earn the $ 100 prize. Editor John Du Solle accused Poe of stealing

2021-438: Was directed by Robert Florey with the teleplay written by Robert Libott. A later adaptation of the work appeared on ABC Weekend Special on February 2, 1980 (Season 3, Episode 7). This version was directed by Robert Fuest with the teleplay written by Edward Pomerantz. A Spanish feature film adaptation of the work appeared in 1983 under the title En busca del dragón dorado . It was written and directed by Jesús Franco using

2068-588: Was in part based on the murder of Samuel Adams by John C. Colt , brother of Sam Colt , a story which dominated the New York press at the time; John C. Colt disposed of Adams' body by putting it in a crate and filling it with salt. The name of the character Wyatt was likely derived from Professor Thomas Wyatt, an author whose work Poe translated in The Conchologist's First Book . Poe originally offered "The Oblong Box" to Nathaniel Parker Willis for

2115-431: Was mysterious and those able to break the codes were considered gifted with nearly supernatural ability. Poe had drawn attention to it as a novelty over four months in the Philadelphia publication Alexander's Weekly Messenger in 1840. He had asked readers to submit their own substitution ciphers, boasting he could solve all of them with little effort. The challenge brought about, as Poe wrote, "a very lively interest among

2162-705: Was paid for a single work. Anticipating a positive public response, the Dollar Newspaper took out a copyright on "The Gold-Bug" prior to publication. The story was republished in three installments in the Saturday Courier in Philadelphia on June 24, July 1, and July 8; the last two appeared on the front page and included illustrations by F. O. C. Darley . Further reprintings in United States newspapers made "The Gold-Bug" Poe's most widely read short story during his lifetime. By May 1844, Poe reported that it had circulated 300,000 copies, though he

2209-495: Was probably not paid for these reprints. It also helped increase his popularity as a lecturer. One lecture in Philadelphia after "The Gold-Bug" was published drew such a large crowd that hundreds were turned away. As Poe wrote in a letter in 1848, it "made a great noise." He would later compare the public success of "The Gold-Bug" with " The Raven ", though he admitted "the bird beat the bug". The Public Ledger in Philadelphia called it "a capital story". George Lippard wrote in

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