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NARRATIVEOFA.GORDONPYM
INTRODUCTORYNOTE
UponmyreturntotheUnitedStatesafewmonthsago,afterthe
extraordinaryseriesofadventureintheSouthSeasandelsewhere,
ofwhichanaccountisgiveninthefollowingpages,accidentthrew
meintothesocietyofseveralgentlemeninRichmond,Va.,whofelt
deepinterestinallmattersrelatingtotheregionsIhadvisited,and
whowereconstantlyurgingituponme,asaduty,togivemynarrative
tothepublic.Ihadseveralreasons,however,fordecliningtodoso,
someofwhichwereofanaturealtogetherprivate,andconcern
nopersonbutmyself;othersnotsomuchso.Oneconsiderationwhich
deterredmewasthat,havingkeptnojournalduringagreaterportion
ofthetimeinwhichIwasabsent,IfearedIshouldnotbeable
towrite,frommerememory,astatementsominuteandconnected
astohavetheappearanceofthattruthitwouldreallypossess,barring
onlythenaturalandunavoidableexaggerationtowhichallofusare
pronewhendetailingeventswhichhavehadpowerfulinfluence
inexcitingtheimaginativefaculties.Anotherreasonwas,thatthe
incidentstobenarratedwereofanaturesopositivelymarvellousthat,
unsupportedasmyassertionsmustnecessarilybe(exceptbythe
evidenceofasingleindividual,andheahalf-breedIndian),Icould
onlyhopeforbeliefamongmyfamily,andthoseofmyfriendswho
havehadreason,throughlife,toputfaithinmyveracity—the
probabilitybeingthatthepublicatlargewouldregardwhatIshould
putforthasmerelyanimpudentandingeniousfiction.Adistrust
inmyownabilitiesasawriterwas,nevertheless,oneoftheprincipal
causeswhichpreventedmefromcomplyingwiththesuggestions
ofmyadvisers.
AmongthosegentlemeninVirginiawhoexpressedthegreatest
interestinmystatement,moreparticularlyinregardtothatportion
ofitwhichrelatedtotheAntarcticOcean,wasMr.Poe,latelyeditor
ofthe“SouthernLiteraryMessenger,”amonthlymagazine,published
byMr.ThomasW.White,inthecityofRichmond.Hestrongly
advisedme,amongothers,toprepareatonceafullaccountofwhat
Ihadseenandundergone,andtrusttotheshrewdnessandcommon-
senseofthepublic—insisting,withgreatplausibility,thathowever
roughly,asregardsmereauthorship,mybookshouldbegotup,its
veryuncouthness,iftherewereany,wouldgiveitallthebetterchance
