Publication History
Eureka was published in a small hardcover edition in March 1848 by Wiley & Putnam priced at 75 cents. Poe persuaded George Palmer Putnam, who had previously taken a chance on Poe by printing his only novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket in England, to publish Eureka after claiming this work was more important than Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity. Putnam paid Poe fourteen dollars for the work. Poe suggested an initial printing of at least one million copies; Putnam settled on 750, of which 500 were sold that year. Other accounts say that Poe requested 50,000 copies, and 500 were printed. Poe was given in advance the full payment of $14 from the publisher.
Read more about this topic: Eureka: A Prose Poem
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