 I had seen and undergone, and trust to the shrewdness and
common-sense of the public - insisting, with great plausibility, that however
roughly, as regards mere authorship, my book should be got up, its very
uncouthness, if there were any, would give it all the better chance of being
received as truth.
    Notwithstanding this representation, I did not make up my mind to do as he
suggested. He afterward proposed (finding that I would not stir in the matter)
that I should allow him to draw up, in his own words, a narrative of the earlier
portion of my adventures, from facts afforded by myself, publishing it in the
Southern Messenger under the garb of fiction. To this, perceiving no objection,
I consented, stipulating only that my real name should be retained. Two numbers
of the pretented fiction appeared, consequently, in the Messenger for January
and February (1837), and, in order that it might certainly be regarded as
fiction, the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to the articles in the table of
contents of the magazine.
    The manner in which this ruse was received has induced me at length to
undertake a regular compilation and publication of the adventures in question;
for I found that, in spite of the air of fable which had been so ingeniously
thrown around that portion of my statement which appeared in the Messenger
(without altering or distorting a single fact), the public were still not at all
disposed to receive it as fable, and several letters were sent to Mr. P.'s
address, distinctly expressing a conviction to the contrary. I thence concluded
that the facts of my narrative would prove of such a nature as to carry with
them sufficient evidence of their own authenticity, and that I had consequently
little to fear on the score of popular incredulity.
    This exposé being made, it will be seen at once how much of what follows I
claim to be my own writing; and it will also be understood that no fact is
misrepresented in the first few pages which were written by Mr. Poe. Even to
those readers who have not seen the Messenger, it will be unnecessary to point
out where his portion ends and my own commences; the difference in point of
style will be readily perceived.
    
                                                                       A. G. PYM
 

                                   Chapter I

My name is Arthur Gordon Pym. My father was a respectable trader in sea-stores
at Nantucket, where I was born. My maternal grandfather was an attorney in good
practice. He was fortunate in every thing, and had speculated very successfully
in stocks of the Edgarton New Bank
