Poe's Hoaxes, Part One

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 352 - Poe’s Hoaxes, Part One 

Being April Fool’s day, today I want to look at Poe’s six hoax stories - in fact, Edgar Allan Poe approvingly called his time the “epoch of the hoax.” Even though Poe’s motives in writing hoaxes may sometimes seem odd or obscure, his hoaxes live on as a quirky and fascinating part of literary history.  

After a great deal of thought, I decided to deal with five of the hoax stories in this episode, and a hoax story that could also be classified as a tale of terror in the following episode.  And I plan to release both episodes on April Fool’s day - then go much deeper into Poe’s hoax stories for the entire month of 2026 - they are some of Poe’s most influential writings.  And that is no April Fool’s joke.

Thank you for experiencing Celebrate Poe.

Transcript

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - Episode 352 - Poe’s Hoaxes, Part One 

Being April Fool’s day, today I want to look at Poe’s six hoax stories - in fact, Edgar Allan Poe approvingly called his time the “epoch of the hoax.” Even though Poe’s motives in writing hoaxes may sometimes seem odd or obscure, his hoaxes live on as a quirky and fascinating part of literary history.  

After a great deal of thought, I decided to deal with five of the hoax stories in this episode, and a hoax story that could also be classified as a tale of terror in Episode 353.  And I plan to release both episodes on April Fool’s day - then go much deeper into Poe’s hoax stories for the entire month of 2026 - they are some of Poe’s most influential writings.  And that is no April Fool’s joke.

Now, the actual origins of April Fools Day are rather obscure - but most writers believe that April Fool’s Day has Tudor origins. The first prank was pulled in 1510 when King Henry VIII invited everyone to Greenwich Palace on April 1 to watch a rare performance of mermaids playing in the Thames River at dawn. The nobility even made arrangements to have a filming crew from the BBC film the performance for the upcoming Olympics. The young king enjoyed a good laugh as a crowd amassed near the shoreline, when, after a while, the people began to realize the king had played them for fools, and there would never be any mermaids. Thereafter, April 1 was known as April Fool’s Day.  

April Fool’s! You might have realized the past few sentences are not true at all. King Henry VIII is not exactly the originator of April Fool’s Day – but it is possible that he may have observed it. In fact, historians aren’t really sure when this day devoted to pranks began. However, many theories abound. 

April Fool’s Day-like customs have probably been around much longer than the first written accounts of them. One popular origin theory is that the modern April Fool’s Day can claim ancestry from the Roman festival Hilaria. Prankster activities ran amok during this festival, and people dressed in costumes and masks. Since the Roman Empire extended all over Europe, the people that were left behind after its fall had internalized Roman customs over the course of generations. During medieval times, many Roman customs remained, but as mere shadows of their original forms. So, it’s very possible that April Fool’s Day has Roman origins. Ultimately, the day may have more to do with the time of year and inconsistent weather patterns. 

But some pranksters throughout history, were simply are not satisfied to confine their exploits to a single day. One of these was Edgar Allan Poe, who was unabashedly fond of hoaxes. He approvingly called his time the “epoch of the hoax.” During his lifetime Poe would attempt a total of six different literary hoaxes - that we know of.  Most modern anthologies fail to acknowledge that these stories were originally published as non-fiction.

GHOST SOUND

Well, hello, Mr. Poe.

Greetings, Mr. Bartley.

I am very glad that you are with us today.  I know that you wrote some excellent works that could be classified as hoaxes.  Next year in 2026, I plan to start on April Fools Day and spent the entire month delving into the six main stories - but today I would like to briefly introduce them - with your help - hopefully five stories in this episode and then a story in more detail the following episode - and I am going to try and have them both online today.

That would be most interesting.  I fear that my stories that some scholars have referred to as my hoax stories are often ignored.

Well, I hope to do a little something about that today in this and the following episode -

First - The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfall

In June 1835, “The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfaall” appeared in the Southern Literary Messenger. It was purportedly the text of an odd note that had been dropped from a hot air balloon over Rotterdam. The note, supposedly written by Hans Pfaall, recounted his journey to the moon, which he undertook to escape creditors on Earth. Pfaall claimed that he had spent five years living on the moon with its native inhabitants. He’d sent a lunar inhabitant back down to Earth with a promise that he’d tell his story if his creditors would forgive his debts.

Mr. Poe, from what I understand, your first attempt at a hoax hardly fooled anyone; even you admitted that the article’s “tone of mere banter” rendered it less than credible. Then a similar–but much better executed–version of the same hoax appeared in the New York Sun.

Yes, Mr. Bartley - I am impressed by your observations.

Thank you, Mr. Poe - Next is the Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

This story was inspired by the spirit of exploration that gripped America in the early- to mid-1800’s. The US Navy had recently organized the Wilkes Expedition to South Africa and Antarctica. It could be said that you played to America’s great interest in such expeditions with The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.

You published the story serially in the Southern Literary Messenger in January and February of 1837. Though the serial edition was written “under the garb of fiction,” you added a preface to the novel, claiming the tale was faction - a mixture of face and fiction - faction. That device was certainly not uncommon; indeed, eighteenth-century authors were in the habit of self-conscious narration, whereby the author would step in to assert the veracity of the story.

It is said that you based your tale on the theory of John Cleves Symmes, who believed not only that the earth was hollow, but also that it was inhabited. He was constantly trying to raise money for a polar expedition to prove his theory. It is said that your take on the story was so odd, most readers immediately recognized that it was fictional.

Yes, Mr. Bartley, I admit that my writing was not the most convincing in that story.  But I do feel that I wrote another story that was also a hoax, but somewhat more convincing.

And what story was that?

Ah, Mr. Bartley - That story was The Journal of Julius Rodman.  And I do feel it was far more convincing.

Mr. Poe - why do you believe that story was more convincing.

3. The Journal of Julius Rodman

Ah, yes, Mr. Bartley - that story may have been a hoax as well, but I like to think that it was more convincing.

Mr. Poe, why do you say that?  And while you are at it, why not tell us what the subject of the story was.

Ah, Mr. Bartley, The Journal of Julius Rodman appeared from January to June 1840 in Burton’s Gentlemen’s Magazine. It detailed the adventures of Julius Rodman as he made his way up the Missouri River and into the Far North. The journal was dated 1792, which would have made Rodman the first European to cross the Rocky Mountains.  And Mr. Bartley, I used a technique that I feel added authenticity - if I do say so myself.

Ok, Mr. Poe - what was that?

Ah, Mr. Bartley - I actually borrowed details from Washington Irving’s Astoria and Lewis and Clark’s History of the Expedition.

Mr. Poe, did that fool anyone?

Ah, Mr. Bartley - I must admit that I DID manage to fool at least one person - and that was a most esteemed individual - US Senator Robert Greenhow specifically mentioned the journal. That chance mention obviously made others believe that the journal could actually be real.  Unfortunately, a few influential individuals DID find out that was a hoax.

But permit me to read from the opening of the story -

THE JOURNAL OF JULIUS RODMAN.
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST PASSAGE ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS OF NORTH AMERICA EVER ACHIEVED BY CIVILIZED MAN.

HAVING reached the mouth of the river Platte, our voyagers encamped for three days, during which they were busily occupied in drying and airing their goods and provisions, making new oars and poles, and repairing the birch canoe, which had sustained material injury. The hunters brought in an abundance of game, with which the boats were loaded to repletion. Deer was had for the asking, and turkeys and fat grouse were met with in great plenty. The party, moreover, regaled on several species of fish, and, at a short distance from the river banks, found an exquisite kind of wild grape.

August 14. We started with a delightful breeze from the S. E., and kept along by the Southern shore, taking advantage of the eddy, and going at a great rate, notwithstanding the current, which, in the middle, was unusually full and strong. At noon, we stopped to examine some remarkable mounds on the south-western shore, at a spot where the ground seems to have sunk considerably to an extent of three hundred acres, or more. A large pond is in the vicinity, and appears to have drained the low tract. This is covered with mounds of various sizes, and shapes, all formed of sand and mud, the highest being nearest the river. I could not make up my mind whether these hillocks were of natural or artificial construction. I should have supposed them made by the Indians, but for the general appearance of the soil, which had apparently been subjected to the violent action of water.* We staid at this spot the rest of the day, having made altogether twenty miles.

And Mr. Bartley, you also may find my story “Von Kempelen and His Discovery” to be most intriguing.  You see,  “Von Kempelen and His Discovery” first appeared in The Flag of Our Union on April 14, 1849. German scientist Von Kempelen claimed that he’d discovered the alchemical process to turn lead into gold. 

Mr. Poe, why would you write about such an obviously fake process as though it were true?

Ah, Mr. Bartley - I had wanted to dissuade people from migrating west in the California Gold Rush. In fact, I wrote to Evert A. Duyckinck, “My sincere opinion is that nine persons out of ten (even among the best informed) will believe the quiz (provided the design does not leak before publication) and that thus, acting as a sudden, although of course a very temporary, check to the gold fever, it will create a stir to some purpose.”

Ah, yes, Mr. Poe - it appears there is time in this episode for you to talk about one more of your work as a literary prankster.

Ah, yes, Mr. Bartley - The Great Balloon Hoax has to be my best work as a prankster.  You see, I pointed out that a broadside had appeared in the midday issue of the New York Sun on April 13, 1844. That broadside included an announcement that the famed European balloonist Thomas Munck Mason had just completed a transatlantic journey in his balloon, the Victoria. The advertisement stated that Mason had departed from England, bound for Paris. But a propeller accident had pushed him off course. I even had a simulated illustration of the balloon accompanying the text.

Mr. Poe - was this Munk Mason a real person?

Ah, Mr. Bartley - I felt that made the story far more realistic.  Mr. Mason was definitely a real person, and he had flown a balloon from London to Weilburg, Germany in 1836. He’d documented the trip in Account of the Late Aeronautical Expedition from London to Weilburg. I - shall we say - “borrowed” the illustration from the frontispiece of a pamphlet.  This pamphlet was published anonymously and generally accepted as Mason’s, The pamphlet was called Remarks on the Ellipsoidal Balloon, Propelled by the Archimedean Screw, Described as the New Aerial Machine (1843) - giving it a most realistic appearance.

But on the day of publication, I stood on the steps of the New York Sun’s office and revealed my hoax to the crowd that surrounded me.

Mr. Poe, I would think that would answer their concerns about its veracity.

Ah, Mr. Bartley, my protestations did ittle to quell their clamoring for the paper. I reported, “I have never witnessed more intense excitement to get possession of a newspaper. And as soon as the first copies made their way into the streets, they were bought up, at almost any price.” 

Mr. Bartley, I couldn’t even get a copy of the paper for myself. Despite this furor, the Great Balloon Hoax was quickly revealed to be false.  In reality, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin did the build the first zeppelin airship until 1900. The Wright Brothers made their first successful airplane flight in 1903. British aviators Alcock and Brown made the first nonstop airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1919. Dr. Hugo Eckener made the first transatlantic flight in a zeppelin, in 1924. Charles Lindbergh made his famous solo flight in 1927. The first non-powered, human-carrying balloon to actually cross the Atlantic Ocean was "Double Eagle II", in 1978. The balloon attained an altitude of nearly 25,000 feet, just as I had described in my hoax account. That trip took 6 days as opposed to my fictitious 3 days.

But Mr. Poe - your story was based on a fascinating premise. 

Ah, Mr. Bartley - permit me to communicate the headlines surrounding that story.

SUN OFFICE.   April 13, 10 o'clock A.M. ASTOUNDING. NEWS!  BY EXPRESS VIA NORFOLK:
---------------
THE. ATLANTIC CROSSED IN. THREE DAYS!     SIGNAL TRIUMPH
OF MR. MONCK MASON’S FLYING.  MACHINE!!!
---------------
Arrival at Sullivan's Island near Charlestown, S. C., of Mr. Mason, Mr. Robert Holland, Mr. Henson, Mr. Harrison Ainsworth, and four others, in the       STEERING BALLOON “VICTORIA," AFTER A PASSAGE OF SEVENTY-FIVE HOURS FROM LAND TO LAND.

FULL PARTICULARS OF THE VOYAGE!!!

Fascinating headline, Mr. Poe.

Yes, permit me to interject a introductory sentence or two from the account.

The great problem is at length solved.  The air, as well as the earth and the ocean, has been subdued by science, and will become a common and convenient highway for mankind.  The Atlantic has been actually crossed in a Balloon; and this too without difficulty -- without any great apparent danger -- with thorough control of the machine -- and in the inconceivably brief period of seventy-five hours from shore to shore
———————

Thank you, Mr. Poe.

Mr. Bartley, much, much - after my earthly demise -  I later learned that the story most likely inspired Mr. Jules Verne to write Five Weeks in a Balloon, as well as Around the World in Eighty Days. Appaently, Mr. Verne was a great fan of my writings and even published a study of my work.

That certainly is understandable.

Ah, but Permit me to take my leave for a brief respite - tho I will be here to read the story for the next episode.  Farewell, Mr. Bartley.

Goodbye, Mr. Poe.

Well, thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe, 352, as we briefly delved into 5 of Poe’s six hoax stories - And don’t miss Episode 353 - Loathsome Mass of Detestable Putridity - a hoax story by Poe that is also a tale of terror.

Sources include - The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe, and the Compassionate Conservative.

Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.