The Gold-Bug and Other Tales

2018 Reprint of 1909 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition. Not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. Also Includes Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue and the Raven. Edgar Allan Poe's The Gold-Bug is as iconic to cryptography in literature as David Kahn's Codebreakers is to historical publications on the subject. It became one of Poe's most read and best-known stories. Many readers have taken their first steps in cryptology after reading Poe's story - some even became important codebreakers - and more than a few writers were inspired by Poe to write their own story with secret writing and encrypted messages in it. The Gold-Bug is not only an exciting story about the discovery of an old treasure, but also a great introduction to cryptography and codebreaking. It tickles the reader's curiosity and Poe provides a detailed description of how to decipher the cryptogram. While doing so, he also provides the solution. However, deciphering the message yourself can be more entertaining than reading how Legrand did it in the story.