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J.H. Pleasants of the Richmond Whig criticized the opening to "Hans Phaal," writing that "[t]here is a great deal of nonsense, trifling and bad taste before Hans Phaal quits the earth—but when he has blown up his creditors and mounted into the solitude of space, his speculations assume a true philosophical character, exhibit genius and invention..." However, James Kirke Paulding celebrated "Lion-izing," writing to White that "Lion-izing, by Edgar A. Poe, [is] one of the most happy travesties of the coxcombical egotism of travelling scribblers I have ever seen" (qtd. in Thomas 164, 159).

In June of 1833, the Baltimore Saturday Visiter advertised a literary contest, offering 50 dollars for the best story and 25 for the best prize. Poe submitted six tales from his planned volume The Tales of the Folio Club, as well as some poems. In October of 1833, the judges, John H. B. Latrobe, James Pendletonn Kennedy, and Dr, James H. Miller awarded the story prize to Poe's "Manuscript Found in a Bottle"; in the notice announcing the prize, they praised the "the originality of its conception" and its "rich style" (Thomas 133).