Author: zakyoung

Conducting a Comprehensive Study of Poe’s, Eureka: A Prose Poem

Post author By zakyoung
Post date May 26, 2016

Nineteenth-Century Science

First, I am going to propose what a researcher might have to do to conduct a comprehensive study of Poe’s 1848 book, Eureka: A Prose Poem. Then, I am going to explain why I decided not to fall into the trap of attempting to evaluate Poe’s final work. As I noted in my previous Poe and Science Blogs, in 2012 and 2013 , I attempted to design a Prospectus on Eureka for my M.A. Thesis in English Literature at the Virginia Commonwealth University. To that end, I worked with Chris Semtner at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond and several professors at VCU putting together a few draft versions on a proposal to evaluate Eureka. I spent hours in libraries reviewing articles and even books that scholars had written about Eureka. I transcribed Moon-Notes, a scientific manuscript that Poe had written to assist him with several works he was writing. And finally, I took a trip to New York, to the noted collector, Susan Jaffe Tane’s home, to examine Poe’s personal copy of Eureka. This book is now the most valuable first-edition since it contains hand-edited notes by Poe indicating that he had intended to revise and expand his work in a later edition. It is hard to determine conclusively why Poe decided to attempt to write and publish this comprehensive poetic, historical, scientific, and metaphysical treatise after having established a highly recognizable career as a poet and fiction writer, but there are some clues.

In 1847, after recovering from a serious illness, the death of his wife, and facing the prospects of his own mortality, Poe decided to conduct research on astronomy and cosmology. Perhaps he hoped he might be able to unify the differing theories about the universe that were being advanced by competing disciplines and to publish his conclusions in a single book. By that period, astronomers had developed more powerful telescopes than had been available at any previous time. These instruments could discern details of celestial bodies which were at the far edges of the Solar System and beyond. Undoubtedly, Poe was attempting to gain a greater understanding of the most credible theories about the origins and operational details of the Universe. He was seeking answers to the mysteries surrounding the greater meaning of life and existence. As if those questions weren’t comprehensive and mysterious enough, he also decided to address what happens to humans after they died, a topic which he had often explored in great detail in his previous poetry and science fiction writing.

After he finally published Eureka: A Prose Poem in 1848, he suggested that his book should not be evaluated until after he died (Preface of Eureka). Prior to its publication, he informed his publisher, George P. Putnam, that Eureka would one day found to be “of greater importance than Newton’s discovery of gravitation.” He considered it the culmination of his life’s work” (Broussard 52). Once Eureka was published, Poe resumed a lecture tour and promoted his book until his death in 1849. In the Preface, he suggested that though his book is “True,” it should only be read for the “Beauty that abounds in Truth.”

Eureka remains for us as Poe’s most enigmatic work. Even the most ardent Poe experts are baffled when trying to read or understand the book. To this date, no one has been able to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of Poe’s most enigmatic work. Literary critic, Charles Baxter, in Burning Down The House, writes about a literary device that has often been employed by fiction writers, called defamiliarization. In this technique, everyday scenes take place in unexpected settings; or unfamiliar scenes takes place in everyday settings (21). Avid readers of Poe are very familiar with his writing style and literary themes but are often unfamiliar with the subject matter of Poe’s culminating poetic-science treatise. Some critics have noted that Eureka is too scientific for literature and too literary for science. Scientists who have considered Poe’s book have generally not considered him sufficiently qualified to write on complex scientific subjects and literary scholars are often too baffled to attempt to apply the tools of literary criticism on Poe’s science book. Prominent nineteenth-century scientist, Alexander von Humboldt (to whom Poe dedicated Eureka) wrote that “he enjoyed Poe’s latest satire on science” (Levine 118). Henry Lee (Hal) Poe a descendant of E.A. Poe’s cousin (William Poe) and a prominent E.A. Poe researcher stated that until the last quarter century many researchers were quick to dismiss Eureka as being too difficult to understand. As evidence to that assumption, they concluded that, in Eureka, Poe had “gone around the bend.” Hal Poe contends that the easiest course, both for Poe enthusiasts and detractors, has been to dismiss the work in its entirety. However, during the modern era, there has also been another growing group of literary, historical, and science researchers who have been willing to take a fresh look at the work (H.L. Poe, ix).

After more than a year of Eureka research, I concluded that to gain a fuller understanding of Poe’s culminating book, I would first need to determine whether Poe’s interest in science in Eureka was an anomaly or a continuation of his previous interest in that topic. Therefore, I shifted my research priority to trace the development of Poe’s science-based themes throughout his pre-Eureka, poetic, non-fiction, and fictional writing. I wondered if an understanding of Poe’s previous works might help me to better understand Eureka. Although I was still enthusiastic about conducting research on Poe and Science, I did not believe that I was ready or able to accept Poe’s challenge of evaluating Eureka almost 170 years after Poe published his book. Several previous researchers had attempted to use traditional methods of critiquing literary or scientific research with Eureka but had produced inconclusive results. Using the pitfalls of these previous research studies as cautionary guidelines, I decided, instead, to construct some questions that other scholars might need to consider before attempting to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of Eureka. I delineated these questions in 2013 both at the William & Mary Literature and History Conference and the Positively Poe Conference at the University of Virginia.

Research Questions about Eureka

What are the major scientific themes embedded in Poe’s poetry, non-fiction, and fictional writing?
Were Poe’s previous science themes continued in Eureka or was his book an anomalous work?
Would an understanding the historical, cultural, and scientific contexts of the nineteenth-century to help modern researchers to better understand Eureka?
How does Eureka help modern scholars to understand how the nineteenth-century public received and interpreted news about science and technology?
What are the major scientific theories that informed Poe as he was writing Eureka?
How did critics respond to Eureka in and after Poe’s lifetime, and what is the validity of their responses?
What are the literary techniques Poe used in writing Eureka and does he follow his own standards?
What are the theories and conclusions that Poe reached in his treatise?
What is the significance of Eureka in Poe’s Canon, in English Literature, and in science history?

Re-Assessment of Eureka Needed?

The conclusion I reached after considering these research questions is that for me to complete a comprehensive evaluation of Eureka, I would need to conduct a multi-perspective study, requiring a combination of literary analysis, historical, and scientific research. I concluded that I would not be able to complete such a study within the time that I had left in my M.A. program. Anyone conducting such a study would need to employ the ingenious inductive, deductive, and ratiocinative methods of Poe’s Detective C. Auguste Dupin to unravel the many seemingly unsolvable puzzles of Eureka. Poe defines ratiocination as the process of reasoning or forming accurate conclusions from known and observed premises as a method of solving complex and seemingly irresolvable mysteries. Ratiocination combines the use of considerable intellect, intuition, and creative imagination. Poe’s previous detective writing and columns on cryptography demonstrate that he was interested in posing and resolving complex problems. He created Dupin as a literary figure to solve the most complex enigmas and conundrums by using the highest form of human discovery available to the human mind. It is possible, then, that Poe wrote Eureka as a puzzle, and left obscure clues for his readers to solve like he done in his earlier cryptography newspaper columns. However, solutions to the puzzles and mysteries Poe posed in Eureka have evaded researchers and readers for almost one hundred and seventy years. In my next Poe and Science column, I will explain why I decided not to focus my M.A. Thesis research on evaluating Eureka but, instead, on the general topic of Poe and Science.

Selected Resources

Baxter, Charles. Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction. Minneapolis: Graywolf Press, 2008.

Broussard, Louis. The Measure of Poe. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

Daniels, George. American Science in the Age of Jackson. NY: Columbia UP, 1968.

Levine, Stuart and Susan F. Levine. Eureka. Eds. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004.

Ostram, John, Ed. The Notes of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: Guardian Press, 1966.

Poe, Edgar Allan. Eureka A Prose Poem. New York: George P. Putnam, 1848.

____ “Moon Notes,” Scanned copy of eight un-numbered and unordered pages handwritten by Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond, VA: MS (Museum Catalogue # 2012.2.44). Manuscript

Poe, Henry Lee. Evermore: Edgar Allan Poe and the Mystery of the Universe. Waco, Texas: Baylor University Press, 2012.

Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: A Biography. New York: Harper Collins, 1991.

Thomas, Dwight and David Jackson. Eds. The Poe Log- A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe 1809 – 1849. Boston: G.B. Hall and Company, 1987.

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Murray Ellison received a Master’s in Education at Temple University (1973), a Master’s of Arts in English Literature at VCU (2015), and a Doctorate in Education at Virginia Tech in 1987. He is married and has three adult employed daughters. He retired as the Virginia Director of Community Corrections for the Department of Correctional Education in 2009. Currently, he serves as a literature teacher, board member, and curriculum advisor for the Lifelong Learning Institute in Chesterfield, Virginia, and is the founder and chief editor of the literary blog, www.LitChatte.com. He is an editor for the “Correctional Education Magazine,” and editing a book of poetry written by an Indian mystic. He also serves as a board member, volunteer tour guide, poetry judge, and all-around helper at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond Virginia. You can write to Murray by leaving a Comment or at ellisonms2@vcu.edu

Murray at the Richmond Poe Museum

Tags history, Poe's Works, science

The Poe Museum Blog

Salvador Dali Meets the Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe

Post author By zakyoung
Post date May 11, 2016

May 11 marks the 112th birthday of one of the twentieth century’s most important artists, Salvador Dalí. What does the great Spanish Surrealist painter Dalí have to do with Edgar Allan Poe? More than you might think.

Dalí mentions Poe at the beginning and the end of his autobiography, The Secret Life of Salvador Dalí. In the first anecdote, Dalí describes the cultural climate in Paris in the 1930s and how everyone was reading Poe and Marie Bonaparte’s new psychoanalytical take of Poe’s work. Bonaparte’s search for hidden Freudian meanings in Poe’s work appealed to Dalí and the Surrealists, who were trying to tap into the powers of the subconscious.

Dali painting in Virginia

At the end of Dalí’s autobiography, he describes the process of writing the book. By that time he has fled the war in Europe and is living with friends in Virginia, about an hour north of Richmond. While there, he began Daddy Long Legs of Evening—Hope! (1940), his first picture painted entirely in America, and Slave Market with Disappearing Bust of Voltaire (1940).

During his stay, newspaper accounts say Dalí visited Richmond movie theaters and museums. One of his housemates, the author Henry Miller, signed the Poe Museum’s guest book. Dalí likely also visited the Poe Museum at that time, but his signature has not been located in the guest book. After either hearing Miller’s description of the Poe Museum’s Enchanted Garden or after seeing it for himself, Dalí decorated the garden at the house at which he was staying and entitled his work “The Enchanted Garden.”

Dali’s Enchanted Garden in Bowling Green, Virginia

Whether or not Poe influenced Dalí’s landscaping, he apparently inspired the painter’s writing. In fact, Dalí claimed Poe helped him write his autobiography. According to Dalí, “on certain nights the spectre of Edgar Allan Poe would come from Richmond to see me, in a very pretty convertible car all spattered with ink. One night he made me a present of a black telephone truffled with black pieces of black noses of black dogs, inside which he had fastened with black strings a dead black rat and a black sock, the whole soaked in India ink.”

After leaving Virginia, Dalí took America by storm, producing some of his best paintings, painting celebrity portraits, and collaborating with Hollywood directors Alfred Hitchcock and Walt Disney. Click here to read more about Dalí’s stay in Virginia.

Dali’s painting Soft Construction in Boiled Beans (1936)

Tags history, Richmond

The Poe Museum Blog

The Critic Who Burned “Fairy-Land”

Post author By zakyoung
Post date May 3, 2016

Editor Nathaniel Parker Willis once burned a manuscript of Poe’s “Fairy-Land.” That seems like pretty harsh treatment from a literary editor; and we wonder why such atmospheric lines as “Dim vales-and shadowy floods- / And cloudy-looking woods” might receive such severe critical feedback? The answer lies in comparing the poem we commonly know with its alternative publishing in Poe’s anthology of poems in 1831.

Poems, 1831

It was no secret that Poe was always at work altering lines and switching words-“Fairy-Land” was no exception.

Our readers may be familiar with the classic verse, which reads,

Dim vales—and shadowy floods—

And cloudy-looking woods,

Whose forms we can’t discover

For the tears that drip all over:

Huge moons there wax and wane—

Again—again—again—

Every moment of the night—

Forever changing places—

And they put out the star-light

With the breath from their pale faces.

About twelve by the moon-dial,

One more filmy than the rest

(A kind which, upon trial,

They have found to be the best)

Comes down—still down—and down

With its centre on the crown

Of a mountain’s eminence,

While its wide circumference

In easy drapery falls

Over hamlets, over halls,

Wherever they may be—

O’er the strange woods—o’er the sea—

Over spirits on the wing—

Over every drowsy thing—

And buries them up quite

In a labyrinth of light—

And then, how, deep! —O, deep,

Is the passion of their sleep.

In the morning they arise,

And their moony covering

Is soaring in the skies,

With the tempests as they toss,

Like—almost any thing—

Or a yellow Albatross.

They use that moon no more

For the same end as before,

Videlicet, a tent—

Which I think extravagant:

Its atomies, however,

Into a shower dissever,

Of which those butterflies

Of Earth, who seek the skies,

And so come down again

(Never-contented things!)

Have brought a specimen

Upon their quivering wings.

The following is what N. P. Willis had to say about this version of the poem:

It is quite exciting to lean over eagerly as the flame eats in upon the letters, and make out the imperfect sentences and trace the faint strokes in the tinder as it trembles in the ascending air of the chimney. There, for instance, goes a gilt-edged sheet which we remember was covered with some sickly rhymes on Fairy-land….Now it [the flame] flashes up in a broad blaze, and now it reaches a marked verse-let us see-the fire devours as we read:
“They use that moon no more,
For the same end as before-
Videlicet, a tent,
Which I think extravagant.”
Burn on, good fire! (From The Editor’s Table’ of the American Monthly for November, here found in The Poe Log, 99).

Critic Nathaniel Parker Willis

Whether Willis truly burned the manuscript the twenty-year-old Poe poured his heart into, or whether he figuratively made this claim to prove a striking point, we may infer that the notice may have burned Poe so severely that it caused him to turn the memorable piece into a less than memorable one. Here is the following revised version found in his 1831, Poems, just two years after Willis’ scathing review,
Sit down beside me, Isabel,

Here, dearest, where the moonbeam fell

Just now so fairy-like and well.

Now thou art dress’d for paradise!

I am star-stricken with thine eyes!

My soul is lolling on thy sighs!

Thy hair is lifted by the moon

Like flowers by the low breath of June!

Sit down, sit down — how came we here?

Or is it all but a dream, my dear?

You know that most enormous flower —

That rose — that what d’ye call it — that hung

Up like a dog-star in this bower —

To-day (the wind blew, and) it swung

So impudently in my face,

So like a thing alive you know,

I tore it from its pride of place

And shook it into pieces — so

Be all ingratitude requited.

The winds ran off with it delighted,

And, thro’ the opening left, as soon

As she threw off her cloak, yon moon

Has sent a ray down with a tune.

And this ray is a fairy ray —

Did you not say so, Isabel?

How fantastically it fell

With a spiral twist and a swell,

And over the wet grass rippled away

With a tinkling like a bell!

In my own country all the way

We can discover a moon ray

Which thro’ some tatter’d curtain pries

Into the darkness of a room,

Is by (the very source of gloom)

The motes, and dust, and flies,

On which it trembles and lies

Like joy upon sorrow!

O, when will come the morrow?

Isabel! do you not fear

The night and the wonders here?

Dim vales! and shadowy floods!

And cloudy-looking woods

Whose forms we can’t discover

For the tears that drip all over!

Huge moons — see! wax and wane

Again — again — again —

Every moment of the night —

Forever changing places!

How they put out the starlight

With the breath from their pale faces!

Lo! one is coming down

With its centre on the crown

Of a mountain’s eminence!

Down — still down — and down —

Now deep shall be — O deep!

The passion of our sleep!

For that wide circumference

In easy drapery falls

Drowsily over halls —

Over ruin’d walls —

Over waterfalls,

(Silent waterfalls!)

O’re the strange woods — o’er the sea —

Alas! over the sea! (Taken from here).

We question Poe’s motives in changing the poem, causing it to become so lengthy and awkward; even a fellow Poe enthusiast was left shaking their head in confusion, stating, “I don’t even recognize that poem. Isabel-?!” Perhaps this alternate “Fairy Land” is truly that-an alternate “Fairy Land.” Thus, shouldn’t it be treated as its own poem and published, perhaps, alongside our final version of “Fairy-Land?” It is noted in Mabbott’s Complete Poems that Poe never republished “Fairy Land” (which is noted here as “Fairy Land [II]”). He may have been ashamed of his lengthy alternative and thus stuck with his original, scathed “Fairy-Land,” pushing its popularity and thus allowing it to be the one contemporary audiences may be more familiar with. This is not to say that both poems have not been published side-by-side, in some cases, since; however, the author of this post would like to point out that two of her own Poe volumes do not contain “Fairy Land” from 1831 Poems.

What do you think about the alternate piece? Do you think both versions should be, or continue to be, published in future Poe anthologies? Which version do you prefer?

Tags history, literature, Poe's Works

The Poe Museum Blog

Poe and His Circle Filled Ladies’ Albums with Poetry

Post author By zakyoung
Post date April 12, 2016

April is National Poetry Month and the perfect time to celebrate all the poetry in the world around us. Whether we read it in a book or listen to it on the radio, we enjoy poetry in countless forms. In Edgar Allan Poe’s time, when poetry was far more popular than it is today, people experienced poetry in a number of different ways. Much like today, poets gave public readings for their work or published it in books or magazines. Poe and his contemporaries also wrote their poems in ladies’ albums.

Ladies’ albums were popular gifts for girls throughout much of the nineteenth century. The owner would send her album to her friends and relatives who would fill them with poetry and drawings in much the same way today’s high school students sign each other’s yearbooks. In the nineteenth century, however, people put a lot more effort into signing their friends’ albums. Here are three good examples from the collection of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum.

The first belonged to Lucy Dorothea Henry (1822-1898), the granddaughter of Revolutionary War orator Patrick Henry. In spite of living on a rural Virginia plantation, she befriended some of the leading authors of her day by writing them to request their autographs for her collection. In the process, she befriended New York editor and autograph collector John Keese who gave her this album.

This is Keese’s inscription.

This page contains a poem by American poet Charles Fenno Hoffman.

Here is poem by Elizabeth Oakes Smith that shows off the poet’s beautiful handwriting.

Henry’s daughters donated both her autograph collection and her album to the Poe Museum in 1928.

The next album belonged to Louisa Anna Lynch (1825-1891), who grew up in Petersburg, Virginia. When she was a girl, Edgar Allan Poe gave her a copy of a book and autographed it for her. Read all about it here. When her descendants donated that book to the Poe Museum, they also donated her autograph album, which is full of poems dating to the early 1840s.

Somebody wrote these unsigned captions for the book’s few illustrations. The captions are quotes from various books and periodicals.

The anonymous writer of this Shakespeare quote has given Louisa the nickname Annie.

One suitor thought he could impress Louisa by writing this essay on friendship in her album.

Here are the closing lines of a poem signed “CMF” and the opening verses of a poem signed “Amicus.”

The third album belonged to Amelia Poe, the twin sister of Neilson Poe, the husband of Josephine Emily Clemm Poe Poe, half-sister of Edgar Poe’s wife Virginia Clemm Poe, who was also Edgar’s first cousin. (If that is confusing, you can read about the Poe family genealogy here.) This album is a treasure trove of poetry, artworks, and pressed flowers.

The person who wrote this poem also decorated the page with drawings.

Here is another elaborate decoration.

When writing in a lady’s album, one could either compose an original poem or quote an appropriate poem by a popular author. In the sample below, someone has quoted a couple verses of Scottish poet Thomas Campbell’s 1799 poem “The Pleasure of Hope” and signed it with a dotted line. If you look very closely, someone wrote some initials in pencil on that dotted line. They appear to be “EAP.”

In either 1829 or 1832-1836, Edgar Allan Poe wrote the first stanza of his poem “To Helen” in the album. Today this is thought to be the only surviving copy of that poem in Poe’s handwriting.

Amelia Poe’s granddaughter donated this album and other Poe family items to the Poe Museum in 1930.

This has been only a small sample of the many poems written throughout each of these albums. At a time when writing in cursive is a dying art and when writing poetry in albums has long-since gone out of fashion, we can read through the poetry in the Poe Museum’s albums to get a sense of the role poetry played in people’s daily lives back in Poe’s time.

Tags collections, history

The Poe Museum Blog

“Lines on Ale” and Other Misattributed Poems

Post author By zakyoung
Post date April 8, 2016

I recently came across a curious poem in a Poe anthology entitled “To Isadore.” I was not familiar with it, but it certainly sounded like Poe’s voice throughout the stanzas, at least so I thought. The publishers sure fooled me, for lo’ and behold, it was deemed as being misattributed to Poe and it had been confirmed that it was not a Poe poem (Mabbott 509). What concerned me most about this situation was that there remain to be slipups even among our popular publishers today. The anthology I found this poem in will go unnamed; however, this post is meant to bring awareness to a few commonly misattributed “Poe poems.”

Going off of the “To Isadore” poem, Mabbott explains in his Complete Poems that an A. M. Ide was thought to be Poe, especially since this Ide had published four poems in The Broadway Journal of 1845, the same journal Poe briefly worked for. Mabbott explains, however, that this young writer was Abijah M. Ide (509). In fact, Ide and Poe had corresponded in a few letters, thus further proving that Poe was not Mr. Ide, and thus marking off the following poems from Poe’s “potential poems” list: “To Isadore,” “The Village Street,” “The Forest Reverie,” and “Annette,” all written by Ide.

“To Isadore” was not the first time I had been fooled by believing I had found a new Poe poem to read. A close second that seems to fool many, including private sellers on various auction websites, is “The Fire-Fiend – A Nightmare,” which can be found in the Saturday Press of November 19, 1859. According to Mabbott, this poem was a hoax by Charles D. Gadette, who later explained in his own pamphlet the truth behind the poem and that it was his own. This did not stop the prestigious Southern Literary Messenger from publishing it again, however, in their July 1863 issue (calling it “The Fire Legend”). Finally, this piece continued to fool audiences, even up until 1901, where James A. Harrison, who published it in a Complete Works of Poe, had discussed the poem with W. F. Gill, who called it “The Demon of Fire” (Mabbott 512).

Thomas Dunn English

A third poem to discuss is “The Lady Hubbard,” which can be found in Godey’s Lady’s Book of 1849. What is striking about this piece is that it has been hypothesized to have been written by Thomas Dunn English, rather than Poe, although scholars, including Ruth E. Finley in The Lady of Godey’s, adamantly attribute it to Poe. We might point out that this has not been the first time English and Poe have been mixed up regarding their writing technique; and English has been so convincing of parodying Poe’s writing that other authors blindly accepted prose sent in by English mimicking and claiming to be Poe. This includes “The Ghost of a Grey Tadpole, by Edgar A. Poe,” published in The Irish Citizen of January, 1844. According to Dwight Thomas in The Poe Log, this was a “clever burlesque of Poe’s fiction by Thomas Dunn English” (450). Later that month, George Lippard, a contemporary of Poe’s, republished the story in the Citizen Soldier, “without comment and presumably without recognizing it as a hoax by English,” according to Thomas (451). We cannot blame Lippard for his mistake, however, as English, who had editorial authority of the Irish Citizen took his own liberties to publish the false piece. Only Poe and English would know better about that story. Another poem that English wrote, mimicking Poe’s style was “The Mammoth Squash,” which also remains to be a confusing selling point for many rare booksellers. Unfortunately, again, Poe did not write this poem, and we would frankly be embarrassed if he had. Originally found in the Aristidean of October 1845, the poem caused Poe himself to rise and refute the poem as being his own in an article in the Broadway Journal of 1845. Rather, Poe directed the poem towards the editor of the Aristidean, Thomas Dunn English. This shows that Poe was even dealing with misattributions during his lifetime.

Our fourth piece is one that Mabbott deemed to be “trash,” a harsh word to use in a scholarly book. Charles Bromback assigned this poem, “First of May,” to Poe in 1917; it was originally found in the Atlantic Souvenir. According to Mabbott, the poem ends by exclaiming, “Then how can I be gay / On this merry first of May? / Ah no! I am sad, I am sad” (505). Mabbott ends his short description regarding this poem with a quip, “It is to its unknown author’s credit that no signature was affixed to this trash.” We will have to agree with Mabbott on this one.

Our final poem is one that is fairly commonly known within the Poe community, “Lines on Ale.” This drinking poem managed to confuse Poe scholars aplenty, and many still attribute it to Poe. He was “an alcoholic” after all, so why wouldn’t he write a few verses in honor of the drink? Unfortunately, this poem has been rejected and is not a Poe poem.

George Arnold, author of “Drinking Wine”

Mabbott had mistakenly claimed it as a Poe poem, stating, “Absolutely complete authentication is not possible, but the piece comes in an unsuspicious way, and I regard it as authentic…” (449). The legend claims that Poe may have written the lines at the Washington Tavern in Lowell, Massachusetts and that the manuscript of this poem hung on the wall of the tavern until around 1920. Even a firsthand account given by Jerry Murphy, a source for Mabbott, claimed to have seen it. However, doubts began to seriously arise in 2013 when, according to the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore, claims were sent in pointing out strong similarities between Poe’s lines and another poet’s lines. George Arnold’s version, beginning with “Pour the mingled cream and amber,” was first published in 1867, whereas Poe’s version, “Fill with mingled cream and amber,” was supposedly written anytime between 1848-1892 (although it would have had to have been written in 1848 or 1849, considering Poe’s death in 1849, assuming Poe had written it) (EAPoe). Another argument in 2014 explained that perhaps Arnold had plagiarized Poe; however, there is no evidence that proves this either way.

Mabbot’s argument using Murphy’s potentially word-of-mouth claims is not sufficient evidence that Poe would have written this poem, nor is there strictly strong evidence proving that Arnold was the original, and only, author of the poem. If the manuscript still survived, then we might completely know the truth. For now, this poem has been rejected by the Poe community.

Over all, there seem to be many numerous misattributed poems out there, many parodying “The Raven” and “Annabel Lee,” while others claim to have been inspired from Poe’s own voice from the dead. Were you familiar with any of these poems? Were there any that did not make our list? For a complete list, you can visit the following link.

Tags education, Poe's Works

The Poe Museum Blog

New Exhibit Sheds Light on Poe’s Talented Siblings

Post author By zakyoung
Post date April 7, 2016

Above: Edgar’s sister Rosalie Mackenzie Poe

In spite of being reared by a frugal businessman who discouraged his writing, Edgar Allan Poe became one of the world’s greatest authors. Why did a boy who grew up in such a home decide to devote himself to a life in the arts? Was Poe born gifted, or was his genius the result of his upbringing? Maybe we can find some of the answers by learning about the family from which Poe was separated when he was orphaned at the age of two.

Above: Handkerchief Case Painted by Rosalie Mackenzie Poe

Talent runs in Edgar Allan Poe’s family. Not only was Edgar a talented writer, but so was his brother William Henry Leonard Poe. His sister was a gifted musician and an art teacher. His mother was a popular actress and singer. In order to shed some light on these forgotten members of Edgar Allan Poe’s family, the Poe Museum in Richmond will host a new exhibit The Unknown Poes: Edgar Allan Poe’s talented Family from April 28 until June 19, 2016. The display will feature a number of Poe family artifacts including clothing, documents, and a Poe family bible. The highlight of the exhibit will be a piece of original artwork painted by Poe’s sister Rosalie. The exhibit will place Poe’s talent in the context of a gifted family of artists, writers, and performers.

Above: Negative review of a performance by Poe’s father from 1806

The exhibit will open on April 28 from 6-9 p.m. with a special Unhappy Hour in the Poe Museum’s Enchanted Garden featuring live music by The Folly.

Above: Bridget Poe’s Dancing Shoes from 1805

Above: Chest of drawers given by Poe’s uncle Henry Herring to his daughter

Above: Poe family bible opened to a page containing a diagram of a Poe burial plot

Tags collections, education, exhibits, Poe's life

The Poe Museum Blog

Poe Museum Invites Artists to Take Part in Exhibit

Post author By zakyoung
Post date March 9, 2016

For the third year in a row, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia is inviting artists to paint, sketch, or photograph the museum’s legendary Enchanted Garden for its exhibit Painting the Enchanted Garden 3, which opens May 26 and runs until July 17. The great quality and variety of the artists in the first two Painting the Enchanted Garden exhibits has encouraged the Poe Museum to bring back the popular show.

Art by Dwight Paulette

The rules of entering the exhibit are simple. Interested artists sign up by April 1 by emailing the Poe Museum’s curator Chris Semtner at chris@poemuseum.org. Then the artists can visit the museum to sketch, photograph, or paint the museum’s garden. Artists interested in working in a group painting session can join Semtner on April 24 from 2 to 5 p.m. The finished artwork should be delivered ready to hang between May 17 through 22 during regular business hours. A portion of the proceeds from the artwork will benefit the Poe Museum. Click here for the complete prospectus. Click here to see the consignment agreement.

About the Poe Museum’s Enchanted Garden:

Landscaped in 1921 and opened in April 1922, the Poe Museum’s Enchanted Garden is Virginia’s first monument to a writer. The layout of the garden was inspired by Poe’s poem “To One in Paradise,” and the building materials were salvaged from different structures in which Poe lived or worked. The Garden Club of Virginia is in the process of restoring the Enchanted Garden to its original beauty, ensuring that the museum’s visitors continue to see the garden very much as it would have appeared in the 1920s. Click here to read more about the Enchanted Garden.

Painting the Enchanted Garden 2 in 2015

Click this link for an Exhibit Prospectus:
Prospectus for Painting the Enchanted Garden 2016

Click the following link for an Artwork Consignment Form:
Painting the Enchanted Garden 2016 Incoming Loan Agreement

Artwork by Bill Dompke

Tags events, exhibits

The Poe Museum Blog

Poe as America’s Unabashed Critic

Post author By zakyoung
Post date March 7, 2016

Poe was notorious for being a harsh critic-he was nicknamed the “Tomahawk Man,” after all. But are you familiar with these particular criticisms?

Check these out:

1) Poe once told a guy to shoot himself. According to Poe scholar Chris Semtner in his book Edgar Allan Poe’s Richmond, Poe wrote a review of author Langston Osbourne’s book, Confessions of a Poet in an 1835 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger. First off, let us explain that the author had included a couple of sentences in his preface explaining that he’d had a gun on standby so he could shoot himself upon the book’s completion. Poe, knowing this, stated,

The author avers upon his word of honor that in commencing this work he loads a pistol, and places it upon the table. He farther states that, upon coming to a conclusion, it is his intention to blow out what he supposes to be his brains. Now this is excellent. But, even with so rapid a writer as the poet must undoubtedly be, there would be some little difficulty in completing the book under thirty days or thereabouts. The best of powder is apt to sustain injury by lying so long “in the load.” We sincerely hope the gentleman took the precaution to examine his priming before attempting the rash act. A flash in the pan — and in such a case — were a thing to be lamented. Indeed there would be no answering for the consequences. We might even have a second series of the Confessions.

Yikes!

2) In an introductory article for The Lady’s Book, entitled “The Literati: Of Criticism-Public and Private,” Poe proceeded to explain the premise of a series of articles he would be releasing. He then commenced, giving us a glimpse to prepare us for the potentially scathing reviews to follow:

Again, of Mr. Longfellow, who, although a little quacky per se, has, through his social and literary position as a man of property and a professor at Harvard, a whole legion of active quacks at his control-of him what is the apparent popular opinion? Of course, that he is a poetical phenomenon, as entirely without fault, as is the luxurious paper upon which his poems are invariably borne to the public eye (40-41).

Not only does Poe call Longfellow a “quack,” a pretty bold move to make, but he also sarcastically implies that Longfellow does entirely have faults, is not a poetical phenomenon, and he mocks the “luxurious paper upon which [Longfellow’s] poems are” written on. Keep in mind that this wasn’t the beginning, nor was it the end, of the “Poe-Longfellow War.” We will allude to this again later in this post.

3) Aside from literary critiques, Poe also went the mile and decided to critique include physical appearances and attributes at the end of some articles. Here’s one of our favorites regarding Margaret Fuller’s appearance in Poe’s eyes:

She is of the medium height; nothing remarkable about the figure; a profusion of lustrous light hair; eyes a bluish gray, full of fire; capacious forehead; the mouth when in repose indicates profound sensibility…but the upper lip, as if impelled by the action of involuntary muscles, habitually uplifts itself, conveying the impression of a sneer” (122).

How flattering.

4) Charles Fenno Hoffman was a common name back in Poe’s time. Hoffman was especially, personally known to Poe through a harsh published review of “Eureka” in The Literary World, for which Hoffman was the editor. Although it may have seemed to Poe that Hoffman was unfair to publish this review of Poe’s allegedly great masterpiece, we feel he had every right to his actions as editor, especially considering what Poe wrote regarding one of Hoffman’s own works, Greyslaer,

“Greyslaer” followed, a romance based on the well known murder of Sharp, the Solicitor-General of Kentucky, by Beauchampe[sic]. W[illam] Gilmore Simms, (who has far more power, more passion, more movement, more skill than Mr. Hoffman) has treated the same subject more effectively in his novel “Beauchampe,” but the fact is that both gentlemen have positively failed, as might have been expected (173)

Poe has effectively disrespected both Hoffman and Simms in a few short lines, making this a double-whammy critique. And, apparently Poe felt the need to mention in a review about Hoffman that even though Hoffman and Simms failed to provide a good novel, Hoffman failed harder than Simms. We say this statement was completely uncalled for.

5) In our same book of Poe criticisms, we found a curious man by the name of William W. Lord. Poe didn’t know who he was either, as his article opens by explaining, “Of Mr. Lord we known nothing-although we believe that he is a student at Princeton College-or perhaps a graduate, or perhaps a Professor of that institution.” (256). This anonymity seems to pull the worst out in Poe, perhaps because if he isn’t acquainted with them, he’ll never see the victim.

A curious passage arises in this critique, as he quotes the following lines from a poem of Lord’s, “And the aged beldames napping,/ Dreamed of gently rapping, rapping, / With a hammer gently tapping, / Tapping on an infant’s skull” (266). Poe goes on to imply that this is a theft of his “The Raven,” as he provides the following stanza for example, “While I pondered nearly napping, / Suddenly there came a rapping, / As of someone gently tapping, / Tapping at my chamber door” (266). He then attacks,

But it is folly to pursue these thefts. As to any property of our own, Mr. Lord is very cordially welcome to whatever use he can make of it. But others may not be so pacifically disposed, and the book before us might be very materially thinned and reduced in cost, by discarding from it all that belongs to Miss Barrett, Tennyson, Keats, Shelley, Proctor, Longfellow and Lowell-the very class of poets, by the way, whom Mr. William W. Lord, in his ‘New Castalia’ the most especially affects to satirize and to contemn (266).

This is how he ends his critique of Mr. Lord,

Invariably Mr. Lord writes didst did’st; couldst could’st, &c. The fact is he is absurdly ignorant of the commonest principles of grammar-and the only excuse we can make to our readers for annoying them with specifications in this respect is that, without the specifications we should never have been believed.

But enough of this folly. We are heartily tired of the book, and thoroughly disgusted with the impudence of the parties who have been aiding and abetting in thrusting it before the public. To the poet himself we have only to say-from any farther specimens of your stupidity, good Lord deliver us! (269).

As for Mr. Lord, whether he was a student or professor, we can guess he did not come out to see the light of day again after reading Poe’s article about him.

6) In regard to Rufus Griswold’s anthology, The Poets and Poetry of America, (you know, the man who attempted to destroy Poe’s reputation), Poe had this to say:

He has omitted from the body of his book, some one or two whom we should have been tempted to introduce. On the other hand, he has scarcely made us amends by introducing some one or two dozen whom we should have treated with contempt. We might complain too of a prepossession, evidently unperceived by himself, for the writers of New England. We might hint also, that in two or three cases, he has rendered himself liable to the charge of personal partiality…(103).

Perhaps he is referring to Charles Hoffman in this case, who had had 45 of his poems featured in the anthology. Poe even points this out in a separate, but relevant criticism and article about Hoffman,

Whatever may be the merits of Mr. Hoffman as a poet, it may be easily seen that these merits have been put in the worst possible light by the indiscriminate and lavish approbation bestowed on them by Dr. Griswold in his ‘Poets and Poetry of America.’ The editor can find no blemish in Mr. H., agrees with everything and copies everything said in his praise-worse than all, gives him more space in the book than any two, or perhaps three, of our poets combined (175).

In Griswold’s anthology, Poe only had three poems featured. Perhaps he was harboring ill feelings?

7) Lewis Gaylord Clark was known for being the editor of The Knickerbocker for many years, as well as another victim held under Poe’s scrutiny-we might also mention that Poe and Clark had quite a rocky relationship. Sometimes Edgar could be downright harsh to those he critiqued, and Gaylord wasn’t an exception, as seen in the following example, “Mr. Clark once did me the honor to review my poems, and-I forgive him…He is noticeable for nothing in the world except for the markedness by which he is noticeable for nothing” (Quinn 502). All we can say is that this critique didn’t go unnoticed by us in the least.

8) Many men did not go unobserved by Poe, and Charles F. Briggs was no exception. Briggs was Poe’s coworker at the Broadway Journal; in fact, Briggs was its founder. However, Poe remained merciless in his installment of “The Literati of New York City,” when he proclaimed that Briggs “has never composed in his life three consecutive sentences of grammatical English. He is grossly uneducated” (EAPoe).

9) Our ninth author sacrificed under the mercilessness of Poe is Joel T. Headley. This reverend, historian, and author was torn apart from first sentence to last under Poe’s evaluation. For example, Poe writes about Headley’s “Sacred Mountains,” stating,

We say that a book is a “funny” book, and nothing else, when it spreads over two hundred pages an amount of matter which could be conveniently presented in twenty of a magazine…that a book is a”funny” book, and nothing but a funny book, whenever it happens to be penned by Mr. Headley (47).

Sufficed it to say that Headley wasn’t going for a comical bent in his “Sacred Mountains.” We might also note that in this same editorial, Poe calls Headley a “quack”-does this sound familiar? (The author of this post would also like to note that she read the book that Poe grossly attacked and can say that she disagrees with Poe’s claims.)

10) Finally, Longfellow was, once more, analyzed under Poe’s seething Tomahawk gaze in an article titled “Mr. Longfellow and Other Plagiarists: A Discussion With ‘Outis’.” As you might recall, an intern at the museum wrote an article last summer about the Poe-Longfellow War, which you can check out here. That being said, we will not go too in depth into the ordeal. However, in this last section of our list, we will discuss this mysterious Outis mentioned in the title.

Have any of our readers heard of this mysterious Outis? Where did he come from, and what were his intentions? Whomever took the title of Outis was most likely trying to play a trick on Longfellow and other readers, we surmise, as it has even been speculated that this Outis was Poe himself.

Outis is Greek for “Nobody” or “No One,” which seems befitting if one were to take on a pseudonym. But why might Poe be this mysterious Outis? We will explain in a blog post soon to come. Meanwhile, we are left with the “Mr. Longfellow…” critique, which is more or less a battle against Longfellow and other plagiarists (just as the title suggests), as well as Poe’s battle against this other mysterious writer who took it upon himself to publish a letter in Longfellow’s defense, all the while mocking Poe. He or she even compares a poem, “The Bird of the Dream” (which, we cannot currently find any records of this ever having existed) to “The Raven.” The point is daft, regardless, as the two poems aren’t even comparable.

“Sweet bird from realms of light, oh! come again to-night, / Come to my window-perch upon my chair- / Come give me back again that deep impassioned strain
/ That tells me thou hast seen and loved my CLARE,” the last stanza quotes, as provided in Outis’ article (EAPoe). However, Outis continues by explaining that he dares not to charge Poe with plagiarism, but proceeds to provide fifteen points explaining what “identities” make this poem comparable to “The Bird of the Dream.”

How does Poe respond? “What I admire in this letter is the gentlemanly grace of its manner, and the chivalry which has prompted its composition. What I do not admire is all the rest. In especial, I do not admire the desperation of the effort to make out a case” (EAPoe).

Why did we choose this article for our last choice? Considering the potential that Outis might be Poe himself, it is comical. We are presented not only with Outis’ criticism of Poe’s works, but also Poe’s rebuttal to Outis. Essentially, Poe is rebuking himself! Perhaps Poe wanted an opponent worthy of himself, so he took up the challenge? Or, perhaps he invented Outis in the hopes that Longfellow would respond to his accusations? There is no denying that it takes someone with great confidence and a sense of humor to critique themselves.

Which was your favorite selection? Were there any critiques that didn’t make it in our list? Feel free to comment below!

Tags Poe's life, Poe's Works

The Poe Museum Blog

Poe the “Punny” Poet

Post author By zakyoung
Post date March 3, 2016

It was recently brought to my attention that Poe was once a comedian.

I recall first hearing this statement claimed a few years ago-after all, he has written more satire and humorous stories combined than horror-but who would believe that this “miserable” and “melancholy” writer was once a comedian?

If you still remain skeptical, do not worry-so do I. Upon reading Poe’s satires, including “Lionizing” and “The Devil in the Belfry,” one can see jabs at humor here and there, especially jabs which mock the social life of nineteenth century America; unfortunately, it is just that point that leaves readers scratching their heads. Poe’s humor was catered to his time and is not catered to our contemporary readers. In fact, Poe still leaves me desperately searching for an annotated edition so that I may understand what his Latin sentences mean, what his made up words are equivalent to, and even what the statements that are assumedly supposed to be funny mean.

In fact, the editor of the Emporia Gazette in 1911 commented:

If there is anything in the world more gloomy and heartrending than Poe’s tragic tales, it is Poe’s humorous work. He hadn’t the first qualification of a humorist. There was nothing buoyant or effervescent in his make-up. His “humorous” stories are such labored things as to make the reader weep. The fact that he constantly uses italics to identify and emphasize his alleged jests is enough for any reasonable man (EAPoe).

Not only did Poe write satire and make an attempt to make his readers laugh, but he also liked to throw out the occasional pun. Let us not forget the gentleman whom Poe chastised for using a pun in the writer’s “Best Conundrum Yet”:

With this heading we find the following in the New York Signal: — “Why may Prince Albert be considered a saving and frugal personage?” [[“]]Answer — because he lays by a sovereign every night.” Mr. [Park?] Benjamin, we have a very high respect for you, but not for your opinion about your own puns. Do you seriously think that conundrum a good one — we don’t. To be good, a double entendre should be at least good English when viewed on either side. Now we may lay by a piece of money — but we lie by a wife (EAPoe). (Note, this was attributed to Poe in 1943 by Clarence Brigham.)

In short, Poe was a tad hypocritical when it came between his own writing and critiquing others works. But we digress.

The Poe enthusiast who spurred this post reached out to me with an article from EAPoe’s website. This article, full of Poe’s puns, is both a joy and also upsetting-what was Poe thinking when he wrote these jokes?

We will provide a few examples of our favorites below:

“I have a table needing repairs; why must the cabinet-maker who comes for it be in good circumstances?

Because he is comfortable. — come for table.” We think Poe should reflect on the previous criticism regarding Mr. Benjamin’s pun. Poe’s grammar is just as, if not more, poor here than Benjamin’s.

“Why is his last new novel sleep itself?
Because it’s so poor. — sopor.”

“Why is a chain like the feline race?
Because it’s a catenation. — a catty nation.”

“When you called the dock a wharf, why was it a deed of writing? Because it was a dock you meant. — a document.”

“Why does a lady in tight corsets never need comfort?”

“Because she’s already so laced. — solaced.”

Lastly, we cannot forget the pun where Poe mentions himself,

“Why ought the author of the ‘Grotesque and Arabesque’ to be a good writer of verses?
Because he’s a poet to a t. Add t to Poe makes it Poet.”

We will point out that these puns were so bad, Poe had to even write out the answers himself.

You can read more of Poe’s terrible puns by following this link.

Although we may snicker and sneer at Poe’s jokes, or lack thereof, it must be noted that he was aware of his bad humor. In fact, he made this statement in regard to justifying his bad puns,

“Why is a bad wife better than a good one? — Because bad is the best.” This somewhat ungallant old query, with its horrible answer, is an embodiment of the true genius of the whole race to which it belongs — the race of the conundrums. Bad is the best. There is nothing better settled in the minds of people who know any thing at all, than the plain truth that if a conundrum is decent it wo’nt do — that if it is fit for anything it is not worth twopence — in a word that its real value is in exact proportion to the extent of its demerit, and that it is only positively good when it is outrageously and scandalously absurd. In this clear view of the case we offer the annexed. They have at least the merit of originality — a merit apart from that of which we have just spoken. At all events if they are not ours, we have just made them, and they ought to be (EAPoe).

If Poe was self-aware, then why did he proceed to torture his readers?

Do you think you would go to Poe’s show if he were hosting at a comedy club? Would you cheer him on or jeer and throw tomatoes at the poor man? If we were able to give him advice during the time he wrote these puns, we would advise he not quit his day job.

However, to support and enlighten Edgar’s comedic voice, we will end this with another of his own:

“Why are these conundrums like a song for one voice?
“Because they’re so low.”[solo]-Just like Poe’s puns.

Tags education, Poe's Works, poetry

The Poe Museum Blog

When Hollywood Came to the Poe Museum

Post author By zakyoung
Post date February 26, 2016

Carl Laemmle, Jr. needed a monster. The twenty-three year old president of Universal Pictures had produced a string of successful features since inheriting the company as his twenty-first birthday present. It was the depths of the Great Depression. Thousands were unemployed. More than ever, Americans needed an escape, and it came in the form of movies. This was an age of screwball comedies, lavish musicals, and westerns. It was also the time when Universal Pictures introduced its classic monsters — Dracula, the Mummy, and Frankenstein’s Monster. These monsters starred in the horror films that saved Universal and made stars of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. In its quest for the next great monster, Universal searched the works of Edgar Allan Poe and found Erik. If you’ve never heard of Erik that is because it is the name they gave the previously unnamed orangutan from Poe’s mystery “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” In the process of converting Poe’s detective story into one of Universal’s gothic monster movies, the producers transformed the orangutan into a classic movie monster and threw in a mad scientist for good measure.

Filming on Murders in the Rue Morgue (the studio dropped the first “The” from the title.) wrapped on December 23, 1931 at the cost of $190,099.45, far less than it had spend the previous year on Dracula. In January 1932, Universal Pictures’ publicist P. L. Hickey visited Richmond’s Poe Museum, where the Museum’s Acting Secretary Catherine Campbell led him on a guided tour of the complex. In addition to working for Universal, Hickey wrote fiction, true stories, and poetry for the pulp magazines True Detective Magazine and Weird Tales. Even though the Poe Museum had closed two of its buildings to conserve energy during the Depression, Hickey was sufficiently impressed with his visit that he told Universal’s Head of Exploitation Joe Weil.

Weil specialized in finding unique ways to promote Universal’s films. For the premiere of Dracula, Weil plastered New York City with cryptic messages like “Beware! Friday the 13th—Dracula,” “I’ll be on your neck Friday the 13th—Dracula,” and “Good to the last gasp! Dracula.” He wrote advertising copy and leaked a fake telegram in which the film’s director supposedly begged the studio not to release the movie on Friday the 13th because he was superstitious. Weil also worked with local businesses, convincing department stores have special Dracula-themed displays in their windows. Some studios of the era went so far as to station ambulances outside theaters just in case Universal’s movies frightened anyone to death.

For Murders in the Rue Morgue, Weil probably thought the Poe Museum was a natural fit to help him promote the Poe-inspired film. On January 23, 1932, he wrote Campbell, telling her how much Hickey had enjoyed his visit and promising to send her publicity stills from the film “with the compliments of Mr. Laemmle.” He also promised to send her 1,000 rotogravure heralds to distribute on the film’s behalf. Campbell wrote Weil on February 9, thanking him for the “very interesting pictures of The Murders in the Rue Morgue which your President was kind enough to send us.”

She assured him she would “certainly see the picture if it ever comes to Richmond and will try and have some of [his] pictures in a conspicuous place.” While there is no record of the stills having ever been displayed in the Poe Museum, they have remained in the museum’s collection for the past eighty-four years.

The first thing one might notice when scanning these photos is that the star of the film, the legendary horror film star Bela Lugosi does not appear in any of them. The second is that a lesser known actress named Sidney Fox appears in every one. The average fan of classic horror films might be shocked to discover that, in the film’s opening credits, Fox’s name appears before Lugosi’s—even though she was still a relative newcomer while he was at the height of a long and distinguished career. The rumor at the time attributed her sudden rise to fame to her having an affair with studio boss Carl Laemmle (or even his sixty-four year old father). The truth might be that she was seen as a promising young Hollywood star after having garnered praise on Broadway and beating out Bette Davis for the coveted role of the bad sister in 1931’s Bad Sister.

Also in 1931, Bela Lugosi’s title role in the film Dracula saved Universal from financial ruin and launched the studio’s cycle of horror films. This was the film in which Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi introduced the tuxedo- and cape-wearing interpretation of a suave Count Dracula to the silver screen. Having starred for decades at the Hungarian Royal National Theater and on Broadway, Lugosi believed he would inevitably become a leading man in Hollywood, but his thick accent and inability to master the English language doomed him to be typecast as a foreign villain.

Shortly after he starred in Dracula, Lugosi was offered the role of the monster in Universal’s upcoming adaptation of Frankenstein. Worried that the monster makeup required for the role would obscure his handsome face and that the monster did not have any dialog to showcase his acting, Lugosi declined the offer.

Meanwhile, French Expressionist Robert Florey expected to direct Frankenstein, but Universal awarded the job to British director James Whale. Without Lugosi, the studio was in need of a new monster, and Whale found him, in the form of forty-one year old British actor Boris Karloff.

With the release of Frankenstein on November 21, 1931, Karloff was a star, Whale was a respected director, Lugosi was regretting his decision, and Florey still needed a showcase for his talents. Universal followed up on the success of Frankenstein with The Old Dark House (directed by James Whale and starring Boris Karloff) and The Mummy (also starring Boris Karloff).

While Karloff was claiming the spotlight, Lugosi appeared in minor roles in a series of long-since forgotten B-movies like 50 Million Frenchmen, Women of all Nations, The Black Camel, and Broadminded. By 1932, both Lugosi and Florey needed a chance to shine, and Universal gave it to them with Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Murders in the Rue Morgue premiered on February 21, 1932. Although it made a profit, the film helped launch the careers of many of those involved. The director Florey left Universal for Paramount and Warner Brothers where he specialized in B-movies, making about fifty of them before his death in 1979. His best-known film is probably the Marx Brothers comedy The Cocoanuts (1939).

Bela Lugosi clearly relished the part of the mad Dr. Mirakle, who abducted women to inject them with ape’s blood in order to prove the theory of evolution. When the injection invariably kills them, he dumps them into the River Seine through a trapdoor conveniently located in his laboratory floor. By the way, he is also fluent in whatever language apes speak. As implausible as that may sound, it absolutely works in the context of the unreal atmosphere of the film.

Four years later, when it came time to cast the sequel to his hit film Dracula, Universal replaced Lugosi with a dummy, which is burned at the beginning of the movie. He would, however, reprise his vampire role in films like Mark of the Vampire (1935), Return of the Vampire (1944), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), and Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1951). Over the course of his prolific career, he displayed a great versatility, playing everything the Frankenstein monster’s sinister sidekick Ygor in The Son of Frankenstein and The Ghost of Frankenstein to a gangster in Black Friday (1940). He even obscured his face and grunted to perform the previously rejected role of Frankenstein’s Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943). Universal eventually released Lugosi from his contract, and the actor spent his remaining years playing villains in low-budget films until his death in 1959. His last film was Plan 9 from Outer Space, which has been named the “Worst Film Ever Made.” Per his request, he was buried in his Dracula cape.

Leon Ames portrays the hero of Murders in the Rue Morgue, the medical student Pierre (not Auguste) Dupin. His character is responsible for delivering such corny lines as “You’re like a song the girls of Provence sing on May Day. And like the dancing in Normandy on May Day. And like the wine in Burgundy on May Day.” After Murders in the Rue Morgue Ames found steady acting work until his retirement in 1986. His best known role was that of D.A. Kyle Sackett in The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).

His co-star Sidney Fox was only nineteen when she filmed Murders in the Rue Morgue, and he only made a few more films. The persistent rumors of her affair with Carl Laemmle were among the factors that caused her to move to Europe. Her career never recovered. Her poor acting and grating, high-pitched voice have been blamed (a little unfairly, considering the writing) for ruining Murders in the Rue Morgue. She died from an overdose of sleeping pills ten years later.

The cinematographer, Karl Freund, went on to a celebrated career. By the time he made Murders he had already been the cinematographer for Dracula and the director for The Mummy. After working on several films, he became the cinematographer for the television comedy I Love Lucy in 1951. In so doing, he innovated television by introducing flat lighting, a technique that illuminates all parts of the scene evenly so that three different cameras can be used at the same time from different angles without having to adjust the lighting for each camera.

The producer, Carl Laemmle, saved Universal with his series of monster movies and defined pop culture depictions of Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Mummy for decades. Regrettably, he lost control of the studio in 1936 and retired a few years later. His influence on later horror films is incalculable.

The real star of the film, Erik the Ape, dies in the film, and he would not be resurrected to appear in any sequels like his fellow Universal monsters Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the Mummy. The chimp who portrayed Erik in close-ups lived out his remaining years in the Selig Zoo, which provided animals for films. Joe Bonoma, who wore the ape suit in action shots, went on to a career as a stuntman. Charlie Gemora, who designed the ape suit and wore if for stationary shots, became renowned for his “realistic” ape costumes and would wear them in several films including The Monster and the Girl (1941), the Marx Brothers movie At the Circus (1939), the Laurel and Hardy comedy Swiss Miss (1938), and the Marlene Dietrich feature Blonde Venus (1932). He also found success as a special effects artist at Paramount Studios.

Murders from the Rue Morgue gradually became a cult classic and is considered a fine example of Expressionist filmmaking in America. Universal decided Poe’s name was bankable enough that they added his name and the titles of his works to films like The Black Cat (1935) and The Raven (1935) that bear absolutely no relation to anything Poe ever wrote. This tradition of adding Poe’s names and the titles to unrelated horror films continues to this day.

This was not the last time Hollywood came to the Poe Museum. A decade after the release of Murders in the Rue Morgue, Twentieth Century Fox approached the museum for help with its upcoming romance The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe. The museum consulted the studio on the life of Poe in order to make the film as true to life as possible. Then the studio’s writers promptly ignored this advice and wrote a film that bore only a passing resemblance to the author’s life. Regrettably, the thoroughly historically inaccurate The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942) remains one of the most accurate Poe biopics so far.

Even earlier, in 1928, director James Watson wrote the Poe Museum to see if the institution could assist him in getting the avant-garde film The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) shown in Richmond. The Museum’s secretary replied that she was not sure of any place in town that would be willing to screen it. In recent years, the Poe Museum has shown the film in its Enchanted Garden.

Even when the Poe Museum opened in 1922, Edgar Allan Poe and his works were no strangers to film. No less prestigious a director than D.W. Griffith had already made a Poe film. In fact, the first cinematic adaptation of a Poe story dates to 1907.

Over the years, the Poe Museum has had several visitors from Hollywood. In 1975, Vincent Price, star of several Poe adaptations, visited and toured the museum, Shockoe Hill Cemetery, and Talavera, where he recited some verses from “The Raven” on the spot on which Poe once stood when he recited the poem. Around 1990, writer/director/actor Sylvester Stallone visited the museum and spoke about his own desire to write a new Poe biopic. With the critical success of his recent film Creed, maybe he will find the support he needs to make his Poe film a reality.

While the Poe Museum is best known for its collection of rare Poe manuscripts and historical artifacts dating to the early nineteenth century, but the Museum also collects pop culture ephemera like movie posters and comic books. While the core of the Museum’s movie poster collection was donated by Dr. Harry Lee Poe in 2006, the collection of Poe movie memorabilia dates to the 1932 gift of these Murders in the Rue Morgue film stills. Items like these serve as evidence of Poe’s lasting impact and our culture and the ways writers, visual artists, filmmakers, musicians, and other creatives continue to be inspired by his works. That is why–just in time for this year’s Oscars– this set of publicity stills is the Poe Museum’s Object of the Month.

Tags collections, education, exhibits, history

The Poe Museum Blog

A Gentleman, If Not a Christian: the Life of Rufus Griswold

Post author By zakyoung
Post date February 13, 2016

In August of 2014, we covered the scandal between Poe and Rufus Griswold, Poe’s defamer. We went in depth into the situation and analyzed the happenstances leading up to Griswold’s scheme. However, it should be recognized that Griswold was more than just a villainous character in the life of Poe.

Rufus Wilmot Griswold was born February 13, 1815, in Benson, Vermont. He and his ten siblings lived on a small farm with their parents, Deborah and Rufus Griswold. According to biographer Jacob Neu in his article, “Rufus Wilmot Griswold,” not a lot of information is known about his childhood. Neu paints Rufus’ modest childhood:

…no doubt [Rufus] performed such chores as are incident to the duties of a boy on a small farm. Very likely he took a boy’s part in the husking-bees, the sugar-making, and the fur-trapping. He attended such church services as were held in the church of his parents. His diversions he found in the companionship of other boys at the ‘bees’ of the neighborhood, in occasional visits to the banks of the Hudson or to Benson’s Landing, both but a few miles…from his home, or to the lumbering camps near the Westhaven settlement south of his home (102).

According to his son, William, in Passages from the Correspondence and Other Papers of Rufus W. Griswold, Rufus attended the Rensselaer school at Troy, thanks to the graciousness of his brother, Heman, who was a well known business man in that town. Just fifteen, he was kicked out of the school because of a school prank, and was sent to live in Heman’s counting-room (7). According to William, Rufus became acquainted with George G. Foster, writer of New-York by Gaslight, and abandoned his family to move in with Foster in Albany, New York.

Although it is believed that Griswold spent his later teenage years voyaging the world, according to Neu for example, many modern biographers since have discovered the fallacy in this part of his biography. What is known is that, according to the Vergennes Vermonter, he spent time in the South during this time (Neu 104).

In October of 1834, he began working for the office of the Constitutionalist in Syracuse, New York. After his brother, Silas, brought to his attention another job, it is presumed that Rufus began editing for the Chautauqua Whig, officially establishing himself as an editor (104). His success continued with the editorships of both the Western Democrat and Literary Inquirer in 1835 and the Olean Advocate in 1836 (105). It was just before he took the Olean Advocate job when he found his first love and future wife, Caroline Searles.

According to Joy Bayless in her book, Rufus Wilmot Griswold, Griswold was walking with a friend when a downpour occurred sending the two men to take shelter in a home at 51 1/2 Clinton Street. Griswold’s friend, Butler, was well known by the owner of that home, Mrs. Angell, who was the mother of Hamilton Randolph Searles and Caroline Searles, who was then nineteen (15). According to Bayless, “This beautiful girl, with her dark, shy eyes and her glossy auburn hair, immediately became the center of Griswold’s world; and he learned later that from the moment she saw him her heart was his” (15).

The two were separated for a time when Griswold accepted a job as editor for the Olean Advocate in Olean, New York, however he left the paper Christmas 1836, and rejoined Caroline. The two married March 20, 1837, and, according to Bayless, “…[he], romanticizing himself into the rôle of tragic outcast rescued from his exile by a good angel, was happier than he had ever been in his life” (20).

Griswold’s life was improving and seemed promising with his new wife. According to Bayless,

He was smooth and suave as if he had lived in metropolitan cities all his twenty-two years. His slender physique carried his fashionable dress gracefully; and his glib tongue discoursed easily of books he had read, of sights he had seen, and of literary and political happenings of the day….He was intelligent looking, with a high broad forehead and large gray eyes, sharp, trenchant nose, and an expression of cocksure defiance…Griswold’s best asset, however, was his ability to attract friends…(22).

It may have been this charming demeanor which gained him a friend, Horace Greeley, founder of The New-Yorker. Greeley became Griswold’s mentor and sponsored the young man as he endeavored to become a successful literary historian.

In 1837, Griswold become a Baptist preacher, which must have been a contradiction with his religious stance, as he was not devout at this point in his life. It is possible that Caroline influenced him to become a preacher (24). By late 1837 to early 1838, Caroline was expecting their first child, and Griswold left for work in Vergennes, Vermont, to work for The Vergennes Vermonter (25).

According to Bayless, Griswold’s first daughter, Emily Elizabeth, was born four days after he began publishing for this paper. Caroline joined her husband three months later, and the three lived in a rented house (25). However, the family moved back to New York in 1839, where he rejoined Greeley to work for his Daily Whig paper (28).

By July, he was acquainted with both Park Benjamin, editor of The New England Magazine, and Charles Fenno Hoffman, founder of The Knickerbocker (28). Griswold and Benjamin began working together for the Evening Tattler, which featured Edgar Allan Poe as the butt of a joke in their July 19, 1839 issue (29-30). Greeley did not see any promise or true benefit for Griswold working with Benjamin, and he attempted to obtain a position for him with Thomas W. White, publisher of The Southern Literary Messenger; however, he was not given the position and looked for work in Boston. He was unable to find work there and accepted an assistant editorship position for The New-Yorker (32).

During this time, another daughter was born, Caroline, and Emily was two-years-old. He became closer to Hoffman, whom he greatly admired, and “fairly worshipped,” according to Bayless. He also began working on his first gift book, The Biographical Annual (33). The book was printed and, unfortunately, flopped. His next anthology was entitled The Poets and Poetry of America, and would be one of his most successful volumes.

By 1840, Griswold was in Boston, and his family remained in New York (36).

He worked for the Boston Notion, where he demonstrated his enthusiastic support of Hoffman’s poetry by publishing thirty-six of his poems. He would print these and nine more in his anthology, The Poets and Poetry of America, which was published by Carey and Hart on April 18, 1842 (44). The anthology features ninety-one writers, selected verses, and brief biographical sketches of each writer. Edgar Allan Poe was given an inaccurate portrayal and only had three of his poems featured (45). Regardless, the book was given a fair and positive critique, considered as, “…the best collection of American poetry that has yet been made,” although, “…the author, without being aware of it himself, has unduly favored the writers of New England.” Another editor agreed with the latter statement by stating, “We protest against this injustice. The Southern states will be degraded in the eyes of the foreigners, by the course which this partial and prejudiced compiler has pursued” (46).

The volume did wonders for Griswold’s career and aided him in receiving an editorship job for Graham’s Magazine, taking Edgar Allan Poe’s place (49). By May 1842, he was in Philadelphia (50). In November 1842, however, his world seemingly ended. On the ninth of November, while staying in a hotel in Philadelphia, he received word that his wife, who had just given birth to their third child, a son, had died from an unknown cause. His son passed as well (64).

Bayless describes the scene after Griswold heard the news powerfully,

Hysterically he rushed on the night train to New York, where he took a seat near Caroline’s coffin and for thirty hours refused to leave her side. The watchers urged him to try to sleep, but he answered them by kissing the cold lips of his dead wife and embracing her. His two little children came to him, clung to him, and cried for their mother; and he, as much a motherless child as they, showed them ‘her soulless clay’ (64-65).

Griswold heartbreakingly wrote to his friend James T. Fields,

You knew her my friend—she was my good angel—she was the first to lead me from a cheerless, lonely life, to society…She was not only the best of wives, but the best of mothers. You have seen our dear children—she taught them as children are rarely taught, and when she went her way they were left by her at the feet of Christ, at the very gate of heaven…They will bury her then [11:00 that day]—bury my dear Caroline and my child from my sight!…then I must set about tearing up the foundations of my home. Alas for me, I shall never more have a home to fly to in my sorrows—never more a comforter in my afflictions—never more a partner to share in all my woes or to be a source and author of all my pleasures…May God forever keep you from all such sorrow—farewell (65).

The funeral took place on November 11, with the procession moving to Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn. According to Bayless, “When the body was placed in the tomb, Griswold uttered a shriek, fell upon the coffin, and burst into agonized weeping” (65).

Those standing by, including Caroline’s brother, Hamilton Randolph Searles, and his wife, gently urged Griswold to leave the tomb. After seeing they couldn’t console the reverend’s throbbing heart, they let him be to make peace with Caroline’s death. Captain Waring, Caroline’s uncle, finally had to pry Rufus from her grave, stating, “In Heaven’s name, Rufus, have done with this nonsense and come along home with me,” to which Rufus obliged and followed (65).
The night after Caroline’s death, Rufus wrote his most heart-wrenching poem, “Five Days,” which was printed anonymously in The New-York Tribune on November 16, 1842. The poem can be found here.

Forty days after Caroline’s death, Griswold went to her tomb, inspiring his account given below:
I could not think that my dear wife was dead. I dreamed night after night of our reunion. In a fit of madness I went to New York. The vault where she is sleeping is nine miles from the city. I went to it: the sexton unclosed it: and I went down alone into that silent chamber. I kneeled by her side and prayed, and then, with my own hand, unfastened the coffin lid, turned aside the drapery that hid her face, and saw the terrible changes made by Death and Time. I kissed for the last time her cold black forehead—I cut off locks of her beautiful hair, damp with the death dews, and sunk down in senseless agony beside the ruin of all that was dearest in the world. In the evening, a friend from the city, who had learned where I was gone, found me there, my face still resting on her own, and my body as lifeless and cold as that before me. In all this I know I have acted against reason; but as I look back upon it it seems that I have been influenced by some power too strong to be opposed. Through the terrible scenes of the week I have been wonderfully calm, and my strength has not failed me, though it is long since I have slept. It is four o’clock in the morning—I am alone—in the house that while my angel was by my side was the scene of happiness too great to be surpassed even in heaven. I go forth today a changed man. I realize at length that she is dead. I turn my gaze from the past to the future (67).
Despite his broken heart, Griswold persevered knowing that he had to take care of his little girls and continue working.

Because of an overblown feud with Poe, Griswold resigned from Graham’s, and remained in Philadelphia (78). He continued compiling and publishing anthological volumes of poetry and stories, compiled from both American and English writers. Ironically, he also became one of the strongest advocates for copyright laws in the 1840s, organizing the American Copyright Club with other writers and friends, including Charles Fenno Hoffman (83).

Despite keeping busy, Griswold found himself in need of a woman by his side. The emptiness of Caroline’s loss and loneliness of being without a partner may have left him seeking companionship-although it has been said that he enjoyed his bachelorhood for a time. It was in the summer of 1844 when he met his second wife, Charlotte Meyers, a wealthy Jewess from Charleston, South Carolina, according to Bayless (104). Griswold, aged twenty-nine, and Meyers, aged fifty-five, married August 20, 1845 (107).

Unhappy in his new marriage, Griswold left Meyers with the agreement that she keep his little daughter, Caroline, whom she loved and cared for deeply. According to Bayless, “The action which Griswold finally took to terminate this unhappy alliance was to plunge him into the greatest disaster which ever befell him in his eventful, troubled career” (113). His young Caroline was with Meyers and his eight-year-old Emily was with a relative in New York.

Just as things were looking worse, he published another notable volume, The Prose Writers of America, on March 3, 1847 (117). He did not consider this work as being one of his strongest; however, it proved to be positive for Poe who received the greatest praise, along with Nathaniel Hawthorne (119). About Poe, Griswold said, “The tales of Mr. Poe are peculiar and impressive. He has a great deal of imagination and fancy, and his mind is in the highest degree analytical…The reader of Mr. Poe’s tales is compelled almost at the outset to surrender his mind to the author’s control…” (120).

Seventy-two writers were featured in the book; however, only five were women, including Margaret Fuller, who was treated with contempt, according to Bayless (121). Meanwhile, an eighth edition of The Poets and Poetry of America was issued, where he spoke well of Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Poe, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, revising previous statements he had printed in the seventh edition (127-128).

In fall of 1847, he was involved in a controversy with the Reverend Joel T. Headley. Both men were working on books about Washington, causing stress between the rival editors. Griswold published Washington and the Generals of the Revolution under Carey and Hart; whereas, Headley published Washington and His Generals under Baker and Scribner (132). Headley swore revenge against Griswold; the controversy became public and continued for about a month (133). According to Bayless, Headley won the battle by calling Griswold, “such a liar that even his friends replied to his statements with the query, ‘Is that a Griswold or a fact'” (134).

Headley was not the first person who would cause trouble for Griswold that year, however. During winter of 1847, Elizabeth Ellet, a well-known lady associated with the high circles of literary society, approached Griswold and proposed the idea of a book about American Revolutionary women. She inquired about being granted access to any information Griswold may have, to which he agreed. He gave her permission to enter his private library, of which she took full advantage. Once her book was published, Griswold was shocked to find she had neither thanked nor mentioned him. This was the first mark against her character (143-144). He avenged himself by including the following statement about her book in his own anthology, The Female Poets of America:

Her object was to illustrate the action and influence of her sex in the achievement of our national independence,….and with the assistance of a few gentlemen more familiar than herself with our public and domestic experience, she has made a valuable and interesting work (150-151).

This insult was quickly replaced by the kind friendship of Frances Sargent Osgood, whom he greatly admired and said of her, “She is in all things the most admirable woman I ever knew” (144). The two grew close, discussed poetry and prose, attended salons together, and Frances wrote an acrostic for him:

For one, whose being is to mine a star,
Trembling I weave in lines of love and fun
What Fame before has echoed near and far.
A sonnet if you like–I’ll give you one
To be cross-questioned ere it’s truth is solv’d.
Here veiled and hidden in a rhyming wreath
A name is turned with mine in cunning sheath,
And unless by some marvel rare evolved,
Forever folded from all idler eyes
Silent and secret still it treasured lies,
Whilst mine goes winding onward, as a rill
Thro’ a deep wood in unseen joyance dances,
Calling in melody’s bewildering thrill
Whilst thro’ dim leaves its partner dreams and glances (World of Poe).

From top to bottom on the left, the poem spells out Frances Osgood’s name. From top to bottom on the right, the poem spells out Griswold’s name.

Poe’s death on October 7, 1849, affected Griswold deeply, leaving him with conflicting emotions, yet he took full advantage of the writer’s death, and endeavored to destroy Poe’s image. You can read about the controversy here.

During this time, his dearest friend, Fanny Osgood, passed away and he was busy working on her memorial along with Mary Hewitt, while also working on multiple gift books, including Gift Leaves from American Poets (Bayless 202-203).

In 1852, he took steps to divorce Charlotte Myers Griswold, due to his disinterest in her and increasing interest in the poetess, Alice Cary (213). Cary, deeply smitten with Griswold, had been communicating with him long distance through letters, until their first meeting in the summer of 1850. She ultimately left dejected as Griswold found another woman more suitable for a married life, Harriet McCrillis (215-218). According to Bayless, she was domestic, religious, loving, socially important, but most importantly, very wealthy (219). Unfortunately, complications ensued.

Meyers did not want to divorce Griswold. Not only was the divorce denied, but Ellet and Ann Stephens, an ex-coworker of his and enemy, stepped in to plead against McCrillis marrying Griswold, “…telling her that she could be congratulated upon her escape from an illegal marriage, and informing her that she could not expect to be happy with a man who was undecided as to whether he should marry her or another lady,” according to Bayless (220-221).

Finally, there was an ultimatum. Charlotte agreed to the divorce if she could take full custody of little Caroline. After the divorce was finalized, Griswold did not see Charlotte or Caroline ever again (222). He and Harriet married on December 26, 1852.

Once again, Ellet intervened, causing Harriet to leave with Griswold’s daughter, Emily. Unfortunately, the train the two took to go to her brother’s house was in an accident which sent all the cars plunging into the water below. Harriet was slightly injured; however, fifteen-year-old Emily had to be resuscitated back to life after being pronounced dead (224-225). Another accident followed soon after. In October of 1853, a gas fire occurred in Griswold’s house, and he was badly burned while saving a twelve-year-old child’s life (227).

Finally, abandoned by Harriet over the great scandal perpetrated by Ellet and Stephens, Griswold took a small room at 239 Fourth Avenue. In early 1857, he became ill, and Alice Cary returned to make his last days comfortable (252). He attempted to visit the parents he had not seen in many years; however, he was too ill to do so and returned to New York.

He wrote to Harriet and requested to see her and their little son, William, one more time before he died. According to Bayless, “Harriet hastened to him and remained with him to the end. In the conversation the minister asked him if he had been a Christian. ‘Sir, I may not have been always a Christian, but I am very sure that I have been a gentleman,’ was the answer.” He passed away August 27, 1857.

In an empathetic anonymous obituary, the writer states,

That Rufus W. Griswold was a weak and ill-judging man, no one will deny. As a man, there was much in him to regret; but those who knew something of his last lonely years, his bed of solitary and uncheered suffering, will feel for him only pity, as one who was made to atone deeply for all the mistakes of his life. He left three children, and we much doubt if either of them were with him in his last moments (Emerson’s Magazine and Putnam’s Monthly).

Despite being Poe’s defamer, Griswold lived a varied and interesting life. He was an accomplished anthologist, publishing a great number of works, which you can view here. He was a father, a husband, and a loyal friend to many. Although his attacks on Poe were uncalled for, shameful and hurt Poe’s reputation, perhaps Griswold may also be remembered for his valuable achievements. Thanks to his support and aid, many nineteenth century writers and poets, who might not have been remembered, are remembered today.
You can view objects in the Poe Museum in Richmond by visiting the following links:

http://www.poemuseum.org/collection-details.php?id=200

https://www.poemuseum.org/collection-details.php?id=51

Tags collections, Poe's life

The Poe Museum Blog

Lincoln Reads Poe

Post author By zakyoung
Post date February 12, 2016

Millions of students have memorized Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” but what great work of literature did the author of that famous speech memorize? According to one of his friends, John T. Stuart, Lincoln “carried Poe around on the Circuit—read and loved ‘The Raven’—repeated it over & over.” How might Lincoln have sounded when reading Poe’s solemn poem of death and despair? William H. Herndon wrote in an 1887 letter that “Lincoln’s voice was, when he first began speaking, shrill, squeaking, piping, unpleasant.”

Ever since he was young, Lincoln loved reading. His biographer, Michael Burlingame, wrote that among Lincoln’s favorite works were Poe’s mystery “The Gold Bug” and his science fiction/horror tale “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar.” Lincoln even tried his hand at writing his own true-crime story based on a murder trial for which he had served as the defense attorney. The story “Remarkable Case of Arrest for Murder” was reprinted over a century later in the March 1952 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine.

He also wrote a number of poems. Here is one he wrote in his arithmetic book when he was about sixteen:

Abraham Lincoln is my nam[e]
And with my pen I wrote the same
I wrote in both hast and speed
and left it here for fools to read…

In 1858, Lincoln wrote this poem in his landlord’s daughter’s album:

To Rosa—
You are young, and I am older;
You are hopeful, I am not—
Enjoy life, ere it grow colder—
Pluck the roses ere they rot.

Teach your beau to heed the lay—
That sunshine soon is lost in shade—
That now’s as good as any day—
To take thee, Rose, ere she fade.

Even though Poe and Lincoln were born a few weeks apart in 1809, they never met. One wonders what might have happened if they had.

The First Printing of “The Raven” from 1845

Tags education, history, poetry

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