5. Nevermore (1848–1875)
Both Poe’s lecture advertising and a sense of his competition can be gathered from the New York Herald for February 2, 3, and 4, 1848; the Evening Express of February 4, 1848, and the New York Tribune of February 3 and 8, 1848, also contain useful information.
The weather on the weekend of Poe’s discovery is from the Baltimore Sun of October 4, 1849. While a number of newspapers wondered about Poe’s remains in the years after his death, the example cited in this chapter is from Trenton State Gazette of September 12, 1854, and Dr. Snodgrass’s complaints were reprinted in the Weekly Wisconsin Patriot of June 28, 1856.
The cause of Poe’s death remains famously disputed, though at the time it was universally (and quite reasonably) attributed to alcohol. “Why not acknowledge the truth?” asked the New York Weekly Herald on October 20, 1849. “Hard drinking is the besetting sin of our fine poets and romancers.”
Details of the Raven Club can be gleaned from the City Intelligence sections of The Constitution (Washington, D.C.) of February 4, 1860, and December 8, 1860.
Among the various calls for a monument to Poe, the earliest appearance of the campaign by Baltimore schoolteachers is in the Baltimore Sun of November 7, 1865; its unveiling is covered a decade later in a lengthy front-page story in that same paper, on November 18, 1875. This account includes such details as the attendance of one thousand spectators, as well as the declaration of a school holiday. The ceremony is also covered in Edgar A. Poe: A Memorial Volume (1877), which is reproduced at the eapoe.org website.
Although it would take years to finish the task, the notion of moving his wife Virginia’s remains was already being mulled by the time of the ceremony, as is shown by articles in the Baltimore Sun on October 8, 1875, and October 11, 1875.
Doyle’s remark on the debt that detective writers owe to Poe was published in the New York Times article “Honor Poe in London” on March 2, 1909; it remains just as true today.
Selected Further Reading
Primary Documents
The Poe Log, ed. Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson (G. K. Hall & Co., 1987).
Clearly a labor of love, this chronological montage of letters, journal entries, and newspaper clippings models itself to great effect after Jay Leyda’s The Melville Log (1951). Although necessarily selective, this documentary approach conveys the breadth of Poe’s life and interest better than most erstwhile biographies—it is a reference work that doubles as a very illuminating narrative on Poe. The entire text has been helpfully included on the eapoe.org website.
The Collected Letters of Edgar Allan Poe (3rd edition), ed. John Ward Ostrom et al. (Gordian Press, 2008).
A key resource in Poe scholarship, this is the most recent expansion and revision of previous 1948 and 1966 editions of Poe’s collected letters. Earlier collections of Poe’s correspondence are not as trustworthy, particularly given the baleful influence of Griswold’s forgeries.
Collected Editions of Poe
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS EDITIONS
Complete Poems. Ed. Thomas Mabbott (2000).
Tales & Sketches, Vol. 1: 1831–1842. Ed. Thomas Mabbott (2000).
Tales & Sketches, Vol. 2: 1843–1849. Ed. Thomas Mabbott (2000).
Eureka. Ed. Stuart Levine and Susan F. Levine (2004).
Critical Theory: The Major Documents. Ed. Stuart Levine and Susan F. Levine (2008).
Though the reprinted Mabbott volumes call out for a modern update, these annotated editions are the best scholarly editions for the close study of Poe.
Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales (The Library of America, 1984).
Edgar Allan Poe: Essays and Reviews (The Library of America, 1984).
Sturdy editions that capture the full range of Poe’s works, the ready availability of these volumes makes them useful for graduate-level work.
Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales and Poems (Vintage Books, 1975).
Cramped, cheap, and nearly complete: its art-nouveau cover has been a campus icon for generations, and with good reason. This edition remains the classic undergrad text to this day.
The Portable Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Gerald Kennedy. (Penguin Books, 2006).
A thematically arranged selection of Poe’s best-known works. While it can’t quite convey his range and idiosyncrasies, it’s a handy annotated edition of his classics.
Biographies
Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Arthur Hobson Quinn (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1941, 1998 rpt.).
Seven decades on, this remains the greatest and most complete of Poe biographies. Quinn is unafraid to quote—and to quote often—from documents for pages at a time, sometimes acting less as an interpreter than as a well-informed guide through a Poe archive. While correcting Griswold’s depredations loomed larger in 1941 than it needs to today, Quinn’s work remains largely unsurpassed.
Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Kenneth Silverman (HarperCollins, 1991).
The best modern biography on Poe, despite its insistence on pathologizing his life. Silverman’s contextual detail is excellent; he takes pains, for instance, to dig up just what Poe’s daily routine in the Army would have been. When the psychoanalysis is given a rest, Silverman can be a fine and subtle interpreter of Poe’s work.
Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. Jeffrey Meyers (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1992).
Meyer’s mid-length biography is well-rounded and approachable. Some of his assertions are stated with more certainty than the sources warrant; still, for readers looking to deepen their interest in Poe, his work is a good next step.
Acknowledgments
My books could not happen without the inspiration of my sons, Bramwell and Morgan, or without the love of my wife, Jennifer, who is the first reader of all that I write.
Marc Thomas valiantly held down the fort while I was off contemplating 1840s newspapers. My many thanks also go to my agent, Michelle Tessler, and my editor, James Atlas—and a tip of the stovepipe hat to Ed Park for getting me started.
I remain as indebted as ever to many libraries, including Portland State University, the New York Public Library, and the Library of Congress. My particular thanks also go to the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore (eapoe.org), whose devotion to placing Poe scholarship online makes its website an invaluable resource for readers.
Photo © Kenneth Ulappa
PAUL COLLINS is the author of eight books, including The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World and Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery, a finalist for the Edgar Award. He appears on NPR’s Weekend Edition as its “literary detective” on odd and forgotten books, and is the founder of the Collins Library imprint of McSweeney’s Books. Collins lives in Portland, Oregon, where he is an associate professor of English at Portland State University.
Index
Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems (Poe), 22
“Al Aaraaf” (Poe), 22, 72
acting, 2–3, 9
Adams, Richard Locke, 64
Ainsworth, Harrison, 63
alcoholism
breaks from, 36, 62, 96
relapses into, 52, 54–55, 69–70, 74–75, 89, 97–98
start of, 30
Alexander’s Weekly Messenger, 44–46
aliases. See identity
Allan, Frances, 3–5, 21, 97
Allan, John
career of, 3–4, 9
death of, 26
Poe’s adoption by, 3–5, 14
Poe’s clash with, 9, 13–14
Poe’s reconciliation with, 21–22, 24
American Monthly, 21
American Review, 67, 73
“Annabel Lee” (Poe), 100, 107
anonymity, 15–16. See also identity
Antarctic, 26, 37–38, 88
anthology, 99–102
archetypes, detective genre, 59
Army,
US, 20–23
Arnold Poe, Eliza, 2, 3
backward storytelling, 49, 59, 103
balloon hoax, 29, 63–64, 106
Baltimore
memorial in, 105–6
parents’ life in, 2
Poe in, 21, 24–29, 97–98
Barrett, Elizabeth, 65, 66
Barrett, Sam, 42
Baudelaire, Charles, 103–4
“The Bells” (Poe), 100
“Berenice” (Poe), 27–28
birth, Poe’s, E. A., 2
“The Black Cat” (Poe), 57
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, 25, 43, 52–53
“Bon-Bon” (Poe), 24–25
books. See novels; short stories
Bookseller’s Dinner, first, 35–36
Boston, 2, 14–15, 71–72
Boston Miscellany, 53
Bostonian, 79
Bransby, John, 6, 109
Briggs, Charles, 68, 77
Broadway Journal, 68–71, 72, 73
Broza, Gil, 110
burial site, 1, 99, 104–7. See also death
Burton, William, 41–43, 46–47
Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, 42–43, 46–47
bylines. See identity
Byron, Lord, 10
Caleb Williams (Godwin), 49
Captain Kidd, 56–57, 62–63, 112
Carey, Henry, 27
“The Cask of Amontillado” (Poe), 78
cats, 44
ciphers, 45–46, 48, 56–57, 110
Clarke, Joseph, 8
Clemm, Maria
anthology views of, 101–2
caretaking by, 24, 55, 80, 81, 83
death of, 105
property loss of, 75
Clemm, Virginia. See Poe, Virginia Clemm
collected works, 70, 99–100
The Conchologist’s First Book (Poe), 41, 43
contests, 24–25, 56
copyright laws, 64
crank literature, 88
crime solving. See detective genre
cryptograms, 45–46, 48, 56–57, 110
Daniel, J. M., 102
death
of Allan, Frances, 21
of Allan, John, 26
of Clemm, Maria, 105
metaphysics of, 89–90
of Poe, 98–99, 104–5, 112–13
of Poe, David, Jr., 3
of Poe, Henry, 24
of Poe, Virginia Clemm, 80
Poe’s desire for, 90, 95, 98
as theme, 23, 41, 43, 66, 81–82, 98
toasting tradition for, 1
debts, 12–14, 19, 22, 32, 52
“A Decided Loss” (Poe), 25
delirium tremens, 94, 98
depression, 29–30, 52–55, 80–83
detective genre
creation of, 48–51
development of, 58–60, 104
Dickens, Charles, 49, 64
The Dollar Newspaper, 56–57
“The Domain of Arnheim” (Poe), 82
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, 104
Dow, Jesse, 55
Doyle, Arthur Conan, 104
drinking. See alcoholism
Dupin, Auguste (fictional), 48–49, 59–60
Duyckinck, Evert, 38, 70, 81, 85
editorial work, 26, 28–35, 42–46, 64–65
education
in London, 5–6
in Richmond, 7–9
at University of Virginia, 10–13
at West Point, 22–23
Ellet, Elizabeth, 74–75
Ellis, Charles, 7
Ellis, Thomas, 7
Ellis & Allan, 4, 9, 109
England, 5–6
English, Thomas Dunn, 75, 77–78
The English Spelling Book, 5–6
Eureka: A Prose Poem (Poe), 83, 86–90
“The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” (Poe), 73
“Fairy-Land” (Poe), 21
“The Fall of the House of Usher” (Poe), 42–43
fame, 56–57, 67–70, 81, 103–4
Fay, Theodore, 34
“Field Sports and Manly Pastimes” (Poe), 42
The Flag of the Union, 92–93
Fordham, 75–76
“A Fragment” (Poe as W.H.P.), 20–21, 110
France, 48–49, 81, 103–4
Fuller, Margaret, 70
Gaffy nickname, 11
gambling, 12–14
Gentleman’s Magazine. See Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine; Graham’s Magazine
Germanism, 44
The Gift, 43, 67
girlfriends, 10, 95–96. See also love
Godey’s Magazine, 77–78
Godwin, William, 49
“The Gold-Bug” (Poe), 56–57, 62–63
Gothicism, 41, 43, 78, 93
Gowans, William, 36
Graham, George, 47, 52, 101
Graham’s Magazine, 47, 52, 57, 67
Great Britain, 5–6
Greely, Horace, 92
Greenwich Village, 61–62
Grey, Edward S. T. (alias), 91
grief, 81–83. See also depression
Griswold, Rufus, 81, 92, 99–102
hallucinations, 94–95, 98
“Hans Pfaall” (Poe), 29, 106
“The Happiest Day” (Poe), 16
Harper, James, 36
Harper & Brothers, 35, 36, 41
Harrison, Gabriel, 64–65
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 35
Hecla (ship), 19
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 71–72
hoaxes, 29, 63–64, 73
hollow-earth theory, 37, 38, 88, 98
“Hop-Frog” (Poe), 93
Horace, 7
Horne, Richard, 66
horror satire, 24–25, 27–28
identity
anonymity and, 15–16
Gaffy nickname, 11
Grey alias, 91
as Harrison, 64–65
Outis alias, 68
Perley alias, 65
Perry alias, 19–21
Le Rennet alias, 14–18
as theme, 41, 89
as W.H.P., 20, 110
as Wyatt, 41
illness
of Poe, Edgar Allan, 79–81, 94–95, 97–98
of Poe, Virginia Clemm, 51–52, 62, 74, 80
“The Imp of the Perverse” (Poe), 71
insanity
of Poe, 94–95, 98
as theme, 53, 66, 71, 78
Irving, Washington, 43
Jefferson, Thomas, 10
jobs
boarding house, 32
critique, 33–34, 68–69, 71, 77–79
departures and firings from, 35, 46, 52
desk, 54–55
lecturing, 58, 69, 71, 84–86, 96
magazine editor, 26, 28–35, 42–46, 64–65
warehouse, 13, 14–15
The Journal of Julius Rodman (Poe), 46
Kennedy, John Pendleton, 26, 27, 31
Kidd, Captain, 56–57, 62–63, 112
The Knickerbocker, 46
language skills, 7–8, 12
Latrobe, John, 26, 106
laudanum, 90
lecturing, 58, 69, 71, 84–86, 96
libel suit, 77–78, 81
“Ligeia” (Poe), 40–41
Lincoln, Abraham, 103
Lippard, George, 94–95
Literary America (Poe), 79, 80
“The Literati of New York City” (Poe), 77
Locke, Richard Adams, 29
logic skills, 41, 46, 76
London, 5–6
Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth, 68–69, 102
love
for Clemm, Virginia, 24, 31–33, 51, 74
lost, theme of, 16–18, 30–31, 66, 81–82
Poe’s first, 8
for Royster, Elmira, 10, 95–96, 97
for Whitman, Sarah Helen, 91–92
Lowell, James Russell, 53, 57, 67, 70–71
Ma
dison, James, 12
“Maezel’s Chess Player” (Poe), 46
magazines
Alexander’s Weekly Messenger, 44–46
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, 25, 43, 52–53
Broadway Journal, 68–71, 72, 73
Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine, 42–43, 46–47
Graham’s Magazine, 47, 52, 57, 67
industry, 27, 35
Penn Magazine, 46–47
Poe’s jobs in, 26, 28–35, 42–46, 64–65
Poe’s ownership of, 46–47, 54, 55, 72, 73, 93–94
Poe’s works published in, 20–22, 24–31, 42–48, 73, 76–79
Southern Literary Messenger, 27–35, 36, 89
The Stylus, 54, 55, 89, 93–94
“The Man of the Crowd” (Poe), 47
Manual of Conchology (Wyatt), 41, 43
“Marmaduke Hammerhead” (English), 78
marriage
to Clemm, Virginia, 31–33
to Royster, 97
to Whitman, Sarah Helen, 91–92
Mason, Monck, 63
“The Masque of the Red Death” (Poe), 51–52
“Mellonta Tauta” (Poe), 85–86
Memoirs (Vidocq), 49
memorial monument, 105–6, 113
metaphysics, 83, 84–90
“Metzengerstein” (Poe), 24
military, 19–24
“Ms. Found in a Bottle” (Poe), 25–26
Monroe, James, 12
“Moon Hoax” (Adams), 64
Moran, John, 98
“Morella” (Poe), 28
Morning Express, 79
multiple universes, 87
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (Poe), 48–49, 50, 51, 81
“The Mystery of Marie Roget” (Poe), 50–51, 59
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (Poe), 36–38, 98, 104
Neal, John, 21–22
New York
Bookseller’s Dinner in, 35–36
Fordham, 75–76
Greenwich Village, 61–62
lecturing in, 84–86
Poe family in, 3
Poe’s move back to, 61–62, 70, 75–76
West Point, 22–23
New York Herald, 99
New York Mirror, 64, 67
newspapers
Poe’s obituary in, 99
Poe’s works published in, 56–57, 63–64, 92–93
Nicholls, Mary Gove, 75–76
Norman Leslie (Fay), 34
North American (magazine), 20, 110
North Pole, 19–20
Notes from Underground (Dostoevsky), 104
novels
Pym, 36–38, 98, 104