POE: ASTUDY 
 
...* * " " 
 
 * * * r -* **. 
 
EDGAR A. POE 
 
 A STUDY 
 
 By 
 JOHN W. ROBERTSON, M. D. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 PRINTED BY BRUCE BROUGH 
 
 1921 
 
Copyright 1921 
 
 by 
 John W. Robertson 
 
TO MY WIFE 
 
 WHO FOR THIRTY YEARS HAS ENJOYED WITH ME 
 MY BOOK COLLECTING AND MY BOOK COLLECTION 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 POE : A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 IN EXPLANATION 
 
 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS AND FACSIMILES 
 
 EDGAR A. POE .... FRONTISPIECE PART I. 
 
 Reproduced from Stedmans Poe by permission of The Torch Press. 
 
 PAGE 
 POE AND GRISWOLD 73 
 
 MRS. CLEMM. With Reproduction TO MY MOTHER . . 135 
 
 THE LIBRARY .... FRONTISPIECE PART II. 
 
 FACSIMILE OF FITZGERALD S INSCRIPTION . . .189 
 
 TITLE PAGE AL AARAAF, TAMERLANE AND MINOR POEMS 193 
 FACSIMILE OF THE DEDICATION OF TAMERLANE . . 194 
 
 TITLE PAGES TAMERLANE. Original and Reproduction . . 195 
 
 FACSIMILE OF POE S ADVERTISEMENT . . . .198 
 
 TITLE PAGE THE YANKEE 207 
 
 TITLE PAGE POEMS and TO HELEN 215 
 
 FACSIMILE OF INSCRIPTION POEMS .... 227 
 
 A SHELF OF BOOKS 236 
 
 TITLE PAGE THE SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER . 241 
 FACSIMILE OF IRVING LETTER 249 
 
 A THACKERY DRAWING 254 
 
 One of ten marginal drawings found in Thackeray s copy of Schiller s Poems. 
 
 TITLE PAGES ARTHUR GORDON PYM. American and English . 257 
 
 FACSIMILE PAGE OF SIOPE 265 
 
 FACSIMILE OF QUOTATION FROM ALCMAN . . . .266 
 
 TITLE PAGES THE CONCHOLOGIST. POE AND BROWN. . 272 
 
 HALFTONE PLATES OF SHELLS. POE AND BROWN . . 276 
 
 TITLE PAGE TALES OF THE GROTESQUE AND ARABESQUE 278 
 
 TITLE PAGE THE AMERICAN MUSEUM . . . .280 
 
 FACSIMILE OF THE HAUNTED PALACE 283 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS AND FACSIMILES continued 
 
 FACSIMILE PAGE OF CHARMION AND EIROS . 287 
 
 FACSIMILE OF THE RAVEN . 302 
 
 TITLE PAGE THE PIONEER . 305 
 
 FACSIMILE PAGE OF THE TELL TALE HEART . 307 
 
 FACSIMILE OF AN AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF POE 316 
 
 FACSIMILE OF ULALUME . .318 
 
 FACSIMILE PAGE OF THE BROADWAY JOURNAL . 321 
 
 FACSIMILE OF CIRCULAR LETTER . . 325 
 
 TITLE PAGES POEMS AND TALES . 333 
 
 TITLE PAGE EUREKA . 336 
 
 FACSIMILE ULALUME, BERENICE, LEONORA AND LIGEIA 403 
 Reproduced from Woodbury s Life of Poe by permission Houghton Miffllin. Co. 
 
 FACSIMILE PAGE MISCELLANEOUS POEMS . 415 
 
PART I. 
 
 EDGAR A. POE 
 
 A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
EDGAR A. POE 
 
 A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 THE struggles, the disillusions, and the enmities of life 
 are a part of daily experience. Either death should 
 bring compensating oblivion, or it should throw the mantle 
 of charity over our frailties. 
 
 Bitterly as Poe suffered while he lived, and disastrous 
 as was the fate that overwhelmed him, it was his ill for 
 tune to be even more harshly judged in death than while he 
 lived and fought. Alive, he was feared : dead, a dastardly 
 advantage was taken, and his works were sent forth con 
 taining a memoir that has been well called an "immortal 
 infamy." 
 
 There was an audience that applauded this deed ; for, 
 while Poe left behind him but few enemies, he left very 
 many literary enmities. His marvelously accurate estimates 
 of his contemporaries the "Quacks of Helicon" as sum 
 marized in the various papers constituting The Literati" 
 and "Marginalia," were the basis for these attacks, and his 
 neurosis, with its characteristic outbreaks, was the occa 
 sion of their adverse criticism. 
 
 Many other writers have sinned more grievously, and, 
 while they have not obtained the corroborating verdict of 
 posterity supporting their judgment, yet their mistakes 
 have been overlooked, forgiven, or forgotten in the immor 
 tal works they have left behind them. 
 
 While the reputation of no other American writer stands 
 so preeminent as does that of Poe, yet there is, mingled with 
 admiration, mistrust of the man: a belief that much of 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 the weirdness and vividness of his stories and poems was 
 the result of an abnormal mentality, which, of necessity, 
 were the emanations of a brain diseased or drugged. It 
 is difficult either to think or to write of Poe without this 
 personal element intruding. Because of the uncanny 
 realism of his stories, and his tendency to deal with the 
 horrible and grotesque, it has been unjustly asserted that 
 such creations are not compatible with a normal brain, 
 or with intellectual sanity. Poe achieved such complete suc 
 cess in forcibly presenting his concepts, and in minutely 
 and realistically detailing the ideas and sentiments which 
 characterize his stories, that it is difficult to dissociate the 
 Work from the Man. Yet, that we may fully understand 
 the Man, this differentiation is an absolutely necessary 
 premise on which to base an opinion. 
 
 Poe was human, with gentle and lovable qualities, and 
 possessed the graces and refinements that, the world over, 
 mark the gentleman. He was not the unfriended being 
 who regarded society as "composed altogether of villains ;" 
 nor was it his habit to "walk the streets in madness or 
 melancholy, with his lips moving in indistinct curses, 
 or his eyes upturned in passionate prayer;" neither can 
 it be justly said that he had "no wish for the esteem 
 or for the love of his species;" nor that he only wished 
 to "succeed that he might have the right to despise a 
 world that galled his self-conceit;" all of which his first 
 editor asserted. 
 
 Poe s life was a tragedy. Better would it have been 
 if the good could have been recorded and the details of 
 his infirmity have been suppressed. This was not to be. 
 In a memoir inserted into the first edition of Poe s 
 collected works statements were so distorted when they 
 had a foundation of fact, and there were many that 
 were so false and without foundation, that succeeding 
 biographers, attempting to refute these charges, have made 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 3 
 
 assertions not substantiated by well established contem 
 porary evidence. 
 
 In reviewing these controversial details I shall attempt 
 no defense of Poe except where the facts have been mis 
 represented, or where I believe that there have been abso 
 lute misstatements. Unfortunately, the very nature of this 
 study makes it necessary for me to dwell on certain ques 
 tionable aspects of Poe s life, and on the circumstances 
 that led up to the legends still clustering around his name. 
 
 Without special knowledge of the causes that may 
 produce unstable mental states, which only an alienist can 
 possess, no biographer of Poe has been able to grasp in their 
 entirety the essential facts which are absolutely necessary 
 to a thorough understanding of the morbid mental condi 
 tions which periodically obsessed him and under whose spell 
 he was at the time many questioned acts were committed. 
 
 Certain biographers who have been Poe s most active de 
 fenders have ignored the more serious charges, or have 
 extenuated and denied them to an extent not warranted 
 by established facts. Only those who are experienced in 
 the study of patients thus afflicted, and who have had per 
 sonal association with them, can fully understand and 
 appreciate the nature of the neurosis from which Poe 
 suffered, and the difficulty in overcoming such obsessions. 
 
 Heredity which, more than environment, dominates 
 every human being, was responsible both for Poe s 
 brilliant endowments, and for the one evil which was so 
 woven into the web of his life that a mere statement of 
 the evidence, without fully weighing it, might seem to 
 justify the strictures of certain of his contemporaries, but 
 which in no way justify the vicious assault upon Poe s 
 memory made by his first editor. 
 
 Poe inherited a nervous temperament that was preg 
 nant with good as well as evil. This psychoneurotic her 
 edity may manifest itself in many ways. 
 
4 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 There are certain unfortunates born into the world who 
 inherit a nervous organization so unstable that the 
 slightest strain will break their nerve resistance, and will 
 precipitate them into some predetermined form of func 
 tional neurosis which no prophylactic measure can pre 
 vent ; nor can we prognose the exact form this neurosis 
 may take. Often it will be merely a neurasthenia develop 
 ing under some nerve strain in a person predisposed, which 
 would have no effect on a normally constituted individual. 
 Or it may show itself in that Brahmanic form of nervous 
 seizure which we call "megrim/ more popularly known as 
 sick-headache. It is a fact to be noted that megrim is, 
 metaphorically speaking, a badge of intellectual royalty. 
 
 1 cannot conceive a mentally dull and intellectually 
 stupid person developing a typical megrim with its various 
 prodromata and its lightning-like onset. Its recurrent nature 
 can be explained only by some form of brain explosion. In 
 this respect it is closely allied to its near relative, epilepsy, 
 but it differs vastly in its destructive effect both on the 
 brain and on the intellectual faculties. In some of those 
 possessing this nervous heredity, other neuroses may de 
 velop. Not only the genius, but the morally or intellectually 
 insane, are classed among those possessing this nervous 
 diathesis. 
 
 Another common type is that form from which Poe 
 suffered and from which he attempted to escape by the 
 undue use of alcohol and, occasionally, opium. In the par 
 ticular case of Poe, and because alcohol was his usual 
 refuge, the term "dipsomania" can be properly used ; for, in 
 his seizures, this disease was typically manifested. Dip 
 somania necessarily has an alcoholic inheritance. It is 
 characterized by periodical seizures in which the subject, 
 because of changed personality, is temporarily irresponsi 
 ble, and cannot, at all times, be held accountable for his 
 conduct or his acts. Those with such an inheritance may 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 5 
 
 indulge in excesses, usually alcoholic, often immoral, and, 
 occasionally, criminal. When these seizures pass and 
 the patient recovers, there may be, in the severer and 
 progressive form, complete loss of memory. During the 
 attack there is usually loss of self-control and an abnormal 
 ideation. It is a transmitted disease and has an alcoholic 
 heredity. Not every alcoholic father begets a dipsomaniac 
 child. Many children born of such parents inherit other of 
 the functional neuroses ; yet, when we find the dipsomaniac 
 obsession, we are certain to find an alcoholic heredity 
 which is marked, or alcohol must have been persisted 
 in through two or three generations. 
 
 Should the parent not have inherited any alcoholic taint 
 and yet drink to excess, the children will show a more or 
 less marked neurosis, especially if begotten when the par 
 ent was in a condition of intoxication. In this group are 
 to be included the defective, the criminal, and the crank, 
 as well as those possessing an unstable nervous system that 
 later may develop into insanity. In addition to these, and 
 as truly a part of heredity, are the precocious, and those 
 having that excessive development of certain faculties 
 which we call genius. Among such individuals a tendency 
 to alcoholic excess is frequently a complicating factor, 
 though often slightly marked and controllable. 
 
 While this neurosis may be lessened in this second gener 
 ation, and, by careful mating, may be eradicated, yet there 
 is an inexorable law of heredity which usually dominates. 
 Such of this second generation as do become alcoholic fre 
 quently beget the dipsomaniac, or individuals in other 
 ways profoundly neurotic ; so that the family cursed with 
 this particular inheritance, is frequently destroyed. 
 
 Dipsomania is essentially a disease ; and those suffering 
 from it should be given the same medical consideration we 
 give to the insane, the epileptic, and those morally defec 
 tive. Dipsomaniacs drink because of hereditary compul- 
 
6 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 sion. In no case are they convivial drinkers, in the sense 
 that they drink by reason of good-fellowship. 1 1 is true that, 
 in the early period, they may occasionally so indulge; but 
 there is soon established, because of this predisposition, an 
 uncontrollable longing, not necessarily for the taste of 
 alcohol, but rather for the effect, although the taste be 
 disagreeable. 
 
 There is, in the beginning of the attack, a sensation of 
 nervousness and unrest, frequently accompanied by de 
 pression of spirits. At times this amounts to actual mental 
 pain, which, while not seriously interfering with the 
 normal functioning of the intellectual processes, can pro 
 foundly influence the moral faculties and may result in 
 inability to judge rightly of their own condition. The 
 will power of such patients, inhibited from carrying out 
 habitual and customary acts, may unfit them for social 
 intercourse. Occasionally this goes to the extent of ac 
 tual, if slight, mental disturbance which most insist 
 ently demands some form of narcotic control, or at 
 least immoral excitement. They will seek surroundings 
 which in their better moods would be disgusting, and 
 for days or weeks will disappear, to return seared by the 
 marks of their dissipation, repentant and protesting a 
 horror of alcohol, certain they never again will relapse. 
 Many of the milder cases show no serious moral change 
 and, except for these occasional outbreaks, attract but 
 slight attention even among their intimates. Such cases 
 are amenable to treatment and are regarded as recover 
 able. Usually time, with proper restorative procedures, will 
 cure them, or at least, if not fully restored, their power 
 of resistance may be so increased that no serious brain 
 degeneration will follow. 
 
 When the inheritance is more pronounced, and there is 
 marked nervous instability, very serious moral and men 
 tal deterioration occurs. When alcohol has been consumed 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 7 
 
 for a long period of time the nerve centers may become 
 markedly diseased. Invariably there is intense congestion, 
 often accompanied by a low grade of inflammation of the 
 meninges spider-like encephalic coverings composed of a 
 network of arterioles attached to the brain convolutions 
 by means of which the cells of the brain are supplied with 
 blood. These arterioles become thickened, tortuous, and 
 occasionally membranous, adhering both to the skull 
 cap and the brain tissue. Because of temporary stimula 
 tion of the circulation, this organic change frequently re 
 sults in maniacal outbreaks, often of short duration ; or it 
 may, if this change has progressed sufficiently, determine 
 and actually produce a chronic mania. 
 
 The more serious forms of dipsomania are at times ac 
 companied by temporary loss of memory, and one pecul 
 iarity of this condition is that the patient may, in action 
 and appearance, speech and conduct, appear normal ; yet, 
 on recovery, there will be no memory of what happened 
 during these lapses. Our medico-legal books detail many 
 cases of this kind, and the law as to their irresponsibility 
 is well established. Occasionally prolonged alcoholic de 
 bauches terminate in temporary delirium without these 
 serious organic changes; but, when the organic stage is 
 reached, such patients should not be held responsible. 
 
 Alienists recognize certain nervous manifestations which 
 are due to heredity and have periodic returns as true 
 mental diseases, and they classify them under the general 
 term "Periodic Insanity/ These do not manifest them 
 selves by outbreaks of either excitement or depression; 
 nevertheless they are not normal and are characterized by 
 a weakened or perverted mental state. 
 
 One of our well known authorities on insanity, Spitzka, 
 thus summarizes these conditions : 
 
 Almost any one of the known forms of morbid impulse may 
 appear in periodical phases, but this is particularly the case with the 
 
8 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 morbid craving for drink, which seizes on its subjects at certain inter 
 vals with such intensity that the ordinarily quiet, orderly, refined 
 and sensitive patient, losing all sense of propriety and shame, gives 
 himself up to unrestrained and ruinous debauchery. This distressing 
 condition is known as Dipsomania. It is to be distinguished from 
 inebriety and alcoholism: for the inebriate is not driven to his exces 
 ses so suddenly and irresistibly, nor does he cease them as abruptly as 
 the dipsomaniac. In the inebriate the motive grows out of appetite 
 and habit; in the dipsomaniac it is a blind craving which, if not stilled 
 by alcoholic beverages, will seek some other outlet. Of ten these patients 
 develop some morbid craving for certain narcotics, and we may thus 
 have a periodical craving for opium analogous to the periodical crav 
 ing for drink, and as distinct from the ordinary opium habit as is 
 dipsomania from inebriety. As a consequence of his blind indulgence 
 in drink during his diseased periods, the dipsomaniac may become 
 the subject of acute alcoholic delirium or of chronic alcoholism, though 
 the latter is rare ; these conditions are to be looked on as results and 
 not as essential features of dipsomania, which is to be defined as a 
 form of periodical insanity, manifesting itself in a blind craving for 
 stimulant and narcotic beverages. 
 
 In the more serious forms, such as Spitzka describes, 
 there is often found brain degeneration; if so, the prog 
 nosis is bad and a cure cannot be expected. These periodi 
 cal attacks occur with greater and greater frequency, 
 and, unless cut off by some intercurrent disease, organic 
 changes occur, and a brain break with mental destruction 
 may follow. 
 
 In the less severe cases, especially those not complicated 
 by organic brain changes, by lapse of memory with autom 
 atism, or by other mental disturbance, it is possible, with 
 proper care and enforced seclusion during these seizures, 
 to lessen their severity and to increase the intervals be 
 tween them until, finally, complete recovery follows. 
 
 Spitzka is correct when he says that during these recur 
 rent periods which characterize the life history of the dip 
 somaniac, they do not always confine themselves to alcohol. 
 As a matter of fact, they may resort to any form of nar- 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 9 
 
 cotic; or they may seek other and more bestial ways of 
 gratifying their morbid impulses. At times they develop 
 sexual perversions and hide in some brothel where they 
 may give full rein to their erotic excitement ; or they retire 
 to a gambling den where they may exercise their passions 
 without hindrance ; or they exhibit other phases of social 
 unrestraint. I have had patients who would go from 
 one saloon to another seeking the glitter of bar attach 
 ments, delighting in the roll of dice, listening to the 
 clink of coin on the polished mahogany, yet they would 
 drink nothing but effervescent waters. It was these par 
 ticular forms of excitement they craved, not alcoholic 
 beverages. 
 
 After an attack the patient will return to his home and 
 business haunted by the bitter memory of his misdeeds ; 
 most earnest and honest in his profession of reform, and 
 he cannot be persuaded to taste alcohol in any form. 
 When such patients assert that they have reformed 
 they are in earnest, and, at the time, nothing can induce 
 them to break their pledge. Yet, when the seizure re 
 turns, the impulse becomes irresistible, although for days 
 they may fight off the impending catastrophe. When 
 the break occurs usually they attribute it to some 
 trivial cause or circumstance in no way responsible 
 some family disagreement, business disappointment, 
 or other minor matter. Nothing is too trivial to allege 
 in their attempt at explanation. 
 
 A study of Poe s heredity and life work makes it plain 
 that many of Griswold s allegations, even when true, 
 cannot justly be charged against Poe, but rather against 
 his morbid heredity. If this seems too fine a distinction, 
 at least we must recognize the fact that, by reason of 
 this heredity, Poe was not always to be held responsible 
 either for his words or his acts, for his great accomplish 
 ments or his lapses. Heredity was as much responsible for 
 
10 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 the one as for the other; his heritage was pregnant with 
 both good and evil. 
 
 Precocity, of necessity, foretells early decline. I view 
 brilliancy in the child as an inherent and abnormal heredity 
 which must pay the price of premature decay. It is not an 
 indication of a prime which shall be slowly attained, to be 
 enriched by worldly experience and strengthened by that 
 mental capacity which enables us to retain the good that 
 is in the experience of all and to avoid the evil. 
 
 Occasionally only does it happen that the honor-child 
 of our public schools, or the gold-medalist from the uni 
 versity, achieves distinction either in the professions or in 
 public or business life. It is true that this test, alone, is 
 most unfair. Neither money nor distinction may be re 
 garded as the real criterion of success; yet it is certain 
 that the quality of brain which readily commits to mem 
 ory such studies as are required, and does not demand 
 independence of thought, is not the quality which makes 
 for the common sense and sane judgment necessary for 
 successful competition in our highly organized profes 
 sional and business life. On the other hand, plodders will 
 never reach the heights. They can be scaled only by 
 those who are endowed with genius. 
 
 It was of old believed that certain persons were pos 
 sessed of a daimon or genius; and by these terms the 
 Ancients designated what they believed to be the deity 
 that possessed and buoyed up those endowed with the 
 afflatus divinus. While we have adopted the word bodily, 
 we use it in a slightly different sense : 
 
 Exalted mental power distinguished by instinctive aptitude, and 
 independent of tuition ; phenomenal capability, derived from inspira 
 tion or exaltation, for intellectual creation or expression; that con 
 stitution of the mind or perfection of faculties which enables a person 
 to excel others in mental perception, comprehension, discrimination 
 and expression, especially in Literature, Art, and Science. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 11 
 
 Genius, derived from genere (to beget) is necessarily in 
 born. It develops early and is characterized by precocity. 
 It is most dangerous for the man who possesses and is 
 swayed by it; yet it is an inheritance for which the indi 
 vidual possessing it is in no way responsible, nor can we 
 forecast the destined end to which it will lead him. Such 
 an inheritance leads oftener to disaster than to success. 
 All great things are conceived by the man of genius, and 
 it has been well said, The Crank turns the World." 
 
 Poe was a genius, and he paid the full price for his in 
 heritance. 
 
 I do not know of any biography of Poe which, from the 
 psychiatrist s point of view, presents the facts of his life 
 in a manner to make clear a full comprehension of the 
 basic evil that dominated him. 
 
 Harrison says : 
 
 Poe s case has never been scientifically diagnosed by a competent 
 neurologist who possessed combined pathological and literary equip 
 ment and freedom from prejudice necessary to render his case more 
 singular than The Case of M. Valdemar intelligible to the reading 
 world. 
 
 Though I may not possess these requisite qualifications, 
 yet am I justified in the attempt ; for the questions have 
 so frequently been asked and so often have been mis 
 takenly answered as to justify a further essay in this 
 direction. Whether or not my answer shall fully cover all 
 the facts which have been alleged by Poe s overzealous 
 friends, and by his enemy, must be a matter of individual 
 judgment. I am certain that the pictures painted have not 
 truly represented the real man ; and it is entirely possible 
 that a spirit so proud and a soul so sensitive may not be 
 humanly judged nor accurately weighed in the scales of 
 social justice. 
 
 As a rule, biographers consider their work of establishing 
 hereditary predispositions, on which later accomplish- 
 
12 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 ments depend, completed when they have constructed 
 a genealogy blazed with quarterings, even if marked with 
 the bend sinister: or when, in tracing ancestry to some 
 name great for mental acquirements or deeds performed, 
 they have thrown a luster about their subject which, in 
 some way, glorified him. They know nothing of the Men- 
 delian law as applied to heredity. They ignore the fact 
 that great genius, like that of Caesar or Napoleon, or such 
 mental gifts as were bestowed on Shakespeare and Bacon, 
 are the result of what horticulturists call a sport, and 
 only occur as an abnormality; and that not only do they 
 not breed true to their kind, but rather tend to degeneracy 
 and extinction. 
 
 "Poor but honest" is not a bad beginning for any biog 
 raphy. For my own part, the fact that a father was tem 
 perate in all things, fearlessly honest in his dealings, 
 kindly and generous in his worldly associations, and that 
 he possessed a strong physique, free from all hereditary 
 diseases and diatheses, is a heritage to be prized more 
 than all the wealth of a Rockefeller or the collection of a 
 Huntington. 
 
 It is alleged that the family of Poe traces its lineage 
 to a Norman named De la Poer, who went to England 
 with William the Conquerer. It is also said that certain 
 of Poe s ancestors lived in Derbyshire and that among 
 them was a poet, locally famous. Some evidence has been 
 brought forward to show that his name is of German or 
 Danish origin. Others trace his ancestry to the Poles or 
 Poes of Tipperary. However, the most diligent searcher 
 for the root of this genealogical tree, Sir Edmund T. 
 Bewley, M.A., LL. D., F. R. S.A.I., has proved to my 
 satisfaction that Poe s great-grandfather, who emigrated 
 to America when a boy, was the combined product of 
 the Poes of Kilkenny and Donnybrook. This fighting 
 stock was strengthened by the marriage by this ancestor 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 13 
 
 either the sister, or the cousin, or the aunt of one 
 Admiral MacBride commentators differing as to the 
 relationship; yet it is regarded as important, for all of 
 Poe s biographers dwell on this connection, possibly for 
 the reason that it aids in explaining the sudden rise of 
 Poe s grandfather, David Poe, from a worker in wood to 
 the rank of general in the Revolutionary army. In all biog 
 raphies he is referred to as "General Poe of Revolutionary 
 fame." That General Poe must have possessed a strong 
 personality is proved by the fact that he rose from the 
 humble occupation of wheelwright and became a deputy 
 assistant quartermaster general ; and that the occasion for 
 this rise was the fact that he ruled and directed a patriotic 
 mob when it rose in rebellion against tyrannical British 
 domination. This not only proves that he inherited the 
 fighting qualities of his ancestors but also it demonstrates 
 the fact that Irish blood flowed in his veins. 
 
 Occasionally family pride is justified. In such a record 
 of tradition and accomplishment as the Adams family 
 can exhibit, I see a reason for genealogical pride in deeds 
 performed in spite of "The last fruit off an Old Tree", 
 that pessimistic note which characterizes "The Education 
 of Henry Adams". Again, the research work and scientific 
 attainments of the family of Darwin, which for generations 
 have made it a name of note, deserve recognition. In the 
 case of Poe there is no foundation for any such heraldic 
 data. 
 
 There is a study which must be made in order that we 
 may account not only for the flower of fruition, but also 
 for the root of the evil that afflicted Poe. What we must 
 know for this purpose are certain details as to the mode of 
 life and the alcoholic history of his immediate ancestors, 
 as well as the moral code by which they were governed. 
 That their habits were alcoholically temperate, is doubt 
 ful. William Poe, a cousin, wrote Edgar as follows: 
 
14 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 There is one thing I am anxious to caution you against and which 
 has been a great foe to our family I hope in your case it will not be 
 necessary, a too frequent use of the bottle. 
 
 Such statements are introduced only by stealth and 
 rarely. Yet, without this, knowing the result, the cause is 
 readily deducible. Dipsomaniac compulsion, as we see ex 
 emplified in the life-history of Poe, necessarily presup 
 poses an alcoholic heredity. David Poe, the father, while 
 still a student of the law, developed an alcoholic syndrome 
 which probably led to his early death. Disowned by his 
 father for his marriage to an actress, a Miss Arnold, he 
 not only failed to support her, but became dependent on 
 her charity, as well as on that of others. This wife and 
 mother seems to have been an intelligent and capable 
 actress, though of no marked histrionic ability. We honor 
 her because she bore her cross so bravely, and, in spite of 
 the hardships and the strolling life she led, remained a 
 faithful and loving wife and mother. 
 
 Eugenically it was an unfortunate marriage, even if the 
 world of letters was so greatly the gainer. The three chil 
 dren, William, Edgar and Rosalie, each in some way 
 showed specific evidence of this heredity. William died 
 in early manhood. He probably inherited his father s 
 instability of character, as well as his unstable constitu 
 tion, although I know of no direct alcoholic history. That 
 he was wayward and difficult to control, and had been 
 sent to sea in an effort to reform him, is all that has been 
 definitely established. He is said to have possessed a fasci 
 nating personality as well as a brilliant mind. Several of 
 his poems have been published, and, apparently, they 
 compared favorably with Edgar s productions of the same 
 period. 
 
 The sister, Rosalie, gave stronger evidence of degener 
 acy. She was a moron, strong of body but mentally weak. 
 
 The early death of Poe s mother resulted in his greatest 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 15 
 
 misfortune. Gill thus describes the conditions under 
 which she died: 
 
 Mr. Allan and Mr. McKenzie, both wealthy and benevolent Scotch 
 gentlemen, having been informed that the Poes were in great distress, 
 sought them out to afford them relief. They were found in wretched 
 lodgings, lying upon a straw bed, and very sick, Mr. Poe with con 
 sumption, and his wife with penumonia. There was no food in the 
 house. They had no money or fuel and their clothes had been pawned 
 or sold. 
 
 Two little children were with the parents, in the care of an old 
 Welsh woman who had come over from England with Mrs. Poe, and 
 who was understood to be her mother. The children were half clad, 
 half starved, and very much emaciated. The youngest was in a stupor, 
 caused by feeding them bread steeped in gin. The old woman ac 
 knowledged that she was in the habit of so feeding them to keep 
 them quiet and make them strong. 
 
 Two weeks later Mrs. Poe died. The fate of the father 
 is uncertain although it has been a generally accepted belief 
 that his death preceded that of his wife. It is said that 
 documents which had belonged to the Ellis-Allan firm 
 and which, having been stored away, were not accessible 
 to Poe biographers, rather point to desertion. These 
 papers, together with other documents that had belonged 
 to the Valentine family, of which the first Mrs. Allan was 
 a member, contain statements relating to the Poe ancestry ; 
 but, as they also refer to other families still well known, 
 their contents have not been made public. Poe biographers 
 have had access to these papers and it is probable that all 
 facts proper for publication has been, or will be set forth 
 in a forthcoming biography. 
 
 Harrison says that Edgar was adopted by Mr. John 
 Allan, who bestowed on him his own name. Whether or not 
 he was really adopted, at least he was cared for by Mr. Allan. 
 Harrison thus refers to Richmond, the future home of Poe : 
 
 At Richmond it was (and is) delightful to live, and here in 1811, 
 having been adopted by Mr. John Allan, Poe took up his abode. 
 
16 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 During his most impressionable years, the City was the most intellec 
 tual and the gayest city in the South. It was full of old families that 
 had furnished statesmen, legislators, governors, generals and Con 
 gressmen to the United States. . . . Little Edgar s childhood and 
 youth were passed in an atmosphere of sociability, open-air sports, 
 oratory, and elocution. 
 
 Raised as the son of a rich man, and accustomed to all 
 the luxuries that should not be given to any child, it is 
 possible that such surroundings brought out and accen 
 tuated those hereditary evils which a different environ 
 ment might have modified. As far as we know, Poe s one 
 expressed desire and longing was for mother-love. The 
 considerate and loving care he lavished on his wife and 
 her mother proves to us that, in spite of his inherited 
 paternal vices, there must have been in him some of the 
 staunch and lovable qualities of his mother ; and the yearn 
 ing and affection he always exhibited for Mrs. Clemm 
 redeems him from the charge of being the cold, repellent, 
 and unfriended being delineated by his first biographer. 
 
 Poe early became the spoiled pet of an admiring 
 guardian. No more pitiful picture could be drawn than 
 this: 
 
 A pretty trick taught the boy by Mr. Allan was to drink the 
 healths of the company in a glass of diluted wine. He would stand 
 on a chair, raise the glass with all the ceremony of those old Dominion 
 days, then take a sip gracefully, then with roguish laugh, reseat 
 himself amidst the applause of the company. 
 
 We need not wonder at the peculiar form and abnormal 
 character of his early drinking, considering his heredity, 
 and with such environment. The gin sop could not have 
 more evilly influenced him. 
 
 He was mentally precocious and physically well de 
 veloped. Not only was he brilliant in his classes and re 
 markable for his mental attainments, but he was the 
 leader in play and in all athletic exercises. No wonder the 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 17 
 
 heart of his doting guardian warmed to a being so gifted. 
 But, with all these advantages, 
 
 Evil things in robes of sorrow 
 Assailed the monarchs high estate. 
 
 The hereditary evil, like the precocity, was also a part 
 of Poe s inheritance. While yet a student there came 
 reports of moral delinquencies and alcoholic excesses which 
 resulted in Allan forbidding his return to the university. 
 A classmate writes : 
 
 Poe s passion for strong drink was as marked as for cards. It was 
 not the taste of the beverage that influenced him; without a sip or 
 smack of the mouth he would seize a full glass, without sugar or 
 water, and send it home at a single gulp. 
 
 While still a youth Poe devoured his cake ; but, unfor 
 tunately for him, it was made of wild oats. He had sowed 
 them early and ever after their beards galled him; and, 
 "in his old age," he was compelled to chew the cud of 
 their juiceless husks. 
 
 His guardian, no longer willing to countenance his esca 
 pades, forced him to work, but, so attached was Mrs. Allan 
 to her wayward boy, that an added unhappiness entered 
 the Allan home. 
 
 There is an unwritten chapter in the life of Poe that has 
 not yet been formulated. The details are so indistinct, and 
 statements made concerning it are so conflicting, that 
 no one has succeeded in fully unravelling the tangle of 
 fable and fact. Primarily it deals with the Allan family 
 skeleton, which is now a matter of court record. There was 
 much marital unhappiness due to the fact that Allan 
 entered into entangling alliances which later ended in a 
 notorious will contest. During the life of the first Mrs. 
 Allan this was probably known to her ; and it is said that 
 Poe, then a young boy, was instrumental in finding out 
 for her such information as she required. It seems to be 
 
18 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 established that Poe was not adopted by Allan nor was he 
 much more than tolerated because of Mrs. Allan s very pro 
 nounced favoritism. It is said that although Allan knew 
 of Poe s intention to run away from Richmond where, 
 after his removal from the university, he was made to 
 work in Allan s tobacco warehouse, the man took no steps 
 to prevent the flight, but rather encouraged it. Certain it is 
 that Poe did run away and take ship for England, and that 
 when this became known to Mrs. Allan she made every 
 effort to force his return. Certain papers found in the 
 warehouse of Allan, now known as the "Ellis-Allan Docu 
 ments," which recently have been placed in the Congres 
 sional Library, cover a period preceding the "adoption" 
 of Poe, and also a considerable time after all Poe associa 
 tion had ceased. These also may contain letters that were 
 taken from Mrs. Poe at the time of her death. So far as 
 they relate to matters of hereditary significance regarding 
 Poe, they are of value, but not for the purpose of further 
 discrediting the Poe family. It is said that the undue use 
 Allan made of these papers further embittered Poe, and 
 this goes far to explain the active hostility that existed 
 between them. 
 
 That Poe spent two years traveling on the continent 
 of Europe, during which time he visited Russia, Greece, 
 and France, is not probable. We know that it was during 
 this time that the first Tamerlane was printed in Boston, 
 but the bibliographical details remain an unsolvable puz 
 zle. While we cannot account for this long period, and 
 know little of the life Poe led and the influences that sur 
 rounded him, I cannot agree with Woodberry in the discov 
 ery he claims to have made, that Poe enlisted in the army 
 under the name of Perry and served his country faithfully, 
 with a record for sobriety and attention to the details of 
 his appointment ; and that his conduct was so admirable 
 and his deportment so good that, at the end of two years, he 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 19 
 
 was promoted to the highest non-commissioned grade in 
 the army and honorably discharged. 
 
 Poe s later biographers have accepted this as an estab 
 lished fact, in spite of existing records which show that 
 the complexion and the color of the eyes and hair of Perry 
 differed from those of Poe. Even this might be accounted 
 for by careless entries. My reason for doubting Woodberry 
 is that at no time, before or after, was Poe amenable to the 
 slightest restraint; nor could he, even for the shortest 
 period, brook discipline. I do not believe it possible for 
 one of Poe s neurotic temperament to have contained 
 himself so completely when placed under such strict disci 
 pline and in surroundings so exacting. He enlisted, but 
 earned no discharge. A substitute released him. 
 
 Poe finally did go to West Point, although he was over 
 age and temperamentally unfitted. In his application Poe s 
 friends did not hesitate to falsify so as to represent his 
 birthplace to have been Richmond and the year of his 
 birth to have been 1811. As a matter of fact he was born 
 in Boston in 1809, and entered West Point in July, 1830, 
 when he was twenty-one years and six months old. 
 
 Poe always denied that he was Boston born, and, in the 
 various statements he gave out for biographical notices, 
 he named Baltimore as his birthplace. 
 
 I do not know that any unprejudiced person can blame 
 Poe for denying that he was born in Boston. It was an 
 accident due to the fact that his birth occurred while his 
 mother was there, playing with her company. Poe cannot 
 be held responsible for such accidental misfortunes. His 
 heart was in Baltimore and, in feeling and later association, 
 he was fanatically Southern. 
 
 At West Point, for the first time, we get a lifelike por 
 trayal of Poe, the man. The picture, while illuminating, 
 is not pleasing. It was drawn by a fellow student, appar- 
 entlv his closest friend. 
 
20 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Poe evidently had seen much of life hard life, which had 
 left its imprint on him. As a boy he had been admired for his 
 personal beauty ; when he entered West Point his expres 
 sion was "weary, worn and discontented," and so aged did 
 he appear that it was jokingly said the appointment had 
 been obtained for the son, but he had died and his father 
 took the vacancy. Cheap wit : at least it showed that the life 
 Poe lived before entering West Point had left its imprint. 
 
 Another report current in the corps was that he was the grandson 
 of Benedict Arnold. Some good-natured friend told him of it, and Poe 
 did not contradict it, but seemed rather pleased than otherwise at the 
 mistake. 
 
 He neglected his studies and expressed the greatest con 
 tempt for the required military duties very different 
 from the orderly and punctilious Perry. His alcoholic 
 habits there have been set forth in full. His friend paints 
 his life as most irregular; as consisting of a series of 
 broken rules, defiance of all authority, inveigling younger 
 and less sophisticated youths into infringements of army 
 regulations, and, above all, such utter disregard for all the 
 canons of decency and morality, that the alienist must 
 believe such actions were the result of an acute mental 
 brainstorm, induced by the abuse of alcohol. 
 
 Poe apologists have explained these acts as a ruse for es 
 caping from an irksome confinement, and as a means toward 
 regaining his freedom. This is not an intelligible explan 
 ation and does not comport with the facts. Other means 
 could have been adopted which more easily and more hon 
 orably would have attained this end. Rather, these acts are 
 in line with the loose and irresponsible life that he had fol 
 lowed for two years before entering the Military Academy. 
 It has been shown that during this time Poe s life was most 
 irregular. 
 
 A story, current at the military academy, was told by 
 General Magruder : 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 21 
 
 He made a voyage to sea on some merchant vessel, before the mast. 
 Finding himself in the Mediterranean, he debarked at some Eastern 
 port and penetrated into Egypt and Arabia. Returning to the United 
 States, he enlisted as a private in the United States Army at Fort 
 ress Monroe. After some months service his whereabouts and position 
 became known to Mr. Allan, who, through the mediation of General 
 Scott (a cousin of the second Mrs. Allan), obtained his release from 
 the army, and sent him a cadet s warrant to West Point. 
 
 It seems to be definitely established that at no time dur 
 ing these years did Poe live an orderly and regular life. He 
 undoubtedly traveled much, possibly as a sailor, for he 
 could not have afforded the transportation of a tourist, 
 and some time must have been spent in the United States, 
 outside the army, as his Boston connection makes evident. 
 In whatever way the Perry record was used, it did not 
 fully represent Poe s life during the whole of this time. 
 
 These facts of his life history would be of great patho 
 logic value could they be traced : they might show the slow 
 growth of the poisonous vine that later encircled and 
 bound him, and finally crushed him in its vicious embrace. 
 Such a disease as that from which Poe suffered is most 
 insidious in its approach. The liberties indulged in youth 
 and the lack of restraint, laid a foundation which later no 
 will-power could overcome, and which exacted a price of 
 misery, depression and suffering from its victim that passes 
 human understanding. 
 
 The only thing to which Poe remained constant during 
 these years of stress and storm was his love of good 
 literature. 
 
 At about the time Poe entered West Point he began a 
 correspondence with Neal, editor of "The Yankee." In 
 the issue for December, 1829, and in answer to a slur 
 ring notice concerning one of his poems, referred to in 
 the number for September, Poe thus wrote: 
 
 I am about to publish a volume of poems, the greatest part 
 written before I was fifteen. Speaking about heaven the editor of 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 the Yankee said: He might write a beautiful if not a magnificent 
 poem the very first words of encouragement I ever remember to 
 have heard. I am certain that, so far, I have not written either, but 
 that I can, I will take my oath, if they will only give me time. 
 
 Poe quotes only the concluding paragraph. What "The 
 Yankee" really said was: 
 
 If E. A. P. of Baltimore whose lines about heaven, though he 
 seems to regard them as altogether superior to anything in the whole 
 range of American poetry, save two or three trifles referred to, are, 
 though nonsense, rather exquisite nonsense would but do himself 
 justice, might make a beautiful and perhaps magnificent poem. 
 
 If these are the "very first words of encouragement", 
 then Poe s poetic genius must have budded in a literary 
 frost. After declaring there is much to justify hope and 
 quoting several stanzas that any Poe lover would regard 
 as typically and Poesquely melodic, the review ends with 
 these lines: 
 
 "The Moonlight 
 
 falls- 
 Over hamlets, over halls, 
 Wherever they may be, 
 O er the strange woods, o er the sea 
 O er the spirits on the wing, 
 O er every drowsy thing 
 And buried them up quite, 
 In a labyrinth of light, 
 And then how deep! Oh deep I 
 Is the passion of their sleep! 
 
 He should have signed it Bah! We have no room for others. 
 The events of Poe s life for the two years following his 
 expulsion from West Point are as great a mystery as 
 those of the years preceding his admittance. Apparently 
 these two periods have become inextricably intermixed as 
 to details, and many events said to have occurred in the 
 first period are certainly duplicated in the last. It seems 
 that Poe did at one time enlist in the army, and that he 
 could only obtain his discharge by inducing Allan to 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 23 
 
 supply a substitute. If, as seems probable, this enlistment 
 preceded Poe s entrance to West Point, it would disprove 
 Woodberry s contention as to the identity of Poe and Perry. 
 
 The second Mrs. Allan wrote : 
 
 As regards Edgar Poe, of my own knowledge I know nothing; 
 I only saw him twice; but all I heard of him, from those who had 
 lived with him, was a tissue of ingratitude, fraud and deceit. Mr. 
 Poe had not lived under Mr. Allan s roof for two years before my 
 marriage (1830) and no one knew his whereabouts; his letters, which 
 were very scarce, were dated from St. Petersburgh, Russia, although 
 he had enlisted in the army at Boston. 
 
 The little that is known concerning this incident, as well 
 as many other facts of Poe s life at that time, are held in 
 letters contained in the archives of the Valentine Museum 
 of Richmond. While the contents are known, and while 
 apparently they do not reflect seriously on Poe, they are 
 said to contain certain passages involving persons or 
 families still in Richmond, and for that reason they have 
 not been made public. Concealment of any kind is in all 
 cases unfortunate : whatever may or may not be the result 
 of future investigation, there is always a tendency to 
 exaggerate the most ordinary and every-day events, and 
 the smallest fact may be magnified into an unwarrantable 
 statement. 
 
 Possibly Poe spent a part of his time in Europe, although 
 it is improbable that the distorted account he related to 
 Mrs. Shew, during one of his mental attacks, regarding 
 these European experiences, is to be taken as literally true. 
 
 At least for some months Poe did live in Baltimore and 
 Richmond, and many definite details of his residence in 
 those two cities are known. 
 
 It is certain that Poe s mental capacity fully developed 
 during this period, and that when he appeared before John 
 H. Kennedy he had reached the zenith of his intellectual 
 power. 
 
 It was the Golden Age of his literary achievement, and 
 
24 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 that his genius and capacity had reached their full 
 development is proved by the quality and quantity of 
 tales that were included in the "Folio Club". It was this 
 marvelous collection of stories that gained for him not 
 only literary recognition, but what at that time was 
 apparently needed more money for the commonest neces 
 saries of life. Not only was he ill-clad, but, apparently, he 
 had not enough food for his proper nourishment. 
 
 The cause of this destitution was undoubtedly his 
 serious and repeated seizures by his hereditary malady. 
 From this time on we know every important event of Poe s 
 life, and both his misfortunes and his successes have 
 been minutely described. We find running through these 
 statements accounts of intercurrent attacks of sickness 
 which incapacitated him for days or weeks, at first 
 infrequent but slowly increasing in number and severity 
 until we have a classical picture of typical dipsomania, with 
 its accompanying depressions and mental abnormalities. 
 This tells the story of the evil that pursued him and con 
 tinually thwarted the best of intentions, and which made 
 his life a series of financial struggles and failures. What 
 ever was the cause it is certain that Poe was in desperate 
 need. 
 
 Poe probably was not idle, and could we obtain all the 
 facts, or the contemporary magazines that contained these 
 "facts," we should probably find much that could rightly 
 be attributed to Poe. So far as I know, Poe never signed 
 his name to an article, and only occasionally did he use 
 even his initials. It is certain that he later republished 
 and preserved whatever he believed to be worthy of public 
 recognition. 
 
 The marvelous mental transformation which certainly 
 did take place between the publication of Al Aaraaf, 
 when Poe was twenty, and his appearance at the age of 
 twenty-four, when he presented Kennedy with his Tales 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 25 
 
 of the Folio Club, cannot be accounted for by studying 
 "The Best Hundred Authors", or that five-foot shelf so 
 extensively and adroitly advertised. Exactly what hast 
 ened the flowering of the genius with which nature en 
 dowed him we do not know ; but we must count the years 
 between 1832 and 1840, when Poe, according to mortality 
 tables, was still a very young man, as those of his full 
 maturity. Other writers have developed as early and 
 shown more pronodnced maturity at the same age. Tamer 
 lane can, in no way, compare with "Queen Mab," which 
 Shelley wrote when he was eighteen ; yet these crude pro 
 ductions were the harbingers of greater achievements. 
 There is necessarily some smoke and sputter before the 
 rocket bursts with its scintillating brilliants. 
 
 In spite of the aid given Poe by his guardian, and the 
 literary position gained by his Tales of the Folio Club, his 
 periodical seizures alienated many of his friends; and he 
 was compelled to call on his literary discoverer, Kennedy, 
 who thus writes : 
 
 It is many years ago, I think perhaps as early as 1833 or 1834, that 
 I found him in Baltimore in a state of starvation. I gave him clothes, 
 free access to my table, and the use of horses for exercise whenever 
 he chose, in fact brought him up from the very edge of despair. 
 
 The many indiscretions with which Poe is charged at 
 this time, and which had changed into enemies some of 
 his former friends, were the result of his hereditary in 
 firmity. 
 
 It must be remembered that dipsomania is not only 
 periodical in its seizures, but that, even in its earliest 
 manifestations, the patient is not responsible, and that his 
 actions may outrage friends who assume those things to 
 be vicious which are the result of disease. 
 
 While Woodberry has covered all the controversial life 
 of Poe, and has fully almost too fully stated the acts 
 on which Griswold based his defamatory statements, 
 
26 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 neither Woodberry nor any other biographer has given 
 full consideration to the heredity, the obsessions, the com 
 pulsions, the frequently recurring spells of depression, and 
 the nervous seizures which are a part of Poe s psychology, 
 and on which we must base the explanation of these acts. 
 
 For this reason I shall sketch Poe s literary work only as 
 far as it exhibits mental disturbance. I must discuss the 
 physical facts as they affected his somatic life and ended 
 in his early death. 
 
 Undoubtedly the necessity for some form of mental 
 excitement manifested itself early, as the records of the 
 life Poe led at the University of Virginia and at West Point, 
 both as to gambling and drinking, attest. 
 
 It is entirely possible that the manners and customs of 
 those days, as well as the stimulants which, even as a 
 child, were given Poe, early developed the appetite that 
 was by inheritance a part of him. It is, in my judgment, 
 certain that, even without this environment, there was a 
 morbid predisposition which, sooner or later, would have 
 overwhelmed him. His disappearance for two or three 
 years, and the fact that his changed facial appearance and 
 his striking personality could not have been recently 
 acquired, make me believe that those years were not 
 passed faithfully and temperately serving in the army, as 
 we know that Perry did serve. We must believe that, 
 during this time, Poe rapidly developed intellectually, even 
 if he deteriorated morally; and this necessarily indicates 
 that, although there might have been periods of nervous 
 disturbance, they were not continuous, and, as is the rule 
 in such cases, that this disease was slowly assuming the 
 periodical character it usually manifests. 
 
 The first definite evidence we have of this progressive 
 mental change is in a letter Poe wrote to Kennedy in 1835 : 
 
 Excuse me, my dear Sir, if in this letter you find much incoher- 
 ency. . . . My feelings at this moment are pitiable indeed. I am 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 27 
 
 suffering under a depression of spirits such as I have never before 
 suffered. I have struggled in vain against the influence of this melan 
 choly you will believe me, when I say that I am miserable in spite of 
 the great improvement in my circumstances. I say that you will be 
 lieve me, and for this simple reason, that a man who is writing for 
 effect does not write thus. My heart is open before you if it be worth 
 reading, read it. I am wretched, and know not why. Console me, for 
 you can. But let it be quickly or it will be too late. Convince me that 
 it is worth one s while that it is at all necessary to live, and you 
 will prove yourself indeed my friend. Persuade me to do what is right. 
 I do not mean this. I do not mean that you should consider what I 
 now write you a jest oh, pity me ! for I feel that my words are inco 
 herent but I will recover myself. You will not fail to see that I am 
 suffering under depression of spirits which will ruin me should it be 
 long continued. Write me then and quickly. Urge me to do what is 
 right. Fail not as you value your peace of mind hereafter. 
 
 These cries of agony are not unusual in the writings of 
 men of genius, and an intimate study of their lives shows 
 that many of them suffered from periodical depression and 
 various mental obsessions, which at times amounted to 
 absolute disease. It is a phase in the life history of many 
 who possess this heredity, and some cannot resist the call. 
 
 Tolstoi in his "Confessions," John Stuart Mill in his 
 "Autobiography," George Eliot, De Quincey, Shelley and 
 many other writers describe these critical periods. 
 
 Tolstoi tells us that his desires as to life, and his views of 
 death, were reversed : 
 
 The thought of suicide came to me as naturally as had come be 
 fore the ideas of improving life. That thought was so seductive that I 
 had to use cunning against myself, lest I should rashly execute it. 
 At such times, I, a happy man, hid a rope from myself, so that I 
 should not hang myself on a cross-beam between two closets in my 
 room, and did not go out hunting with a gun in order not to be 
 tempted by an easy way of doing away with myself. 
 
 ... I had a good, loving and beloved wife, good children and a 
 large estate. I was respected by my neighbors and friends, was 
 praised by strangers and, without any self deception, could consider 
 my name famous. With all that, I was not deranged or mentally 
 
28 POE. -A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 unsound; on the contrary I was in the full command of my mental, 
 and physical powers, such as I had rarely met with in men of my 
 age, . . . and while in this condition I arrived at the conclusion that 
 I could not live and, fearing death, I had to use cunning against myself, 
 in order that I might not take my life. . . . Long ago has been told 
 the Eastern Story about the traveller who in the Steppe is overtaken 
 by an infuriated beast. Trying to save himself from this animal the 
 traveller jumps into a waterless well but at the bottom he sees a dragon 
 who opens his jaws in order to swallow him. And the unfortunate man 
 does not dare climb out lest he perish from the infuriated beast, and 
 does not dare jump down to the bottom of the well, lest he be de 
 voured by the dragon, and so clutches the twig of a wild bush growing 
 in the cleft of the wall and holds on to it. His hands grow weak and 
 he feels that he must soon surrender to the peril that awaits him on 
 either side; but he still holds on and sees two mice, one white and the 
 other black, in even measure making a circle around the main trunk 
 of the bush to which he is clinging, and nibbling at it on all sides. 
 Now at any moment the bush will break and be torn off and he 
 will fall into the dragon s jaws. The traveller sees this and knows he 
 will inevitably perish, and while he is still clinging, he sees some drops 
 of honey hanging on the leaves of the bush, and so reaches out to 
 them, and with his tongue he licks the leaves. Just so I hold on to 
 this branch of life, knowing that the dragon of death is inevitably 
 waiting for me, ready to tear me into pieces, and I cannot understand 
 why I have fallen on such suffering. And I try to lick that honey, 
 which used to give me pleasure; but now it no longer gives me joy, 
 and the white mouse and the black mouse, day and night, nibble at 
 the branch to which I am holding. I clearly see the dragon and the 
 honey is no longer sweet to me. I see only the inevitable dragon and 
 the mice, and I am unable to turn my glance away from them. This is 
 not a fable but a veritable, indisputable, comprehensible truth. 
 
 This is the cry of a lost soul, and I know nothing more 
 pathetic, or that better describes the mental torture from 
 which such patients suffer. This desire for death is a 
 psychological problem and admits of many solutions. 
 Perhaps the best is that given by one of our greatest poets : 
 
 Whatever crazy sorrow saith, 
 
 No life that breathes with human breath 
 
 Has ever truly long d for death. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 29 
 
 Tis life, whereof our nerves are scant, 
 Oh Life, not Death, for which we pant, 
 More life, and fuller, that I want. 
 
 Tennyson could not have written The Two Voices had 
 he not passed through some such experience. It is the cry 
 of a soul-obsessed melancholiac. 
 
 Shelley expresses his own abnormal sensations in a 
 somewhat different manner : 
 
 My feelings at intervals are of a deadly and torpid kind, or awak 
 ened to such a degree of unnatural and keen excitement, that only to 
 instance the organ of sight, I find the very blades of grass and the 
 boughs of distant trees present themselves to me with microscopic 
 distinctness. Towards evening I sink into a state of lethargy and 
 inanimation, and often remain for hours on the sofa between sleep 
 and waking, a prey to the most painful irritability of thought. Such, 
 with little intermission, is my condition. 
 
 John Stuart Mill, in his Autobiography, thus describes a 
 period of mental depression : 
 
 I was in a dull state of nerves, such as everybody is occasionally 
 liable to; . . .the state, I should think, in which converts to Metho 
 dism usually are, when smitten by their first conviction of sin. 
 
 In this frame of mind it occurred to me to put the question directly 
 to myself: Suppose that all your objects in life were realized; . . . 
 would this be a great joy and happiness to you? And an irrepres 
 sible self-consciousness distinctly answered, no! At this my heart 
 sank within me: the whole foundation on which my life was con 
 structed fell down. ... I seemed to have nothing left to live for. 
 
 At first I had hoped that the cloud would pass away of itself; 
 but it did not. ... I carried it with me into all companies, into all 
 occupations. . . . For some months the cloud seemed to grow thicker 
 and thicker. The lines in Coleridge s Dejection exactly described 
 my case : 
 
 A grief without a pang, void, dark and drear, 
 A drowsy, stifled, unimpassioned grief, 
 Which finds no natural outlet or relief 
 In word, or sigh, or tear. 
 
 In vain I sought relief from my favorite books, ... I read them 
 now without feeling, or with the accustomed feeling minus all its 
 
30 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 charm: ... I was thus left stranded at the commencement of my 
 voyage, with a well equipped ship and rudder but no sail. ... I had 
 had some gratification of vanity at too early an age ; I had attained 
 some distinction, and felt myself of some importance, before the desire 
 of distinction and importance had grown into a passion. The fountains 
 of vanity and ambitions seemed to have dried up within me, as com 
 pletely as those of benevolence. These were the thoughts that mingled 
 with the dry heavy dejection of the melancholy winter of 1826-27. 
 ... In all probability my case was not so peculiar as I had imagined 
 it, and I doubt not that many others have passed through a similar 
 state. ... I frequently asked myself, if I could, or if I was bound to 
 go on living, when life must be passed in this manner. I generally 
 answered to myself, that I did not think I could possibly bear it be 
 yond a year. When, however, not more than half that duration of 
 time had elapsed, a small ray of light broke in upon my gloom. . . . 
 Relieved from my ever present sense of irremediable wretchedness, I 
 gradually found that the ordinary incidents of life could again give 
 me some pleasure; that I could again find enjoyment, not intense, but 
 sufficient for cheerfulness, in sunshine and sky, in books, in conver 
 sation, in public affairs; . . . thus the cloud gradually drew off, and 
 I again enjoyed life; and though I had several relapses, some of 
 which lasted for months, I never again was as miserable as I had 
 been. 
 
 Mill was right in believing that many others had 
 "passed through a similar state." But not all have the for 
 titude to bear it so patiently, and allow time to conquer so 
 victoriously. 
 
 De Quincey, in a letter he wrote to Miss Mitford, 
 attempts to make plain the mental agony from which he 
 occasionally suffered : 
 
 No purpose could be answered by my vainly endeavouring to 
 make intelligible for my daughters what I cannot make intelligible for 
 myself the undecipherable horror that night and day broods over 
 my nervous system. One effect of this is to cause, at uncertain inter 
 vals, such whirlwinds of impatience as precipitate me violently, 
 whether I will or not, into acts that would seem insanities, but are 
 not such in fact, as my understanding is never under any delusion. 
 Whatever I am writing suddenly becomes overspread with a dark 
 frenzy of horror. I am using words, perhaps, that are tautologic ; but it 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 31 
 
 is because no language can give expression to the sudden storm of 
 frightful revelations opening upon me from an eternity not coming, 
 but past and irrevocable. Whatever I may have been writing is sud 
 denly wrapt, as it were, in one sheet of consuming fire the very paper 
 is poisoned to my eyes. I cannot endure to look at it, and I sweep it 
 away into vast piles of unfinished letters, or inchoate essays begun and 
 interrupted under circumstances the same in kind, though differing 
 unaccountably in degree. . . . One inevitable suggestion at first arose 
 to everybody consulted viz., that it might be some horrible recoil 
 from the long habit of using opium to excess. But this seems improba 
 ble for more reasons that one. 1st. Because previously to any consid 
 erable abuse of opium viz., in the year 1812, I suffered an unac 
 countable attack of nervous horror which lasted for five months, and 
 went off in one night as unaccountably as it had first come on in one 
 second of time. I was at that time perfectly well. 
 
 DeQuincey, Coleridge, Lamb, Swinburne, and others 
 did not hesitate to use opium and other narcotizing drugs 
 as well as stimulants to ease these prenatally induced 
 pains. 
 
 Are there not mortals suffering from morbid mental 
 states who inhabit a Kingdom undiscovered to most of us : 
 those sensitive of soul and endowed with an abnormal per 
 ception and a spirit of unrest? a coterie of Sensitives 
 who wear the fetters of heredity, and who can neither be 
 measured by man-made standards, nor judged by pre 
 vailing customs, nor bound by our moral laws ; who worship 
 at a shrine more earthy natures can not perceive? It is 
 possible that they are presided over by a priestess whose 
 arch- votary thus describes her : 
 
 Hush! whisper whilst we talk of her! 
 
 Her kingdom is not large, or else no flesh should live; but within 
 that kingdom all power is hers. Her head, turreted like that of Cybele, 
 rises almost beyond the reach of sight. She droops not; and her eyes 
 rising so high might be hidden by distance. But, being what they are, 
 they cannot be hidden; through the treble veil of crape which she 
 wears, the fierce light of a blazing misery, that rests not for matins or 
 vespers, for noon of day or noon of night, for ebbing or for flowing 
 tide, may be read from the very ground. She is the defier of God. She 
 
32 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 also is the mother of lunacies, and the suggestress of suicides. Deep lie 
 the roots of her power; but narrow is the nation that she rules. For 
 she can approach only those in whom a profound nature has been 
 upheaved by central convulsions; in whom the heart trembles and 
 the brain rocks under conspiracies of tempest from without and 
 tempest from within. She moves with incalculable motions, bound 
 ing, and with a tiger s leaps. She carries no key; for, though coming 
 rarely amongst men, she storms all doors at which she is permitted 
 to enter at all. And her name is Mater Tenebrarum, Our Lady of 
 Darkness. 
 
 Was it this same Kingdom that Poe glimpsed in his 
 Vision: Slope?* 
 
 Listen to me , said the Demon, as he placed his hand upon my 
 head. There is a spot upon this accursed earth which thou hast 
 never yet beheld. And if by any chance thou hast beheld it, it must 
 have been in one of those vigorous dreams which come like the 
 Simoon upon the brain of the sleeper who hath lain down to sleep 
 among the forbidden sunbeams among the sunbeams, I say, which 
 slide from off the solemn columns of the melancholy temples in the 
 wilderness. The region of which I speak is a dreary region in Lybia, 
 by the borders of the river Zaire. And there is no quiet there, nor 
 silence. 
 
 The waters of the river have a saffron and sickly hue and they 
 flow not onwards to the sea, but palpitate forever and forever beneath 
 the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive motion. For 
 many miles on either side of the river s oozy bed is a pale desert of 
 gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the other in that solitude, 
 and stretch towards the heaven their long ghastly necks, and nod to 
 and fro their everlasting heads. And there is an indistinct murmur 
 which cometh out from among them like the rushing of subterrene 
 water. And they sigh one unto the other. . . . And the tall primoeval 
 trees rock eternally hither and thither with a crashing and mighty 
 sound. And from their high summits, one by one, drop everlasting 
 dews. And at their roots strange poisonous flowers lie writhing in per 
 turbed slumber. And overhead, with a rustling and loud noise the 
 grey clouds rush westwardly forever, until they roll, a cataract, over 
 the fiery wall of the horizon. But there is no wind throughout the 
 heaven. And by the shores of the river Zaire there is neither quiet nor 
 silence. 
 
 *First Version Baltimore Book 1838. Compare page 265. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 33 
 
 It was night, and the rain fell; and, falling, it was rain, but, 
 having fallen, it was blood. . . . 
 
 And, all at once, the moon arose through the thin ghastly mist, 
 and was crimson in color. And mine eyes fell upon a huge grey rock 
 which stood by the shore of the river, and was litten by the light of the 
 moon. And the rock was grey, and ghastly, and tall, and the rock 
 was grey. Upon its front were characters engraven in the stone; . . . 
 and the characters were DESOLATION. 
 
 And I looked upwards, and there stood a man upon the summit 
 of the rock. . . . And the outlines of his figure were indistinct but 
 his features were the features of a Deity ; for the mantle of the night, 
 and of the mist, and of the moon, and of the dew, had left uncovered 
 the features of his face. And his brow was lofty with thought, and his 
 eye wild with care ; and in the few furrows upon his cheek, I read the 
 fables of sorrow, and weariness, and disgust with mankind, and a long 
 ing after solitude. . . . He looked down into the low unquiet shrub 
 bery, and up into the tall primoeval trees, and up higher at the 
 rustling heaven, and into the crimson moon. . . . 
 
 And the man turned his attention from the heaven, and looked 
 out upon the dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly waters, 
 and upon the pale legions of the water-lilies. 
 
 Then I cursed the elements with the curse of tumult; and a 
 frightful tempest gathered in the heaven where before there had been 
 no wind, and the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest 
 and the rain beat upon the head of the man and the floods of the 
 river came down and the river was tormented into foam and the 
 water-lilies shrieked within their beds and the forest crumbled before 
 the wind and the thunder rolled and the lightning fell and the 
 rock rocked to its foundation. . . 
 
 Then I grew angry and cursed, with the curse of silence, the river, 
 and the lilies, and the wind, and the forest, and the heaven, and the 
 thunder, and the sighs of the water-lilies. And they became accursed 
 and were still. And the moon ceased to totter in its pathway up the 
 heaven and the thunder died away and the lightnings did not flash 
 and the clouds hung motionless and the waters sunk to their level 
 and remained and the trees ceased to rock and the water-lilies 
 sighed no more and the murmur was heard no longer from among 
 them, nor any shadow of sound throughout the vast illimitable desert. 
 And I looked upon the characters of the rock, and they were changed 
 and the characters were SILENCE. 
 
34 POE. A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 And mine eyes fell upon the countenance of the man, and his 
 countenance was wan with terror. And, hurriedly, he raised his head 
 from his hand, and stood forth upon the rock, and listened. But there 
 was no voice throughout the vast illimitable desert, and the char 
 acters upon the rock were SILENCE. And the man shuddered, and 
 turned his face away, and fled afar off, and I beheld him no more/ . . . 
 
 Visions such as these are not for normal eyes, but may 
 be viewed, though dimly, by those super-mortally hyper- 
 metropic, and who must pay the price for their genius- 
 gifted inheritance. Many are overcome by these hereditary 
 states of mental depressions and compulsions, and suicide 
 ends their mental struggle. 
 
 Can we blame Poe if he did resort to alcohol and nar 
 cotics that he might numb such morbid mental anguish ? 
 This attack which he described was probably a character 
 istic seizure, and others followed with increasing frequency. 
 We know that they occurred periodically and, occasionally, 
 interrupted his work. 
 
 In 1835 Poe was made acting editor of the "Southern 
 Literary Messenger," owned and managed by T. W. White. 
 These lapses apparently interfered with his duties. They 
 seriously discommoded White, and at times prevented 
 the prompt issuance of the magazine. As early as 1835 
 White wrote him : 
 
 Would that it were in my power to unbosom myself to you in 
 language such as I could, on the present occasion, wish myself master 
 of. I cannot do it and therefore must be content to speak to you in 
 my plain way. That you are sincere in all your promises I firmly be 
 lieve. But, Edgar, when you once again tread these streets, I have my 
 fears that your resolves would fall through, and that you would again 
 sip the juice, even till it stole away your senses. You have fine talents, 
 Edgar, and you ought to have them respected as well as yourself. 
 Learn to respect yourself, and you will soon find that you are respected. 
 Separate yourself from the bottle, and bottle companions, forever ! 
 
 Apparently all went well for several months. In 1836 
 Poe wrote to his friend Kennedy, evidently with his former 
 letter in mind : 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 35 
 
 Mr. White is very liberal, and besides my salary of $520 pays me 
 liberally for extra work, so that I receive nearly $800. Next year, that 
 is at the commencement of the second volume, I am to get $ 1 ,000. 
 Besides this I receive, from Publishers, nearly all new publications. 
 My friends in Richmond have received me with open arms, and my 
 reputation is extending especially in the South. Contrast all this with 
 those circumstances of absolute despair in which you found me, and 
 you will see how great reason I have to feel grateful to God and to 
 yourself. 
 
 Nothing definite is known as to the exact cause that 
 led to Poe s expulsion from this little paradise. Until Janu 
 ary, 1837, he acted as editor; and during all this time the 
 "Messenger" increased in circulation and became recog 
 nized as one of the well edited magazines. White probably 
 would have kept his promises, and would have continued 
 the association indefinitely, had not some serious inter- 
 current seizure prevented. While this cause is not on 
 record, we know Poe s infirmity, and so it is not difficult 
 to deduce the reason. Poe during this time again suffered 
 from depressive seizures and probably resorted to stimu 
 lants. White, in several letters he wrote to Lucian Minor, 
 the later editor, thus refers to Poe : 
 
 Poe is now in my employ not as editor. He is unfortunately rather 
 dissipated and therefore I can place very little reliance upon him. 
 His disposition is quite amiable. He will be of some assistance to me 
 in proofreading at least I hope so. 
 
 A few days later he again wrote : 
 
 Poe has flew the track already. His habits were not good. He is in 
 addition a victim of melancholy. I should not be at all astonished to 
 hear that he had been guilty of suicide. 
 
 From these letters it is certain that Poe was unfitted for 
 work, but whether this was due to the fact that "Poe has 
 flew the track," or to his depression, which might in time 
 cause him to be "guilty of suicide," or to a combination of 
 these conditions which were the result of his morbid inheri 
 tance, is an immaterial matter. The evil predisposition was 
 slowly asserting sway and Poe was no longer entirely 
 
36 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 master of his actions; he was swayed by his compelling 
 neurosis. 
 
 Kennedy states : 
 
 Poe was irregular, eccentric and querulous and soon gave up his 
 place. 
 
 Poe in writing to Snodgrass as to his habits at this time 
 said: 
 
 For a brief period, while I resided at Richmond and edited the 
 Messenger I certainly did give way, at long intervals, to the tempta 
 tion held out by the spirit of Southern conviviality. 
 
 My sensitive temperament could not stand an excitement which 
 was an everyday matter to my companions. In short, it sometimes 
 happened that I was completely intoxicated. For some days after 
 each excess I was completely prostrated and invariably confined to 
 my bed. 
 
 It is not probable that this separation was voluntary on 
 Poe s part, inasmuch as he accepted articles for the 
 "Messenger" several days after his connection had ceased, 
 without referring to the fact that he was no longer in 
 editorial charge. He merely said that his delay in answering 
 was due to "ill health and a weight of varying and haras 
 sing business." Apparently Poe still hoped to resume his 
 former connection. Though there was no one to take his 
 position, and he certainly had no plans for the future, he 
 resigned from the "Messenger" in January, 1837, leaving 
 one of his stories unfinished, and issued this farewell note : 
 
 Mr. Poe s attention being called in another direction, he will de 
 cline, with this present number, the editorial duties of the Messenger. 
 . . . With the best wishes to the magazine and to its few foes as well 
 as to its many friends, he is now desirous of bidding all parties a 
 peaceable farewell. 
 
 Apparently White recognized and sympathized with the 
 disease from which Poe suffered. At the same time he must 
 have realized the impossibility of holding Poe to routine 
 work. 
 
 There was developed during this time that marvelous 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 37 
 
 critical faculty which gave the Messenger the right to be 
 ranked with the metropolitan journals of New York and 
 Philadelphia, and which established Poe as a literary 
 critic of the very highest authority. Time has fully vin 
 dicated his criticisms of the great and the near-great ; and 
 many names are known to us, not because Griswold and 
 Duyckinck included them in their anthologies and the 
 Encyclopedia of American Literature," but because they 
 have been pilloried by Poe in his "Marginalia" and 
 "Literati." It is true that many times these criticisms 
 were unnecessarily caustic. 
 
 Possibly at times Poe did go beyond legitimate criticism 
 in his use of these dissertations as a conveyance by which 
 he imparted his own theories of composition, and his re 
 jection of the prevailing modes that disfigured our early 
 literature. Fully to appreciate the enormity of these 
 literary crimes one must read the "Lady Book," the 
 "Gentleman s Magazine," the "Burton s" and the "Gra 
 ham s" of those days; "The Mirror" with Willis "Pencil- 
 lings by the Way," as well as less known publications, 
 such as "Snowdon s Lady s Companion," "The Union 
 Magazine," "The American Museum," and other con 
 temporary publications with their reviews and trashy 
 stories and sketches. They are, of all Americana, the most 
 difficult to collect and, when found, least repay the search. 
 
 Even the "Southern Literary Messenger" and "The 
 Broadway Journal," to which Poe gave a distinct value, 
 are rarely to be found. Most of these periodicals have 
 been dead and buried these many years ; and the stones 
 marking their graves are so overgrown with the moss of 
 oblivion that soon it will be impossible to find their rest 
 ing place. Except as "curiosities of American literature," 
 it is proper that they should be forgotten, save only when 
 they contain the Poe contributions. 
 
 Poe s critical faculty was such that, whatever the 
 
38 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 cost, however hard he tried to soften his literary judg 
 ments (at times Poe did fawn when the wolf pressed 
 him too ferociously) sooner or later his real opinions must 
 have utterance. 
 
 For this reason many of Poe s contemporaries held him 
 in bitter memory and were easily persuaded to believe the 
 evil reports that were circulated, although their basis was 
 never investigated nor properly understood. 
 
 We know nothing of Poe s alcoholic habits between his 
 departure from Richmond and the commencement of his 
 association with Burton in the conduct of the "Gentle 
 man s Magazine," in July, 1839. This is probably due to 
 the fact that he occupied no editorial or other respon 
 sible position, and was only accountable to a loving and 
 forgiving wife and mother. That there were long periods 
 of sobriety, and that his conduct caused no remark, is 
 established by contemporary evidence, although it is prob 
 able that his periodical seizures continued. 
 
 Within a few months after his association with Burton 
 we find letters showing that these attacks again were 
 interfering with his editorial duties. The methodical, 
 practical Burton could not sympathize with what he 
 believed to be Poe s melancholy and irritable tempera 
 ment; and, even when justified, he did not approve of 
 Poe s critical severity. 
 
 I am not trammelled by any vulgar consideration of expediency ; 
 I would rather lose money than by such undue severity to wound the 
 feelings of a kind hearted and honorable man. 
 
 This was in a letter of expostulation Burton wrote to 
 Poe, occasioned apparently by some serious misunder 
 standing, the exact nature of which is not known. Poe, on 
 the other hand, held Burton in the supremest contempt; 
 not because he was an actor, but because of his literary 
 pretensions. 
 
 Evidently Burton had made some statement, possibly 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 39 
 
 using the word "drunkard" in describing Poe s alcoholic 
 excesses; for, in a letter which Poe wrote Dr. Snodgrass, 
 soon after this time, and from which I have already quoted, 
 he says : 
 
 I would institute a suit, forthwith, for his personal defamation 
 of myself. He would be unable to prove the truth of his allegations. I 
 could prove their falsity and their malicious intent by witnesses who, 
 seeing me at all hours of every day, would have the best right to 
 speak I mean Burton s own clerk, Morell, and the compositors of 
 the printing office. I should obtain damages. But, on the other hand, 
 I have never been scrupulous as to what I have said of him. I have 
 always told him to his face, and everybody else, that I looked upon 
 him as a blackguard and a villain. This is notorious. If I sue, he sues; 
 you see how it is. . . . I would take it as an act of kindness not to 
 say justice on your part, if you would see the gentleman to whom 
 you spoke and ascertain with accuracy all that may legally avail me, 
 what and when were the words he used. . . . 
 
 You are a physician, and I presume no physician can have diffi 
 culty in detecting a drunkard at a glance. You are, moreover, a liter 
 ary man well read in morals. You will never be led to believe that I 
 could write what I daily write as I write it, were I what this villain 
 would induce those who know me not, to believe. In fine, I pledge 
 you before God, the solemn word of a gentleman, that I am temper 
 ate even to rigor. 
 
 The statement which follows, that "nothing stronger 
 than water ever passed my lips," could only refer to his 
 period of sobriety during the time that he was editor of 
 Burton s magazine. 
 
 This passage bears evidence of having been written 
 immediately after one of Poe s attacks, while his brain 
 was still sore from congestion due to over-indulgence, and 
 when he was not altogether responsible for his actions or 
 his speech, as is frequently the case following such seizures. 
 
 Between these attacks the best of resolutions are made, 
 and nothing can induce such patients to drink; nor have 
 they the slightest realization of their true condition or the 
 danger of relapse. In addition they hotly resent criticism 
 
40 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 of any kind, and any reference to their habits only angers 
 them. Their one cry is that they have completely reformed, 
 so why discuss a matter that is definitely and unalterably 
 settled? In their own opinion their cure is complete and 
 permanent. 
 
 In no sense can Poe be considered either a drunkard or 
 a toper: for the disease is periodical in its seizures and, 
 between the attacks, such unfortunates are most abstemi 
 ous, the avoidance of alcohol being as characteristic as is 
 the uncontrollable desire for some form of stimulant or 
 narcotic when their nerve-storm does break. Poe, in denying 
 the allegations, was self-deceived. It is a peculiarity of 
 such persons not only to believe that they have com 
 pletely recovered, but also to resent any question as to 
 permanency. A marked example of this was the functional 
 heart disturbance Poe at times exhibited, which was 
 the basis for Mrs. Shew s "diagnosis," on which she 
 based her prognosis of Poe s early death. After the tenth 
 beat of Poe s heart there was an intermission, and the 
 discovery of this intermittent action caused her profound 
 worry. Evidently these fears were communicated to Poe, 
 for the doggerel that he wrote, which his eager commen- 
 mentators have offered as a new poem, was evidently based 
 on this fact. Nature is a curious old mother, and seems to 
 have the art of concealing from her victims the most hope 
 less and incurable of her diseased manifestations. On the 
 other hand she magnifies and exaggerates many of the 
 purely hysterical symptoms. 
 
 It is possible for the wise physician to base his diagnosis 
 on the psychology of such patients. When one comes com 
 plaining of heart disease, counting his pulse, and fearing 
 death from heart failure, I feel certain that I have to deal 
 with a neurasthenic whose heart is organically sound, but 
 whose pneumogastric nervous system is deranged, and 
 that a disturbed stomach is the organ involved. The best 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 41 
 
 evidence I can have that persons are not insane is their 
 fear that insanity is developing; or that they have not 
 consumption, when they magnify the slightest bronchitis 
 into this dread disease. On the other hand, when it is ap 
 parent to all that day by day they are wasting away, such 
 patients cannot be made to realize the gravity of their con 
 dition, and frequently buoy the hopes of their friends by 
 this courageous attitude. Spes Phthisici is a medical 
 truism. I rarely or never converse with an insane person 
 who believes he is insane. It is pitiful to watch a paretic 
 who builds his aircastles, dreams his dreams of untold 
 wealth and supreme power, yet never realizes his loss of 
 reflex control which makes him a source of disgust and 
 loathing to all who must meet him and minister to his 
 necessities. 
 
 In spite of the fact that Poe resented what he believed 
 to be the unjust treatment he had received, Burton did 
 actively interest himself in securing for Poe a continuance 
 of the editorial duties connected with a new magazine. 
 This had resulted from combining the "Gentleman s" 
 with the "Casket," and it was to be issued under the 
 title, "Graham s Magazine." Poe, however, had reached 
 that period in his morbid mental life when he was not, at 
 all times, responsible for his utterances, and there were 
 periods when he no longer possessed the ability to dis 
 criminate between criticism kindly meant and utterances 
 really slanderous. 
 
 Although Poe had left Burton voluntarily, and for the 
 purpose of establishing a magazine of his own, this inten 
 tion was abandoned probably because there was an inter- 
 current attack of his old malady. Apparently he was inca 
 pacitated for several weeks, and, on his recovery, was 
 employed by Graham as associate editor of the new 
 magazine. Necessarily, there must have been long periods 
 of sobriety, for much good work in the way of stories, 
 
42 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 poems, and critical reviews by Poe now appeared, and 
 Graham s own testimony fully establishes the kindly rela 
 tions that existed between them. 
 
 Undoubtedly there were lapses that caused Poe occas 
 ionally to neglect his editorial duties. Once, on returning 
 to his office after several days absence, he found Griswold 
 occupying his chair. Although it is probable Graham in 
 tended this to be only a temporary arrangement, Poe 
 bitterly resented it, as, in these later years, he did most 
 things when crossed, and refused all further editorial asso 
 ciation. Yet he and Graham remained on friendly terms. 
 Poe s whole ambition and effort was now centered on 
 establishing a new magazine to be known as the "Stylus," 
 and this idea became an obsession. 
 
 About this same time he had under consideration a gov 
 ernment position in Philadelphia, where he expected to 
 publish his magazine. He went to Washington with the 
 purpose of securing subscribers for his new journal, and 
 also of obtaining the President s sanction for this appoint 
 ment, hoping to exert influence through Tyler s literary 
 sons. 
 
 Probably he would have succeeded in this had there not 
 been a return of his old "evil possession." A friend who 
 became alarmed at his condition because he feared Poe 
 might injure his political prospects, wrote: 
 
 He arrived here a few days since. On the first evening he seemed 
 somewhat excited, having been overpersuaded to take some port 
 wine. On the second day he kept pretty steady, but since then he has 
 been, at intervals, quite unreliable. He exposes himself here to those 
 who may injure him very much with the President, and thus prevent 
 us from doing for him what we wish to do and what we can do if he is 
 himself again in Philadelphia. 
 
 . . . Under all circumstances of the case, I think it advisable for 
 you to come and see him safely back to his home. 
 
 Poe s own explanation is as follows: 
 
 I arrived here in perfect safety, and sober, about half past four . . . 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 43 
 
 I went immediately home, took a warm bath and supper, and then 
 went to Clarke s. He thought by Dow s epistle that I must not only 
 be dead but buried. ... I told him what had been agreed on that 
 I was a little sick, and that Dow, knowing I had been, in times past/ 
 given to spreeing upon an extensive scale, had become unduly alarmed, 
 etc., etc., that when I found that he had written, I thought it best to 
 come home. 
 
 Thomas, who was an office holder in Washington, and 
 who had suggested to Poe that he make this application, 
 gives some interesting details as to certain phases of Poe s 
 sickness : 
 
 If he took but one glass of weak wine, or beer, or cider, the Rubi 
 con of the cup had been passed with him, and it almost always ended 
 in excess and sickness. But he fought against the propensity as hard 
 as ever Coleridge fought against it and I am inclined to believe after 
 his experience and suffering, if he could have gotten office with a 
 fixed salary that he would have redeemed himself, at least at this 
 time. The accounts of his derelictions in this respect after I knew 
 him were very much exaggerated. I have seen men who drank bottles 
 of wine to Poe s wine glass, who yet escaped all imputation of intem 
 perance. His was one of those temperaments whose only safety is in 
 total abstinence. He suffered terribly after any indiscretion. 
 
 For several years no one was associated more closely 
 with Poe than Dr. English. His statement is : 
 
 His offenses against sobriety were committed at irregular intervals. 
 He had not that physical constitution that would permit him to be a 
 regular drinker. He was not even a frequent drinker when I knew 
 him. 
 
 Another friend writes : 
 
 I, the most innocent of divinity students, at that time (1847) 
 while walking with Poe, and feeling thirsty, pressed him to take a 
 glass of wine with me. He declined but finally compromised by taking 
 a glass of ale with me. Almost instantly a great change came over 
 him. Previously engaged in an indescribably eloquent conversation 
 he became as if paralyzed, and, with compressed lips and fixed glassy 
 eyes, returned, without uttering a word, to the house which we were 
 visiting. For hours the strange spell hung over him. He seemed a 
 changed being, as if stricken by some peculiar phase of insanity. 
 
44 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Poe in a letter to Eleveth (February, 1848,) makes the 
 following explanation, which appears to have been written 
 in good faith, and at the time it was written represented 
 his own estimate of his physical health : 
 
 My habits are rigorously abstemious, and I omit nothing of the 
 natural regimen necessary for health: i. e. I rise early, eat moderately, 
 drink nothing but water, and take abundant and regular exercise in 
 the air. But this is my private life my studious and literary life 
 and, of course, escapes the eye of the world. The desire for society 
 comes upon me only when I have become excited by drink. Then only 
 I go that is, at these times only I have been in the practice of going 
 among my friends; who seldom, or, in fact, never having seen me 
 unless excited, take it for granted I am always so. ... But enough 
 of this; the causes which maddened me to the drinking point are no 
 more, and I am done drinking forever. 
 
 The same old cry ! 
 
 Occasionally one of Poe s biographers confuses the term 
 "drunk," by which usually is meant a condition of physical 
 paralysis accompanied by mental confusion, with that 
 more serious condition of forgetfulness or mental aliena 
 tion, which occasionally the mildest stimulant will pro 
 duce, or that still more subtle and less easily explained 
 condition manifested by a complete change of personality. 
 There is much evidence that Poe could take large quanti 
 ties of stimulants without producing physical drunken 
 ness. 
 
 After dipsomania has reached that stage where organic 
 changes have taken place in the coverings of the brain, the 
 slightest alcoholic stimulation may produce profound dis 
 turbance, morally and mentally. One drink may change 
 the whole moral atmosphere and produce a state of mental 
 irresponsibility, even where there is no corresponding 
 physical change apparent. Occasionally, even without any 
 stimulant, there may develop an abnormal mental condi 
 tion, the so-called change in personality which we so freely 
 discuss without any real knowledge as to how it does occur, 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 45 
 
 further than there is a changed mental life. Things are said 
 and done while in this condition that are totally opposed 
 to the acts and conduct ordinarily characterizing these 
 patients, and, on recovery, they may have no memory of 
 what has occurred. 
 
 After this failure to establish either himself or his jour 
 nal, Poe left Philadelphia and took up his residence in New 
 York. There he was employed by Willis for detail work 
 on the "Mirror." For the next eighteen months, he led an 
 abstemious life ; although there is a record of at least two 
 relapses. 
 
 Poe s reputation was now fully established and he was 
 received, and was visited, by literary New York. For this 
 reason we have many intimate details of his life and sur 
 roundings, both from visitors at Fordham and from those 
 who met him in the salons of those days. 
 
 Although Poe s employment on the "Mirror" was of but 
 three months duration, its petty details, and necessarily 
 regular hours were most trying. With all its requirements, 
 however, Poe most faithfully complied. This connection 
 gave Willis a first hand and intimate acquaintance with 
 Poe which he later used in refutation of the memoir Gris- 
 wold published. 
 
 Poe s connection with the "Mirror" ceased in February, 
 1845, at which time there was published, both in the "Mir 
 ror" and the "American Whig Review," Poe s most 
 famous poem, The Raven. This single poem is probably 
 better known to the world than any other in English litera 
 ture. While it is possible,that had it not been for The Raven, 
 Poe s name would have meant no more than that of Willis, 
 Paulding, or others of the early American writers, except 
 that he was an unusually vicious and dissolute man, this 
 poem has been his redemption and finally his vindication. 
 
 We must judge Poe by his works rather than by the 
 hasty and ill-natured conclusions of certain of his con- 
 
46 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 temporaries. He cannot be held responsible for his heredi 
 tary seizures and ought to be judged leniently. He should 
 have been classed with those equally unfortunate because 
 of heredity or habit. Lamb, Shelley, Swinburne, Coleridge 
 and De Quincey, as associates, would have constituted a 
 literary Aidenn which even Poe, solitary that he was, might 
 have welcomed. Surely his life will bear a far fuller investi 
 gation than will certain of those I have mentioned. 
 
 It has been to me a cause of wonder how a single poem or 
 story has not only established a literary reputation, but 
 has transmitted the writer s name to posterity in some 
 definite way. The name of Gray is known to us, not by 
 reason of his heavy and dull poetical essays, but by the 
 "Elegy," which, in a peculiar way, appeals to the public un 
 derstanding and heart. Shelley s name would have at 
 tracted the attention of the literati even without The 
 Skylark or The Cloud to me the most beloved of all 
 poems : few would have had the patience to search for the 
 beauties of his long poems. Coleridge might have ranked as 
 an essayist or monologist, but suppress the Ancient 
 Mariner and his name would have been unknown to the 
 great majority of readers. 
 
 A single line, 
 
 And what is so rare as a day in June? 
 
 would have changed an essayist into a poet, had it not 
 been that the succeeding couplet, 
 
 Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune, 
 And over it softly her warm ear lays," 
 
 together with certain other lines, effectually and completely 
 disproved this assumption. 
 That stanza : 
 
 Westward the course of empire takes its way; 
 
 The four first acts already past, 
 A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; 
 Time s noblest offspring is the last. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 47 
 
 even though it referred to a college Berkeley was attempt 
 ing to establish in Bermuda, has given a substance that is 
 real, and a reputation to a transcendental philosopher ; for 
 we have adopted it as the name of our own Berkeley, than 
 which no greater monument could be erected to the mem 
 ory of any man. Yet Berkeley ill earned it. As a scientist 
 his only contribution was his elaborate study of 4 Tar 
 Water" as a cure for all ills, ranking in scientific value with 
 the "Weapon Salve" of Digby, and the "Metallic Tractors" 
 of Perkins ; nor can we recognize him as a poet, for these 
 lines were his only effusion and, bad as they are in con 
 struction, meter, and prosody, the stanzas preceding it are 
 worse. Nor does he deserve a reputation as a philosopher, 
 for his "Dialogues," and his "Principles of Human Know 
 ledge," have become a part of 
 
 That dust of Systems and of Creeds 
 which clog and cumber the world with worthless theories. 
 
 It was about this time, through their mutual friend, 
 Lowell, that Briggs and Poe met. Briggs thus records his 
 first impression of Poe : 
 
 I like Poe exceedingly well. Mr. Griswold has told me shocking bad 
 stories about him, which his whole demeanor contradicts. ... I have 
 always strangely misunderstood Poe, from thinking him one of the 
 Graham and Godey species, but I find him as different as possible. 
 
 Soon after this Briggs, who had established The Broad 
 way Journal," associated Poe as joint editor. In the begin 
 ning all was harmonious and Briggs again wrote : 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Griswold of Philadelphia told me some damnable 
 lies about him, but a personal acquaintance has induced me to think 
 highly of him. 
 
 That Poe possessed a most pleasing personality when he 
 was normal and responsible for his actions, there is much 
 evidence; but there were times, and these periods were 
 now recurring more frequently, when his mental obsession 
 dominated. 
 
48 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 From this time on Poe s creative work practically 
 ceased ; in its place there appeared a spirit of carping criti 
 cism, and an intolerance of the work of others. 
 
 To this period belongs "The Longfellow War," which 
 reflects Poe s abnormal mental state. While contributing 
 to the "Mirror" Poe passed the following criticism on 
 Longfellow s "Waif": 
 
 Is it infected with a moral taint or is this a mere freak of our 
 fancy? We shall be pleased if it be so; but there does appear in this 
 little volume a very careful avoidance of all American poets who may 
 be supposed to interfere with the claims of Mr. Longfellow. These men 
 Mr. Longfellow can continuously imitate (is that the word?) and never 
 yet incidentally commend. 
 
 Poe a normal Poe could not have insinuated what 
 this passage evidently does imply, viz: that Longfellow 
 was making use of Poe s work as a model for the poems 
 contained in this volume ; for, to Poe s ego, there was no 
 other "American poet." This criticism gave great offense 
 to Longfellow s friends; yet Longfellow did not resent it, 
 and thus dismisses the matter : 
 
 The harshness of his criticisms I have never attributed to anything 
 but the irritation of a sensitive nature, chafed by some indefinite sense 
 of wrong. 
 
 A recent commentator has suggested that, by indirec 
 tion, Longfellow did attempt to answer Poe s personal criti 
 cisms, by putting into the mouth of Hathaway, one of the 
 characters of "Kavanagh," sentiments such as Poe might 
 have entertained ; then, as Churchill, actively controverting 
 them. The known opinions of Poe as to long or didactic 
 poems give no possible reason for such an identification. 
 Who could attribute to Poe a sentiment such as this : 
 
 We want a national epic that shall correspond to the size of the 
 country; that shall be to all other epics what Banvard s Panorama of 
 the Mississippi is to all other paintings, the largest in the world! 
 
 This and many other bombastic suggestions were actively 
 controverted by another character, Churchill, whom this 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 49 
 
 acute commentator believes Longfellow intended to be 
 merely a spokesman of his own ideas. The many sugges 
 tions advanced by Hathaway, and their refutation by 
 Churchill, are trite and stilted, and could not possibly have 
 been intended to represent any known theory which Poe 
 at any time held as to long or didactic poems, or could 
 refer to his often-repeated definition of poetry. 
 
 We who love Longfellow can only regret that he should 
 have indulged in so prosy an argument or, for that matter, 
 that he should have indulged in a "Tale" of any kind. He 
 was not fitted for such work, and an apology is due for 
 resurrecting this long dead story and associating with it 
 the name of Longfellow. 
 
 Poe formerly had declared that he regarded Longfellow 
 as the greatest of our poets ; and, while posterity has not 
 placed him among the first, certainly he ranks high, and 
 deserves the recognition he has received. 
 
 One, "Outis," answered Poe s criticism in a style equally 
 bitter, and the war was on one that delighted Poe, for, 
 partly owing to the morbid state which was developing, he 
 enjoyed the fight. His excited brain took fire, and, what 
 possibly was at first a passing thought, became a deep con 
 viction. Poe seriously attempted to prove that Longfellow 
 was a plagiarist and an imitator. 
 
 I do not love Longfellow the less for his adaptations and 
 his translations, or even his adoption of the hexameter in 
 4 The Children of the Lord s Supper", which Poe adversely 
 criticised. Possibly he has written no single poem that 
 stands out preeminently, and he may not be always orig 
 inal, for he did translate, and make his own, many of the 
 finest selections from other languages. Longfellow had a 
 marvelous facility both in choosing and versifying those 
 subjects which, above all others, delight me. He is always 
 near me, and, whatever my mood, I find in his poetry a 
 pleasure, and a solace that no other gives me. 
 
50 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 This "war" was continued in the "Broadway Journal" : 
 Briggs, while not approving, wrote: 
 
 Poe is a monomaniac on the subject of Plagiarism, and I thought it 
 best to allow him to ride his hobby to death at the outset and be done 
 with it. 
 
 It was not the general charge of plagiarism that makes 
 me believe that the line of sane criticism had been passed, 
 for Poe always posed as an authority in detecting simi 
 larities. That he could have believed, as he appeared to 
 believe, that Longfellow was imitating him, and evi 
 dently the grievance was a personal one, is not consonant 
 with Poe s known literary acumen. 
 
 Another equally strange vagary was a judgment, on a 
 poet and a poem, which is so singularly absurd that it could 
 not have emanated from a rational brain. Neither the poem 
 nor the poet ever would have been resurrected had it not 
 been for Poe s eloquent and sincere eulogium. The poet s 
 name was Home, and the poem was called "Orion." Poe 
 wrote a criticism containing the following appreciation: 
 
 It is our deliberate opinion that, in all that regards the loftiest and 
 holiest attributes of true poetry, Orion has never been excelled. Indeed 
 we feel strongly inclined to say that it has never been equalled. 
 
 Comparing it with Milton s description of hell, Poe says 
 that Milton is : 
 
 Altogether inferior in graphic effect, in originality, in expression, 
 in the true imagination. Orion will be admitted by every man of 
 genius to be one of the noblest, if not the very noblest poetical work of 
 the age. 
 
 Spurred to investigation by so ardent and so laudatory 
 a critique, and possibly abashed by the fact that I never 
 even had heard of, much less read, this poem that out- 
 Miltoned Milton, supposing that nothing more dull 
 had ever been written, I eagerly searched for some trace 
 either of the book or the author, but they seemed to be 
 equally dead. Only Captain Brown s Conchology fur 
 nished me with a keener chase. Finally the book-hunt was 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 51 
 
 successful, and I found the long-sought item: not only 
 found it, but in its original state autographed and in 
 scribed to Douglas Jerrold ; and, as an added indication of 
 the author s capacity and literary acumen, there was 
 printed, above the title page, the announcement " (PRICE 
 ONE FARTHING)". Evidently Home was no profiteer, yet he 
 probably asked all that it was worth. The volume was un 
 cut and apparently unopened ; certainly it remains unread. 
 From the few passages which I scanned, I am certain 
 that in one sense Poe s comparison was just, in spite of his 
 mistaken judgment. It is said that this price of one far 
 thing was placed on it, by Home, in derision of the slight 
 value in which epic poetry was held, and the low public 
 estimate of its worth. The price, not the value, has greatly 
 increased. 
 
 Possibly the particular passage selected by Poe that 
 rivaled the God-like fight between the Devils and Angels 
 is this : 
 
 Them, quickly joined 
 
 Their head in this destruction, and ere night, 
 Huge forms, ferocious, mighty in the dawn, 
 When hoar rime glistened on each hairy shape, 
 Nought fearing, swift, brimfull of raging life, 
 Lay stiffening in black pools of jellied gore. 
 Nor with the day ceased their tremendous task, 
 But all night long Orion led the way 
 Through moonless passes to most secret lairs, 
 Where in their deep abodes fierce monsters crouched, 
 Dragons and sea-beasts and compounded forms, 
 And in the pitchy blackness madly huddling, 
 Midst deafening yells and hisses they were slain. 
 
 This is not by any means the worst. I select at random : 
 
 Never renew thy vision, passionate lover 
 
 Heart-rifled maiden nor the hope pursue, 
 
 If once it vanish from thee; but believe, 
 
 Tis better thou should st rue this sweet loss ever 
 
 Than newly grieve, or risk another chill 
 
52 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 On false love s icy river, which betraying 
 With mirrors bright to see, and voids beneath, 
 Its broken spell should find no faith in thee. 
 
 Evidently Home also was cursed with the germ of 
 genius, and at one time contemplated ending his life not 
 fearfully, but in a loving embrace which out-Ellas Ella 
 Wheeler s celebrated couplet : 
 
 Close, close in my arms I would fold you, 
 And drop with you down to sweet Hell ! 
 
 but does not make him a rival to Milton. 
 
 Why not at once, with thee enfolded, whirl 
 
 Deep down the abyss of ecstasy, to melt 
 
 All brain and being where no reason is, 
 
 Or else the source of all reason? But the roaring 
 
 Of time s great wings which ne er had driven me, 
 
 By dread events nor broken-down old age, 
 
 Back on myself, the close experience 
 
 Of false mankind, with whispers close and dry 
 
 As snake-songs midst stone hollows, thus has taught me 
 
 The giant hunter, laughed at by the world 
 
 Not to forget the substance in the dream 
 
 Which breeds it. Both must merge in one. 
 
 Now shall I overcome thee, body and soul, 
 
 And like a new made element brood o er thee 
 
 With all devouring murmurs! Come, thou storm, 
 
 And clasp the rigid pine this mortal frame 
 
 Wrap with thy whirlwinds, rend and wrestle down, 
 
 And let my being solve its destiny, 
 
 Defying, seeking, thine extremest power, 
 
 Famished and thirsty for the absorbing doom 
 
 Of that immortal death which leads to life, 
 
 And gives a glimpse of heaven s parental scheme. 
 
 A normal Poe was too capable a critic to have passed 
 this judgment. He had no reason for giving this favorable 
 opinion had he not believed that it was deserved. His judg 
 ment must have been perverted. 
 
 The relationship, begun so happily, between Poe and 
 Briggs lasted only a few months. There were disagreements 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 53 
 
 between Briggs and his publishers, probably owing to the 
 circumstance that the "Journal" did not pay expenses, 
 and Poe assumed the editorship. 
 According to Briggs : 
 
 Poe got on a drunken spree, and conceived the idea that I had not 
 treated him well, for which he had no other grounds than my having 
 loaned him money and persuaded Brisco to carry on The Journal 
 himself. 
 
 While this may be true, as between Briggs and Poe, 
 Brisco preferred Poe. After a week s suspension, "The 
 Broadway Journal" reappeared with Poe as sole editor. It 
 was thus that Poe s life-time ambition was realized, and 
 the goal was reached for which so long he had striven. 
 Unfortunately it came too late. 
 
 Although Poe tried hard for his ideal, and attempted to 
 fashion The Broadway Journal" into the arbiter of mat 
 ters literary, and make it the critical authority of which 
 he was at one time capable, his mental deterioration had 
 progressed to such an extent that he was no longer able 
 either to produce original work or to judge fairly of the 
 work of others. "The Journal, * under his management, re 
 produced many of his stories and a few of his poems, but 
 his reviews apparently had lost much of their critical 
 value ; as in the case of the Longfellow war, which he con 
 tinued as long as he could find anyone to reply to him, 
 they showed bias. 
 
 Apparently the capacity for production was lost not 
 because Poe did not, by request, compose a poem worthy 
 of his Boston audience for things inspired, as most of his 
 poems were, cannot be made to order but because, in 
 the following four years, there was little worthy of his great 
 genius that can be justly said to rank with his early 
 work. One poem, The Bells, was slowly elaborated, and 
 two others, Ulalume and Annabel Lee, each in its way 
 "weird" and without "reason," were published; but when 
 
54 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 they were written, or how long they had remained unpub 
 lished, we do not know. 
 
 It is apparent that Poe s poetic faculty remained, and 
 his mastery of words and rhythm lasted beyond his logical 
 faculties. In writing to Duyckinck in November, 1845, he 
 said: 
 
 For the first time during two months, I find myself entirely my 
 self dreadfully sick and depressed but still myself. I seem to have 
 wakened from some horrible dream, in which all was confusion and 
 suffering. I really believe I have been mad but indeed I had abun 
 dant reason to be so. 
 
 It was during this time that Poe had the memorable in 
 terview with Lowell, and, in spite of the kindly feeling their 
 long correspondence had engendered, each seems to have 
 been disappointed in the other. Lowell later wrote : 
 
 I saw Poe only once ... I suppose there are many descriptions 
 of him. He was small : his complexion of what I should call a clammy 
 white; fine, dark eyes, and fine head, very broad at the temples, but 
 receding sharply from the brows backwards. His manner was rather 
 formal, even pompous, but I have the impression that he was rather 
 soggy with drink not tipsy but as if he had been holding his head 
 under a pump to cool it. 
 
 This interview is further discussed in a letter Mrs. 
 Clemm wrote Lowell after Poe s death : 
 
 How much I wish I could see you! how quickly I could remove 
 your wrong impression of my darling Eddie! The day you saw him in 
 New York, he was not himself. Do you not remember that I never left 
 the room? Oh! if you only knew his bitter sorrow when I told him how 
 unlike himself he was while you were here, you would have pitied him ! 
 He always felt particularly anxious to possess your approbation. If he 
 spoke unkindly of you (as you say he did) rely on it, he did not know 
 what he was talking. 
 
 And Poe s own impression of Lowell was not by any 
 means flattering: 
 
 He called to see me the other day, but I was very much disap 
 pointed in his appearance as an intellectual man. He was not half the 
 noble looking man that I expected to see." 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 55 
 
 It is probable that Poe s facial appearance, under the 
 influence of alcohol, had changed, and that he was not, at 
 that time, possessed of the expression of nobility which 
 had impressed many who attempted descriptions of him. 
 
 Willis thus pictures him : 
 
 He becomes a desk, his beautiful head showing like a statuary 
 embodiment of Discrimination; his accent drops like a knife through 
 water, and his style is so much purer and clearer than the pulpit com 
 monly gets or requires that the effect of what he says, besides other 
 things, pampers the ears. 
 
 While Willis mixes his metaphors and his similes are 
 crude, what he means to express is a remarkable tribute 
 for one writer to pay another, especially when that other 
 is a close acquaintance. 
 
 Another familiar thus describes him : 
 
 The exquisitely chiseled features, the habitual but intellectual 
 melancholy, the clear pallor of the complexion, and the calm eye like 
 the molten stillness of a slumbering volcano, composed a countenance 
 of which this portrait is but the skeleton. 
 
 There must have been some ground for these eulogies. 
 
 In October, 1845, Poe assumed full charge of "The 
 Broadway Journal", and it was in November of the 
 same year that he wrote the letter to Duyckinck just 
 quoted. 
 
 In January, 1846, the following notice announced the 
 close of his last effort. It was the end. 
 
 VALEDICTORY 
 
 Unexpected engagements demanding my whole attention, and the 
 objects being fulfilled, so far as regards myself personally, for which 
 The Broadway Journal was established, I now, as its editor, bid 
 farewell as cordially to foes as to friends. 
 
 EDGAR A. POE. 
 
 Only those who, in their old age, have experienced 
 failure, knowing that their last opportunity as well as 
 
56 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 their capacity for work has passed, can comprehend to the 
 full the heartbreak in these stereotyped phrases. 
 
 This was Poe s last attempt to do serious work worthy 
 of his genius. For the next four years, till death mercifully 
 freed him, his life was one unbroken series of disasters. It 
 was at this time that his wife s sickness gave evidence of 
 her fast approaching end, and penury pinched him so hard 
 that even his poor mother was compelled to ask for assist 
 ance. That there was abject poverty want beyond human 
 endurance is evident from the reports of those who visited 
 Fordham at that time. 
 
 The cottage had an air of gentility and neatness that must have 
 been lent to it by the presence of its inmates. So neat, so poor, so un 
 furnished, and yet so charming a dwelling I never saw. The floor of the 
 kitchen was white as wheaten flour. A table, a chair, and a little stove 
 that it contained seemed to furnish it completely. 
 
 Another visitor, describing this home, thus pictures 
 Mrs. Poe: 
 
 I saw her in her bed-chamber. Everything here was so neat, so 
 purely clean, so scant and poverty stricken, that I saw the poor suf 
 ferer with such a heartache as the poor feel for the poor. There was no 
 clothing on the bed, which was of straw, but a snow-white counterpane 
 and sheets. The weather was cold and the sick lady had the dreadful 
 chills that accompany the hectic fever of consumption. She lay on her 
 straw bed, wrapped in her husband s great-coat, with a large tortoise 
 cat in her bosom. The wonderful cat seemed conscious of her great use 
 fulness. The coat and the cat were the only means of warmth of the 
 poor sufferer, except as the husband held her hands, and her mother 
 her feet. 
 
 Later, friends made a public appeal and money was 
 raised to tide over the threatened starvation. Only a 
 knowledge of Poe s sensitive nature and high-strung soul, 
 could make us know the humiliation he must have suffered 
 because of this public appeal ; yet it was to this Griswold 
 sneeringly alluded when, quoting a letter Poe wrote Willis 
 in which he protested against "the concerns of my family 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 57 
 
 being thus pitilessly thrust before the public," he says in 
 his memoir : 
 
 This was written for effect. He had not been ill a great while nor 
 dangerously at all. 
 
 Fortunately Poe was for many weeks too sick to protest, 
 and his friends were allowed to care for him. 
 
 It is certain that there were a few occasions when Poe 
 gave striking evidence of his disturbed mental state, which 
 was plain to all his intimate associates. His friend Willis 
 says: 
 
 He left us The Mirror by his own wish alone, and it was one 
 day soon after, that we saw him in the condition to which we refer. He 
 came into our office with his usual gait and manner, and, with no 
 symptom of ordinary intoxication, he talked like a man insane. Per 
 fectly self-possessed in all other respects, his brain and tongue were 
 evidently beyond his control. We learned afterward that the least 
 stimulus a single glass of wine would produce this effect on Mr. Poe 
 and that rarely as these instances of easy aberration of caution and 
 mind occurred, he was liable to them, and while under their influence, 
 voluble and personally self-possessed but neither sane nor responsible. 
 
 This change in Poe, the so-called double personality, is 
 variously explained, for it does not necessarily have alco 
 hol as a basis. In some unknown way, the subconscious 
 self is involved and, by reason of a morbid change, dom 
 inates. Beyond a certain point it becomes a pathological 
 change, and one suffering from it cannot be held respon 
 sible. The nervous diathesis is usually present as the basis 
 of this mental complex. 
 
 Mrs. Shew, his friend and his nurse, kept a diary from 
 which Ingram made the following extract: 
 
 I made my diagnosis, and went to the great Dr. Mott with it; I 
 told him that at best, when Mr. Poe was well, his pulse beat only ten 
 regular beats, after which it suspended, or intermitted (as doctors say). 
 I decided that in his best health he had lesion of one side of the brain, 
 and as he could not bear stimulants or tonics, without producing in 
 sanity, I did not feel much hope that he could be raised up from brain 
 fever brought on by extreme suffering of mind and body. 
 
58 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Mrs. Shew again states that on Poe s failing to return 
 home, they found that he had taken a room and slept for 
 twelve hours; and that, on awakening, he had little or no 
 memory of what had taken place during this period- 
 Again she deduces the medical opinion : 
 
 This showed that his mind was injured, nearly gone out for the 
 want of food and from disappointment. He had not been drinking, and 
 had been only a few hours from home. Evidently his vitality was low 
 and he was nearly insane. While he slept we studied his pulse, and 
 found the same symptoms we had noticed before. I called in Dr. 
 Francis (the old man was odd but very skillful) who was one of our 
 neighbors. His words were, He has heart disease and will die early in 
 life. 
 
 In spite of the fact that Mrs. Shew is said to have been 
 "the only daughter of a doctor" and that she at one time 
 had "studied medicine", either of which incidents would 
 have justified her in expressing an opinion, and which com 
 bined, do not lessen its relevancy, I strongly question its 
 scientific value ; and even that of Dr. Francis, and Dr. Mott, 
 for, little as we now know, still less dependence may be 
 placed on the pathological teachings of those days, when 
 Dr. Rush s classical work, "Medical Inquiries andObserva- 
 tions on the Diseases of the Mind", remained their text 
 book and their neurological guide. Since those days we 
 have unlearned very much. 
 
 However, there can be no question of serious mental 
 aberration and that, at times, Poe was not responsible 
 either for his actions or his statements. It is certain that at 
 least a few of Griswold s charges as to acts committed at 
 that time, had a real foundation. They were of so serious a 
 nature, and were so unlike the normal Poe, that they must 
 be regarded as the offspring of a disordered brain. It was 
 at this time that the association of the names of many 
 women with that of Poe showed the abnormal trend of his 
 mind. 
 
 These complications were of such a nature, and so unlike 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 59 
 
 Poe while in his ordinary health, that he must be held 
 irresponsible. Griswold added blackmail and personal dis 
 honor to his other charges, but neither of these can be 
 proved. Griswold stated that Poe had received letters 
 from a woman containing sentimental passages, and that 
 he had demanded money for their return. It is not neces 
 sary to go into details, further than to say that Poe ap 
 parently received such letters and, when this woman unduly 
 interfered and publicly criticised the good name of another, 
 he bitterly resented it and did refer to letters that he had 
 received which might throw some light on this woman s 
 reason for attempting to besmirch another. 
 
 Poe not only denied that he ever demanded money, but 
 declared that he had long ago returned all the letters he 
 had not destroyed. When this story, among others, was 
 published by Thomas Dunn English, Poe brought suit and 
 obtained financial damages ; yet, after Poe s death, Gris 
 wold publicly circulated the same stories in the memoir 
 which accompanied Poe s collected writings. 
 
 It is probable that Poe, under provocation, did say 
 things he later regretted, and that he committed other in 
 discretions which, in his better moments, he thus exten 
 uates: 
 
 The errors and frailties which I deplore, it cannot at least be said 
 that I was the coward to deny. Never even have I made the attempt 
 at extenuating a weakness which is (or, by the blessing of God, was) 
 a calamity, although those who did not know me intimately had little 
 reason to regard it other than as a crime. For indeed, had the pride of 
 my family permitted, there was much very much there was every 
 thing in extenuation. Perhaps even, there was a time at which it might 
 not have been wrong to me to hint what by the testimony of Dr. 
 Francis and other medical men I might have demonstrated, had the 
 public indeed cared for the demonstration that irregularities so pro 
 foundly lamented were the effect of a terrible evil rather than the 
 cause. And now let me thank God that in redemption from the physi 
 cal ill, I have forever got rid of the moral. 
 
60 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Among other explanations advanced as possibly ac 
 counting for some of Poe s irresponsible acts, epilepsy has 
 been alleged. The possibility of its existence could not 
 have been suggested by anyone even remotely familiar 
 with the manifestations of this disease. While it may ex 
 hibit itself in protean forms, no type known could have 
 accounted for the peculiarities of Poe s sickness. 
 
 The characteristic symptom, and the one symptom that 
 differentiates epilepsy from hysteria and all other nervous 
 seizures, is complete loss of consciousness during the at 
 tack, and occasionally for considerable periods of time 
 following. 
 
 We are ignorant of the causation of epilepsy, as we are of 
 many other of the functional neuroses including insanity 
 but we do definitely know its symptomatology, in spite 
 of the many forms it may assume. As a rule, the patient 
 falls as if he had received a blow directly upon the brain ; 
 and this is what does happen, for the blood rushes in and 
 congests the meninges, engorging the brain and producing 
 profound unconsciousness. What causes this nervous ex 
 plosion we do not know. It may be compared to the dis 
 charge of electricity from a leyden jar. This at best is a 
 gross comparison, for we know absolutely nothing of the 
 actual manifestation of nervous energy ; nor do we know 
 how the external afferent irritations, as received by the 
 special senses, arechanged into efferent and intelligent brain 
 conceptions and manifestations, nor how our brain cells 
 function in flashing back their responsive conceptions. 
 Did we know, there would not be so many theories. We do 
 know that there is some subtle cell change, accompanied 
 by some unknown process of stimulation of these special 
 centers of the five special senses which signal the coming 
 storm. 
 
 In addition to the gross manifestations described, the 
 seizures, although of the same character, may be so slight 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 61 
 
 that they can be detected only by one who is a close ob 
 server ; yet, that they belong to the same group and have 
 the same underlying cause, is established by an abundance 
 of incontrovertible evidence. Epilepsy may manifest itself 
 in many forms. Occasionally a patient so afflicted will 
 suddenly perform some unexpected or objectionable act, 
 such as disrobing in a public place; or, to use the classical 
 illustration frequently cited of the patient that rose from 
 the dinner table and carefully nailed the beefsteak, which 
 had been placed before him, to the wall of the dining room. 
 These persons are unconscious of their acts and have no 
 memory of anything that occurred during the seizure. 
 This last is called "larval" epilepsy, and is the form which 
 was said to have afflicted Poe. It is impossible to qualify 
 him for this or any other manifestation of epilepsy. 
 
 There is, however, a characteristic seizure which often 
 complicates chronic alcoholism, and which frequently so 
 closely resembles the first form described, technically 
 called grand mal, that only the clinical history of the indi 
 vidual case can differentiate it from functional epilepsy. In 
 chronic alcoholism this seizure is due to an organic cerebral 
 disintegration and is not held to be a true epilepsy. As far 
 as I can determine in the morbid life history of Poe, no such 
 attack has been described, nor is there any history that 
 would point to any form of epilepsy. It is true that the 
 state of amnesia, or blank-memory periods, characterizes 
 both epilepsy and certain forms of chronic alcoholism, but 
 no intelligent physician could possibly confound the two 
 causations. Fairfield, who had read a thesis of Dr. Leblois, 
 dealing with the petit mal and other larval forms of 
 epilepsy, imagined he saw in this description a method of 
 accounting for Poe s many lapses, but in this he was as 
 mistaken as was Lauvriere in his attempts, as a layman, to 
 deal with medical subjects and scientific dicta that are en 
 tirely beyond the comprehension of anyone who has not 
 
62 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 specialized on so elusive and complicated a subject, where 
 so many theories are advanced as facts, and where the in 
 ability to differentiate has resulted in absurd mistakes.* 
 
 Only one without medical knowledge, or special ac 
 quaintance with these different disease syndromes, and 
 who for that reason was mentally untrammelled and was 
 unrestrained by disquieting and contradictory medical 
 facts, relying entirely on the imagination, would have 
 evolved such a theory. 
 
 The question as to the part opium played in producing 
 these temporary derangements frequently has been asked 
 and may only be answered in general terms. There is no 
 doubt that Poe occasionally indulged in opium. It is equally 
 certain that this use never became a "habit," or that it 
 had to be continued in frequent and always increasing 
 doses, such as an addict requires. It is a part of the his 
 tory of dipsomania that when the unutterable depression, 
 which is one of its phases, does supervene, opium will fre 
 quently be selected in preference to alcohol. This is only a 
 temporary remedy and alcohol becomes the final solace. 
 
 I cannot recall a patient that was a typical dipsomaniac, 
 who became an opium addict, although he might use opium 
 between attacks, or as a means of warding off a threatened 
 seizure. A cousin who visited the Poes, and who became a 
 temporary inmate of their home, describes this period of 
 Poe s morbid life. She is quoted : 
 
 He then frequently refused wine in her presence, and adds that at 
 that time, his fits of intoxication were due to the excessive use of 
 opium. 
 
 There is neither direct nor presumptive evidence that 
 Poe was addicted to opium, though he did occasionally use 
 this drug. 
 
 *Poe: A Bibliographic Study. Page 364. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 63 
 
 Dr. English, at one time Poe s friend and boon com 
 panion, but later his avowed enemy, testified : 
 
 Had Poe the opium habit when I knew him, I should both as a 
 physician and a man of observation, have discovered it during his 
 frequent visits to my rooms, my visits to his house, and our meetings 
 elsewhere. 
 
 Dr. Carter, who was intimate with Poe, and at times 
 treated him during his last Richmond visit, wrote : 
 
 He never used opium in any instance that I am aware of. Had it 
 been habitual it would have been detected, as the poet numbered 
 among his associates a half dozen physicians. I never heard it hinted 
 at, and if he had contracted the habit it would have accompanied him 
 to Richmond. 
 
 Poe, in a letter he wrote to "Annie," gives a picture of 
 the mental torture from which he suffered, and his method 
 of obtaining relief : 
 
 You saw, you felt the agony of grief with which I bade you farewell 
 you remember my expression of gloom of a dreadful horrible fore 
 boding of 111. Indeed indeed it seemed to me that Death approached 
 me even then, and that I was involved in the shadow that went before 
 him. ... I remember nothing distinctly from that moment till I 
 found myself in Providence. I went to bed and wept through a long, 
 long, hideous night of despair. When the day broke I arose and en 
 deavored to quiet my mind by a rapid walk in the cold keen air, but 
 all would not do the Demon tortured me still. Finally I procured two 
 ounces of laudanum, and without returning to my hotel, took the cars 
 back to Boston. ... I implored you to come then, mentioning the 
 place where I should be found in Boston. Having written this letter I 
 swallowed about half the laudanum, and hurried to the post office, in 
 tending not to take the rest till I saw you for I did not doubt for one 
 moment that Annie would keep her sacred promise. But I had not cal 
 culated on the strength of the laudanum for before I reached the post- 
 office my reason was entirely gone and the letter was never put in. Let 
 me pass over my darling sister the awful horrors which succeeded. 
 A friend was at hand who aided me (if it can be called saving) saved 
 me, but it is only the last three days that I have been able to 
 remember what occurred in that dreary interval. It appears that after 
 the laudanum was rejected from the stomach I became calm, to the 
 
64 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 casual observer, sane so that I was suffered to go back to Provi 
 dence. ... I am so ill so terribly, hopelessly ill in body and in 
 mind, that I feel I cannot live. . . . Until I subdue this fearful 
 agitation, which if continued will destroy my life or drive me hope 
 lessly mad. 
 
 Farewell here and hereafter. 
 
 This letter was written on November 16, 1848, a year 
 before Poe s death. It is the best evidence of the men 
 tal torture that overcame Poe during these frequently- 
 repeated seizures, and it also shows that, when so afflicted, 
 he would resort to any drug he believed would give him re 
 lief. In this particular case, it is to be presumed that Poe, 
 believing that he could no longer bear the mental pain from 
 which he suffered, selected opium with lethal intent : that 
 he was not accustomed to its use, and was not familiar 
 with its effect is made evident by its action on him. 
 
 Had he been a confirmed user of this drug, such as 
 DeQuincey described himself to be when he "sipped a glass 
 of laudanum negus warm and without sugar," it would not 
 have affected him so seriously: yet any statement made 
 either by DeQuincey, or any other drug addict, must be 
 taken with many "grains" of allowance. DeQuincey, for ex 
 ample, in his "Confessions," states that he ordinarily took 
 8000 minims of laudanum daily an amount which he esti 
 mates to contain 320 grains of opium and prides himself 
 on his ability to decrease to 1000. 
 
 An ordinary sized tumbler holds about 8 ounces : and, as 
 druggists estimate 450 minims to the ounce of laudanum, 
 nearly 18 ounces would have constituted this daily con 
 sumption. 
 
 According to the present English pharmacopoeia the 
 amount of opium that is contained in laudanum is calcu 
 lated on a 10% basis: in an ounce, there are 45 grains, 
 or in 8000 minims, 800 grains. It is entirely possible that 
 at the time DeQuincey was in the habit of using this drug, 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 65 
 
 the opium content might have been somewhat smaller; 
 but, as far as I can ascertain, this was never so low as 4%. 
 The fact not realized by DeQuincey, certainly one that has 
 not been mentioned by him or others, was the enormous 
 dosage of alcohol daily consumed. Possibly he did not 
 know the constituents of laudanum and, for this reason, 
 could not have estimated the result. To manufacture 
 laudanum it is necessary that the opium be infused in an 
 alcoholic mixture, known as proof spirits. This varies in 
 strength, from 50% to 65%, or 70%. Necessarily, with the 
 enormous dosage of opium, 1 8 ounces of proof spirits were 
 consumed. 
 
 While neither of these amounts is impossible, it is ex 
 tremely improbable that any man, especially with De 
 Quincey s known feeble physique, could have long endured 
 this enormous dosage of alcohol and opium; 
 
 Many other statements made by DeQuincey as to the 
 effect opium had on him, must be taken with equal distrust. 
 His "visions," instead of having had their origin in the 
 use of opium, were the result of an overworked imagination. 
 They could not have been a part of the drug-life of such 
 a patient. A careful reading of his autobiography shows 
 that he had visions long preceding his use of opium. 
 
 Possibly DeQuincey did not intend that all of his state 
 ments should be taken literally. He had many visionary 
 dream-children and he might have magnified his state 
 ments as to dosage, as is frequently the case with addicts. 
 He was given visions vouchsafed to no other mortal. 
 
 Poe occasionally used opium for the relief of mental 
 pain. He was not an addict, and he did not use opium to 
 induce visions. 
 
 When the opium habit becomes established, its usage is 
 necessarily continuous ; and the dosage in all cases is slowly 
 increased, though the patient, recognizing the danger, 
 makes determined and intelligent attempts to discontinue. 
 
66 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Even with medical aid, recovery is difficult. Patients usually 
 resort to this drug to relieve some morbid condition or 
 affliction. DeQuincey to the contrary, I have never known a 
 patient to use opium habitually for the purpose of produc 
 ing hallucinatory visions, or clearer and keener mental con 
 cepts, or more lucid thought. It is usually used for the 
 purpose of inducing what, in other and normal individuals, 
 is a sense of well-being. It is not possible that any of Poe s 
 work, whether prose or poetry, was the product of either 
 opium or alcohol ; nor could he have written his master 
 pieces while under the influence of drugs. No man can per 
 form as well under an intoxicant as when the brain is clear. 
 This conclusion is the result of elaborate and well-attested 
 experiments, conducted on men following all vocations in 
 life without varying the well established law that while 
 under alcohol they may do things more boldly and more 
 recklessly, they cannot do them so intelligently or accu 
 rately, or even so rapidly as when they are free from 
 stimulants. 
 
 To say that many brilliant men have indulged to excess 
 and in spite of this have accomplished wonderful things, is 
 simply to confuse the morbid ills, which frequently accom 
 pany the neurosis of hereditary capacity, with that which 
 constitutes their excellence. The vision of Kubla Khan 
 may have come in sleep as Coleridge describes, but this 
 does not mean that the vision was the result of an opium 
 dream. Very curious things occur in the dream state, and 
 the result of the brain s unconscious cerebration is one of 
 the most interesting of psychological problems. 
 
 Occasionally it happens that one, seduced by the antici 
 pated pleasure he will derive from the use of opium, or 
 urged by curiosity to explore and to experience the effect 
 of this forbidden drug, or forced into its use because of 
 some neurosis, will dare its dangers. At first the experi 
 ence is pleasurable, whatever the ultimate pain and 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 67 
 
 regret. Because of this our poets still sing the pleasures of 
 opium : 
 
 I am engulfed, and drown deliciously. 
 Soft music like a perfume, and sweet light, 
 Golden with audible odours exquisite, 
 Swathe me with cerements for eternity. 
 Time is no more. I pause and yet I flee. 
 A million ages wrap me round with night. 
 I drain a million ages of delight. 
 I hold the future in my memory. 
 
 Also I have this garret which I rent, 
 This bed of straw, and this that was a chair, 
 This worn-out body, like a tattered tent, 
 This crust, of which the rats have eaten part, 
 This pipe of opium ; rage, remorse, despair ; 
 This soul at pawn and this delirious heart. 
 
 Poe s power of analysis and ability to decipher the most 
 difficult cryptograms, although casually mentioned as a 
 curious mental recreation, have never received the full con 
 sideration that the possession of such a faculty deserves. 
 
 There is a class of defectives medically called "Idiot 
 Savant," who, although they may show evidence of weak- 
 mindedness in certain directions, in others exhibit a mar 
 velous development of brain capacity. Blind Tom, the 
 musician, who could at will recall and play any musical 
 selection he had heard, in spite of the fact that he was 
 mentally so feeble that he could not receive a musical 
 education, is an excellent example of this mental disorder. 
 Occasionally there are children, known as lightning calcu 
 lators, who can solve the most complicated sums in addi 
 tion, subtraction, root extraction, or other arithmetical 
 examples, yet who in other directions show mental feeble 
 ness. It is an accompaniment of either precocity or sub- 
 normality. An interesting illustration occurred some years 
 ago when a boy of twelve was admitted to one of our 
 great universities as a mental phenomenon. It was an- 
 
68 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 nounced that this marked intellectual superiority was the 
 result of judicious parental effort, and that any child, men 
 tally normal, could be equally rapidly developed provided 
 wise and efficient methods were adopted in early mental 
 training. Apparently no one recognized this as a beginning 
 intellectual abnormality which was probably an early 
 symptom of Dementia Praecox. 
 
 Only very occasionally is this particular faculty re 
 tained, and, as the brain is developed and age opens up 
 new fields for its occupation, the power is gradually lost. 
 At least, such a development is a fortunate termination. 
 Very rarely do they flower and fruit. Macauley, Pope, and 
 a few other eminent men possessed this faculty, and re 
 tained it without developing other manifestations of 
 psychoneuroses. To this same category belong the child 
 poets if rhythm and meter constitute poetry apart from 
 substance as well as other manifestations of abnormal 
 mental development. These aptitudes, as a rule, affect the 
 memory, and are exhibited by a possession of the higher 
 intellectual powers, especially of artistic capacity rather 
 than of the logical faculties. For this reason, I do not be 
 lieve that the precocious inheritance of Poe was altogether 
 responsible for this unusual mental gift ; nor can I compre 
 hend in what way or by what means Poe did accomplish 
 what to him was a very simple solution, but which, to the 
 ordinary mind, is impossible of accomplishment. It is dif 
 ficult for the race horse to explain to the dray horse in just 
 what way he does excel, or why he can so greatly outdis 
 tance the other. We also are dumb when we attempt to 
 explain such "gifts." 
 
 It is possible that this logical faculty, which Poe did 
 possess to such an unusual extent, was more or less con 
 nected with his marked ability to select, and so place his 
 words as to embody an idea and picture an image after the 
 method of the untaught artist, who occasionally may ac- 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 69 
 
 complish what no school can teach. Yet no man dare 
 assert as a fact what "the highest mounted mind" has been 
 unable to grasp, and we can only suggest some hopeful sol 
 ution of this Oedipean riddle of abnormal as well as of 
 normal psychology. 
 
 Some of Poe s writings could not have been evolved 
 except by the use of a reasoning brain at its highest point 
 of efficiency. Had it not been clear, it could no more have 
 discerned the images it did reflect than could a distorted 
 mirror accurately reproduce the image of one looking into 
 it. I refer especially to Poe s tales of Ratiocination and a 
 certain few of his poems, among which The Raven must 
 be mentioned ; although it may not have been written by 
 that process of deduction and calculation, and in the man 
 ner in which Poe claimed that he conceived and built it 
 up. And possibly it was composed as he described. On the 
 other hand, such a poem as Ulalume might have been for 
 mulated in a brain which was somewhat diseased, but whose 
 capacity for rhythm and euphony remained unimpaired. 
 
 It is not possible that a brain disordered by alcohol could 
 have been attuned to such harmony. Like an inspired song, 
 it may burst forth, unpremeditated and fully matured, but 
 such inspiration is not the result of alcohol. 
 
 We know the genesis of one of these poems. We have a 
 version of The Bells while it was still in embryo. In its be 
 ginning, it was but dimly conceived, and it was painfully 
 gestated and reached its present state of perfection only 
 by painstaking elaboration. While it is true that Poe had 
 the sense of rhythm, and the ability so to arrange euphon 
 ious words and phrases as to produce the tintinabulation 
 of The Bells, this poem did not come forth full grown and 
 perfect at birth, as was the case with The Raven. 
 
 Probably many others of Poe s poems required equal 
 nurture and painstaking gestation. In this diseased condi 
 tion, his brain was not so resilient, nor did it respond to the 
 
70 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 demands made on it so readily; yet his sense of euphony 
 remained with him to the end. 
 
 Poe was now rapidly approaching the "old age" to 
 which he had jokingly alluded in his preface to Tamerlane. 
 He was thirty-five ; yet, because of the degeneration in the 
 brain cells and the congested and thickened meninges, as 
 well as by reason of the law of early decay which always 
 accompanies precocity, production, such as had charac 
 terized his early manhood, was no longer possible. 
 
 While The Raven had been published early in this period 
 of mental decadence, and still later there had appeared 
 Ulalume, The Bells, and Annabel Lee, Poe s real capacity for 
 discriminating and sustained work was passing. To a cer 
 tain extent "Graham s," and noticeably the "Broadway 
 Journal", were padded with twice and thrice told tales, not 
 because Poe did not wish to furnish fresh material, but be 
 cause he could not. From this time, his work showed his 
 mental abnormalities. I refer especially to his discussion of 
 the cosmogony of the universe, which he dedicated to 
 Alexander Von Humboldt, and which he called "Eureka," 
 in the belief that he had found the solution and had 
 solved the riddle of the universe. 
 
 Poe s neurosis has been so exploited, and so marvelous 
 and many sided was his genius, that it has been a difficult 
 matter for his critical biographers to classify him. 
 
 Was he the Jekyll of Gill or the Hyde of Griswold? 
 
 Biography is as much a matter of skillful delineation as 
 is the profession of an artist, and it can be successfully 
 pursued only by one who is an impressionist not by one 
 who copies too closely from nature. If it be necessary to 
 make a photographic reproduction, this delineation must 
 be made by one who is a master of that art. The result 
 ing portrait will never satisfy unless its subject has been 
 fully retouched and the blemishes, which are a part of every 
 human countenance, have been removed. The aging wrinkle 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 71 
 
 that creases the forehead, the converging "crow s feet" 
 which accusingly point to the arcus senilis, the wart that 
 is slowly displacing the beauty-giving mole, even the 
 statuesque pose we assume, and our attempt to look pleas 
 ant when the iron tongs grip our cranium all these, as a 
 rule, are painstakingly removed ; or should the artist be no 
 artist, are so modified that one may lose his individuality. 
 Occasionally the photographer is compelled to take a side 
 view because of some hideous deformity. 
 
 Should the photographer whom we have trusted to 
 make our likeness be so careless as to finish and to mount 
 the photograph as it comes from the camera, without re 
 touching or in any way attempting to disguise time s 
 ravages or nature s handicap, we have a right to criticise 
 the careless workmanship that was content to represent us 
 with the disfiguring yet characteristic facial blemishes. 
 
 The biographer occasionally minimizes faults, explains 
 away defects, and, in time, may so apotheosize his sub 
 ject, that we, who once knew him and loved him in spite 
 of his frailties, who knew by experience his shortcomings 
 and the human side of him, may be pardoned if we do not 
 at first glance recognize the unfamiliar pose and the re 
 touched presentment. For this reason no biographer can 
 satisfy who does not attempt, while giving the essential 
 facts, to so Boswellize his subject as to transform him into 
 his own mental image, freed from petty faults and minor 
 weaknesses. 
 
 Friendly biographers have committed serious errors. I 
 do not care for Froude who enumerated the dyspeptic 
 foibles of Carlyle, nor do I uphold Trelawney who exhib 
 ited the antics of the half-mad Byron, nor do I love Gris- 
 wold who so unkindly defamed the man whom he should 
 have honored and who, for this reason, shall be known as 
 the "unfaithful servant who abused his trust." 
 
 I want no literary anatomist to dissect my inmost 
 
72 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 thoughts, nor to explore my secret places hidden even 
 from myself nor to speculate on their untried possibilities, 
 nor to exhibit my organs as specimens of dextrous carv 
 ing. If Nirvana be denied the spirit that animates me, and 
 if my remains be refused the right of cremation, and if they 
 must still cumber the earth and be pointed to as anatom 
 ical specimens for exhibition, at least let my body be filled 
 with spices and my skin be softened with the balm of 
 Gilead, and let me be wrapped in spikenard and myrrh as 
 the kindly Egyptians embalmed those whom they loved. 
 
 Should the biographer deliberately pose his subject 
 from the scar side, exhibiting all deformities, and magni 
 fying blemishes, at the same time touching out the features 
 that do give individuality and the right to posterity s 
 remembrance, he may no longer claim authority to repre 
 sent, or to be associated with one he has so foully wronged, 
 nor to be quoted when such a life is discussed. 
 
 Such an one was the Reverend Rufus Wilmot Griswold, 
 who, by artifice and fraud, has so firmly and indissolubly 
 connected his name with that of Poe, and in the preface to 
 Poe s own works has made statements of such a character, 
 so distorted when they bear the slightest semblance of 
 truth, when not absolutely false so perverted as to be un 
 recognizable, that I cannot pass him over without full 
 discussion. 
 
 Griswold was a man of Poe s own age, who had no he 
 reditary weaknesses, no compulsions, no obsessions no 
 genius. He was a very moral man. He was a preacher. 
 
 I imagine him to have been a man strongly built, with a 
 squat figure; square, flat, stubby fingers, attached to a 
 markedly prehensile, hairy hand ; jutting brows surmount 
 ing small, close set eyes that looked out boldly and self- 
 confidently; a long, flat nose with spreading alae, and a 
 prognathous jaw covered with a heavy beard which de 
 scended and became a part of his hairy chest. I cannot say 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 73 
 
 that this picture, in outward form, more resembles Gris- 
 wold s real features than that distorted moral picture he 
 drew resembled Poe; yet God marks all of us. Beyond 
 question there should have been some such physique to 
 have contained the strong, sterling qualities that some 
 times do disfigure man. His face must have differed from 
 that of Poe as the Ass into which Bottom was transformed 
 differed from that of a blue-blooded Arabian. His coun 
 tenance assuredly bore that expression of sanctity, which, 
 in olden time, Hogarth gave to the Puritan. It must have 
 been characterized by that sanctimonious smirk of the man 
 who never has, in public, committed a wrong action or 
 thought a wrong thought. Such men we had when the in 
 quisition flourished, when puritanism ruled our land and 
 witches were burned, while old Cotton Mather from his 
 pulpit urged on his flock to further deeds of righteousness. 
 Mrs. Whitman, recalling Poe s picture in the first vol 
 ume of his collected works, says : 
 
 The reader who has this volume in his hands, turns back musingly 
 to look upon the features of the poet in whom resided such inspiration. 
 But though well engraved, and useful as recalling his features to those 
 who knew him with the angel shining through, the picture is from a 
 daguerreotype and gives no idea of the beauty of Edgar Poe. 
 
 As to whether Poe was responsible when he requested 
 Griswold to edit his works or, as a matter of fact, whether 
 this request was ever made, will be discussed later. It is 
 certain that at no time did Poe ask or expect Griswold to 
 write a memoir to be published as an introduction to his 
 completed work. 
 
 This final tribute, which should properly introduce Poe 
 to the world, if he required such introduction, had been 
 assigned to Willis. At best it was to be perfunctory, as is 
 usually the case when some Personage addresses a small 
 town audience, and its leading citizen is asked to take a 
 
74 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 seat upon the stage and make a few "introductory re 
 marks." Should this introductory speech be filled with 
 scathing denunciation reflecting on the speaker s past his 
 tory, his morals, his manners, and branding him a felon, 
 surely the introducer hardly would be thought to have car 
 ried out honorably his part of the contract. But should 
 the janitor, whose business it is to sweep the hall, to 
 arrange the chairs, to light the gas, and to see that the 
 room is properly heated and aired, come upon the stage 
 after the Personage had been properly introduced, and 
 volunteer his billingsgate, surely the audience would re 
 gard it as a trespass and they would demand that this care 
 taker return to the sweeping of dirt, and to the dusting of 
 the statuary that adorns this "Hall of Fantasy". 
 
 Griswold was a man experienced in literary criticism, 
 with some pretension to the role of arbiter as to those 
 things that should be preserved, and that should constitute 
 contemporary American literature ; yet he was possessed of 
 no originality or capacity further than that second-rate 
 capacity for collecting and annotating the work of others. 
 He had published a few sermons and had written some 
 poetry, but his great literary activity had consisted in col 
 lecting, incubating, and associating his own name with the 
 work of his contemporaries. He had edited anthologies 
 of the American poets, and had compiled books. To him 
 we must credit "Poetry and Prose Writers of America," 
 together with "Washington and His Generals," "Napoleon 
 and His Marshals," "The Female Poets of America," and 
 other publications of like caliber. He was also responsible 
 for "The Cypress Wreath: A Book of Consolation for 
 Those Who Mourn," and a "Biographical Annual, Consist 
 ing of Memoirs of Eminent Persons Recently Deceased". 
 Certainly none of these works, either by title or contents, 
 gave any evidence of the powers of vituperation which 
 dwelt in the reverend gentleman. It is certain he would not 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 75 
 
 not have dared write of Poe, living, as he did of Poe, dead. 
 It was impossible for Poe, in discussing an author, to tell 
 a literary lie, and, sooner or later when he warmed to his 
 subject, not to express himself freely and fully, and to 
 write as his literary conscience dictated ; even while occas 
 ionally he did try to modify his opinion. 
 
 Poe s mind was elementary and only saw that which 
 was essentially true. It was not the retort of the chemist 
 which transforms the atoms of the elements into the mole 
 cule, completely changing form, color, and substance. It 
 was rather the primitive alembic of the alchemist and, 
 with all his effort, Poe could not change the zinc and cop 
 per atoms into a new chemical combination. It remained 
 brass and he detected and so described it. He could not 
 make dross into gold, but he almost succeeded where the 
 alchemist failed changing the leaden weights which held 
 him down into a glorious Aureola. However hard he 
 tried to dissolve and render homogenous the incongru 
 ous mass, sooner or later, as he warmed to his work, the 
 dregs and impurities of the mixture sank, and out of the 
 capital of his alembic poured the liquid essence of Truth. 
 
 He could only reproduce what, to his mind, actually ex 
 isted, and it came forth so surcharged with literary wrath 
 that only the scorched victim could dissent. 
 
 Griswold had proposed to insert some of Poe s work in 
 one of his anthologies in fact it was in this way that Poe 
 had made his acquaintance. Poe did not hesitate to criti 
 cize, fully and freely, The Poets and Poetry of America," 
 and seriously to differ with Griswold in his estimate of cer 
 tain authors. It is also true that because Griswold occupied 
 the position vacated by Poe on "Graham s Magazine," as 
 well as for other reasons, there had resulted a personal en 
 mity. After Poe s death Griswold exhibited marked inter 
 est in the welfare of Mrs. Clemm, and sympathized with 
 her in her bereavement, and expressed friendship for Poe. 
 
76 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Had there been no reconciliation, it is impossible for me 
 to conceive the innate vindictiveness of a man who would 
 deliberately take such revenge on a dead foe. I prefer to 
 believe that the man s mental caliber was so narrow and 
 his moral fiber so coarse, that he did not appreciate the 
 nature and quality of his act, nor the enormity of this 
 breach of trust, simply because he had none of the in 
 stincts that would have restrained a more gentle man. That 
 there was some foundation for this personal assault and 
 these distorted statements, makes it the more unforgiv 
 able. Had Griswold felt it necessary to go into such details, 
 he should have gone further and sought their source. 
 Certain it is that many of Poe s literary acquaintances, 
 although they had received over-severe criticism at his 
 hands, or had suffered in a business way to a far greater 
 extent than had Griswold, came to the defense of the 
 memory of Poe, and forgot small antagonisms and 
 personal misunderstandings in rehabilitating the good 
 name of the man whom they regarded as their literary 
 master. 
 
 If any of Poe s business associates had the right to com 
 plain, or to criticize certain acts and statements of Poe 
 during his periods of irresponsibility, it was Graham of the 
 "Gentleman s Magazine;" yet he, supported by Willis and 
 other literary friends and associates, so bitterly denounced 
 the death notice written by Griswold for the "New York 
 Tribune," as to precipitate a controversy the echoes of 
 which have not yet ceased to reverberate. Griswold excul 
 pated himself by asserting that, at the time he wrote 
 the "Tribune" sketch, he did not know he had been 
 appointed Poe s literary executor. Nor is it certain that 
 he was selected. He had "heard" that Poe "had long 
 been in the habit of expressing a desire that in the event 
 of his death I should be his editor." But it is not for this 
 preliminary sketch that Griswold s name is anathema. As 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 77 
 
 a reviewer or compiler he had the right to express his opin 
 ion of Poe ; although it might have been a more friendly 
 act and one more in consonance with the dictates of 
 decency and humanity had he foregone this right, consider 
 ing their past differences and association. After accepting 
 the editorship of Poe s writings, Griswold was under no 
 misconception as to the duties it entailed. 
 
 I did not suppose I was debarred from the expression of any feel 
 ings or opinions in the case of the acceptance of this office, the duties of 
 which I regarded as simply the collection of his works and their publi 
 cation for the benefit of the rightful inheritors of his property, in a 
 form and manner that would have probably been most agreeable to 
 his own wishes. 
 
 In the "Tribune" article published a few days after 
 Poe s death, Griswold made certain statements which 
 seriously reflected on Poe s moral character, and detailed 
 incidents which, to him, seemed to justify the statement 
 that while it might surprise many to learn of Poe s death, 
 4 but few would be grieved by it." Had this statement been 
 the only offense no further notice would have been taken 
 of it, especially as Griswold did not sign his own name but, 
 for a good reason, chose "Ludwig" as a fit pseudonym 
 to accompany this denunciatory obituary. The article 
 brought forth several active rejoinders and, in time, 
 Griswold stood unmasked. To defend himself, he attempted 
 to prove that Poe was all that he had originally asserted, 
 and that he had not told the half of his victim s misdeeds. 
 
 If, when Griswold wrote this first article he did not know 
 he was to preside over Poe s literary remains, he certainly 
 did know, as editor and in complete control of Poe s col 
 lected works, that by reproducing his original charges and 
 amplifying them, he was holding up to obloquy for future 
 generations a literary artist the latchet of whose shoe he 
 was not worthy to touch. 
 
 He took advantage of this accidental relationship to be- 
 
78 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 smirch the memory of one whom by all the codes of de 
 cency he was under obligations to shield. He attempted to 
 prove that Poe was as evil and as morally corrupt as he 
 had described him in the Ludwig article. The unforgivable 
 act was his insertion of this as a memoir prefacing Poe s 
 collected works, so that they became the vehicle for carry 
 ing his contentious and defamatory statements ; and, worse 
 than this, it necessitated all who read the writings of Poe 
 to be tempted to believe these scurrilous accusations, for, 
 unfortunately, they bore the imprint of authority. 
 
 It would have been better for the memory of both Poe 
 and Gr is wold had Poe died somewhat earlier and been in 
 cluded in the "Memoirs of Eminent Persons Recently 
 Deceased," or even in "The Cypress Wreath : The Book of 
 Consolation for Those Who Mourn". Certainly it would 
 have been better for Griswold, who did not confine himself 
 to the villification of the dead but bitterly assailed those 
 who had a good word for Poe, and who were better ac 
 quainted with him through intimate business and personal 
 relations. Quoting from Griswold s preface: 
 
 My unconsidered and imperfect, but, as every one who knew its 
 subject readily perceived, very kind article, was now vehemently 
 attacked. A writer under the signature of George R. Graham in a 
 sophomorical and trashy but widely circulated Letter, denounced it as 
 the fancy sketch of a jaundiced vision, and an immortal infamy* and 
 its composition a breach of trust. . . . And Mr. John Neal, too, who 
 had never had even the slightest personal acquaintance with Poe in his 
 life, rushes from a sleep which the public had trusted was eternal, to 
 declare that my characterization of Poe is false and malicious, and that 
 I am a caluminator, a Rhadamanthus etc., etc. 
 
 All this is contained in a sketch, preliminary to the 
 memoir, which Griswold inserted, and proves that he did 
 what he did deliberately, calculatingly, and in cold blood. 
 He freely and fully conceded Poe s genius and did not deny 
 to him primacy as the greatest of American writers. This 
 was an unnecessary concession, inasmuch as the volumes 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 79 
 
 in which it was to appear spoke in Poe s own behalf. While 
 unnecessary, a literary estimate with propriety could have 
 been inserted. It was Poe s writings and not his morals 
 that should have been a matter for discussion. Placed 
 among these encomiums was a most malignant attack on 
 Poe s moral life, and a determined attempt to blacken his 
 character by introducing hostile statements some appar 
 ently true, but in no way proper to be related if true ; others 
 absolutely false and malicious. 
 
 What Griswold did not dare to state definitely and 
 there was little he failed to allege he introduced by insin 
 uation and innuendo. In describing the final rupture 
 between Poe and Allan he referred to some act which, 
 
 If true, throws a dark shade upon the quarrel, and a very ugly 
 light upon Poe s character. We shall not insert it because it is one of 
 those relations we think with Sir Thomas Browne, should never be 
 recorded, being Verities whose truth we fear and heartily wish there 
 were no truth therein . . . whose relations honest minds do depre 
 cate. For of sins heteroclital, and such as want name or such precedent, 
 there is of ttimes a sin even in their history. We desire no record of enor 
 mities; sins should be accounted new. They omit of their monstrosity 
 as they fall from their rarity ; for men count it venial to err with their 
 forefathers and foolishly conceive they divide a sin in its society. . . . 
 In things of this nature, silence commendeth history ; tis the veniable 
 part of things lost; wherein there must never arise a Pancirollus, nor 
 remain any register but that of hell. 
 
 Such rumors, even if they can be authenticated, should 
 have no place in a memoir where their mere presence 
 breeds contagion. Many statements in which Griswold re 
 flects on Poe have been proved to be without foundation. 
 In this particular case Poe, at worst, was under the in 
 fluence of alcohol when he made some slighting remark to 
 Mrs. Allan regarding this second marriage. 
 
 Griswold minimized nothing. In every instance where 
 an immoral, or even an indiscreet action, was alleged, he 
 made no allowance for the fact that Poe might not have 
 
80 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 been responsible. Many of his statements relate to inci 
 dents that occurred during the period of Poe s life when 
 we know his intellect was failing. It was not necessary 
 that Griswold should have assumed an attitude toward 
 the memory of Poe which did not fully represent his own 
 judgment. Having undertaken the position of a literary 
 executor, it was not his duty and should not have been his 
 pleasure to exhibit in the worst light all the weaknesses and 
 evil compulsions that exist in all of us. He certainly had 
 no right to accept as a fact, and to include in this memoir, 
 anything of a discreditable nature without the fullest in 
 vestigation, and then only as an elucidation of the text. 
 His own explanation does not render the matter, nor the 
 manner of his memoir, less offensive. 
 
 De mortuis nil nisi bonum is a common and an honorable senti 
 ment, but its proper application would lead to the suppression of the 
 histories of half of the most conspicuous of mankind ; in this case it is 
 impossible on account of the notoriety of Mr. Poe s faults; and it 
 would be unjust to the living against whom his hands were always 
 raised and who had no resort but in his outlawry from their sympathies. 
 Moreover, his career is full of instruction and warning, and it has al 
 ways been made a portion of the penalty of wrong that its anatomy 
 should be displayed for the common study and advantage. 
 
 Few had more experience in biography and in the per 
 sonal study of authors than this Griswold, but in the case 
 of no other writer did he find it necessary to demonstrate 
 anatomy or to preach a lesson to our youth. Even this 
 pious intention does not justify the demonstration. He 
 sums up the whole matter as follows: 
 
 His harsh experience had deprived him of all faith, in man or wo 
 man. He had made up his mind upon the numberless complexities of 
 the social world, and the whole system with him was an imposture. 
 This conviction gave a direction to his shrewd and naturally un- 
 amiable character. Still, though he regarded society as composed alto 
 gether of villains, the sharpness of his intellect was not of the kind 
 which enabled him to cope with villainy, while it continually caused 
 him by overshots to fail of the success of honesty. He was in many 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 81 
 
 respects like Francis Vivian, in Bulwer s novel of The Caxtons. 
 Passion, in him, comprehended many of the worst emotions which 
 militate against human happiness. You could not contradict him, but 
 you raised quick choler; you could not speak of wealth but 
 his cheek paled with gnawing envy. The astonishing natural advan 
 tages of this poor boy his beauty, his readiness, the daring spirit that 
 breathed around him like a fiery atmosphere had raised his constitu 
 tional self-confidence into arrogance that turned his very claims to ad 
 miration into prejudices against him. Irascible, envious bad enough, 
 but not the worst, for these salient angles were all varnished over with 
 a cold repellant synicism [sic], his passions vented themselves in 
 sneers. There seemed to him no moral susceptibility; and, what was 
 more remarkable in a proud nature, little or nothing of the true point 
 of honor. He had, to a morbid excess, that desire to rise which is vul 
 garly called ambition, but no wish for the esteem or the love of his 
 species; only the hard wish to succeed not shine, not serve succeed, 
 that he might have the right to despise a world which galled his self 
 conceit. 
 
 In these words does Griswold close his self appointed 
 task of writing a memoir of Edgar A. Poe! 
 
 Years after Poe s death his name remained a reproach 
 and a byword, the synonym of all that was vicious : it was 
 used to point a moral and to teach the younger genera 
 tion the danger of unbridled passions and immoral 
 practices. Even the greatest of his poems and the most 
 marvelous of his tales were said to be merely the outpour 
 ings of a brain poisoned by alcohol and drugs. 
 
 Ten years after his death "The Edinburgh Review" 
 thus discusses him : 
 
 Edgar Allan Poe was incontestably one of the most worthless per 
 sons of whom we have any record in the world of letters. Many authors 
 have been as idle ; many as improvident ; some as drunken and dissi 
 pated and a few, perhaps, as treacherous and ungrateful; but he 
 seems to have succeeded in attracting and combining, in his own per 
 son, all the floating vices which genius had hitherto shown itself cap 
 able of grasping in its widest and most eccentric orbit. Yet his chances 
 of success at the outset of life were great and manifold. Nature was 
 bountiful to him ; bestowing upon him pleasing powers and excellent 
 
82 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 talent. He defied his good genius. There was a perpetual strife be 
 tween him and virtue, in which virtue never triumphed. . . . He out 
 raged his benefactor, he deceived his friends, he sacrificed his love, he 
 became a beggar, a vagabond, the slanderer of a woman, the delirious 
 drunken pauper of a common hospital hated by some, despised by 
 others, and avoided by all respectable men. 
 
 This foul and garbled statement was approvingly copied 
 by the editor of "The Ladies Repository" a monthly 
 periodical devoted to literature and religion, also edited 
 by a preacher, the Rev. D. W. Clark, D. D. 
 
 Griswold had won his case and had fully established the 
 facts on which he had based his "unconsidered and imper 
 fect but, as everyone who knew its subject readily per 
 ceived, very kind article." 
 
 The reverend gentleman had found the one method 
 by which his prejudiced, untrue, and vicious statements 
 could be disseminated equally with Poe s immortal works 
 possibly the only method, for none could read with 
 out seeing them. Unfortunately, they bore the imprint 
 of authority. 
 
 It was in this same year, 1859, and in answer to this 
 article, that Mrs. Whitman forced herself to lay bare her 
 own story and to publish a defense of Poe, the main facts 
 of which bear intrinsic evidence of truth. While it was dic 
 tated by the heart rather than by the head for the old 
 love dominated her yet her personal plea, supported by 
 those of many at that time living who knew the facts, 
 brought forth numerous defenders whose investigations 
 have gone far in elucidating controversial statements and 
 in disproving the most serious of Griswold s allegations. 
 Among these, Hannay and Ingram in England, and Gill in 
 America, have been Poe s most earnest defenders. Certain 
 of his biographers, such as Stedman, frankly ignore the 
 personal details and confine themselves to a discussion of 
 his writings. Others, like Harrison, imbued with the love 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 83 
 
 of their subject because of association of locality, and a 
 great personal sympathy, while detailing the facts, yet 
 minimize and explain. On the whole Harrison s is, as all 
 biographies should be, an ample appreciation of all that 
 could magnify the accomplishments and lend glory to his 
 subject ; and, although indirectly, he associates the name of 
 our greatest writer with the state of Virginia and her Queen 
 City, Richmond, "The Virginia Poe" is the correct charac 
 terization even if, by accident, Poe was born in Boston. 
 
 Woodberry, that excellent workman on whom I have 
 depended for many of my facts, is the only other authority 
 whom it is necessary to discuss. He did not select his sub 
 ject, nor was he drawn to it by any personal or literary in 
 clination; his architect set him the task and, like a master 
 carpenter, he builded as well as he knew. Selecting sound 
 material where strength was needed, he often left knot 
 holes as peepsights, and made no effort to conceal or throw 
 aside inferior and occasionally rotten material. Neither the 
 situation nor the plan inspired him. 
 
 I was asked by my friend, the late Charles Dudley Warner, in 
 1883, to write the life of Poe for the American Men of Letters Series, 
 which he was then editing. My attention had never been drawn to Poe, 
 nor my interest specially excited by his works ; so that I entered upon 
 my task, my first important literary commission, with a fresh mind ; 
 and, though contact with the subject may have bred prejudice, I had 
 none at the outset. 
 
 This from a literary man who proposed dispassionately 
 to discuss and anatomize a genius, not as a surgeon would 
 perform some merciful operation on a patient he loved, but 
 as a vivisectionist would dissect some unfriended animal in 
 order to demonstrate the circulation of the blood, and 
 would run his scalpel into all the heart s compartments, 
 and play with its fibers. No pity, no love, swayed the hand; 
 only the deliberate purpose to demonstrate a fact, however 
 cruelly it hurt, however wildly the heart palpitated. 
 
84 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 To write biography successfully one must love one s sub 
 ject. Had not Boswell loved, as well as revered, his John 
 son, how easily could he have dwelt on the foibles, the 
 vanities, the contradictions, and the absurdities which 
 necessarily are a part of the lives of the wisest and sanest, 
 and which, in the case of Johnson, come with almost irre 
 sistible compulsion, and have spoiled his biography. 
 
 Woodberry s statement, "contact with the subject may 
 have bred prejudice," is explained by the fact that this 
 early study led to his later association with the Poe MSS., 
 which Griswold had "assumed." Woodberry had been 
 asked to edit these papers and, later, had similarly edited 
 the Poe-Chivers correspondence. 
 
 Through these years information naturally came to me, also, from 
 other sources, though I have never engaged in personal investigation 
 since writing the former biography ... I have aimed also to present 
 in the text the facts of Poe s career as they lie in my own mind, in the 
 notes I have allowed others to speak freely, for praise or dispraise, in 
 order that all may have a fair field where there is so great a contro 
 versy. In the former biography I excluded much and suppressed much, 
 of what I thought the world would willingly let die; but this proved a 
 fruitless attempt to assist oblivion, and I have, in the present work, at 
 least noticed all that had been said or alleged on this subject. 
 
 By what right Griswold claimed and held Poe s private 
 papers and MSS. is not clear. Gill, basing his statement on 
 letters and direct communications personally made to him 
 by Mrs. Clemm says : 
 
 It was simply the act of a designing and unscrupulous man, 
 prompted by hatred and greed of gain, taking advantage of a helpless 
 woman, unaccustomed to business, to defraud her of her rights, and 
 gratify his malice and his avarice at her expense. A small sum of 
 money having been given to Mrs. Clemm in exchange for Poe s private 
 papers, Dr. Griswold draws up a paper for Mrs. Clemm to sign, an 
 nouncing his appointment as Poe s literary executor. This is duly 
 signed by Mrs. Clemm and printed over her signature in the published 
 edition of Poe s works. . . Mrs. Clemm, at the time she signed the 
 paper which she scarcely understood, had no idea that Dr. Griswold 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 85 
 
 had any intention of supplementing Mr. Willis obituary with any 
 memoir by his own pen. 
 
 This refers to a preface, "To The Reader," signed by 
 Mrs. Clemm, which was inserted in the first volume, 
 "Tales", and which, in addition, contained a short biogra 
 phy entitled "Edgar A. Poe," written by James Russell 
 Lowell. This had been published in "Graham s Magazine" 
 in 1845, and was here republished with slight variations. 
 With this was a most appreciative review of Poe and his 
 work by Willis, under the title "Death of Edgar A. Poe." 
 
 It was in the third volume of the "Literati" that the 
 immortal infamy" was committed. A noticeable thing is 
 that Woodberry, who edited these papers, possibly because 
 he was a classmate of the younger Griswold, had full infor 
 mation of all known facts. He does not refer to the acquire 
 ment of these MSS., although he definitely states that 
 Griswold s editorship of Poe s works brought no financial 
 reward. As a rule, Woodberry defends Griswold and, as far 
 as facts allow, upholds all charges made against Poe. Certain 
 it is that this association "may have bred prejudice." 
 
 Nor did this publication bring any financial gain to 
 Mrs. Clemm, although she was made to say : 
 
 In this edition of my son s works, published for my benefit, it is a 
 great pleasure for me to thank Mr. Griswold and Mr. Willis . . . 
 for labors . . . which they performed without any other recompense 
 than the happiness which rewards acts of duty and kindness. 
 
 Mrs. Clemm was definitely promised not only that she 
 should participate in the profits of the sale of Poe s works, 
 but was made to believe that these would amount to a sum 
 so large as to make her independent of charity. Apparently 
 she thought that Willis was to be associated with Griswold 
 in this editorship. She wrote to "Annie" : 
 
 They say I am to have the entire proceeds so you see, Annie, I will 
 not be entirely destitute. ... [I] have been very much engaged 
 with Mr. Griswold in looking over his [Poe sJ papers. . . . He must 
 
86 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 have them all until the work is published. He thinks I will realize from 
 two to three thousand dollars from the sale of these books. . . . How 
 nobly they [Griswold and Willis] have acted! all done gratis, and you 
 know to literary people that is a great deal. . . . Those gentlemen 
 who have so kindly undertaken the publication of his works say that 
 I will have a very comfortable income from them. 
 
 That her only recompense was as sales agent is shown by 
 the following letter she wrote to Washington Poe, dated 
 1851, two years after Poe s death: 
 
 The publisher of my poor Eddie s works can only allow me as 
 many copies of the work as I choose to dispose of amongst my friends ; 
 but a continued state of ill health, and a delicacy of feeling prevents 
 my availing myself of this privilege, except through the kindness of a 
 few friends who have disposed of a few copies for me. 
 
 Mrs. Clemm lived an object of charity and she died in 
 a pauper s home. 
 
 By what means Griswold succeeded in gaining posses 
 sion of all of Poe s papers, and for what reason he wished to 
 edit them and to be held responsible for their preservation 
 when past differences were so notorious and his expressed 
 views had been so forcibly presented, deserves a much 
 fuller discussion than this question has received. 
 
 Woodberry barely refers to the matter, simply stating : 
 Before leaving Fordham he [Poe] wrote requests that Griswold 
 should superintend the collection of his works, and that Willis should 
 write such a biographical notice as should be deemed necessary. 
 
 If Poe wrote such a note, Griswold did not receive it. 
 Griswold s own statement is explicit and definite: 
 
 I was told by several of Mr. Poe s intimate friends among others 
 by the family of S. D. Lewis, Esq., that he had long been in the habit 
 of expressing a desire that in the event of his death I should be his 
 editor. I yielded to the apparent necessity. 
 
 Griswold never stated that he had been directly asked 
 to officiate in this capacity, nor that he received such 
 request by letter. Had he been directly approached 
 he would not apologetically have published a number of 
 irrelevant business letters, not always dated, which he 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 87 
 
 prefixed to his memoir in order to prove that he was on 
 friendly terms with Poe. 
 
 That Griswold believed he could in this way associate 
 his name with one who would be regarded as our greatest 
 writer is a possible but not a probable explanation, for he 
 was myopic when long vision was necessary, and astig 
 matic when breadth of vision was required, and his esti 
 mates of "au tonal" merit if they were honest were 
 characterized by a pronounced strabismus. 
 
 Yet there was some compelling reason. As we can hardly 
 read our own mind, much less that of another, the answer, 
 at best, is a surmise and possibly would only approximate 
 the truth, even if given by one unprejudiced. I can not 
 qualify in this class, for which reason I doubt my own 
 interpretation of the facts. 
 
 Whatever be the reason, the result, in Woodberry s 
 opinion, reflects much credit on Griswold : 
 
 The one distinguishing tribute paid to Rufus Wilmot Griswold, 
 one that establishes his characteristic excellences, was his selection by 
 Poe to be his literary executor just before his death. Poe was a good 
 judge of editorial capacity, notwithstanding a history of personal rela 
 tions that would seem to exclude the possibility of such a choice. 
 
 Nowhere does Woodberry, either directly or by implica 
 tion, express other than admiration for Griswold in all that 
 relates to his connection with Poe. Others have not dealt 
 so kindly with this relationship. It has been asserted that 
 Poe, at the time of his death, had almost if not quite com 
 pleted a book which was to be entitled The Authors of Am 
 erica", publication of which was announced in the "Home 
 Journal" as of immediate issuance. It has never appeared. 
 It is possible that it contained criticisms which Griswold 
 believed were not creditable to Poe : yet it is not fair to Gris 
 wold to make so direct a charge of double dealing, for no 
 one positively knows what was contained in the papers and 
 books which Mrs. Clemm passed to Griswold because of his 
 
88 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 direct request. It is also known that Poe had collected ma 
 terial for a "Critical History of American Literature" ; at 
 least he so wrote Lowell. Nothing issued therefrom except a 
 fragment called The Lighthouse. Had not Annabel Lee been 
 in other hands, and The Bells already in type, one cannot 
 but fear for their fate at the critical hands of Griswold. 
 
 Why was Griswold willing to undertake this editorship? 
 He explained in the preface to his "Memoir:" 
 
 I would gladly have declined a trust imposing so much labor, for I 
 had been compelled by ill health to solicit the indulgence of my pub 
 lishers, who had many thousand dollars in an unfinished work under 
 my direction; but when I was told by several of his intimate friends 
 that he had long been in the habit of expressing a desire that in the 
 event of his death I should be his editor, I yielded to the apparent 
 necessity. 
 
 Who did receive the money earned by this publication? 
 Woodberry says : 
 
 He [Griswold] finally persuaded Mr. Redfield to try the experi 
 ment of issuing two volumes first, which were published and had a fair 
 sale then the third and finally the fourth were added to complete the 
 works. The sale reached about 1500 sets each year. 
 
 It has been stated that over 20,000 sets of this edition 
 were sold and it is certain that Mrs. Clemm received none 
 of the promised royalties. 
 
 Neilson Poe transmitted to Griswold all the books and 
 MSS. which he found in the trunk that Edgar Poe had with 
 him at the time of his death, and, together with those 
 things taken from Mrs. Clemm, these must have consti 
 tuted Poe s entire literary remains. At the same time 
 Neilson Poe wrote Griswold: 
 
 I have opened his trunk and find it to contain very few manuscripts 
 of value. The chief of them is a lecture on the poetic principle and some 
 paragraphs prepared, apparently, for some literary journal. There are, 
 however, a number of books, his own works, which are full of correc 
 tions in his own hand. These ought, undoubtedly, to be placed in your 
 hands. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 89 
 
 Woodberry in commenting on this letter describes cer 
 tain of these books : 
 
 These volumes were the copies of the Tales and Poems, now known 
 as the Lorimer-Graham copies, the copy of Eureka, now known as 
 Hurst s copy, and possibly others, all afterwards sold with Griswold s 
 library. 
 
 Nor were any of Poe s books or MSS. returned by Gris- 
 wold to Mrs. Clemm. These he had especially demanded as a 
 preparation for their proper publication, and they included 
 not only all of the books, many of them specially annotated 
 by Poe, but all his notes and private memoranda. All these 
 were either destroyed or retained. A few remained and 
 were auctioned off when Griswold s library was sold. 
 
 It is probable, as Gill states, that Griswold actually 
 bought all Mrs. Clemm s rights to these manuscripts. Why 
 he preferred to keep or destroy them may be variously in 
 terpreted. Had he not bought, he certainly would have 
 returned them. 
 
 It is possible that Griswold, because of his literary 
 acumen, and knowing the value, had no objection to asso 
 ciating his name with the work of Poe. It is more probable 
 that, having had experience with Poe s criticisms, he was 
 willing to "edit" at least one of these, and felt it wise to 
 suppress or modify others. It is certain that he did rewrite, 
 or at least "emend," those referring to English and Briggs. 
 Another article was suppressed. I cannot believe, with Gill, 
 that the assumption of this editorship was "prompted by 
 hatred," and that the insertion of the memoir in order to 
 damn a dead enemy was a deciding factor ; possibly, when 
 Griswold saw the opportunity, he could not resist. 
 
 There was a reason which did deeply concern Griswold, 
 and which might have induced him to purchase the 
 manuscripts and thus obtain permanent control. Soon after 
 "Poets and Poetry of America" was published Griswold and 
 Poe discussed it, and Poe gave the following version of the 
 conversation : 
 
90 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 I said that I had thought of reviewing it in full . . . and that I 
 knew no other work in which a notice would be readily admissable. 
 Griswold said in reply: You need not trouble yourself about the pub 
 lication of the review, should you decide on writing it, for I will attend 
 to all that. I will get it in some reputable work, and look to it for the 
 usual pay in the meantime handing you whatever the charge would 
 be. This you see was an ingenious insinuation of a bribe to puff his 
 book. I accepted his offer forthwith, and wrote the review, handed it 
 to him, and received from him the compensation ; he never daring to 
 look over the manuscript in my presence, and taking it for granted it 
 was all right. But that review has not yet appeared, and I am doubtful 
 if it ever will. I wrote it precisely as I would have written under ordi 
 nary circumstances, and be sure there was no predominance of praise. 
 
 One cannot be certain that this review, as written, was 
 ever published. Apparently Poe did not make an extended 
 criticism at that time, although there is an article repro 
 duced in Poe s collected works under the title, Mr. Griswold 
 and the Poets. While not altogether flattering, it does con 
 tain pleasant personal references, and occasionally there is 
 a tone of decided approval. 
 
 In this preface, which is remarkably well written and strictly to 
 the purpose, the author thus evinces a just comprehension of the 
 nature and objects of true poesy, He who looks on Lake George, or 
 sees the sun rise on the Mackinaw, or listens to the grand music of a 
 storm, is divested, certainly for a time, of a portion of the alloy of his 
 nature . . . The creation of beauty, the manifestation of the real by the 
 ideal, in words that move in metrical array is poetry. The italics are 
 our own; and we quote the passage because it embodies the sole true 
 definition of what has been a thousand times erroneously defined. 
 
 This, and other equally complimentary references, does 
 not correspond with Poe s description of his review nor 
 does it express Poe s real opinion of the work. 
 
 By the way, if you have not seen Mr. Griswold s American Series 
 of the Curiosities of Literature then look at it, for God s sake or for 
 mine. I wish you to say upon your word of honor, whether it is, or is 
 not, per se, the greatest of all the curiosities of Literature, or whether 
 it is as great a curiosity as the compiler himself. 
 
 Again Poe wrote : 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 91 
 
 He is a pretty fellow to set himself up for an honest judge, or even 
 as a capable one. I shall make war to the knife against the New Eng 
 land assumption of All the decency and all the talent which has been 
 so disgustingly manifested by the Rev. Rufus Griswold s Poets and 
 Poetry of America. 
 
 is another of his expressed criticisms. 
 
 Poe, in his lecture on The Poets and Poetry of Amer 
 ica," severely criticized Griswold s volume. However, the 
 crowning offense was his review in the * Saturday Museum, 
 of the third edition of Griswold s "Poets." 
 
 Poe began this review with a discussion of Griswold s 
 capacity for such work. He questions Griswold s preten 
 sion to having established either a literary or a critical 
 reputation that would give him the right to pass on the 
 qualifications and the literary performances of his contem 
 poraries whom he proposed to discuss. He asks : 
 
 Did the Jonathan or the Notion attain any higher position 
 than before, during Mr. G. s connection with them; or have the Post 
 or Graham s improved under his supervision? The Standard we 
 leave out of the question as it expired under his management. Cer 
 tainly not the former; and the brilliant career of Graham s Magazine 
 under Mr. Poe s care, and its subsequent trashy literary character 
 since his retirement, is a sufficient response. . . . As a critic his judg 
 ment is worthless, for a critic should possess sufficient independence 
 and honesty to mete out justice to all men, without fear, favor or par 
 tiality. . . . Are Dana and Hoffman the superiors of N. P. Willis? 
 ... Is Bryant a better poet than Longfellow? Certainly not, for in 
 Longfellow s pages the spirit of poetry ideality walks abroad, 
 while Bryant s sole merit is tolerable versification and fine marches of 
 description. Longfellow is undoubtedly the best poet in America. 
 
 After discussing versification and the art of poetry, and 
 after specifying certain necessary standards which must 
 guide a poet in his selection and treatment of a subject, il 
 lustrating it with various happy selections, Poe took up 
 and critically dissected Griswold s poem, "The Storm 
 Cloud," and bitterly criticized its underlying idea, its ver 
 sification and its grammatical construction, comparing 
 
92 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 it, to its very great disadvantage, with the "Charmed 
 Sleeper." 
 
 Did any one ever read such nonsense? We never did, and, shall here 
 after eschew everything that bears the name of Rufus Wilmot Gris- 
 wold, as strongly as the Moslemite the forbidden wine, or the Jew the 
 unmentionable flesh. . . . We shall quote some few passages from 
 one of his latest reviews, and that on the author of the Charmed 
 Sleeper Alfred Tennyson, whose genius and originality have ex 
 cited the imitative faculties of the principal poets of America. His 
 chief characteristics pertaining to style, they will not long attract 
 regard. Here we have a gross grammatical error two nominatives to 
 one verb, characteristics and they to will. He tricks out common 
 thoughts in dresses so unique it is not always easy to identify them. 
 (Is this not originality? Yet in the next portion of the sentence we hear 
 this sapient critic say) but we have not seen in his works proofs of an 
 original mind. (0 tempore! mores! This Griswold says of Tennyson/) 
 Again, as a versifier, Holmes is equal to Tennyson, and with the same 
 patient effort would in every way surpass him. We desire none of his 
 companionship. (Don t you hope you may get it?) Him who stole at 
 first hand from Keats. Well, if this is not the height of assurance we do 
 not know what is, coming as it does from one of the most clumsy of 
 literary thieves, and who in his wildest aspirations, never even 
 dreamed of an original thought. A man who does not understand the 
 first principles of versification, the author of the Sunset Storm, and 
 thus to speak of Tennyson, the author of the Sleeping Beauty we 
 have just quoted! We can only say to Mr. Griswold, Jove protect us 
 from his reviewing and the public from what he deems exquisite. . .* 
 Let us proceed. Ah! what have we here? The creation of beauty, the 
 manifestation of the real by the ideal, in words that move in metrical 
 array, is poetry! Now what is this but a direct amplification of our 
 poet of the definition of poetry the rhythmical creation of beauty 
 which appeared in Mr. Poe s critique on Professor Longfellow s bal 
 lads, from which we know, and he knows, he stole it. 
 
 Compare this with Mr. Griswold and the Poets as pub 
 lished in The Literati," or with his reference to a defini 
 tion of poetry previously quoted. 
 
 Well, we have looked over the book, and we find it just such a 
 result as might be anticipated. The biographies are miserably written, 
 and as to the criticisms on style, they certainly are not critiques 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 93 
 
 raisonnes, and that simply because reasoning and thinking are entirely 
 out of Mr. G. s sphere. As to the different degrees of merit allotted to 
 each author, we cannot help thinking it possible, but we will not say 
 it, that sub rosa arrangements were made, and a proportionable quan 
 tity of fame allotted, in consideration of the quid pro quo received. 
 Besides the whole work is not even a specimen of the Poets and 
 Poetry of America ; and in giving it our unqualified condemnation, we 
 only cite the opinion of all, even to the poets who have been so unfor 
 tunate as to figure in its pages. 
 
 So Poe continues, excoriating and vitriolic in his denun 
 ciations. He finishes his review with the following remark 
 able passage : 
 
 Had Mr. Griswold the genius of Shakespeare, the powers of a 
 Milton, or the critical learning of a Macauley, he could not stem the 
 torrent of animadversion this book has raised; but must be over 
 whelmed by the tide of public disapprobation which has set in so 
 strongly upon him ; but as he has neither the one nor the other, what 
 will be his fate? Forgotten, save only by those whom he has injured 
 and insulted, he will sink into oblivion, without leaving a landmark to 
 tell he once existed ; or if he is spoken of hereafter he will be quoted as 
 the unfaithful servant who abused his trust. 
 
 The italics are Poe s. Could words more prophetic have 
 been written? 
 
 After reading this criticism, which bears evidence of sin 
 cerity all criticism is necessarily harsh, although it maybe 
 kindly meant and a full comprehension of Griswold s 
 real capacity as a critic, it is hard to believe that Poe did 
 request Griswold to become his literary executor. It will be 
 remembered that Poe spoke in the same way to others 
 during the time of his failing mentality. As he was leaving 
 New York on his last journey, in bidding farewell to Mrs. 
 Lewis at whose house he had spent the night, she reports 
 that Poe said : 
 
 You truly understand and appreciate me I have a presentiment 
 that I shall never see you again. I must leave today for Richmond. If 
 I never return, write my life. You can and will do me justice. 
 
 Griswold based his claim to appointment on the au- 
 
94 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 thority of "the family of S. D. Lewis, Esq.," declaring 
 that he had heard from them that such was Poe s request. 
 I quote from Woodberry whose account is noticeable be 
 cause of his remarkable industry in gathering up all that 
 concerns this controversy, and who states most of the 
 facts whether alleged by Poe s detractors or defenders, 
 although the latter are found principally in his "Notes." 
 Nor does Woodberry make any mention of the criticism on 
 the third edition of Griswold s "Poets of America", as pub 
 lished in the "Saturday Museum," and which had caused 
 Griswold s hostility to Poe, in spite of the former s attempt 
 to make Mrs. Clemm believe that his "assuming" the lit 
 erary executorship was an "act of duty and kindness." 
 Griswold in the preface to his "Memoir" denies enmity. 
 
 Both these writers John Neal following the author of the letter 
 signed George R. Graham not only assume what I have shown to 
 be false (that the remarks on Poe s character were written by me as 
 his executor), but that there was a long, intense, and implacable 
 enmity betwixt Poe and myself, which disqualified me for the office of 
 his biographer. This scarcely needs an answer after the poet s dying 
 request that I should be his editor ; but the manner in which it has been 
 urged, will, I trust, be a sufficient excuse for the following demonstra 
 tion of its absurdity. 
 
 Griswold quotes various letters, all referring to Poe s 
 literary work, which he had proposed to include in his 
 "Poets and Poetry of America," but the dates do not show 
 that these were written after the "Museum" article, and 
 Gill says that they were "emended." 
 
 Woodberry says : 
 
 Of these letters two originals only were among the Griswold Mss. 
 and both varied materially from the printed text ; but however garbled 
 the letters, the relation of the two men are plain. . . . These business 
 communications contain expressions of regard for Griswold s work 
 and apologetic expressions for censure, which may or may not be 
 garbled or interpolated. 
 
 Griswold made no attempt to conceal his real attitude 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 95 
 
 both to the memory of Poe and to Mrs. Clemm. In a letter 
 written to Mrs. Whitman soon after Poe s death, Griswold 
 does not hesitate to express himself fully : 
 
 I wrote, as you suppose, the notice of Poe in The Tribune , but 
 very hastily. / was not his friend, nor was he mine [italics are Gris- 
 wold s] as I remember to have told you. I undertook to edit his writ 
 ings to oblige Mrs. Clemm. ... I saw very little of Poe in his last 
 years. ... I cannot refrain from begging you to be very careful what 
 you say or write to Mrs. Clemm, who is not your friend, nor anybody s 
 friend, and who has no element of goodness or kindness in her nature, 
 but whose heart and understanding are full of malice and wickedness. 
 
 It was "to oblige Mrs. Clemm" that Griswold undertook 
 the editorship, when, by so doing, he had "to solicit the 
 indulgence of my publishers, who had many thousand 
 dollars invested in an unfinished work under my direc 
 tion." It is noticeable that Woodberry does not refer to 
 the personal hostility existing at that time; neither does he 
 more than mention the "Museum" article, nor does he 
 publish the letter which Griswold wrote Mrs. Whitman, 
 though all other recent biographers have quoted it. 
 
 It must have been some powerful reason that induced 
 Griswold to neglect his own work "involving thousands 
 of dollars," with whose safe keeping he was intrusted, 
 and to undertake this work of editing the writings of an 
 avowed enemy who had so bitterly excoriated him. It was 
 not for gain and it was not for love; nor was it "an act of 
 duty and kindness." It did result in Griswold "editing" 
 some of Poe s criticisms, even after they had been pub 
 lished, in the emending of others, and in the suppression of 
 his lecture on the "Poets and Poetry of America," as well 
 as in the omission of the article which had appeared in the 
 "Saturday Museum" and from which I have just quoted. 
 After reading that closing sentence, I cannot believe that 
 Poe "had long been in the habit of expressing a desire in 
 the event of his death that I should be his editor." To 
 avoid being pilloried for future generations, a less vain 
 
96 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 and self-seeking author would have desired the control and 
 ownership of such a publication. 
 
 Griswold s effort would have met with success had he 
 been able, when so fair an opportunity presented itself, 
 to have refrained from besmirching the memory of one of 
 whom he should have been considerate ; at least he might 
 have been forgotten, rather than have been placed in the 
 position of one who, "if he is spoken of hereafter, will be 
 quoted as the unfaithful servant who abused his trust." 
 Beyond all question, Poe s criticism warped the judgment 
 of Griswold. He was a Reverend, and possibly that kind of 
 a Christian who will receive an insult without openly 
 resenting it, and will "turn the other cheek" when 
 assaulted. A man who thus accepts an insult is to be feared 
 more than one who bravely stands forth, and hits back 
 with all the strength that is in him. A gentle answer never 
 turned away honest wrath and righteous indignation. I 
 am as fearful of such association as I was when, sleeping in 
 a cave of the Lava Beds, I found that a rattlesnake was 
 warming itself in my blankets. 
 
 Christian though Griswold was, and meek and lowly as 
 he may have appeared, he was not reputed to have been 
 forbearing or honest. Ingram states that he was discharged 
 from Graham s for "dishonesty", and that Thackeray 
 "detected him in deliberate lying." 
 
 Woodberry in his "Appendix" quotes Leland, an inti 
 mate friend and admirer of Griswold, who wrote of him : 
 
 To the end of his life I was always with him a privileged character 
 and could take, if I chose, the most extraordinary liberties, though he 
 was one of the most irritable and vindictive men I ever met if he 
 fancied he was in any way too familiarly treated. 
 
 Another probable reference to Griswold is found in the 
 "Six-penny Magazine," quoted by Woodberry. It referred 
 to an "excursion to Fordham to visit Poe." 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 97 
 
 Some sixteen years ago, I went on a little excursion with two 
 others one a reviewer, since dead, and the other a person who wrote 
 laudatory notices of books, and borrowed money or favours from their 
 flattered authors afterwards. He was called unscrupulous by some, 
 but he probably considered his method a delicate way of conferring 
 favour upon an author or of doing him justice without the disagree 
 able conditions of bargain and sale. It is certain that he lived better 
 and held his head higher than many who did more and better work. 
 
 Yet, in judging the man, we must understand the times. 
 It was not a period characterized by literary honesty, and 
 Poe s "quid pro quo," applied to Griswold, could have with 
 equal truth described the literary morals of many others. 
 It is known that Greeley used Griswold for "unholy" pur 
 poses. "Get a right notice in the Ledger if you can. But 
 pay for it rather than not get a good one." Another wrote : 
 "If you can get the accompanying notices published, one 
 in the North American and the other in the Evening Jour 
 nal without betraying it, do so. I shall cheerfully recip 
 rocate the favor." Woodberry adds: 
 
 Greeley s characterizations are the shrewdest in the volume 
 [referring to the papers Woodberry had been employed to edit] often 
 only hints, but effective, and to Griswold himself he sometimes uses a 
 tell-tale frankness : Now write me a few racy, spicy not personal, far 
 less malignant [evidently Greeley knew his capacity and recognized 
 his ability] depicting society and life in Philadelphia/ . . . Again, 
 The only principle I ever found you tenacious of is that of having 
 your pay at least as fast as you can earn it. There are several other 
 obiter dicta from different persons with regard to Griswold, who cer 
 tainly had unamiable traits and grave defects. 
 
 After all, it is possible that, in the beginning, Griswold 
 was only the good dog, the spaniel that fetched and carried 
 for Greeley. It is known that Greeley bore no love for Poe 
 and that, because Poe borrowed a small sum of money and 
 had not been able to return it, Greeley did not hesitate to 
 publicly brand him. Poe bitterly protested : 
 
 In the printed matter, I have underscored two passages. As re 
 gards the first : it alone would have sufficed to assure me that you did 
 
98 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 not write this article. I owe you money I have been ill, unfortunate, 
 no doubt weak, and yet am not able to refund the money but on this 
 ground you, Mr. Greeley, could never have accused me of being habit 
 ually unscrupulous in the fulfillment of my pecuniary obligations. The 
 charge is horribly false I have a hundred times left myself destitute of 
 bread, for myself and family, that I might discharge my debts. . . . 
 The second passage embodies a falsehood and therefore you did not 
 write it. I did not throw away the quill. I arose from a sick-bed 
 (although scarcely able to stand or see) and wrote. 
 
 It was Greeley who, according to his own report, ordered 
 Griswold to write the Ludwig article, and while he does 
 not specify the exact instructions he gave, it is entirely 
 possible, judging from his method of personal supervision 
 as detailed by Woodberry, that he fully indicated the 
 character of the obituary he desired for publication. It is 
 certain that he did not instruct Griswold to write one "not 
 personal far less malignant." 
 
 We learned by telegraph the fact of Poe s death at Baltimore, in 
 the afternoon following its occurrence and soon after, meeting Dr. 
 Griswold, and knowing his acquaintance with Poe, asked him to pre 
 pare some account of the deceased for the next morning s paper. He 
 immediately and hastily wrote in our presence his two columns or more. 
 
 This article, so written (the italics are Greeley s), might 
 have been a joint production, and over some of its passages 
 they might have chortled with glee. Zoologists tell us that 
 hyenas do utter sounds that resemble the human laugh. 
 
 Possibly undue space has been given to the personal 
 relations existing between Poe and Griswold, and perhaps 
 I have exhibited excessive warmth and have dwelt on this 
 controversy unjustifiably. 
 
 One cannot thoroughly investigate the facts as they 
 relate both to the genesis of this obituary and as to its 
 later elaboration into a memoir, knowing that many of 
 these assertions have as a foundation statements that are 
 fabrications, and that others, if true, have as a basis a 
 diseased brain and a disordered intellect, without some 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 99 
 
 manifestation of disgust; true or false they should not 
 have been inserted into a memoir prefacing Poe s works 
 
 . . . and which we think with Sir Thomas Browne should never be 
 recorded, being Verities whose truth we fear and heartily wish there 
 was no truth therein . . . whose relations honest minds deprecate. 
 
 I do not believe that Poe, either at that time or later,was 
 insane in the usually accepted sense. It is true that by 
 heredity he was abnormal. It is certain that he did not, in 
 the ordinary relations of life, always view things as the 
 normal individual does ; but just who is normal is a matter 
 difficult to decide. I have, in my time, met many men. I 
 have read the biographies and autobiographies of many 
 and know of some others by tradition. I have found no 
 man who ever freeiy confessed to evil doing, except pos 
 sibly poor Pepys ; or who would analyze himself, his daily 
 acts or the motives which underlie those acts, and tabu 
 late them as they should be tabulated in the moral code. 
 Even to themselves they misstate and hide, extenuate or 
 actually do not realize, as was the case with Rousseau, the 
 abnormalities which deform their inner lives. 
 
 rvotfi a avr&v is a Utopian concept impossible of literal 
 realization. 
 
 No man can know himself, nor can he fairly judge of his 
 own actions. Compulsions seem, at times, to be excellent 
 reasons : like the convex mirror the mind can not reflect the 
 image in its true proportions. Occasionally, Narcissus-like, 
 it becomes enamored of the picture reflected in its depths. 
 
 I know of but one man, and of him only by legend, who 
 led an unblemished and an absolutely moral life, pure in 
 thought and with no remembrance of any evil act, and 
 therefore without a realizing conscience. 
 
 There is one other man whom, for some sixty years, I 
 have known intimately, and whom for that reason, perhaps, 
 I judge leniently, who is under the conviction that his 
 every action is dominated by the highest principles only, 
 
100 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 and that the golden rule is his guide provided a few 
 occasional deviations are allowed proper explanation. 
 Nevertheless, even he finds that there are unplumbed 
 depths in the recesses of his secret soul that remain un 
 charted, and that unexpected mental reservations at times 
 deflect the pure ray of justice and righteousness so that it 
 does not always make luminous the hidden heart-spring of 
 action ; and that possibly certain inherited prejudices cling 
 to and distort a judgment otherwise absolutely free, un- 
 warped, and untrammeled. I also know very many men, 
 some in San Quentin and others who should be there, 
 equally convinced of the honesty of their motives and the 
 righteousness of their lives ; only some circumstance over 
 which they had no control, or a carping world and an over- 
 severe moral code, prevented them from being properly 
 understood and caused them to be misjudged. The fault 
 is with the world and not with themselves. Nature has 
 inoculated us with a moral serum which prevents us from 
 being poisoned by our own virus. The world is full of Holy 
 Willies : if we could see ourselves as other people sometimes 
 see us, it would be an unlivable world. Years of study and 
 observation have made me lenient in judging the faults 
 of those I know. Heredity is as responsible for our good 
 qualities and our successes as it is for the evil that is in 
 us, and our failures. 
 
 The world is a most uncharitable judge in awarding pun 
 ishments and rewards; it builds jails, poorhouses and asy 
 lums for those who fail because nature has handicapped 
 them in their life-race, while it praises and honors those 
 who succeed because they are bountifully endowed. We 
 know, further, that great genius such as Poe inherited is 
 always accompanied and can be seriously modified by a 
 neurosis that may end in moral or mental degeneration. 
 
 In recent years many books have been written on the 
 relation existing between genius and insanity, and The 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 101 
 
 Insanity of Genius" has become a familiar theme because 
 so many "psychologists" and pseudo-scientists have en 
 deavored to point out a close relationship. In the popu 
 lar estimation, their claims seem to have established 
 genius and insanity as mental states almost identical. 
 
 Alienists resent this loose classification and, while they 
 recognize a pathological basis for both insanity and genius, 
 which bear some relation to each other because they both 
 belong to the same great family group, in the practical 
 application of this theoretical association there is, separat 
 ing them, a chasm as deep as our Grand Canyon and as 
 broad as the Painted Desert. We differentiate them as dis 
 tinctly as we do the cerulean water of Tahoe or the Dolo 
 mite lakes from the muddy streams that mark the workings 
 of our placer mines. Neither is crystal clear. 
 
 Insanity chooses for its victims not the highly intelli 
 gent, nor the genius, but rather the subnormal and "the 
 unwashed." Overstudy is the most frequently alleged yet 
 the most infrequent cause of insanity. I have examined, 
 studied and * psychologized many thousands of insane per 
 sons and I have access to the records of a hundred thous 
 and, but nowhere have I found even a normal proportion 
 between the educated and the uneducated. Personally I 
 know a few men of genius whom I denominate cranks, but 
 I surely do not regard them as insane. Only rarely do they 
 pass this line of demarkation and develop such delusions as 
 constitute insanity. I have studied the life histories of the 
 many great writers and artists who have been recklessly 
 included in this classification. Only occasionally can the 
 charge of insanity be justly made : there are found very 
 many eccentricities, abnormalities, compulsions and obses 
 sions which, to the psychologist, are exceedingly interesting 
 as exhibiting mental greatness, as well as mental weakness. 
 Often do we find the two combined so wonderfully as to 
 excite our comment even to the extent of insisting that 
 

 102 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 they are unsound but this charge of unsoundness by no 
 means can be considered tantamount to insanity. 
 
 Genius rarely runs amuck. 
 
 The assertion has been made that alienists regard all the 
 world as insane. This is true in the sense that there is no in 
 dividual without peculiarities. While this does not mean 
 that the whole world is insane, it does mean that no human 
 being lives who, when weighed, will not be found wanting 
 in some normal quality or attribute; and who will not 
 show a mental peculiarity in some special thing or way. 
 Emeralds that are without flaw are regarded by lapidaries 
 with suspicion, for none are found in nature : they can only 
 appear perfect when synthetically manufactured. It must 
 be understood that mental peculiarities and moral idio 
 syncrasies, do not constitute insanity: only because we 
 regard these deviations from the normal as hereditary and 
 often impossible to overcome, are they classed in the 
 group of the Unsound. In other words we are willing to 
 regard these peculiariities as abnormalities with which 
 nature has afflicted us ; not as crimes for which its possessor 
 should be held responsible. 
 
 In the case of Poe, not only were the degenerative 
 changes that time brings added to hereditary peculiar 
 ities, but alcohol had hastened this degeneration until a 
 time came when, even without its use, abnormal mental 
 states were of frequent occurrence. Poe realized the fate 
 that awaited him, and saw the "dragon at the bottom of 
 the well." Mrs. Whitman repeats a confession of his which 
 gives us the key : 
 
 I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I some 
 times so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that 
 I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been a desperate 
 attempt to escape from torturing memories. 
 
 If there were "memories," they were of pre-natal inheri 
 tance. Poe was not an alienist who could make a differen- 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 103 
 
 tial diagnosis between melancholy and melancholia. He 
 suffered, he knew not why. That he could not overcome 
 his morbid inheritance is not a matter for blame. He made 
 repeated and heroic struggles against the evil that ob 
 sessed him. He manfully resisted the alcoholic craving and 
 it left him for long periods of time, as is the law of this 
 disease ; when it did overwhelm him, there was no denying 
 the demand it made. 
 
 It must be remembered that in the life history of those 
 who suffer from dipsomania, in addition to the craving for 
 alcohol there are periods both of elation and depression. 
 Often visionary schemes are undertaken without cor 
 responding capacity or understanding of their real difficul 
 ties or impracticabilities. This is probably the explanation 
 of Poe s determination to found a journal for the utterance 
 of his individual opinions. He had failed in every journal 
 istic attempt that required concentrated and long-con 
 tinued effort. He had found by many bitter experiences 
 that he could not continue for any long period of time with 
 out an intercurrent attack of his hereditary malady which 
 would incapacitate him for weeks or months; yet, to the 
 very last, this idea of founding a magazine "for freer ex 
 pression" and on what magazine did he work that he did 
 not express his individual opinions? haunted him. After 
 editing the leading journals of Philadelphia and New York, 
 it was tempting the risibilities to attempt the establish 
 ment of a "Literary Arbiter" at Oquakwa, in the then un 
 settled state of Illinois. 
 
 Other, and the best, evidences of the abnormal mental 
 condition that was developing, were the facts that led to 
 the composition and publication of his last work, "Eureka, 
 A Prose Poem." Let us study the matter of this work as 
 well as the manner. He prefaces it : 
 
 To the few who love me and whom I love to those who feel 
 rather than to those who think to the dreamers and those who put 
 
104 POE. A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 faith in dreams as in the only realities I offer this Book of Truths, 
 not in its character of Truth-Teller, but for the Beauty that abounds 
 in its Truth ; constituting it true. To these I present the composition as 
 an Art-Product alone : let us say as a Romance; or, if I be not urging 
 too lofty a claim, as a Poem. What I here propound is true: therefore 
 it cannot die: or if by any means it be now trodden down so that it 
 die, it will Vise again to the Life Everlasting. Nevertheless it is as a 
 Poem only I wish this work to be judged after I am dead. 
 
 E. A. P. 
 It is related of him: 
 
 During the last years of his unhappy life, whenever he yielded to 
 the temptation that was drawing him to the fathomless abyss, as with 
 the resistless swirl of the maelstrom, he always lost himself in sublime 
 rhapsodies of the evolution of the universe, speaking as if from some 
 imaginary platform to a vast audience of rapt and attentive listeners. 
 
 Harrison considers it : 
 
 an astounding circumstance that a mind so apparently wrecked as 
 Poe s was all through the weary months of 1847 months hyphened 
 together by unalterable gloom from the death of Virginia, in January, 
 to the apparition on the December horizon of the fantastic flame of 
 Ulalume could have recovered vitality or even vivacity enough to 
 meditate on the deep themes of Eureka, of the cosmogony of the Uni 
 verse, of the destiny of the human soul and the fate of the circum 
 ambient matter; but so it was. 
 
 Poe s argumentative faculty attained perhaps its highest expres 
 sion in Eureka; the theme, in itself so abstract, so transcendental, 
 burns and glows with a concrete radiance that seems to convince the 
 reader that it is the true light, and not quagmire phosphorescence; 
 the suppleness of the Poet s tongue never abandons him as he climbs 
 the empyrean in his Excelsior flights and forces one stronghold after 
 another of retreating Deity, talking volubly of Newton, Kepler, and 
 La Place the while, until at last Eureka! bursts from his lips and he 
 fancies he has found the Eternal. 
 
 Having worked the book out through the long and hollow hours of 
 1847 he was ready with it as a lecture in the early months of 1848. 
 His hope was to rent a hall and secure an audience of three or four 
 hundred persons who would pay him sufficiently to start on a lecturing 
 tour in the interests of the Stylus which now again sweeps up to the 
 surface like the drowned face of Delacroix s maiden. Instead of three 
 or four hundred, sixty persons assembled in the hall of the Society Li- 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 105 
 
 brary, New York, and shivered through three hours of a bleak Febru 
 ary night, listening, as one of them reported, to a rhapsody of the 
 most intense brilliancy. Poe appeared inspired, and his inspiration 
 affected the scant audience almost painfully. His eyes seemed to glow 
 like those of his own Raven. . . . Not disheartened at his poor success 
 nor at the absurdly caricatured accounts of the lecture in the public 
 prints, Poe went bravely to work and wrote out the theory in book 
 form, offering it, with flashing eyes and exuberant enthusiasm to Mr. 
 Putnam. ... He suggested an edition of 50,000; Mr. Putnam lis 
 tened attentively, and ventured on an edition of 500. 
 
 The mere fact that Poe left the field of literature to un 
 dertake scientific researches, or that he believed he had 
 established a new theory of the universe does not, of itself, 
 evidence an unsound mind; nor do extravagant and ill 
 understood deductions necessarily indicate a developing 
 mental disease. It is a matter often experienced that, 
 among normal men, dissatisfaction arises with their occu - 
 pation or profession, even when success has attended their 
 efforts, and that many literary and scientific men reach forth 
 into new and strange domains. Goethe was not satisfied 
 with his great poetical reputation but insisted on being 
 regarded as a man of science: he wrote a book "Farben- 
 lehre" in his effort to disprove Newton s Theory of Col 
 ors/ This book demonstrated that he was not familiar 
 with the elementary principles of light, and because of this 
 theory he was derided for his scientific pretensions, although 
 his researches in comparative anatomy, in conjunction with 
 Oken, had demonstrated that the cranium was composed 
 of consolidated vertebrae, and thus scientifically estab 
 lished brain evolution from original spinal centers. 
 
 Cruikshank, in his old age, was vociferous in asserting 
 his right to be considered the author of "Oliver Twist," 
 because he had suggested to Dickens certain illustrations 
 for that work : his great reputation as a caricaturist did not 
 satisfy him. Even Tennyson made a failure of "Queen 
 Mary," and other attempts at dramatic composition, a 
 
106 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 thing in which, it is said, he believed that he excelled; 
 while Longfellow committed the unpardonable sin of writ 
 ing "Kavanagh." 
 
 George Eliot s, Emerson s and Lowell s essays in the 
 field of poetry are sad commentaries on their capacity to 
 judge of their limitations. None of these should be harshly 
 criticized because they failed to estimate properly their 
 own powers. 
 
 Nor can all enthusiasts be classed among the abnormal, 
 even if they go to the extent of unduly dwelling on some 
 abstruse problem, or attempt to solve some riddle that is 
 regarded as unsolvable. Men perfectly sane have at 
 tempted to square a circle, and many perpetual motion 
 machines are now attic ornaments. Men, such as were those 
 who sought the secret that would give them everlasting life, 
 are now devoting their superabundant energy to newer 
 fads, and are devotees of some recent cult. There are too 
 many Christian Scientists, and Oliver Lodgists, and others 
 of the Religionists, for us to be able to draw a distinct 
 line between those merely credulous and the mentally 
 unsound; and there are too many pretenders in medical, 
 astronomical and the physical sciences for us to say who 
 is the Great Discoverer and who is the self-deceived. 
 Knowledge is, at best, a chimera : and all who seek must 
 base their findings on a theory that future investigators 
 are sure to question. Some Einstein may yet upset our 
 most definitely established natural laws. 
 
 That we may only approximate knowledge of the Su 
 preme Cause need not make us reject all guesses ; nor, with 
 Bacon, put the jeering question in the mouth of the smiling 
 Pilate. Philosophers have long sought the key-stone of 
 some definite Truth by which to support their contentions ; 
 but, so far, not one has been found. The most plausible 
 theories have a weakest link. 
 
 While such speculations as engaged the attention of Poe 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 107 
 
 need not arouse suspicion as to the soundness of his 
 mind, they were the forerunner of other and more serious 
 vagaries. Had he, even in these last few years when he 
 seemed most normal, been aroused by an inquiry as to cos 
 mogony, again would his eyes have flashed, his congested 
 brain would have become turgid with blood, and there 
 might have come a morbid mental reaction as pronounced 
 as the "single glass" could have produced. Poe s power of 
 definitely expressing his thoughts might have been swept 
 away by the vehemence of his utterance ; appearing con 
 fused only because the ideas gushed forth so teemingly. 
 For this reason, the apparent incoherence would have 
 been only an evidence of over-active brain functioning. 
 Woodberry, in his "Notes," gives several examples of this 
 condition occurring in the last few months of Poe s life, 
 when he recited for bar-room roysterers his own and other 
 notable poems. It was not a hectoring drunkard engaged 
 in saloon brawls, haranguing a throng of grinning auditors : 
 it was an organically brain-diseased patient, whose friends 
 did not realize the necessity of permanently secluding him. 
 Most emphatically it was not a moral lapse, nor the result 
 of vicious living : nor should his life be cited as "full of in 
 struction and warning," nor should he pay "the penalty of 
 wrong doing that its anatomy should be displayed for the 
 common study and advantage." 
 
 Poe was not a man of scientific training, nor was he a 
 classical scholar, in spite of the display of both scientific 
 and classical knowledge in much that he wrote. 
 
 When he fathered Brown s "Conchology" it was not for 
 scientific reasons, but in the preparation of "Eureka" he 
 was in deadly earnest ; and while neither the matter nor the 
 effort arouses suspicion, yet the manner and the circum 
 stances under which it was produced are the best evidence 
 that it was the result of his failing intellect. It was at this 
 time Harrison describes his condition such : 
 
108 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 He found it impossible to sleep without the presence of some 
 friend by his bedside. Mrs. Clemm, his ever devoted friend and com 
 forter, more frequently fulfilled the office of watcher. The poet, after 
 retiring, would summon her, and while she stroked his broad brow, he 
 would indulge his wild flights of fancy to the Aidenn of his dreams. He 
 never spoke nor moved in these moments, unless the hand was with 
 drawn from his forehead; then he would say, with childish naivete, 
 No, no, not yet! while he lay with half-closed eyes. 
 
 Woodberry reports a statement of Mrs. Clemm : 
 
 He never liked to be alone, and I used to sit up with him, often till 
 four o clock in the morning, he at his desk, writing, and I dozing in my 
 chair. When he was composing Eureka, we used to walk up and down 
 the garden, his arm around me, mine around him, until I was so tired I 
 could not walk. He would stop every few minutes and explain his ideas 
 to me, and ask if I understood him. 
 
 In the preparation of "Eureka," and in the earnestness 
 with which Poe advanced the most abstruse and incompre 
 hensible theories, as if they were axioms and in themselves 
 bore irrefutable evidence of truth ; in his belief that his repu 
 tation would be founded, not on his tales, nor on his poetry 
 which, to the last, he affected to regard as trifles, but on the 
 demonstrated facts contained in this epoch making book, 
 lie the proofs of his morbid state. Apparently he believed 
 that this discovery would be the foundation on which the 
 world would erect his cenotaph, and that the subject "was 
 of momentous interest," and that the truths which he 
 disclosed "were of more consequence than the theory of 
 gravitation." Later he wrote a letter in answer to a criti 
 cism of Eureka, in which he stated : 
 
 The ground covered by La Place compares with that covered by 
 my own theory, as a bubble with the ocean on which it floats. 
 
 Poe believed that he had solved the riddle of the uni 
 verse. He criticized Kepler, La Place and Newton ; at the 
 same time his statements showed that he possessed only 
 a smattering of their theories. 
 
 Woodberry concludes his full review : 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 109 
 
 Eureka affords one of the most striking instances in literature of a 
 naturally strong intellect tempted by overweening pride, to an Icarian 
 flight, and betrayed into an ignoble exposure of its own presumption 
 and ignorance. 
 
 He further states : 
 
 Nor, were Eureka to be judged as a poem, that is to say as a fic 
 titious cosmogony, would the decision be more favorable ; even then so 
 far as it is obscure to the reader it must be pronounced defective ; so 
 far as it is understood, involving as it does in its primary conceptions 
 incessant contradictions of the necessary laws of thought, it must be 
 pronounced meaningless. Poe believed himself to be that extinct being, 
 a universal genius of the highest order; and he wrote this essay to 
 prove his powers in philosophy and in science. To the correspondent 
 to whom he sent the addenda he declared As to the lecture, I am very 
 quiet about it but if you have dealt with such topics, you will recog 
 nize the novelty and moment of my views. What I have propounded 
 will (in good time) revolutionize the world of Physical and Metaphysi 
 cal science. I say this calmly, but I say it. 
 
 None of his biographers saw in this book a pitiful exhi 
 bition of a decaying intellect no longer under the domina 
 tion of a strong and directing intelligence. 
 
 And travelers now within that valley, 
 Through the red-littened windows, see 
 Vast forms that move fantastically 
 To a discordant melody. 
 
 And we find him a paranoid vociferously voicing unintel 
 ligible hypotheses based on misconception and ignorance 
 of natural laws. 
 
 Poe s abnormality consisted not in theorizing and at 
 tempting to explain things unexplainable, for this is a 
 matter of daily occurrence even among the normal, but in 
 his inability to understand the basic absurdities and false 
 reasoning on which his beliefs were founded. An insane 
 man may be the most logical of all logicians, provided you 
 grant his premises. The untenableness of these, out of 
 which he cannot be reasoned, constitutes his insanity. 
 
 It was during this time that Poe described himself: 
 
110 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 I became insane, with long periods of horrible sanity. During these 
 fits of absolute unconsciousness I drank. God only knows how much or 
 how long. As a matter of course my enemies referred the insanity to 
 the drink rather than the drink to the insanity. 
 
 Poe produced nothing after the year 1845, when he was 
 thirty-four years of age, which materially added to his lit 
 erary reputation; yet one contributor to his Baltimore 
 Memorial, naively lamenting his death, said: 
 
 But the tragedy of Poe s death is too deep for words of mine. He 
 was only thirty-nine years old. His best work ought to have been be 
 fore him. Who can compute the loss to our literature by his untimely 
 death? 
 
 We know that, as the cells that line the leaves, and that 
 boil down and prepare for absorption the raw juices ex 
 tracted from the ground by the roots, slowly fill with cal 
 careous incrustations, so do the arteries of the human 
 brain harden, and the cells cease actively to function, or 
 are absorbed. We call this process arterio-sclerosis and 
 its result is old age which, in some, is delayed; to others it 
 comes comparatively early in life. For this reason it is dif 
 ficult to judge a man s age by the number of years he has 
 lived. From this comes the axiomatic deduction, "a man 
 is only as old as his arteries." This so-called "hardening of 
 the arteries" begins, in all of us, soon after reaching middle 
 life: it becomes a disease only when unduly hastened. 
 
 Another manifestation of Poe s abnormal mental state 
 during the last few years of his life was the platonic love he 
 exhibited for the women with whom he associated. Though 
 it is certain that Poe did love his wife, it was not after the 
 manner of the cave man. She was an invalid, slowly dy 
 ing of consumption and, for many years, Poe attended her, 
 nursed her, and was not only a devoted, but a faithful hus 
 band. Mrs. Weiss has strongly dwelt on the nature of the re 
 lation that existed between Poe and his wife. She insists that 
 the marriage was one of convenience, not love, and that it 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 111 
 
 was to Mrs. Clemm rather than to the daughter that Poe 
 turned for intellectual sympathy. Apparently neither 
 could greatly have aided him by literary companionship. 
 Mrs. Phelps, in an article quoted by Woodberry, amplifies 
 Mrs. Weiss suggestion: 
 
 Mrs. Clemm, his aunt, was my mother s dear friend. I know some 
 thing about that [this marriage], having heard my mother and Mrs. 
 Clemm discuss it. He did not love his cousin, except as a dear cousin, 
 when he married her, but she was very fondly attached to him and was 
 frail and consumptive. While she lived he devoted himself to her with 
 all the ardor of a lover. 
 
 In all the years of their married life and until a short 
 time preceding her death, no breath of scandal ever 
 touched Poe s name, in spite of the uncanny attraction it 
 is known that he exercised over women, and which later 
 resulted in so many complications. Had there been, even 
 secretly, a history of this kind there could have been no 
 such devotion and tender solicitude for him as was shown 
 by his wife s mother ; a bond that death itself could not 
 sever. 
 
 Yet, even before his wife died, at least platonic love in 
 which few men believe and which nevertheless may salve 
 the conscience of trusting woman, asserted itself. 
 
 Early in 1845 he had formed such an attachment with Mrs. 
 Frances Sargent Osgood, a poetess of thirty and the wife of an Ameri 
 can artist. . . . Poe had noticed her verses with great favor, and in 
 his New York lecture, in February, especially eulogized her in warm 
 terms. Shortly after this latter incident Willis one day handed her The 
 Raven, with the author s request for her judgment on it, and for an 
 introduction to herself. 
 
 Mrs. Osgood s own impression of Poe is given as follows : 
 
 I shall never forget the morning I was summoned to the drawing 
 room to receive him. With his proud and beautiful head erect, his dark 
 eyes flashing with the electric light of feeling and of thought, a peculiar, 
 an inimitable blending of sweetness and hauteur in his manner and ex 
 pression, he greeted me, calmly, gravely, almost coldly, yet with so 
 marked an earnestness that I could not help being impressed by it. 
 
112 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Again she says : 
 
 I never thought of him till he sent me his Raven, and asked Willis 
 to introduce him to me, and immediately after I went to Albany, and 
 afterwards to Boston and Providence to avoid him, and he followed 
 me to each of those places and wrote to me, imploring me to love him, 
 many a letter which I did not reply to till his wife added her entreaties 
 to his and said that I might save him from infamy, and her from death, 
 by showing an affectionate interest in him. 
 
 These and other statements were made by Mrs. Osgood 
 in an account of Poe written after his death. She sums 
 up her review as follows: 
 
 But it was in his conversations and his letters, far more than in 
 his published poetry and prose writings, that the genius of Poe was 
 most gloriously revealed. His letters were divinely beautiful, and 
 for hours I have listened to him, entranced by strains of such pure 
 and almost celestial eloquence as I have never read or heard else 
 where. Alas! in the thrilling words of Stoddard, 
 
 He might have soared in the morning light, 
 
 But he built his nest with the birds of night! 
 
 But he lies in dust, and the stone is rolled 
 
 Over the sepulchre dim and cold ; 
 
 He has cancelled all he has done or said, 
 
 And gone to the dear and holy dead. 
 
 Let us forget the path he trod, 
 
 And leave him now, to his Maker, God. 
 
 It was this most cherished friendship that induced a 
 delegation of women, headed by Margaret Fuller, to make 
 a formal protest. A letter was found by a woman who 
 was visiting the Poe household and, in a jealous rage, 
 she circulated stories that seriously reflected on Mrs. Os 
 good. Apparently she also had written Poe compromis 
 ing letters and, when he knew of her activities, he threat 
 ened, in revenge, to make these letters public. It was on 
 this woman s assertions that English and Griswold based 
 their charge of blackmail, for which Poe brought and 
 won a suit for defamation of character. Undoubtedly 
 Poe s abnormal condition, even at that time, was known 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 113 
 
 and understood by his immediate family otherwise it is 
 not possible for such association to have been carried on 
 with the knowledge and consent of his wife and, neces 
 sarily, of Mrs. Clemm. 
 
 Soon after Mrs. Poe s death, and while Poe was conva 
 lescing from a long and serious illness which had mentally 
 incapacitated him, there was another platonic adventure. 
 This time it was with Mrs. Shew, a family friend older 
 than himself, who was nursing him and had been most 
 considerate in looking after the financial needs of the fam 
 ily. His irresponsible condition was realized and, there 
 fore, no particular attention was paid to the matter 
 further than that it necessitated a severance of personal 
 intercourse. 
 
 Mrs. Shew finding that her protege was too irresponsible and ro 
 mantic to be allowed freedom as he had been accustomed to, broke off 
 the acquaintance. The consequence which, although he had foreseen 
 it, must in his state of health have been the sudden and complete cessa 
 tion of intercourse between the two families. 
 
 It is certain that both Mrs. Clemm and Mrs. Shew re 
 garded this merely as a manifestation of Poe s mental 
 state; the mother-love was not abated and Mrs. Shew con 
 tinued her friendly ministrations from a distance. 
 
 Poe wrote her a long and rambling letter, maudlin and 
 incoherent, and not such as a normal Poe would have 
 written : 
 
 Are you to vanish like all that I love, or desire, from my darkened 
 and lost soul ? I have read over your letter again and again, and can 
 not make it possible with any degree of certainty, that you wrote it in 
 your right mind. . . . 
 
 Your ingenuous and sympathetic nature will be constantly 
 wounded by its contact with the hollow, heartless world ; and for me, 
 alas! unless some true and tender, and pure womanly love saves me, I 
 shall hardly last a year longer alive. . . . Why turn your soul from its 
 true work for the desolate to the thankless and miserly world? ... I 
 felt my heart stop, and I was sure I was then to die before your eyes. 
 
114 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Louise, it is well it is fortunate you looked up with a tear in your 
 dear eyes, and raised the window, and talked of the guava jelly you 
 had brought for my sore throat. 
 
 Almost as absurd was the passion Poe developed for 
 Mrs. Whitman, the poetess, a widow some six years older 
 than himself. This passion was taken far more seriously, 
 for she responded to the call. Griswold related, with great 
 detail, many things that bore on this courtship; but, as 
 usual, the facts were distorted and his conclusions were 
 absolutely denied by Mrs. Whitman. It is impossible to 
 doubt the truth either of Mrs. Whitman s statements or 
 her knowledge of the facts which Griswold alleged occurred 
 in her own home; and, inasmuch as they were true, noth 
 ing could more seriously reflect on Griswold s honor or the 
 veracity of his memoir. 
 
 That Poe was at times abnormal Mrs. Whitman does 
 not deny, and it was her realization of this fact that pre 
 vented the marriage. His actions were simply the result of 
 an unbalanced mind, craving love and sympathy, yet 
 unable to control and govern itself; drifting into danger 
 ous waters without pilot or rudder. 
 
 Poe again fell in love and proposed marriage, this time 
 to a boyhood friend ; but her picture, as reproduced by 
 Woodberry, renders further proof unnecessary that, when 
 Poe proposed marriage, he was irresponsible. With still 
 another he was more sinned against than sinning. 
 
 All commentators on the writings of Poe have called 
 special attention to the small part love plays in any of his 
 stories, and to the fact that nowhere, and on no occasion 
 does he mention woman without due reverence: as if she 
 belonged to a separate and special class which she does 
 entirely separate from the Genus Homo, with his vigorous 
 strength, his dominating personality, and his rude and 
 overpowering passions. May it be long before the two 
 sexes do reach the plane of equality on such a basis! 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 115 
 
 Apparently there was only one woman outside his wife 
 to whom Poe was attracted or on whom he leaned. It was 
 of her he thought in the dark days when his desolate and 
 hungry heart demanded "surcease from sorrow." This was 
 neither Mrs. Shew, nor was it Mrs. Osgood; it was not 
 Mrs. Whitman nor yet was it Mrs. Shelton. It was 
 Annie, "my beloved sister" as he was pleased to call her, 
 and I believe that his other infatuations, as well as his 
 peculiar treatment of Mrs. Whitman, were merely the 
 result of his disordered fancy. 
 
 If Poe ever loved any woman, as contradistinguished 
 from women, it was "Annie." She appealed to him in the 
 only way a woman can properly appeal to a man. Love, 
 with a foundation of respect, can never be destroyed. 
 
 It was to "Annie" Poe s heart turned in his darkest days 
 and, when the melancholy night forced on him the urge 
 of death as the only release from his overpowering depres 
 sion, it was of "Annie" he thought, and to whom in his 
 agony he wrote the farewell letter. 
 
 He described her in Lander s cottage which, in one of his 
 letters, he said, contained "something about Annie": 
 
 Instantly a figure advanced to the threshold that of a young wo 
 man, slender, or rather slight, and somewhat above the medium 
 height. As she approached, with a certain modest decision of step al 
 together indescribable, I said to myself, Surely here I have found the 
 perfection of natural in contradistinction from artificial grace. The 
 second impression which she made on me, but by far the more vivid of 
 the two, was that of enthusiasm. So intense an expression of romance, 
 perhaps I should call it, or of unworldliness, as that which gleamed 
 from her deep-set eyes, had never so sunk into my heart of hearts be 
 fore. I know not how it is, but this peculiar expression of the eye, 
 wreathing itself occasionally into the lips, is the most powerful, if not 
 absolutely the sole spell, which rivets my interest in woman. .Ro 
 mance, provided my readers fully comprehend what I would here 
 imply by the word romance and womanliness seem to me conver 
 tible terms: and, after all, what man truly loves in woman, is, simply, 
 her womanhood. The eyes of Annie (I heard someone from the interior 
 
116 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 call her Annie, darling! ) were spiritual gray ; her hair, a light chest 
 nut : this is all I had time to observe of her. 
 
 It was "For Annie" that one of his most remarkable 
 Stedman names it the finest, and I know no better Poe 
 authority poems was written and to her he consecrates 
 his eternal love: 
 
 And so it lies happily, 
 
 Bathing in many 
 A dream of the truth 
 
 And the beauty of Annie 
 Drowned in a bath 
 
 Of the tresses of Annie. 
 
 She tenderly kissed me, 
 
 She fondly caressed, 
 And then I fell gently 
 
 To sleep on her breast. 
 Deeply to sleep 
 
 From the heaven of her breast. 
 
 And I rest so contentedly, 
 
 Now in my bed 
 (With her love at my breast) 
 
 That you fancy me dead 
 That you shudder to look at me, 
 
 Thinking me dead : 
 
 But my heart it is brighter 
 
 Than all of the many 
 Stars in the sky, 
 
 For it sparkles with Annie 
 It glows with the light 
 
 Of the love of my Annie 
 With the thought of the light 
 
 Of the eyes of my Annie. 
 
 Although Poe s reputation had so greatly grown that all 
 magazines and periodicals were opened to him at remuner 
 ative prices, he delayed publishing his magnum opus, and 
 was contented with a few reviews and descriptive stories. 
 He wrote : 
 
 I am so busy now, and feel so full of energy. Engagements to write 
 are pouring in upon me every day. I had two proposals last week from 
 Boston. I sent yesterday a contribution to the American Review 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 117 
 
 about Critics and Criticism. Not long ago I sent one to the Metro 
 politan called Landors Cottage : it has something about Annie in it, 
 and will appear, I suppose, in the March number. To the So. Lit. 
 Messenger I have sent fifty pages of Marginalia, five pages to 
 appear each month of the current year. I have also made permanent 
 engagements with every magazine in America (except Peterson s 
 National ) including a Cincinnati magazine, called the Gentle 
 man s . 
 
 While these statements may in a way be regarded as 
 "expansive," and are characteristic of those alternating 
 states of exaltation and depression from which Poe suf 
 fered, there was truth in them. 
 
 Poe did not realize that his opportunity had come too 
 late, and that he no longer had the capacity to deliver. 
 The Landor Cottage and its near relation, The Domain of 
 Arnheim, are the best works of this period. Poe, mentally 
 diseased, was more capable of such descriptive work than 
 any of his contempararies, normal. 
 
 Poe s apparent return to health and his prospect of com 
 ing independence were not of long duration. Early in 1849 
 he relapsed. 
 
 Mrs. Clemm wrote : 
 
 I thought he would die several times. God knows I wish we were 
 both dead and in our graves. It would I am sure be far better. 
 
 Poe wrote to Mrs. Whitman : 
 
 My sadness is unaccountable, and this makes me the more sad. I 
 am full of forebodings. Nothing cheers or comforts me. My life seems 
 wasted the future looks a dreary blank. 
 
 This letter contains a possible key to the "solution" of 
 Poe s personal equation. It is as typical as the one quoted 
 just before it of his abnormal mental state. 
 
 Poe again had visions of a new magazine and, this time, 
 it was with a man from Oquawka. Actual business ar 
 rangements were entered into and money was advanced 
 for its publication. In an effort to raise funds for his share 
 
118 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 in this enterprise, Poe undertook a lecture tour ; but his 
 departure from Fordham was delayed by a serious attack 
 of depression which temporarily unfitted him for all 
 attempts of a literary character. Either he had a presenti 
 ment, or his own condition was such that he believed 
 death was near. 
 
 It was at this time that Poe is said to have asked Mrs. 
 Lewis to write his memoir. In his morbid, and occasionally 
 maudlin, condition, he might have made this request 
 many times and of many people. 
 
 Although Mrs. Lewis is named as one of Poe s friends 
 who gave him aid and comfort in his time of trouble, I 
 seriously question whether or not it was a pose. There is 
 reason to believe that her friendship was rather due to 
 Poe s literary standing, the favors she had received 
 from him and the assistance that she expected in further 
 ing her literary pretensions, than to any genuine friend 
 ship. 
 
 There are certain letters on record which give me the 
 right to make this deduction. The first was written by Poe 
 to Griswold and is a plea for a more lenient, or a more lib 
 eral judgment of Mrs. Lewis, in his "Female Poets of 
 America." 
 
 Since I have more critically examined your Female Poets/ it oc 
 curs to me that you have not quite done justice to our common friend, 
 Mrs. Lewis ; and if you would oblige me so far as to substitute, for your 
 no doubt hurried notice, a somewhat longer one prepared by myself, I 
 would reciprocate the favor when, where, and as you please. 
 
 The italicised as makes it evident that Poe was prepared 
 to pay in whatever coin Griswold might demand. Poe had 
 no money but he did have a remarkably vigorous pen. 
 Those were queer times and we cannot always believe 
 everything we read: in the case of Poe the remarkable 
 thing was that sooner or later his critical judgment asserted 
 itself, and he made plain his genuine estimate. Both Poe 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 119 
 
 and Griswold were worth cultivating by any lady with 
 literary aspirations. 
 
 It is on record that Poe wrote Thomas : 
 
 You would oblige me very especially if you would squeeze in what 
 follows, editorially. The lady (Mrs. Lewis) spoken of, is a most par 
 ticular friend of mine, and deserves all I have said of her. I will recip 
 rocate the favor I ask, whenever you say the word and show me how. 
 
 It has been said that it was of this lady s poems that 
 Poe, when asked to review them, "simply remarked that if 
 he reviewed her rubbish it would kill him." 
 
 This, like many other alleged side-remarks attributed to 
 Poe, is apocryphal. Harrison quotes Poe as writing: 
 
 Mrs. Lewis is, perhaps, the best educated, if not the most accom 
 plished of American authoresses. . . . She is not only cultivated as 
 respects the usual ornaments of her sex, but excels as a modern lin 
 guist, and very especially as a classical scholar; while her scientific 
 acquisitions are of no common order. 
 
 After Poe s death and the appearance of the Ludwig 
 article with the "Memoir containing a letter Poe had 
 written to Griswold in which this lady s name was men 
 tioned not a nice thing for Griswold to have done Mrs. 
 Lewis wrote Griswold : 
 
 Nothing has ever given me so much insight into Mr. Poe s real 
 character as his letters to you, which are published in this third volume. 
 They will not fail to convince the public of the injustice of Graham 
 and Neal s articles. I was astonished at the part of P. s Note, where he 
 says But I have promised Mrs. L. this. I will explain. Mrs. Qlemm] 
 said to me on one of her visits, Dr. G[riswold] has been at Fordham. 
 He came to see Eddie about you. Something about the new edition of 
 "The Female Poets." But you are not to know anything about it. 
 Mr. P. never mentioned the subject to me, or I to him. He only sent 
 to me for my latest poems, saying that you were going to increase or 
 rewrite the Sketch for a new edition of The Female Poets. 
 
 Such a return for such a kindly meant act of Poe by such 
 a woman! It is to be hoped that she so placated Griswold 
 that he did amplify her "Sketch, 1 even though she comes 
 
120 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 down to us not because she appeared among the "Female 
 Poets, but because all biographers have included her as one 
 of Poe s friends and as his benefactress. This letter has not 
 been commented on by any of Poe s biographers, although 
 Woodbury refers to it in his "Notes". 
 
 Poe abandoned his home at Fordham and spent his last 
 night in New York at the home of Mrs. Lewis. She thus 
 describes his condition : 
 
 He seemed very sad and retired early. On leaving next morning, 
 he took my hands in his and, looking into my face said, Dear Stella, 
 my much beloved friend, you truly understand and appreciate me. I 
 have a presentiment that I never shall see you again. I must leave 
 today for Richmond. If I never return write my life. You can and will 
 do me justice. 
 
 From New York Poe took a boat for Philadelphia, and, 
 for the last time, saw Mrs. Clemm. She thus registers his 
 farewell promise: 
 
 God bless you, my own darling mother. Do not fear for your Eddy. 
 See how good I will be while I am away from you, and will come back 
 to love and comfort you. 
 
 Two days later Poe appeared in Sartain s office in Phila 
 delphia, suffering from a pronounced mental disturbance. 
 He had delusions of persecution and believed that he was 
 being followed by enemies who were attempting his 
 destruction. Woodberry, quoting Sartain, thus describes 
 his condition : 
 
 Poe went to Philadelphia, and, apparently after a day or two, 
 entered the office of John Sartain, proprietor of Sartain s Magazine, 
 his friend for the past nine years, and exclaimed excitedly, I have 
 come to you for refuge. He was delirious and suffering from what 
 seems to have been an habitual delusion in such attacks, a fear of a 
 conspiracy against him. Sartain, who long remembered the visions 
 about which Poe raved and the persistence with which he besought 
 him for laudanum, reassured him, and cared for him some days, accom 
 panied him when he went out, and brought him back; once Poe 
 escaped and seems to have passed that night in an open field, but Sar- 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 121 
 
 tain told the story with variations at different times ; toward the end 
 two other old friends assisted in caring for him. 
 
 Just how long a period elapsed after leaving Fordham 
 before Poe was found in this condition, is uncertain ; yet it 
 is a matter of medical importance in diagnosing his disease. 
 If Poe was normal when he left New York, and his mother, 
 who watched over him so carefully, believed that he was 
 in condition to start on a lecturing tour, this delirium could 
 not have been the result of only two days use of alcohol. 
 There must have been an organic brain change for alco 
 hol to have acted so quickly; even without the use of 
 any stimulant, this condition occasionally develops. We 
 could possibly dignify it by the name of Melancholia, 
 the preceding state having been a Melancholy. Whatever 
 name we use, the indisputable fact remains that there 
 was an organic congestion of the meninges of the brain. 
 This condition could not have been altogether due to alco 
 hol. It often does happen, after a prolonged debauch, that 
 delirium tremens results, characterized by all the symp 
 toms Poe s condition presented, but this comes only after 
 an extended period of acute alcoholism, save in those cases 
 only where there has developed an organic cerebral degen 
 eration. The opinion that it was due to an organic lesion 
 is strengthened by a communication made by Poe s cousin, 
 Neilson Poe, who was present at Poe s death. He wrote : 
 
 The history of the last few days of his life is known to no one so 
 well as to myself. ... I trust that I can demonstrate that he passed, 
 by a single indulgence, from a condition of perfect sobriety to one bor 
 dering on the madness usually occasioned by long continued intoxica 
 tion, and that he is entitled to a far more favorable judgment upon his 
 last hours than he has received. 
 
 No matter what term we use in diagnosing Poe s mental 
 disease, it is not difficult to deduce the facts. It is 
 extremely probable, but not necessarily true, that Poe 
 took some form of alcoholic stimulant. An opiate could not 
 
122 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 have produced this condition, for it would have rather 
 tended to soothe a patient thus afflicted. We know of no 
 better drug in melancholia no matter how produced 
 than cumulative doses of opium. It is also a fact that, in 
 these diseased brain cells, there is set up an abnormal 
 brain psychology, the exact mechanism of which is still a 
 matter of guesswork amongst psycho-pathologists. 
 
 At all events this changed mentality is accompanied, 
 and I believe is caused, by excessive circulation of the 
 blood in the brain, exciting both the centers of the special 
 senses and the cells presiding over ideation. These tech 
 nical explanations have no value further than they aid in 
 clearing up the condition of Poe at the time of his death, 
 a subject which ever since has been controversial. 
 
 Letters of Poe, written about this time, throw further 
 light upon his mental condition: 
 
 My dear, dear Mother I have been so ill have had the cholera, 
 or spasms quite as bad, and can now hardly hold the pen. 
 
 The very instant you get this come to me. The joy of seeing you 
 will almost compensate for our sorrows. We can but die together. It is 
 no use to reason with me now ; I must die. I have no desire to live since 
 I have done Eureka. I could accomplish nothing more. For your sake it 
 would be sweet to live, but we must die together. You have been all in 
 all to me, darling, ever beloved Mother, and dearest truest friend. 
 
 I was never really insane, except on occasions where my heart was 
 touched. I have been taken to prison once since I came here for getting 
 drunk. But then I was not, it was about Virginia. 
 
 Fortunately, Mrs. Clemm was far away at the time 
 these thoughts, as here expressed, dominated Poe. Pos 
 sibly many times before, while Mrs. Clemm was in active 
 attendance upon him, these same ideas came to him. 
 If so, she was in real danger. Homicidal mania such as this, 
 especially when due to alcoholism, has not infrequently 
 cost the lives not only of the patient but of those he loved 
 and who most tenderly ministered to his necessities. 
 
 It is possible that a much longer period elapsed than has 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 123 
 
 been estimated between Poe s leaving New York and his 
 call upon Sartain. Woodberry puts it at a "day or two." 
 Sartain says : 
 
 He said that he had been thrown in Moyamensing Prison for 
 forging a check and while there a white female figure had appeared on 
 the battlements and had addressed him in whispers. If I had not heard 
 what she said, he declared, it would have been the end of me/ 
 
 Such hallucinations are most frequent ; undoubtedly the 
 memory of the prison was as much a delusion as the hear 
 ing of a voice and the sight of a "white female figure" were 
 hallucinations. Poe recovered from this attack, and spent 
 some weeks in Richmond among his friends, who received 
 him kindly, and extensively entertained him. His letters, 
 however, show that he had not yet recovered. 
 
 Oh, my darling mother, it is now three weeks since I saw you, and 
 in all that time, your poor Eddy has scarcely drawn a breath except of 
 intense agony. Perhaps you are sick or gone from Fordham in despair, 
 or dead. . . . Oh, Mother, I am so ill while I write . . . My valise 
 was lost for ten days. At last I found it at the depot in Philadelphia, 
 but they had opened it and stolen both lectures. All my object here is 
 over unless I can recover them or rewrite one of them. 
 
 In another letter, written to Mrs. Clemm shortly after 
 this, he says : 
 
 You will see at once by the handwriting of this letter, that I am 
 better much better in health and spirits. Oh if you knew how your 
 dear letter comforted me! It acted like magic. Most of my sufferings 
 arose from that terrible idea which I could not get rid of the idea 
 that you were dead. For more than ten days I was totally deranged, 
 although I was not drinking one drop; and during this interval I 
 imagined the most horrible calamities. 
 
 It is probably true, in spite of Poe s denials, that alcohol 
 precipitated this attack. But alcohol alone could not have 
 produced such hallucinations and delusions unless it had 
 been continued at least two or three weeks, or had there not 
 been, as a basis, a diseased cerebrum. 
 
 It was during these Richmond days that he again met, 
 
124 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 wooed and won Mrs. Shelton. At this same time he was 
 arranging with Patterson for the Oquawka magazine. 
 Evidently no suspicion of approaching death was disturb 
 ing him. It is probable that a temporary expansive state 
 was alternating with the depression from which he had 
 been suffering. Mrs. Weiss writes: 
 
 The knowledge of this weakness was by his own request concealed 
 from me. All that I knew of the matter was when a friend informed me 
 that Mr. Poe was too unwell to see us that evening. . . . On the day 
 following he made his appearance among us, but so pale, tremulous, 
 and apparently subdued as to convince me that he had been seriously 
 ill. On this occasion he had been at the Old Swan, where he was care 
 fully tended by Mrs. Mackenzie s family, but on a second and more 
 serious relapse he was taken by Dr. Mackenzie and Dr. Gibbon Carter 
 to Duncan Lodge, where during some days his life was in imminent 
 danger. Assiduous attention saved him, but it was the opinion of the 
 physicians that another such attack would prove fatal. . . . Dr. 
 Carter relates how, on this occasion, he had a long conversation with 
 him, in which Poe expressed the most earnest desire to break from the 
 thralldom of his besetting sin, and told of his many unavailing struggles 
 to do so. 
 
 Poe, in spite of these repeated attacks, was seriously 
 considering marriage with Mrs. Shelton, but, before he 
 took this step, he wished to bring Mrs. Clemm from 
 New York, and again he ventured forth alone. No one can 
 trace his movements from the time he left Richmond, in 
 his effort to reach New York, until he was found insensi 
 ble on the water front of Baltimore. In this condition he 
 was removed to the Washington University Hospital, 
 under the charge of Dr. Moran, where, a few days later, 
 he died. 
 
 On his way north he stopped at Baltimore. Woodberry 
 thus narrates the essential facts : 
 
 Just as when in the summer of 1 847 at Philadelphia he was saved 
 by a friend, just as when in the summer of 1848 at Boston he was 
 saved by a friend, just as in the summer of 1 849 he was saved by Burr, 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 125 
 
 he had experienced one of those repeated attacks, worse at each re 
 turn, and he had found no friend by to save him. 
 
 His one friend and his loyal friend, his "Dear, Dear 
 Muddy," never should have left him. It would have 
 been better for him and for his good name had he died 
 when death so nearly seized him at his home in Ford- 
 ham. At least no name but that of Virginia would have 
 been connected with his own ; and he might have passed 
 into history as a shining example of connubial happiness 
 that death itself could not dissever. The picture Harrison 
 drew of Poe s mental sufferings, due to the death of Vir 
 ginia, might at least have seemed to have some foundation 
 in fact ; nor would it have given his enemies the opportunity 
 of rejoicing because of his end. Death would also have 
 saved the poor old mother, who was so willing to sacrifice 
 all personal jfeeling, the agony of anticipating a marriage 
 feast set out with cold meats and decorated with cypress 
 boughs. A few days later she was summoned to a different 
 ceremony : abject poverty prevented even this journey. 
 
 Two weeks after Poe s death, his physician, Dr. J. J. 
 Moran, wrote a fairly complete statement, covering the 
 facts of his death and described, with sufficient detail, its 
 essential features. 
 
 When Poe was taken to the hospital he was uncon 
 scious and remained in that condition from five o clock in 
 the afternoon until three on the following morning. 
 
 To this state succeeded tremor of the limbs, and at first a busy but 
 not violent or active delirium constant talking and vacant con 
 verse with spectral and imaginary objects on the walls. His face was 
 pale and his whole person drenched in perspiration. We were unable to 
 induce tranquility before the second day after his admission. Having 
 left orders with the nurses to that effect, I was summoned to his bed 
 side so soon as consciousness supervened and questioned him with ref 
 erence to his family, his place of residence, relatives, etc. But his 
 answers were incoherent and unsatisfactory. He told me, however, 
 that he had a wife in Richmond (which I have since learned was not 
 
126 POE: A PSYCHOPATJ- 
 
 the fact), that he did not know when he had| 
 become of his trunk of clothing. . . . Mr. 
 left him a short time. When I returned I foi 
 ium, resisting the efforts of two nurses to 
 continued till Saturday evening (he was 
 when he commenced calling for one *Reyno| 
 the night until three on Sunday morning, 
 change began to affect him. Having becom] 
 he became quiet and seemed to rest for a si 
 ing his head, he said Lord help my poor 
 
 This is a simple and clear medical history. While it con 
 tains nothing that might hurt the mother, it does not 
 attempt to minimize or explain away Poe s real condition 
 on entrance, or to deny the delusions and hallucinations 
 from which he suffered. It is an intelligent statement cov 
 ering the details of a death due to brain inflammation, or 
 engorgement. 
 
 It is unfortunate that Moran, in again writing on this 
 subject, depended on his "senile memories." If any mem 
 ory ever did need refreshing it was his, for, some thirty-five 
 years later, he wrote another account which in no particu 
 lar corresponds with the earlier one. In 1885, Dr. Moran 
 published his much discussed "Defense of Edgar Allan 
 Poe," giving the "Life, Character and Dying Declaration of 
 the Poet." 
 
 It was inspired by Mrs. Shelton, written at her request, 
 and dedicated to her. 
 
 While it is a loyal defense, it speaks for the heart rather 
 than the memory of Dr. Moran. Like other things that I 
 have quoted and which emanate from Poe s Southern 
 friends and admirers (I also come from the South, so can 
 speak with sympathetic tenderness, though possibly the 
 San Francisco fogs have somewhat cooled my ardent tem 
 perament), and which relate either to their ideals of the 
 past, or to their great dead, it is essentially "Southern" 
 in that it is impassioned, swayed by sympathy for the 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 127 
 
 living and a profound respect for the dead. It contains 
 nothing that aids us ; it rather confuses because it so essen 
 tially differs from the simple and direct story originally 
 written. It is impressionistic, unlike that other biogra 
 phy I have quoted contained in "The Ladies Reposi 
 tory" and edited by the Rev. D. W. Clark. Of the two I 
 prefer that of the medical to the one published by the 
 Reverend Doctor. Whenever the name of Poe is mentioned 
 in the "Defense" it is invariably written in capitals show 
 ing with what profound respect Moran revered even the 
 name of Poe. 
 
 EDGAR ALLAN POE has been more misunderstood than any 
 other poet of the recent past. While his life was beautiful and inspired, 
 yet aspersed, his last moments had more of sublimity than that of any 
 of his contemporaries. The author of gems so delicate as Annabel Lee, 
 The Raven, and Lenore, while no less human and frail than others of 
 his day, had a soul and heart that stamped him an offshoot of Divin 
 ity. 
 
 If this opening paragraph is somewhat rhapsodical, at 
 least it is more in consonance with the charitable dictates 
 that should govern us in speaking not only of the dead 
 but of our living brothers, than is that other biography 
 beginning, "Edgar Allan Poe was incontestably one of the 
 most worthless persons of whom we have any record in the 
 world of letters." They are equally untrue. 
 
 Quoting from Moran : 
 
 Much has been said and written in relation to this singular and 
 most remarkable of all our poets, whose life has been an enigma to the 
 world and whose death a mystery. The nature of his disease and how 
 he died, up to the present day, remains a matter of doubt except so far 
 as have been gathered from a few brief voluntary publications made 
 by his physician. . . . Without vanity permit me to say I firmly be 
 lieve that had they called upon me for statements as to when he died, 
 I could have been instrumental in preventing his Dear Muddie, Mrs. 
 Maria Clemm, and his dear affianced, Mrs. Shelton, his first love, his 
 Annabel Lee from the sore afflictions and trials and heart burning 
 
128 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 that fell to their lot, and which in silence they endured. . . . Time 
 speeds on and I repeat that thirty-five years have passed, and at this 
 late period I am invited and urged to make known the facts so long 
 desired in reference to his death. I am grateful to a kind Providence 
 for having spared me to give the positive facts and unfold to the public 
 mind much that had not been made known, and I hope to remove all 
 doubt in respect to the uncertainty which has so long surrounded this 
 part of POE S history and life. I now proclaim to the world that he has 
 been shamefully abused and misrepresented, that the habit of intem 
 perance, which to some extent did cling to him in his earlier history, 
 did not continue with him in his more mature life, and that what I 
 shall record, shall be a true, unvarnished story from personal inter 
 course for sixteen hours during his last illness, from his death-bed 
 statements, from information received elsewhere, and from near and 
 dear friends, those who knew him and loved him. 
 
 It was my sad duty as his physician to sit by his deathbed; to ad 
 minister the cup of consolation ; to moisten his parched lips ; to wipe 
 the cold death-dew from his brow ; and to catch the last whispered ar 
 ticulations that fell from the lips of a being, the most remarkable, per 
 haps, this country has ever known. Let me entreat your thoughtful 
 attention, therefore, to a plain, unvarnished story of a checkered life, 
 and the strange and melancholy events that darkened the last hours 
 of a dying genius. 
 
 "A Tale I would unfold" but, unfortunately, he had 
 unfolded it some thirty-six years before, and apparently 
 had forgotten to refold it. The report he now makes is so 
 diametrically opposed to that contained in a letter to 
 Mrs. Clemm, immediately following Poe s death, that we 
 must believe, influenced by his subject and entirely for 
 getting the facts, he has drawn up a story of "ratioci 
 nation" befitting one whose reputation has cast a halo over 
 an event of such tragic importance, and thus attempts 
 to associate his own name with that of the immortal dead. 
 It is not a deliberate attempt to deceive; simply time had 
 filled Moran s brain cells with "lime," and many of them 
 had been absorbed. It is not to be believed that Dr. Moran 
 actually sat for sixteen hours wiping the "death-dew" 
 from the arched brow, or that he administered any cup of 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 129 
 
 consolation, or even moistened the parched lips ; this is all 
 Southern hyperbole. It is what Moran might have done 
 had Poe come back after thirty-five years with all his accu 
 mulated legends and his glorious reputation ; what I cer 
 tainly would be proud of having done, provided by some 
 reversal of the law of mortality, I had been placed in the 
 position of Dr. Moran. Probably what he did do was, as he 
 related thirty-six years earlier not knowing who Poe was, 
 he turned him over to a nurse. His thirty-six-year-after 
 statement, as far as it concerns the death of Poe, begins 
 with a diagnosis given by the hackdriver who brought him 
 to the hospital : 
 
 Where did you find this man? On Light Street wharf, sir. I said, 
 dead drunk I suppose? He replied, No, sir; he was a sick man, a very 
 sick man sir. Why do you think he was not drunk? I asked. He did 
 not smell of whiskey, said the driver, he is too white in the face. I 
 picked him up in my arms like a baby, sir, and put him in the hack. 
 
 Little did I then think, that after thirty-five years I should be 
 called upon to give a full account of POE S death and to defend the 
 man whom at that hour I believed to be drunk; and that man, the 
 great American genius, whose name is now a household word. 
 
 In a few minutes POE threw the cover from his breast, and look 
 ing up asked the nurse, Where am I ? The nurse made no reply but 
 rang for me. I attended the call immediately, and placing my chair by 
 the side of the patient s bed, took his left hand in my own and with my 
 right hand pushed back the raven black locks of hair that covered his 
 forehead. 
 
 I asked him how he felt. He answered, Miserable. Do you suffer 
 much pain? No. Do you feel sick at the stomach? Yes, slightly. 
 Does your head ache, have you any pain there? putting my hand on 
 his forehead. Yes. Mr. POE, how long have you been sick? Can t 
 say. . . . 
 
 The sick man said, Where am I ? You are in the hands of your 
 friends, I replied, and as soon as you are better, I will have you moved 
 to another part of the house, where you can receive them. He was 
 looking the room over with his large dark eyes, and I feared he would 
 think he was unkindly dealt with, by being put in this prison-like 
 room, with its wired inside windows, and iron grating outside. 
 
130 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 I now felt it necessary that I should determine the nature of his 
 disease and make out a correct diagnosis, so as to treat him properly. 
 I did not then know but he might have been drinking, and so as to 
 determine the matter I said : 
 
 Mr. POE, you are extremely weak, pulse very low ; I will give you 
 a glass of toddy. He opened wide his eyes, and fixed them so steadily 
 upon me, and with such anguish in them that I had to look from him 
 to the wall beyond the bed. 
 
 He then said, Sir, if I thought its potency would transport me 
 to the Elysian bowers of the undiscovered spirit world, I would not 
 take it. 
 
 I will then administer an opiate, to give you sleep and rest, I 
 said. Then he rejoined, Twin sister, spectre to the doomed and crazed 
 mortals of earth and perdition. 
 
 I was entirely shorn of my strength. Here was a patient supposed 
 to have been drunk, and yet refuses to take liquor. ... I found there 
 was no tremor of his person, no unsteadiness of his nerves, no fidgeting 
 with his hands, and not the slightest odor of liquor upon his breath or 
 person. I saw that my first impression had been a mistaken one. He 
 was in a sinking condition, yet perfectly conscious. 
 
 Dr. Moran s account shows a marvelous memory for 
 verbatim statements and minute details of events which 
 had occurred thirty-six years previously; so circumstan 
 tial and accurate were they that I am sure I could not have 
 retained and repeated them thirty-six seconds after they 
 were uttered. 
 
 This would be a trivial and uncalled for criticism did it 
 not concern Dr. Moran s retraction of his statement made 
 in the letter he wrote Mrs. Clemm a few days after Poe s 
 death, while the facts were still fresh in his memory. Ac 
 cording to this statement Poe was unconscious when 
 admitted and remained in <his condition several hours; 
 this was "succeeded by a tremor of the limbs, and a 
 busy but not violent delirium." Dr. Moran also stated 
 that, when Poe was questioned with reference to his 
 family, "his answers were incoherent and unsatisfactory. 
 He told me however that he had a wife in Richmond." 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 131 
 
 Further, he stated that Poe became violently delirious and 
 sank into a stupor, dying without regaining consciousness. 
 This renders all the more remarkable, and stamps as 
 "original" because it sprang, unaided, from Dr. Moran s 
 brain, the following pen picture of Poe s actions as well 
 as his last words : 
 
 I said, Mr. POE, you are in a critical condition, and the least ex 
 citement of your mind will endanger your life. He said, Doctor, I am 
 ill; is there no hope? The chances are against you. How long, oh! 
 how long, he cried, before I can see my dear Virginia, my dear Le- 
 nore! I said to him, I will send for her or anyone you wish to see. I 
 knew nothing of his family or friends. I asked him, Have you a 
 family? No, said he, my wife is dead, my dear Virginia. My mother- 
 in-law lives; oh! how my heart bleeds for her; she said when we last 
 met and parted at Fordham, "Eddie, I fear this will be our last meet 
 ing." I said, Mr. POE, I will send or write to anyone you maydesire 
 me. Doctor, said he, Death s dark angel has done his work. Lan 
 guage cannot express the terrific tempest that sweeps over me, and 
 signals the alarm of death. Oh, God! the terrible strait I am in. Shall 
 I write to anyone for you? Yes, Doctor, write to my mother-in-law, 
 and Mrs. no, too late! Too late! 
 
 Then he said, Write to both at once; write to my mother-in-law 
 and tell her "Eddie is here" no, too late! Doctor, I must unbosom to 
 you the secret of my heart, though dagger-like it pierces my soul. I 
 was to have been married in ten days. 
 
 He wept like a child, and even now I can see his pale face that told 
 too plainly the depth of grief he felt, and the large tear drops forcing 
 their way down the furrows of his pallid cheeks. I again asked, Shall I 
 send for the lady? No, write to both; inform them of my illness and 
 death at the same time, and say that no conscious act of mine brought 
 this great trouble upon me. How it happened that I am brought to 
 this place, God only knows. My mind has kept no record of time; it 
 seems a dream, a horrible dream. I said, Mr. POE, my carriage is at 
 the door; I will send for the lady. No, said he, write to Mrs. Sarah 
 E. Shelton, Richmond, Va., and Mrs. Maria Clemm, Lowell, Mass. 
 
 I remained by his side, watching every breath and movement of 
 his muscles. He had no tremor or spasmodic action at this period, which 
 was twelve hours from his entrance in the hospital. I noticed the color 
 deepening upon his cheeks and forehead, blood vessels at the temple 
 
132 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 slightly enlarging. I ordered ice to his head and heat to his extremities, 
 and waited in his room about fifteen minutes longer, observing no 
 change except increase in the circulation. . . . POE continued in an 
 unconscious state for half an hour, but when roused he was conscious. 
 On visiting him again I found his pulse feeble, sharp, and very irregu 
 lar. I took my seat by his bedside and closely watched him for twenty 
 minutes at least ; the pupils of his eyes were dilating and contracting. 
 Death was rapidly approaching. Just at this moment my friend, Pro 
 fessor J. C. S. Monkur, came into the sick chamber. As soon as he fixed 
 his eyes upon the patient he said, He will die; he is dying now. After 
 a careful examination, Dr. Monkur gave it as his opinion that POE 
 would die from excessive nervous prostration and loss of nerve power, 
 resulting from exposure, affecting the encephalon, a sensitive and deli 
 cate membrane of the brain. . . . He seemed to revive a little and 
 opening his eyes, he fixed them upon the window. He kept them un 
 moved for more than a minute. I have, since that time, been forcibly 
 impressed with the wild fancies in that wonderful poem, The Raven. 
 Did he hear a Gentle tapping at the window lattice, and was his 
 heart still a moment, this mystery to explore ? Did he see that stately 
 raven perched upon his chamber door. Perched, and sat, and nothing 
 more. The dying poet was articulating something in a very low voice, 
 and at length he spoke more audibly and said, Doctor, it is all over. 
 I then said, Mr. POE, I must tell you that you are near your end. 
 Have you any wish or word for friends? He said, Nevermore/ 
 
 At length he exclaimed : O God ! Is there no ransom for the death 
 less spirit? I said, Yes, look to your Saviour; there is mercy for you 
 and all mankind. God is love and the gift is free. 
 
 The dying man then said impressively, He who arched the heav 
 ens and upholds the universe, has His decrees legibly written upon the 
 frontlet of every human being, and upon demons incarnate. 
 
 I then consoled him by saying, He died for you and me and all 
 mankind. Trust in His mercy. . . . 
 
 The glassy eyes rolled back ; there was a sudden tremor ; and the 
 immortal soul of EDGAR ALLAN POE was borne swiftly away to the 
 spirit world. 
 
 This statement of Moran is somewhat more impressive 
 than the one he made to Mrs. Clemm, viz. : that Poe con 
 tinued calling for one "Reynolds," and was in violent 
 delirium till the end, and that, as he died, he exclaimed; 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 133 
 
 "Lord help my poor soul." It is not certain that he said 
 this, for Poe was not a praying man; yet Dr. Moran 
 did, as all good physicians should do fit into the mouth 
 of the dying man something that might comfort the 
 poor mother. His later description of the dying scene was 
 for a larger audience. 
 
 In this memoir Dr. Moran insists that Poe was in the 
 hospital only sixteen hours before his death. In referring to 
 this matter, he says : 
 
 A certain biographer has recently written that Poe was four days 
 in a fit of delirium before he died, and his cousin, Neilson Poe, is re 
 ported by this same writer to have said that he, Judge Poe, called to 
 see him, but he was in such wild delirium that admission was re 
 fused; that he sent changes of linen, etc., to add to his comfort. I take 
 this opportunity to assert that the statements are utterly untrue and 
 without the slightest foundation. 
 
 In the letter written Mrs. Clemm immediately following 
 Poe s death, Dr. Moran wrote : 
 
 When I returned I found the patient in a violent delirium, resist 
 ing the effort of two nurses to keep him in bed. This state continued 
 until Saturday evening (he was admitted on Wednesday) when he 
 commenced calling for one Reynolds which he did all through the 
 night until three on Sunday morning. 
 
 It is not probable, had Moran s second statement been 
 made thirty-six years earlier, that it would have entirely 
 vindicated Poe, as the doctor hoped ; it certainly would not 
 have so severely reflected on the memory of Dr. Moran. 
 
 The only medical importance the description possesses 
 is that the symptoms accompanying death to a certain 
 extent elucidate the facts of causation; the first descrip 
 tion of Dr. Moran strongly bears out the theory that Poe 
 died of an organically diseased brain complicated by an 
 intense meningeal congestion. 
 
 I agree with Moran that Poe did not die of alcoholism, 
 nor was his death that of a drunkard ; yet it is entirely pos 
 sible that alcohol was the exciting cause. It is certain that 
 
134 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 meningeal irritation, due to brain congestion or inflamma 
 tion Moran seems to have kept no record as to whether 
 or not there was fever was the direct cause of Poe s death. 
 
 Moran was probably mistaken in his statement that 
 Dr. Monkur s diagnosis was an "inflammation affecting the 
 encephalon a sensitive and delicate membrane of the 
 brain." Such a definition would be in serious conflict with 
 the authorities we now recognize. Probably the word that 
 Moran intended to use was meninges. If this be the fact 
 Dr. Monkur was correct. 
 
 Apparently it happened in the case of Poe, as in many 
 similar cases, that there was a low grade of inflammation 
 affecting the meninges, which, in all probability, had pene 
 trated and partly disorganized the brain-matter, composed 
 as it is of brain cells and their connecting processes. This 
 was of long standing, and, even without the use of stimu 
 lants, might occasionally give evidence of brain irritation. 
 Alcohol, in the slightest quantity, can set up serious 
 irritation occasionally active inflammation among such 
 morbid and diseased brain cells. Whether or not in this 
 particular case alcohol precipitated inflammation or in 
 tense congestion is not essential for the diagnosis. 
 
 There can be no reasonable doubt that the long contin 
 ued use of alcohol by one so predisposed, would produce 
 this organic change. A simple debauch, with a brain not 
 alcoholically diseased, rarely produces a fatal delirium. 
 
 Poe s alcoholic excesses were something for which he was 
 not responsible. His drinking was the result of hereditary 
 compulsion. It was as much a part of him as was his pecu 
 liar intellect. If we praise him for his genius, and if his 
 work has made for the world s happiness, as long as we 
 cannot forget the evil thing that obsessed him and for 
 which he paid the penalty, his faults should be condoned 
 in the clear understanding that he cannot be held respon 
 sible for the transmitted neurosis. 
 
TO MY MOTHER. 
 
 BECAUSE I feel that, in the Heavens above, 
 
 The angels, whispering to one another, 
 Can find, among their burning terms of love, 
 
 None so devotional as that of " Mother," 
 Therefore by that dear name I long have called you 
 
 You who are more than mother unto me, 
 And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you 
 
 In setting my Virginia s spirit free. 
 My mother my own mother, who died early, 
 
 Was but the mother of myself; but you 
 Are mother to the one I loved so dearly, 
 
 And thus are dearer than the mother I knew 
 By that infinity with which my wife 
 
 Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 135 
 
 Unfortunately, it happens that this monograph deals 
 only with the darker side of Poe s life. I have confined 
 myself to what occurred during his periods of irresponsi 
 bility. I have not attempted to give an account of his life 
 further than this requirement demanded. 
 
 I can not close this study without some reference to 
 Poe, the man. I, too, would have wished to write his 
 name in capitals. No figure in all literary history save 
 Thackeray and Goldsmith has so grown into personal 
 affection and hero-worship. 
 
 Poe was essentially domestic. He took pleasure only in 
 his small family circle and, in the hour in which he was 
 overcome by his evil inheritance, it was his harbor of 
 refuge. The real love of his life was given to Mrs. Clemm, 
 his "Dear Muddy." She was the mother of the wife, whom 
 he cherished and nursed, and she is the mother-figure who 
 so heroically stands forth as the defender of his home 
 and the preserver of his very life : the hard-working, de 
 voted and ever-faithful mother. Our earliest record shows 
 that Poe had an intense longing for this mother-love. 
 Apparently he found in Mrs. Clemm all the consideration 
 and consolation for which he longed, and of which the un 
 timely death of his own mother had deprived him ; a love 
 that was an absolute necessity for one of his abnormal 
 psychology. 
 
 Her lineaments show a face characterized by gentleness 
 and placidity, yet remarkable for nobility of outline. Her 
 eyes appear penetratingly gentle and kind ; her letters be 
 speak much mental strength and womanly tenderness, 
 while her whole life was one of such devotion to her two 
 sick and doomed children, as to justify the tributes that 
 her own friends, as well as all of Poe s biographers, paid 
 her. Woodberry, alone, has aspersed her memory, writing : 
 "All unsupported statements by her are open to doubt." 
 He gives no reason for this derogatory remark. 
 
136 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 Willis says: 
 
 Winter after winter, for years, the most touching sight to us, in 
 this whole city, has been that tireless minister to genius, thinly and in 
 sufficiently clad, going from office to office, with a poem, or an article, 
 on some literary subject, to sell sometimes simply pleading in a 
 broken voice that he was ill, and begging for him mentioning nothing 
 but that he was ill, whatever might be the reason for his writing 
 nothing; and never, amid all her tears and recitals of distress suffering 
 one syllable to escape her lips that could convey a doubt of him, or 
 a complaint, or a lessening of pride in his genius and good intentions. 
 Her daughter died, a year and a half since, but she did not desert 
 him. She continued his ministering angel, living with him, caring for 
 him, guarding him against exposure, and, when he was carried away 
 by temptation, amid grief and the loneliness of feeling unreplied to, 
 and awoke from his self-abandonment prostrated in destitution and 
 suffering, begging for him still. 
 
 If woman s devotion, born with a first love, and fed with human 
 passion, hallow its object, as it is allowed to do, what does not a devo 
 tion like this pure, disinterested, and holy as the watch of an invis 
 ible spirit say for him who inspired it? 
 
 Mrs. Clemm, in a letter written to Mrs. Whitman just 
 after Poe s departure from Fordham, on his last trip to 
 Richmond, throws further light on the relations existing 
 between them: 
 
 Eddy has been gone ten days, and I have not heard one word from 
 him. Do you wonder that I am distracted? I fear everything. . . . Oh, 
 if any evil has befallen him, what can comfort me? The day after he 
 left New York, I left Mrs. Lewis and started for home. I called on a rich 
 friend who had made many promises, but never knew our situation. I 
 frankly told her. She proposed to me to leave Eddy, saying he might 
 very well do for himself. . . . Any one to propose to me to leave my 
 Eddy what a cruel insult ! No one to console and comfort him but 
 me ; no one to nurse him and take care of him when he is sick and help 
 less! Can I ever forget that dear sweet face, so tranquil, so pale, and 
 those dear eyes looking at me so sadly, while she said, Darling, 
 Muddy, you will console and take care of my poor Eddy you will 
 never, never leave him? Promise me, my dear Muddy, and then I can 
 die in peace. And / did promise. And when I meet her in heaven, I can 
 say, "I have kept my promise, my darling. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 137 
 
 Surely she did keep it, and wherever Aidenn may be, 
 there will these three be found and together. 
 
 For this sacrificing and faithful woman all who knew her 
 had only words of love and praise save only one, the 
 Preacher who wrote to Mrs. Whitman : 
 
 I cannot refrain from begging you to be very careful what you say 
 or write to Mrs. Clemm, who is not your friend, nor anybody s friend, 
 and who has no element of goodness or kindness in her nature, but 
 whose heart and understanding are full of malice and wickedness. I 
 confide in you these sentences for your own sake only, for Mrs. C. ap 
 pears to be a very warm friend to me. Pray destroy this note, and at 
 least act cautiously, till I may justify it in a conversation with you. 
 
 I am yours very sincerely, 
 
 Rufus W. Griswold. 
 
 At one time she had extorted admiration even from 
 Griswold, who paid her this tribute : 
 
 When once he sent for me to visit him, during a period of illness 
 caused by protracted and anxious watching at the side of his sick wife, 
 I was impressed by the singular neatness and the air of refinement in 
 his home. It was in a small house, in one of the pleasant and silent 
 neighborhoods far from the center of the town, and though slightly 
 and cheaply furnished everything in it was so tasteful and so fitly dis 
 posed that it seemed altogether suitable for a man of genius. For this 
 and for most of the comforts he enjoyed, in his brightest as in his 
 darkest years, he was chiefly indebted to his mother-in-law, who loved 
 him with the more than maternal devotion and constancy. 
 
 In the end, a man will be judged by his home relations 
 and his everyday home life, rather than by the armor in 
 which he encases himself for the fight in his "Battle of 
 Life." It occasionally happens that the polished exterior 
 which we present to the world and the immaculate habili 
 ments in which we exhibit ourselves conceal a gnawing 
 cancer which destroys the very vitals and uproots all fam 
 ily happiness. In his solitary life Poe apparently shut out 
 the world from his fireside, yet we have the testimony of 
 occasional visitors as to the charm of his home life : 
 
138 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 On this occasion I was introduced to the young wife of the poet, 
 and to the mother, then more than sixty years of age. She was a tall, 
 dignified old lady, with most ladylike manners, and her black dress, 
 though old and much worn, looked really elegant on her. She wore a 
 widow s cap, of the genuine pattern, and it suited exquisitely with her 
 snow-white hair. Her features were large, and corresponded with her 
 stature, and it seemed strange how such a stalwart and queenly 
 woman could be the mother of her petite daughter. Mrs. Poe looked 
 very young ; she had large black eyes, and a pearly whiteness of skin 
 which was a perfect pallor. Her pale face, her brilliant eyes, and her 
 raven hair gave her an unearthly look. One felt that she was almost a 
 disrobed spirit, and when she coughed it was made certain that she 
 was passing away. The mother seemed hale and strong, and appeared 
 to be almost a sort of universal Providence to her strange children. 
 
 The cottage had an air of gentility and taste that must have been 
 lent it by the presence of its inmates. So neat, so poor, so unfurnished 
 and yet so charming a dwelling I never saw. The floor of the kitchen 
 was white as wheaten flour. A table, a chair, and a little stove that it 
 contained seemed to furnish it completely. The sitting-room floor was 
 laid with check matting; four chairs, a light stand, and a hanging book 
 shelf completed the furniture. There were pretty presentation copies 
 of books on the little shelves, and the Brownings had posts of honor on 
 the stand. With quiet exultation Poe drew from his side-pocket a 
 letter he had recently received from Elizabeth Barret Browning. He 
 read it to us. 
 
 What an association-book to possess ! Was it, also, in the 
 Griswold sale? 
 
 Again Mrs. Clemm writes : 
 
 I always sat up with him when he was writing, and gave him a cup 
 of hot coffee every hour or two. At home he was simple and affection 
 ate as a child, and during all the years he lived with me I do not 
 remember a single night that he failed to come and kiss his Mother, 
 before going to bed. 
 
 Willis thus judges him in the memoir he published in the 
 first volume of Poe s works : 
 
 Some four or five years since, when editing a daily paper in this 
 City, Mr. Poe was employed by us, for several months, as critic and 
 sub-editor. This was our first personal acquaintance with him. He 
 resided with his wife and mother at Fordham, a few miles out of town, 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 139 
 
 but was at his desk in the office, from nine in the morning till the 
 evening paper went to press. With the highest admiration for his 
 genius, and a willingness to let it atone for more than ordinary irregu 
 larity, we were led by common report to expect a very capricious 
 attention to his duties, and occasionally a scene of violence and dif 
 ficulty. Time went on, however, and he was invariably punctual and 
 industrious. With his pale, beautiful and intellectual face, as a re 
 minder of what genius was in him, it was impossible, of course, not to 
 treat him always with deferential courtesy, and, to our occasional 
 request that he would not probe too deep into a criticism, or that he 
 would erase a passage colored too highly with his resentments against 
 society or mankind, he readily and courteously assented far more 
 yielding than most men, we thought, on points so excusably sensitive. 
 With the prospect of taking the lead in another periodical, he, at 
 last, voluntarily gave up his employment with us, and, through all 
 this considerable period, we had seen none but one presentment of the 
 man a quiet, patient, industrious, and most gentlemanly person, 
 commanding the utmost respect and good feeling by his unvarying 
 deportment and ability. 
 
 Woodberry quotes Willis as to his later association with 
 Poe: 
 
 He frequently called on us afterwards at our place of business, and 
 we met him often in the street, invariably the same sad-mannered, 
 winning, and refined gentleman such as we had always known him, 
 and found in his business letters friendly notes sufficient evidence 
 of the very qualities denied to Mr. Poe, humility, willingness to per 
 severe, belief in another s kindness, and capability of cordial and 
 grateful friendship! Such he assuredly was when sane. Such only 
 he has invariably seemed to us, in all we personally know of him, 
 through a friendship of five or six years. And so much easier is it to 
 believe what we have seen and known, than what we hear of only, that 
 we remember him but with admiration and respect. 
 
 Another associate, eyen more competent to judge Poe, 
 was Graham. He thus relates his own experience : 
 
 I shall never forget how solicitous of the happiness of his wife and 
 mother-in-law he was whilst one of the editors of Graham s Maga 
 zine ; his whole effort seemed to be to procure the comfort and welfare 
 of his home. Except for their happiness, and the natural ambition of 
 having a magazine of his own, I never heard him deplore the want of 
 
140 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 wealth. The truth is, he cared little for money, and knew less of its 
 value, for he seemed to have no personal expenses. What he received 
 from me, in regular monthly installments, went directly into the 
 hands of his mother-in-law for family comforts, and twice only I re 
 member his purchasing some rather expensive luxuries for his house, 
 and then he was nervous to the degree of misery until he had, by 
 extra articles, covered what he considered an imprudent indebtedness. 
 His love for his wife was a sort of rapturous worship of the spirit of 
 beauty which he felt was fading before his eyes. I have seen him hov 
 ering around her when she was ill, with all the fond fear and the tender 
 anxiety of a mother for her first-born, her slightest cough causing in 
 him a shudder, a heart-chill that was visible. I rode out, one summer 
 evening with them, and the remembrance of his watchful eyes eagerly 
 bent on the slightest change of hue in that loved face haunts me 
 yet as the memory of a sad strain. It was the hourly anticipation of 
 her loss that made him a sad and thoughtful man, and lent a mourn 
 ful melody to his undying song. 
 
 There was a well-known "bibliopolist," who was a fellow 
 guest with Poe for several months during his first residence 
 in New York. His name was Cowans, and Harrison quotes 
 him as follows: 
 
 For eight months or more one house contained us, as one table 
 fed. During this time I saw much of him and had an opportunity of 
 conversing with him often, and I must say that I never saw him the 
 least affected by liquor, nor even descend to any known vice, while he 
 was one of the most courteous, gentlemanly and intelligent com 
 panions I have met with during my journeyings and haltings through 
 divers divisions of the globe. 
 
 Mrs. Clemm bears the following testimony : 
 
 Eddie was domestic in all his habits, seldom leaving home for an 
 hour unless his darling Virginia, or myself, were with him. He was 
 truly an affectionate, kind husband, and a devoted son to me. He was 
 impulsive, generous, affectionate, and noble. His tastes were very 
 simple, and his admiration for all that was good and beautiful was 
 very great. We three lived for each other. 
 
 And yet Griswold, in the preface to Poe s collected 
 works wrote : 
 
 There seemed to him no moral susceptibility; and, what was more 
 remarkable in a proud nature, little or nothing of the true point of 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 141 
 
 honor. He had, to a morbid excess, that desire to rise which is vulgarly 
 called ambition, but no wish for the esteem or the love of his species ; 
 only the hard wish to succeed not shine, not serve succeed, that he 
 might have the right to despise the world which galled his self- 
 conceit. 
 
 We have, finally, Poe s own estimate of himself, written 
 to Mrs. Whitman. 
 
 With the exception of occasional follies and excesses which I bit 
 terly lament but to which I have been driven by intolerable sorrow, 
 and which are hourly committed by others without attracting any 
 notice whatever I can call to mind no act of my life which would 
 bring a blush to my cheeks or to yours. 
 
 In a letter to Willis, written after Poe s death, in answer 
 to the abuse Griswold had heaped upon Poe in his memoir, 
 Graham made a long and full defense, not only as to his 
 business relations with Poe, but he also discussed the per 
 sonal relations that had existed, both as to Griswold and 
 to the world at large. 
 
 You have spoken with so much truth and delicacy of the deceased, 
 and, with the magical touch of genius, have called so warmly up be 
 fore me the memory of our lost friend as you and I both seemed to 
 have known him, that I feel warranted in addressing to you the few 
 plain words I have to say in defense of his character as set down by 
 Mr. Griswold. 
 
 Although the article, it seems, appeared in the New York Tri 
 bune, it met my eye for the first time in the volume before me. I now 
 purpose to take exception to it in the most public manner. I knew 
 Mr. Poe well, far better than Mr. Griswold ; and by the memory of old 
 times, when he was editor of Graham s, I pronounce this exceedingly 
 ill-timed and unappreciative estimate of the character of our lost 
 friend, unfair and untrue. It is Mr. Poe as seen by the writer while 
 laboring under a fit of the nightmare, but so dark a picture has no re 
 semblance to the living man. Accompanying these beautiful volumes 
 it is an immortal infamy, the death s head over the entrance to the 
 garden of beauty, a horror that clings to the brow of morning, whis 
 pering of murder. It haunts the memory through every page of his 
 writings, leaving upon the heart a sensation of gloom, a feeling almost 
 of terror. The only relief we feel is in knowing that it is not true, that 
 it is a fancy sketch of a perverted, jaundiced vision. The man who 
 
142 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 could deliberately say of Edgar Allan Poe, in a notice of his life and 
 writings prefacing volumes which were to become a priceless souvenir 
 to all who loved him, that his death might startle many, but that few 
 would be grieved by it, and blast the whole reputation of the man by 
 such a paragraph as follows, is a judge dishonored. He is not Mr. Poe s 
 peer, and I challenge him before the country even as a juror in the 
 case. 
 
 In referring to Griswold s statement that "you could not 
 contradict him, but you raised his quick choler: you could not 
 speak of wealth but his cheek paled with gnawing envy" 
 Graham, for Poe s friends, answered : 
 
 This is dastardly, and, what is worse, it is false. It is very adroitly 
 done, with phrases very well turned, and with gleams of truth shining 
 out from a setting so dusky, as to look devilish. Mr. Griswold does not 
 feel the worth of the man he has undervalued ; he had no sympathy in 
 common with him, and has allowed old prejudices and old enmities to 
 steal, insensibly perhaps, into the coloring of his picture. They were 
 for years totally uncongenial, if not enemies, and during that period 
 Mr. Poe, in a scathing lecture upon the "Poets of America," gave 
 Mr. Griswold some raps over the knuckles of force sufficient to be re 
 membered. He had, too, in the exercise of his functions as a critic, put 
 to death summarily the literary reputation of some of Mr. Griswold s 
 best friends ; and their ghosts cried in vain for him to avenge them dur 
 ing Poe s life-time, and it almost seems as if the present hacking at the 
 cold remains of him who struck them down, is a sort of compensation 
 for duty long delayed, for reprisal long desired, but deferred. But 
 without this, the opportunities afforded Mr. Griswold to estimate the 
 character of Poe occurred, in the main, after his stability had been 
 wrecked, his whole nature in a degree changed and with all his prej 
 udices aroused and active. Nor do I consider Mr. Griswold competent, 
 with all the opportunities he may have cultivated or acquired, to act as 
 his judge, to dissect that subtle and singularly fine intellect, to probe 
 the motives and weigh the actions of that proud heart. . . . Among 
 the true friends of Poe in this city and he had some such here there 
 are those, I am sure, that he did not class among villains; nor do they 
 feel easy when they see their old friend dressed out, in his grave, in the 
 habiliments of a scoundrel. There is something to them, in this mode 
 of procedure on the part of the literary executor that does not chime in 
 with their notion of the true point of honor. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 143 
 
 This article is too long to quote in its entirety. It goes 
 into business details proving that in all Poe s dealings with 
 Graham he was punctiliously honorable, and it defends 
 the moral character of Poe, disproving many of Griswold s 
 charges. It contains so many details elsewhere discussed 
 that I will only quote the conclusion : 
 
 They had all of them looked upon our departed friend as singu 
 larly indifferent to wealth for its own sake, but as very positive in his 
 opinions that the scale of social merit was not of the highest; that 
 mind, somehow, was apt to be left out of the estimate altogether ; and, 
 partaking somewhat of his free way of thinking, his friends are 
 startled to find they have entertained very unamiable convictions. As 
 to his quick-choler when he was contradicted, it depended a good 
 deal on the party denying, as well as upon the subject discussed. He 
 was quick, it is true, to perceive mere quacks in literature, and some 
 what apt to be hasty, when pestered by them ; but, upon most other 
 questions his natural amiability was not easily disturbed. . . . His 
 astonishing natural advantages had been very assiduously cultivated ; 
 his daring spirit was the anointed genius; his self-confidence the 
 proud conviction of both ; and it was with something of a lofty scorn 
 that he attacked, as well as repelled, the crammed scholar of an hour, 
 who attempted to palm upon him the ill-digested learning. Literature 
 with him was religion; and he, its high-priest, with a whip of scor 
 pions, scourged the moneychangers from the temple. In all else, he had 
 the docility and kind-heartedness of a child. No man was more quickly 
 touched by a kindness, none more prompt to return for an injury. For 
 three or four years I knew him intimately, and for eighteen months 
 saw him almost daily, much of the time writing or conversing at the 
 same desk, knowing all his hopes, his fears, and little annoyances of 
 life, as well as his high-hearted struggle with adverse fate; yet he was 
 always the same polished gentleman, the quiet, unobtrusive, thought 
 ful scholar, the devoted husband, frugal in his personal expenses, 
 punctual and unwearied in his industry, and the soul of honor in all his 
 transactions. This, of course, was in his better days, and by them we 
 judge the man. But even after his habits had changed, there was no 
 literary man to whom I would more readily advance money for labor 
 to be done. . . . His pen was regulated by the highest sense of duty. 
 By a keen analysis he separated and studied each piece which the 
 skillful mechanist had put together. No part, however insignificant, or 
 
144 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 apparently unimportant, escaped the rigid and patient scrutiny of his 
 sagacious mind. 
 
 The unfitted joint proved the bungler the slightest blemish was a 
 palpable fraud. He was the scrutinizing lapidary who detected and ex 
 posed the slightest flaw in diamonds. The gem of first water shone the 
 brighter for the truthful setting of his calm praise. He had the finest 
 touch of soul for beauty a delicate and hearty appreciation of worth. 
 If his praise appeared tardy, it was of priceless value when given. It 
 was true as well as sincere. It was the stroke of honor that at once 
 knighted the receiver. It was in the world of mind that he was king; 
 and, with fierce audacity, he felt and proclaimed himself autocrat. As 
 critic he was despotic, supreme. Yet no man with more readiness 
 would soften a harsh expression at the request of a friend, or if he him 
 self felt that he had infused too great a degree of bitterness into his 
 article, none would more readily soften it down, after it was in type 
 though still maintaining the justness of his critical views. I do not be 
 lieve that he wrote to give pain; but in combatting what he conceived 
 to be error, he used the strongest word that presented itself, even in 
 conversation. He labored not so much to reform as to exterminate 
 error, and thought the shortest process was to pull it up by the roots. 
 
 Though this open letter was published in "Graham s 
 Magazine" immediately following Griswold s issue of the 
 memoir, it has not been disseminated, and has not had the 
 publicity of Griswold s scurrilous article. It was not a part 
 of the "Works" and did not circulate so extensively. Har 
 rison only gives it in his appendix, while Woodberry fails 
 to quote it in extenso, omitting all that reflects on Griswold 
 and, in no sense, using it as a defense of Poe. 
 
 Poe was a Solitary. Apparently there was no one, outside 
 his family group, with whom at any time he became 
 intimate. In some of his letters he seems to long for friend 
 ship and, especially in one that he wrote to Lowell, he ex 
 pressed himself with unusual freedom, and without that 
 veil of mental reserve through which he allowed the world 
 to view and misjudge him : 
 
 I can feel for the constitutional indolence of which you complain 
 for it is one of my own besetting sins. I am excessively slothful and 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 145 
 
 wonderfully industrious by fits. There are epochs when any kind of 
 mental exertion is torture and when nothing yields me pleasure but 
 solitary communion with the mountains and the woods the altars 
 of Byron. I have thus rambled and dreamed away whole months, and 
 awake, at last, to a sort of mania of composition. 
 
 I am not ambitious, except negatively. I now and then feel stirred 
 up to excel a fool, merely because I hate to let a fool imagine he can 
 excel me. 
 
 I live continually in a reverie of the future; I have no faith in 
 human perfectability. 
 
 I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect on 
 humanity. Man is now only more active not more happy not more 
 wise, than he was 6000 years ago. . . . You speak of an estimate of 
 my life, and from what I have already said, you will see that I have 
 none to give. 
 
 I have been too conscious of the mutability and evanescence of 
 temporal things to give any continuous effort to anything to be con 
 sistent in anything. 
 
 My life has been a whim an impulse a passion a longing for 
 solitude a scorn of all things present in an earnest desire for the 
 future. 
 
 I am profoundly excited by music and by some poems those of 
 Tennyson especially whom with Keats, Shelley, Coleridge occasion 
 ally, and a few others of like thought and expression, I regard as the 
 sole poets. 
 
 It is remarkable, living at the time Byron s poems cre 
 ated so deep an impression and possibly this is the greatest 
 proof of his genius for criticism and the best evidence that 
 he was not influenced by, nor in any sense an imitator 
 that he never refers to Byron as a great poet, simply ignor 
 ing him further than to remark incidentally that Byron 
 "lacked artistic instinct." Yet Woodberry says that in his 
 poetry Poe was strongly "under Byron s influence." 
 
 Poe s was a royal mentality, and it is certain that, in the 
 society and with the individuals among whom he moved, 
 he fully recognized the fact that he was without a peer. 
 Who else would dare write: "Mr. Bryant is not all fool. 
 Mr. Willis is not quite an ass. Mr. Longfellow will steal, but, 
 
146 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 perhaps he cannot help it, and it must not be denied that 
 nil tetegit quod non ornavit." 
 
 To him who wears the crown, possibly such language is 
 permissible. Yet it is unfortunate that Poe s life could not 
 have been enriched by a few of those literary friendships 
 that have so glorified the lives of such men as Johnson, 
 Thackeray, Goldsmith and Lamb, and of many others 
 whose names were equally noted for their literary friend 
 ships and of the things they wrote. 
 
 There was one to whom he warmed and, under more 
 propitious circumstances, there might have ripened such 
 mutual regard and kindly appreciation as to have indis- 
 solubly linked their names no matter how vast the lit 
 erary gap which separated them. 
 
 Although Poe s letters to Lowell are marked by an un 
 usual and personal note of genuine friendship, and Lowell 
 apparently reciprocated, they never met except on the one 
 and unfortunate occasion, the circumstances of which 
 were such as to cause a serious and permanent alienation. 
 Yet their correspondence seemed to justify the olive 
 branch Poe held out. 
 
 I hope ere long to have the pleasure of conversing with you per 
 sonally. There is no man living with whom I have so much desire to 
 become acquainted. How much I would like to interchange opinions 
 with you on poems and poets in general ! I fancy that we should agree, 
 usually, in results, while differing frequently about principles. The day 
 may come when we can discuss everything at leisure and in person. 
 
 There is every reason to believe that, had Lowell recip 
 rocated, a great literary friendship might have resulted, in 
 spite of the fact that the two men differed as greatly in 
 their literary capacities as they did in their material 
 fortunes. 
 
 Who of the present generation would have connected 
 the name of Poe the maligned the man whose name be 
 came a synonym for all that genius can make repulsive, 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 147 
 
 who "succeeded in attracting and combining in his own 
 person all the floating vices which genius had hitherto 
 shown itself capable of grasping in its widest and most 
 eccentric orbit;" "a man who became an object of charity" ; 
 "the delirious drunken pauper of a common hospital"; 
 whose memory and name became a byword ; in whose own 
 works there was embedded by his unmoral biographer the 
 story of a "career full of instruction and warning, as it has 
 always been made a portion of the penalty of wrong that 
 its anatomy should be displayed for the common study 
 and advantage"; pilloried in his life and crucified in his 
 death with that of Lowell the Ambassador, the Professor 
 of belles-lettres, the literary arbiter of the late nineteenth 
 century, who wrote those memorable lines : 
 
 But the wind without was bitter and sharp 
 Of Sir Launfal s gray hair it made a harp. 
 
 Poe s name will live in spite of his critics and of evil re 
 ports. He has left works which neither time, nor age, nor 
 changing fashions, nor new standards can cast into ob 
 livion. They will constitute a "monument more lasting than 
 brass," and with Horace he can sing: 
 
 Quod si me lyricis vatibus inserts 
 
 Sublimi feriam sidere vertice 
 
 for their dreams have been realized and they "have 
 reached the stars with the high-carried head." 
 
 None can begrudge Lowell his niche in the temple of 
 fame. Although in the coming years but few will listen to 
 his "Conversations on Some of the Old Poets," or look 
 with him through his "Study Windows," or accompany 
 him on his "Fireside Travels," yet shall he have the satis 
 faction of knowing that, so far as this world and its judg 
 ments are concerned, his name remains untarnished ; and 
 that no word of scandal ever has been uttered which could 
 in the slightest besmirch his reputation. 
 
148 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 It is equally certain, although for some good New 
 England reason Lowell assumed the throne left vacant 
 by the death of Longfellow, that generations to come 
 will know him not; and that his name, good or bad, 
 will perish from the memory of man, unless it be recalled 
 as a contributor to the curiosities of literature, when the 
 "Biglow Papers" are referred to, or "A Fable for Critics" is 
 mentioned because it contains an allusion to Poe. 
 
 Lowell s name may be carried to future generations be 
 cause he almost became the friend of Poe. 
 
 Did one pay the price because he was the child of genius, 
 while the other inherited the earth because he was lacking 
 in this divine gift? And, after all, who rightly may be 
 judged the more fortunate? For of the mediocre who strive, 
 struggle, die and are forgotten, the world holds no record. 
 
 Our beloved Autocrat, more wonderfully than I know 
 of elsewhere, has described this "Race of Life" and the fate 
 of oblivion that the world holds as our meed : 
 
 Commencement day always reminds me of the start for the 
 Derby when the beautiful three-year olds of the season are brought 
 up for the trial. . . . But this is the start and here they are, coats 
 bright as silk, and manes smooth as eau Lustrale can make them. Some 
 of the best are pranced around, a few minutes each, to show their 
 paces. . . . Do they really think those little thin legs can do anything 
 in such a slashing sweepstakes as is coming off in the next forty years? 
 Oh, this terrible gift of second-sight that comes to some of us when we 
 begin to look through the silvered rings of the arcus senilis! Ten years 
 gone. First turn in the race. A few broken down; two or three bolted. 
 Cossack, a black colt, seems to be ahead of the rest; those black colts 
 commonly get the start, I have noticed, of the others in the first quar 
 ter. Meteor has pulled up. 
 
 Twenty years. Cassock has dropped from the front, and Judex, an 
 iron-gray, has the lead. But look! how they have thinned out. Down 
 flat, five, six, how many ? They lie still enough! They will not get up 
 again in this race, be very sure! 
 
 Thirty years. Dives, bright sorrel, ridden by the fellow in the yel 
 low jacket, begins to make play fast. But who is that other one that 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 149 
 
 has been lengthening his stride and now shows close up to the front? 
 Don t you remember the quiet brown colt Asteroid with the star in his 
 forehead? The black colt, as we used to call him, is in the background 
 taking it easily in a gentle trot. 
 
 Forty years. More dropping off but much as before. 
 
 Fifty years. Race over. All that are on the course are coming in at 
 a walk ; no more running. Who is ahead ? What ! and the winning post a 
 slab of white or gray stone standing out from that turf where there is 
 no more jockying or straining for victory. 
 
 Although Poe is now recognized as our literary primate 
 anathema on those who bracket, with his, the name of 
 Whitman ! he has been denied official recognition ; he has 
 been reluctantly admitted to our metropolitan Hall of 
 Fame, and those who should have gloried in the great 
 literary reputation he has given to us, and who should have 
 welcomed him as a peer, coldly declined to participate 
 when they were asked to do him honor. 
 
 Years ago the acid test was applied. When, through the 
 efforts of old friends and of the school children of Rich 
 mond, a public subscription was raised for the purpose of 
 erecting a "slab of stone to fittingly mark the resting-place 
 of Poe s body there he is not they asked those great 
 men of Boston who had been Poe s contemporaries, and 
 who necessarily recognized his literary eminence to join in 
 commemorating his memory. These invitations were either 
 ignored or they were not accepted. 
 
 Lowell, Poe s old friend and admirer, in a four-line letter, 
 "regretted very much that it will be quite impossible for 
 me to be present." Bryant, in a note equally brief, returned 
 "thanks for the obliging invitation." Mr. Whittier: "As a 
 matter of principle, I do not favor ostentatious monu 
 ments" (only a very few hundreds had been raised by 
 these poor children of Richmond). Dr. Holmes, in his letter 
 of declination, feelingly referred to Poe s sins of commis 
 sion: "The hearts of all who reverence the inspiration of 
 genius, who can look tenderly upon the infirmities too often 
 
150 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 attending it, who can feel for its misfortunes, will sym 
 pathize with you, as you gather around the resting place of 
 all that was mortal of Edgar Allan Poe." If Holmes, 
 usually so generous and warm-hearted, could thus coldly 
 respond, to whom could we then turn ? Surely there was one 
 who would exhibit some tenderness for the memory of a 
 contemporary he most certainly admired, however widely 
 apart their orbits ranged. But Longfellow s response was 
 the briefest of all ; no kindly memory or literary apprecia 
 tion roused the slightest spark of human sympathy. To 
 him these two lines: 
 
 The fever called living 
 Is conquered at last. 
 
 seemed the fitting Epitaph and End. 
 
 And Tennyson, the Tennyson Poe so admired, would 
 that I did not have to record it! wrote: 
 
 I have long been acquainted with Poe s works and am an admirer 
 of them. I am obliged to you for your expressions about myself, and 
 your promise of sending me the design for the poet s monument, and 
 beg you to believe me, yours very truly. 
 
 Possibly the encomiums Poe lavished on Tennyson were 
 so well deserved that no responsive chord was awakened. 
 Possibly he did not possess a responsive chord: maybe 
 after all it was but the "English" of him. 
 
 None of these, by the slightest word or token, gave evi 
 dence of sympathetic interest, or of respect for the memory 
 of Poe: not one of them went beyond the limit of strict 
 etiquette in their formal answers. 
 
 Nor can this indifference be accounted for by sectional 
 jealousies or local prejudices. Long years before our 
 country again had become one; the ties binding it had 
 grown into indissoluble bonds which have made us forget 
 there ever was a line of cleavage. Holmes once used 
 and explained the word "polarized," in a way fully ac 
 counting for this attitude. 
 
POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 151 
 
 Continuity of contemptuous memory and biography 
 had overcome and polarized all feeling for the human side 
 of Poe, and had obliterated all thought, except the one 
 that was bitter and that bore no relation to the literary 
 skill or the remarkable accomplishments of this genius. 
 Coming generations will become de-polarized. 
 
 Had it been Lowell, and not Poe, whose name was to have 
 been celebrated by a fitting observance of his memorable 
 qualities, not of the things he wrote, what an outpour 
 ing of commemorative odes would have honored alike the 
 subject and the singers ! 
 
 I do not believe that I am peculiar in the great love in 
 which I hold the names of certain writers not necessarily 
 because they wrote marvelous things, but because they 
 are men who appeal to my heart. 
 
 It was Thackeray who said: 
 
 If Steele is not our friend he is nothing. He is by no means the most 
 brilliant of wits or the deepest of thinkers, but he is our friend ; we love 
 him as children love, with an A because he is amiable. I own to liking 
 Dick Steele the Man and Dick Steele the Author much better than 
 much better men and much better authors. 
 
 How I would have loved to have gone a-fishing with old 
 Isaac, and had him show me "that very chub with a white 
 spot on his tail." What a feast I could have had at the 
 Mitre, not because of Johnson s turgid argumentations 
 "for effect," but rejoicing in Goldsmith s whimsicalities 
 and his stuttered paradoxes; and the touch of his honest 
 hand would have thrilled me in spite of his absurd 
 "bloom-colored coat," and his homely snub-nosed face, 
 seared by the scars of his old disease. 
 
 Or could I have met, only for once, the big-hearted 
 Thackeray in one of his hours of relaxation, possibly on one 
 of his occasional meetings with "Old Fitz," indulging in 
 persiflage and uproarious boyish laughter Thackeray, the 
 lovable, who never stooped to, nor tolerated, an ignoble 
 
152 POE: A PSYCHOPATHIC STUDY 
 
 action, and who satirized all that was false, mean, and dis 
 honest ; that poor Thackeray who so patiently bore the one 
 great and unbearable affliction in his attempt to mother 
 his motherless girls. 
 
 Would not one have enjoyed spending a day at Silverado 
 with Stevenson, that patient sufferer who so pathetically 
 and tenaciously fought for life not because he feared 
 death, but because life held much joy. We cannot even 
 look at the crags of Mount Saint Helena, which for a 
 time held and finally restored him, without a quickening 
 of the pulse-beat and a tightening of the heart-strings. 
 
 And, among these "Royal and Noble Authors," Poe 
 would not have been the least of those I loved. In his hours 
 of sorrow and depression, when he shunned the world and 
 sought seclusion in the little cottage at Fordham, now a 
 shrine to his memory, I could have kept him silent com 
 pany, and in my own poor way have ministered to his 
 necessities possibly have given him aid in his affliction ; 
 or I would have accompanied him on one of his solitary 
 rambles to High Bridge, bearing with him his load of gloom 
 and wretchedness. Or, when his mood changed and inspir 
 ation lighted his mobile face, and supernatural themes 
 employed his facile tongue, I would have rejoiced in his 
 well modulated voice repeating some favorite poem, or 
 dwelling on those wonders of nature that so completely 
 occupied his later years; and, in the words of his beloved 
 Tennyson, I would have attempted with him to find the 
 Ultimate, 
 
 And reach the law within the law. 
 
PART II. 
 
 EDGAR A. POE 
 
 A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
IN EXPLANATION 
 
 IT HAS been my purpose in cataloguing my books not 
 only to give the usual bibliographical details but, in 
 addition, so to abstract their contents as to exhibit 
 that vital spark which has given them the right to live. 
 Books not endowed with this spark of life should not cum 
 ber our shelves but should be allowed to crumble and 
 disappear. Those that are ancient, and only have been pre 
 served for the reason that they have been laid away and 
 forgotten, are "Struldbrugs :" helpless and imbecile they 
 continue to exist, a horror to those who must care for 
 them. 
 
 Nor do I care for the promising though immature 
 youths who in time may grow into illustrious manhood. 
 So very doubtful am I of my ability to distinguish the 
 great from the near-great, that I have felt it wise to allow 
 Time s judgment to determine this x-quantity;but with the 
 personal reservation that, as in the moct respectable com 
 munities there are certain individuals we like, others we 
 merely tolerate, and still others, however good their repute, 
 whom we thoroughly dislike, there are certain books that 
 we love, or we endure, or that we reject notwithstanding 
 their reputations are excellent and their morals above 
 reproach. There will always be some few that we may not 
 highly respect, which yet we love because they amuse, or 
 because they are possessed of some quality which endears 
 them to us, although association with them may not be 
 judged to be uplifting. 
 
 In selecting books for the formation of a library prob 
 ably we shall be guided by the same unconscious prefer 
 ences that control us in establishing a home and selecting 
 
158 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 associates. There are individuals obsessed by social aspira 
 tions who do not seek the old, and possibly out-at-elbows, 
 friends they used to love ; they desire for companions only 
 persons of civic prominence, or those who are highly 
 placed. They reject all others, although to find their peers 
 it may become necessary to employ a social secretary and 
 dragnet the city. These care nothing for old associations, 
 and are swayed by no personal inclinations; they allow 
 themselves no likes nor dislikes. The only requirement for 
 companionship is that their companions standardise so 
 cially. Usually their book mansions remain closed during 
 many months of each year, and the only evidence of occu 
 pation is an occasional footprint, impressed in the dust 
 which has accumulated between infrequent visits. 
 
 My book-home was erected, and my book friends were 
 selected, after a design and in a spirit somewhat different. 
 It was built for constant and permanent occupation, al 
 though it had its beginnings in surroundings lowly and 
 humble. Most emphatically it was the result of my own 
 inclinations, and it was the offspring of my unbridled love. 
 Few books, however praised by the world or distinguished 
 by long life, were admitted unless I found in them con 
 genial friends. Occasionally, even the vagabond and the 
 outlaw gained admission if possessed of certain qualities 
 (or vagaries) which made them interesting human docu 
 ments. Necessarily, I have given admission to certain 
 books only because of their eminent respectability, and, 
 occasionally, I have demeaned myself by servilely grovel 
 ling in the HOUSE OF THE GILDED. 
 
 As there are differences in the fashions of home building, 
 so there are many different opinions as to what should 
 constitute a library, the Bradstreet rating frequently 
 determining the choice. If one who desires to form a collec 
 tion be possessed of abundant wealth, he may not be 
 willing to trust his own judgment; but will employ an 
 
IN EXPLANATION 159 
 
 "architect" who will plan and construct for him a library 
 of imposing grandeur. Its cornerstone undoubtedly will 
 be the First Four Folios. Next will come the Elegy, and, if 
 possible to procure, an uncut Kilmarnock ; then the Songs 
 of Innocence. The price mark is plain, and for this reason 
 their quality cannot be questioned. Because there are only 
 a very few of these rarities to be distributed among a great 
 number of seekers, the scramble would be amusing were it 
 not pitiful to see such desirable items seized and incar 
 cerated in these BOOK MANSIONS. 
 
 My critical reflections will have made it evident that I 
 have not been able to follow this method of formation. A 
 good library may be builded without having, as a founda 
 tion, the First Four Folios, which, in good condition, are 
 now held at something like $25,000. There are many desir 
 able items that are within the reach of the ungilded. A few 
 manuscripts, glistening in their golden borders and illum 
 inated with miniatures, possibly the work of some devotee 
 whose heart s life-blood rubricated their pages, or some 
 illustrative incunabula (still an education to our modern 
 printers and binders, as they must be in their original 
 bindings, unless a Payne or a Berthelet or other notable 
 binding has been substituted ; otherwise their shorn mar 
 gins render them valueless); possibly, if very carefully 
 selected, a third rate Caxton or a Wynken de Worde. 
 These, perhaps, may be afforded ; while good specimens of 
 1500-1550 transitional English are not financial impossi 
 bilities. A Tyndale Bible, an Elyot s "Governor," and, if 
 one is fortunate, the first Ascham s "Schoolmaster" in its 
 original vellum binding, as well as an early Chaucer and a 
 first Gower all are within reach. The Nuremberg Chron 
 icle, that great picture book on which it is said Albert 
 Durer might have tried his prentice hand, and which is the 
 earliest of all illustrated books, is a most comforting item; 
 but so many rise up and demand recognition that each 
 
160 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 individual lover must choose his particular inamorata. 
 However, in this "affair," the polygamous conception is 
 permissible; for when the appetite becomes whetted, and 
 blood is once tasted, it grows with what it feeds upon, and 
 individual tastes if they be individual give us the best 
 criterion by which to determine the capacity of the collec 
 tor. Certainly, any good library must contain all the early 
 English classics, if possible as originally issued, neces 
 sarily in contemporary bindings. All modern "creations" 
 and jewelled bindings should be avoided "as strongly as 
 the Moslemite the forbidden wine." Some of the earlier 
 typographical prints from the old presses, the Elzevirs, 
 the Aldines and the Plantins, keep up old traditions, even 
 if their contents are dead. They give the attic flavor. The 
 works of many modern presses, of the Moxons and the 
 Baskervilles, and other of the recent printers who issued 
 contemporary and living publications, should be sought, 
 and there are many existent presses noted for the typo 
 graphical beauty of their productions. So numerous and so 
 notable are they that to mention them is unnecessary. 
 
 Personally, I avoid all Kelmscott and other imitations, 
 some of them unspeakably bad, of old manuscripts and 
 incunabula. Some of the early Americana is almost neces 
 sary. Smith s "History of Virginia," Hennepin s and other 
 of the early explorations (never the reprint, if the original 
 can be procured) are most desirable. A "Poor Richard" 
 issued while Franklin still moralized, a genuine Horn 
 Book, if it can be found, and a "New England Primer" 
 issued when it was yet prefaced by that hangman s cut of 
 the Georges; and possibly, if one s nerves be strong and 
 indignant comments be under control, specimens of New 
 England s early contributions to our literature, such as 
 the "Wonders of the Invisible World," which contains an 
 account of the witches and which upheld their persecutors ; 
 or other of the Mathers all of them are interesting and 
 
IN EXPLANATION 161 
 
 entertaining human documents, even while they force a real 
 ization of the quality of the foundation on which American 
 literature rests. All of these and many other books equally 
 rare, entertaining and informing, may be secured for a 
 much lower figure than is now asked for the four Folios. 
 "Could have been secured" possibly would have been a 
 more accurate statement, for certain of these have so sky 
 rocketed (and book profiteers have so imposed on the 
 occupants of these MANSIONS) that prices now asked seem 
 to us, judging by older catalogs and "Book-Prices Cur 
 rent," out of all proportion to the value of the purchase. 
 
 Specimens of Grolier, Derome, and many other of the 
 Royal bindings, are most desirable when placed on books 
 worthy of their covering ; but in this we are trespassing on 
 the domain of the LONG-PURSES, and such a collection soon 
 becomes the work of the specialist; it is not for the 
 medium-pursed amateur. 
 
 Fine bindings on worthless books are a reflection on any 
 collector unless he can excuse them by some explanation 
 that justifies their presence. I would no more willingly 
 admit one of these to my library shelves than I would 
 choose for friend and familiar associate a manikin such as 
 is placed in a store window on which are exhibited the 
 latest fashions. Gorgeous though it be, its value is purely 
 extraneous. As a rule such coverings conceal nothingness. 
 
 Editions de luxe and numbered sets or volumes place 
 their owners under grave suspicion, and their finger prints 
 must be carefully examined. By the speculative dealer they 
 are studied and remembered and, for this reason, many 
 desirable items are now beyond the reach of the average 
 collector. While in individual cases it might work a hard 
 ship, I am powerfully inclined to the enactment of a law 
 that would deny the entrance of plutocrats to this Para 
 dise of all that constitutes human happiness. 
 
 It frequently happens that he of the medium purse sue- 
 
162 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 ceeds by reason of careful and diligent search, where the 
 rich collector fails because of over eagerness to reach the 
 goal. If, for good reasons, a dozen books are desired, and 
 only one can be paid for, the one finally chosen is sure to be 
 an index and a guide to the spirit and the book-knowledge 
 of the man who selects it for his library. There are many 
 collections, rich in the choicest book treasures, that in no 
 sense represent either the intellectual qualities nor are they 
 an index to the taste of the collector. To form a library that 
 will properly characterize the collector, it must be fused 
 into solidarity and individuality by the fire of personal 
 enthusiasm. Predilections vary amongst equally compe 
 tent and equally book-loving selectors. 
 
 My friend also has chosen the books that constitute his 
 library. He has bestowed upon them an enthusiasm and a 
 love as great as my own. However, the qualifications that 
 his books must have, in order to gain admission to his 
 shelves, materially differ from those I require. My Hakluyt 
 must be the 1599-1600 edition, but he prefers the modern 
 reprint. I would accept only the original Adlington "Gol 
 den Ass ;" he insists upon the Bohn translation, because it is 
 more accurate, and because the blark letter tijpe is difficult 
 to decipher. My Montaigne, the first folio, he laughs to 
 scorn, for, if it is not illegible, certainly it is not easily read. 
 I selected the folio Hume: it is large, awkward to hold, and 
 will fit only on a specially constructed shelf; but, although 
 it is the finest specimen of typography in existence, my 
 friend will none of it for his library. His copy is an octavo, 
 neither cumbersome nor unwieldy, and, in the best sense, 
 it is readable. I will only have Macauley in the original 
 boards, and as first issued. He refuses to give such a book 
 shelf room, and will accept only the standard edition, 
 freed from all errata and with the more modern additions 
 and modifications. I will have no Shelley except as first 
 issued, although it necessitates my taking "Queen Mab" 
 
IN EXPLANATION 163 
 
 with torn imprint, consoling myself with the knowledge 
 that Shelley s own hands desecrated or consecrated 
 this volume (for it was his individual act to which this 
 mutilation is due) ; my friend chooses the complete edition, 
 as issued by Mrs. Shelley. The world upholds him in his 
 common-sense views and methods of collecting, while it 
 calls me by a name that is opprobrious, yet which flatters 
 my book-pride. 
 
 I also have an acquaintance, a man ambitious to be 
 considered a book collector, whose family the newspapers 
 refer to as The Horace- Joneses," though the head of it is 
 widely, appropriately, and popularly known as "Jackass 
 Jones." Occasionally he allows me to inspect his books, 
 some of which are the rarest in existence. His original pur 
 chase was the four Folios, but they proved to be a cause 
 of great worry. He bought them in the belief that the four 
 constituted the first edition of Shakespeare, and was right 
 eously angry, on inspection, to find that they did not bear 
 the same date, and that they were not properly num 
 bered, and that their bindings were not uniform. They 
 were either in original or contemporary bindings, their 
 margins were uncut, they were not deformed by reproduc 
 tions. It was only by a tour deforce that he was prevailed 
 upon not to rebind them to correspond with other of his 
 hand- tooled and gilded creations, and not so to cut them 
 down that they would more sungly fit on his glass encased 
 shelves. As he very intelligently and shrewdly remarked, 
 the margins were unnecessarily large and showed a dis 
 regard for the proper conservation of paper, and they 
 occupied an unjustifiable amount of space. His investiga 
 tion of these books went no further. There is only one 
 book that he has completely read and digested and with 
 every detail of which he is familiar and which he thor 
 oughly understands. It must be very rare for, though I am 
 fairly familiar with books, it is one that I rarely meet with ; 
 
164 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 and, try as I do, I have never been able to familiarize 
 myself with its contents. He calls it a check book. 
 
 Tastes differ, and if only a collector will follow his in 
 dividual preferences, and gather into his library those 
 books that give him pleasure, no one justly may criticize 
 him. He has simply followed where his predilections led. 
 These statements are made to illustrate the fact that every 
 library must be a law unto itself, and, if individually com 
 piled, its volumes are the best commentary on the taste, 
 the philosophy, and the mental capacity of the collector. 
 
 Except for commercial purposes, or that one may satisfy 
 some Utopian whim, it is not necessary to invest in the 
 absolutely first issue, which can only be identified by a mis- 
 pagination, or an error in spelling, or some battered type; 
 especially where, to secure such a deformity, it may be 
 necessary to pay many hundreds of dollars more than a 
 perfect copy of the first would cost. This statement does 
 not hold good in all cases. It is absolutely necessary to 
 possess the Vicar with the misprint "Waeckfield" but, 
 provided "Robinson Crusoe" be of the right date and 
 carry the Crusoe pictures, it is not at all necessary that, in 
 the preface, apply shall be spelled apyly. "Gulliver s 
 Travels" must have the separate pagination, and, if pos 
 sible, the unlettered picture of Gulliver as it was first 
 issued : especially this volume should be in the hands of all 
 Pacific Coast collectors, because of its map showing the 
 location of Brobdingnag. As far as I am aware I am the 
 first to name it an important piece of Calif or niana. This 
 map gives an excellent contour of the Pacific Coast, with 
 its capes and bays properly marked and named ; it locates 
 Brobdingnag in the exact position now assigned to Alaska. 
 Had Swift s tale been properly interpreted by a psychic, 
 some of its wonders would have been discovered long ago, 
 and many of the tall tales of marvelous adventures and 
 remarkable occurrences, that are now a part of history, 
 
IN EXPLANATION 165 
 
 could have been forecast with Monte Cristo results that 
 would have enriched the world. As it is, where the remark 
 able tales of certain Alaska visitors cannot be verified, the 
 location may account for the magnified imaginings. 
 
 It is not necessary that "Tom Jones" shall have the list 
 of errata, but it is very necessary that the contents be 
 properly placed. Sterne s works, if obtainable, should have 
 "The Sentimental Journey" as first issued in its original 
 covers, and "Tristram Shandy" should not be allowed 
 entrance unless it carries all identifying points of a first 
 issue, which are many and somewhat complicated. "Para 
 dise Lost" is certainly a desirable possession, especially if 
 it bear the date 1667, with the first title page, but a later 
 issue of the first edition costs several hundred dollars less, 
 and is held to be equally a first edition. Not many know 
 the right date, and, if a discriminating enquiry shows 
 familiarity with the facts, properly it will lead to an inter 
 esting discussion of the eight title pages ; it is not difficult 
 to prove that the contents of all were printed at the same 
 time, the date and title page merely showing the year in 
 which they were sold rather than the date of publication. 
 They also illustrate the various and resourceful methods 
 adopted by the publishers even in those days. If this 
 palming fails, it is proper to point out the very material 
 fact that possession of all eight title pages is a display of 
 financial resources not in the best taste. 
 
 But this does not hold true of Omar. If one must be 
 "indulged in" and who can long resist? it is necessary 
 to possess all of the first four editions, otherwise it may 
 not be possible to follow the ever-shifting text. They should 
 not only be in their original covers, but those covers 
 should be fresh and clean. All Thackeray and Dickens pub 
 lications should when so issued be in their original 
 parts, but it is not necessary that the "Pickwick Papers" 
 shall have all the "points" possessed by the Lapham copy. 
 
166 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 The bibliographer who selected this particular copy as the 
 standard was "unduly influenced," either by contiguity or 
 by ownership. I could describe a copy far more significant 
 of the facts, and which would allow a far greater number 
 of candidates to qualify, in spite of the very important 
 consideration that no one has been able to fully determine 
 certain questioned points, and that one guess is as good 
 as another ; for none of us can be certain of all the points 
 that do constitute the first issue. 
 
 Every library should be a reflex of the mental charac 
 teristics as it necessarily is of the financial status of the 
 collector; and, if we seem inclined to hold what we possess 
 as a necessary constituent, and to deride those book 
 treasures not held by us as being unduly valued, that is 
 merely another example of the impossibility of solving the 
 human equation, and a repetition in another form of the 
 old story as to "whose bull gored the unlucky oxen." That 
 story is my first "memory," for it was a reading lesson in 
 my first Noah Webster speller, I forget how many years 
 ago. Yet that book, or its duplicate, is one of my prized 
 possessions, secured after many years of diligent search; 
 and the "Temple of Fame and Knowledge" which decorates 
 it, still appeals to all the ambition that is in me. It con 
 tained another reading lesson about a fox that had lost its 
 tail, and its vain attempt to make of this mutilation a 
 fashion. Because of this training, I know it is not right 
 to sneer at the long-pursed, the long-tailed, or the long- 
 eared ones. I try to be satisfied with the crumbs that 
 fall to my lot and not unduly to long for the flesh-pots of 
 the GILDED. If I cannot have the Seymour plates I am at 
 least thankful that I have Pickwick in parts, and I try to 
 brave it through although my copy be not one of the 
 three or four that pass for perfect. Who of us can feel in 
 different as to whether it is the first or the eighth title page 
 of "Paradise Lost" he possesses, or who in his book-loving 
 
IN EXPLANATION 167 
 
 heart really can scoff at the four Folios? Certain people 
 whistle to keep up their courage, and assume a brave front 
 when repining is useless. At least, I shall attempt to put 
 my few possessions in the very best light. 
 
 In studying my books, it has always been a difficult 
 matter to separate and dissociate the personality of the 
 man who wrote, from the things written; for this reason 
 my collection of biographies and autobiographies are co 
 extensive with the other books collected. I do not believe 
 that the statements contained are in all ways authentic, 
 nor are they to be relied upon as a fair index to the per 
 sonal qualities and individual traits of the person they 
 attempt to depict. I have found that they are as valuable 
 for what they endeavor to conceal as for what they ex 
 hibit, in spite of the fact that their kindly efforts to make 
 plain the inner life end in failure, when they attempt to ex 
 plain that which is inexplicable. A biographer must psych 
 ologize himself before he can psychologize his subject. 
 
 A striking illustration of this is found in Bishop s 
 Theodore Roosevelt and his Time." The gradual change 
 observable in the man we loved for his mental virility, his 
 honesty of purpose, and especially for the enemies he 
 made, is a regrettable instance of the dominant ego of 
 youth slowly transformed into the megalomania of age. 
 The bitter antagonism Roosevelt exhibited because of de 
 viation from his councils, his intolerance of all things he 
 had not originated, and his exhibition of wrath aroused 
 because of a just award which fulfilled a moral obligation 
 crowning his own greatest achievement, were but symp 
 toms of an egomania that finally ended in an obsession. He 
 mistook the buzzing of the bee for the Call of the People 
 demanding his return to public office. Although in Bishop s 
 statement there is an evident attempt either to explain or 
 to ignore these various assumptions, it is not difficult to 
 read between the lines. He omitted unduly. 
 
168 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Undoubtedly, as is the case with Washington, and as it 
 is rapidly becoming with Lincoln, time will cause these 
 human weaknesses to be forgotten, and Roosevelt may 
 become apotheosized; but such books, dealing with mat 
 ters still fresh in our memories, only arouse criticism. 
 
 What autobiography more depressing could be found 
 than that of Henry Adams, the arch pessimist of his pessi 
 mistic family, who laid before an interested world his 
 Theories of Education? That neurasthenic, third person 
 statement, filled with morbid introspection, should have 
 contained far more of strenuous life and personal impres 
 sions than Adams did give out. 
 
 Could two more dissimilar lives have been related, yet 
 each, in their way, self-explanatory? In both cases it was 
 the morbid ego that dominated. 
 
 Notwithstanding the veil of obscurity thrown around 
 individuals by their biographers, and of their attempts to 
 explain unexplainable facts and to make the world view 
 their subjects as they themselves have been hypnotized 
 into seeing him, in spite of that strabismus which afflicts 
 all autobiographers when they attempt to see themselves 
 as they desire the world to view them, it is not impossible, 
 nor is it really difficult to judge of the facts, not only from 
 what is stated but, almost equally, from what is omitted. 
 
 There is an optical illusion frequently experienced, 
 founded upon the temporary retention of an image by the 
 retina. If one travels at a definite speed past an enclosed 
 and ordinarily view-proof fence (a fence that has slight 
 interstices separating the boards), a perfect view is given 
 of the enclosed interior. Before one fleeting image im 
 pressed upon the retina has vanished, another again has 
 impressed its image. A continuous picture is thus formed, 
 identical with that known as a moving picture. In the 
 account of any life, we find knot holes and cracks, and 
 interstitial glimpses, that give us a full view of the interior 
 
IN EXPLANATION 169 
 
 of such authors as interest us. In this way we may arrive 
 at a very satisfactory knowledge of all that we should 
 know about an individual. To probe deeper is not always 
 the decent thing, nor is it necessary that posterity be 
 familiarized with facts which neither the individual nor 
 his biographer care to detail. 
 
 Certain of these writers have presented such marked 
 peculiarities, either in what they have written or in the 
 facts of their lives often in both as to have been chosen 
 by me as especially interesting psychological problems, 
 well worth the study of an alienist. Blake and Swedenborg, 
 Swift, Bacon, Rousseau, Lamb, Johnson, and many others, 
 are proper subjects for such an investigation. These and 
 others I have painstakingly studied, and have attempted 
 critically to estimate the significance that their peculiari 
 ties and personalities should have in a consideration of the 
 things which they have written. I have endeavored to un 
 ravel the skein of many threads which constituted their 
 real life, and to view the web of their personality, the woof 
 of which was composed of most heterogeneous and ill 
 assorted strands, even when the warp was sound and well 
 stretched, and the completed fabric proved a Royal Robe. 
 
 That I have chosen for publication, from among these, 
 the Study of Poe, needs neither preface nor apology. It 
 contains something which, if not original nor of the highest 
 value, attempts to harmonize and to present in a new as 
 pect, old and well-established facts; and which further 
 make plain the neurosis from which Poe suffered. 
 
 If this composite picture, and this reconstruction, be a 
 necessary introduction to a full understanding of Poe s 
 personality, it is unfortunate that it was not made many 
 years ago. The elapsed time has allowed the acid with 
 which that other portrait was etched-in to "bite" so deeply 
 that the impression formed may have become indelible. 
 Even so, I believed myself justified in attempting it. 
 
EDGAR A. POE* 
 
 A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 To make a complete collection of the stories, essays and 
 poems that Poe wrote, in the many publications in which 
 they first appeared, is not a thing easy of accomplishment. 
 
 As a rule it is necessary to be satisfied with the col 
 lected editions either as first issued, or in their later and 
 more complete form. 
 
 For the bibliophile who majors on Poe, and who is will 
 ing to delve and to seek for periodicals long dead, no find 
 ing better repays the search. 
 
 Even my incomplete collection has caused me more per 
 severing effort than I have given to any other writer 
 Thackeray alone excepted. Nor would it have been as com 
 plete as it is without friendly assistance and the good luck 
 that always attends the diligent search. To secure the 
 rarer items it was necessary to await the dispersion of the 
 great libraries ; for so few are they in number and so rarely 
 do they appear in catalogs, or do their owners respond to 
 "want" advertisements that, ordinarily speaking, they are 
 unobtainable. 
 
 *Note. I do not write Edgar Allan Poe for the reason that on no occasion, 
 either in his published writings or in his signatures to letters, did Poe so write it nor 
 did he indicate his middle name except by an initial. (Confer "Harrison s Letters".) 
 For some unknown reason we write Allan, possibly because the full name is re 
 garded as a mark of literary or other distinction. 
 
 Apparently we are given to certain mannerisms of speech, or of titles, in order 
 to indicate our literary or social aspirations. Usually the child is taught to pro 
 nounce either with the long e. If this school boy should aspire to distinction in 
 letters he will early show this inclination by using the long i ; for it is a generally 
 received opinion that the well-educated Englishman so pronounces. When this 
 youth enters on his University course he will give a further proof of his literary 
 trend by joining the Athenaeum, and his first cards, in place of the well-known 
 name J. H. Jones, will bear the unfamiliar signature, J. Horace Jones. While 
 
172 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 An adventure in book-collecting laid the foundation 
 of my Poe library. With pleasure I recall the day that I 
 visited Sotheran s and was shown a letter that they be 
 lieved would interest me. Many years ago a Scotchman 
 read a story entitled "Mesmerism in Articulo Mortis," 
 published by Short &2 Co. of London, and it was said to 
 have been written by "Edgar A. Poe, Esq. of New York." 
 
 This Scotchman wrote to Poe asking him if the story 
 was true, writing that he also was a student of Mesmer 
 ism, and as a believer, he requested a further statement 
 "for the sake of Science and Truth." 
 
 There had been found among Poe s correspondence 
 appropriated by Griswold a second letter from this seeker 
 after "Truth," thanking Poe for his answer. It is well 
 known that Poe greatly prized this inquiry, as it indicated 
 that his name was becoming known across the water ; and 
 he had requested certain of his friends to make editorial 
 comment on this letter as a proof of his growing popularity. 
 
 In the "Letters" published by Harrison is to be found 
 both the Scotchman s inquiry and his answer to Poe ac 
 knowledging the reply, but not the letter of Poe. 
 
 It was this long lost letter that was now offered me, 
 and it contained matter both autobiographical and 
 literary. 
 
 occasionally, for genealogical, or other good reasons, this may be a desirable 
 or necessary, mark for identification, it does seem that, in some mysterious way, 
 this change confers either literary or personal distinction. While it may not, for 
 the first time, be signed to an "Ode to Spring," it will sooner or later lead to some 
 essay in literature, and, if this is received approvingly, then the full name 
 Joaquin Horace Jones is assumed. 
 
 Great wealth or high social station often results in hyphenation, and when this 
 stage is reached, and the papers announce that the "Horace- Jones" have arrived, 
 then is the zenith of all possible social distinction attained. 
 
 I know one unfortunate who believes that he has every right to be thus distin 
 guished, and yet it so happens that his old friends still insist on calling him "Jack 
 ass-Jones" ; for it was while driving and caring for a herd of these animals that he 
 gained his lowly and humble start, and laid the foundation for his enormous 
 wealth. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 173 
 
 I had never heard of any story by Poe with this title: 
 accordingly, I sought information from that well-spring of 
 bibliographica, Tregaskis. 
 
 Not only did Mr. Tregaskis know of this publication 
 but he had in his possession the pamphlet for which I had 
 made inquiry. It proved to be our old friend M. V aide- 
 mar, but headlined and dressed in a fashion that appealed 
 more strongly to the English taste than did Poe s original 
 title. 
 
 These items were the foundation of my Poe collection, 
 and this incident was the incentive that induced me to 
 make a strenuous effort properly to represent in my library 
 our best known writer. 
 
 Long ago Poe s personality had interested me : a study of 
 his habits and character, as represented in his life and 
 works, had convinced me that his biographers had not un 
 derstood certain of the mental phases he exhibited better 
 than had his contemporary critics. Subconsciously I was 
 prepared for a complete exploitation not only of all that 
 Poe had written, but for a collection of these writings in 
 the form in which they were originally published. 
 
 All limited and de luxe editions were discarded and, bas 
 ing my "wants" on Harrison s complete and definitive 
 bibliography, I began my search : ignorantly yet hopefully 
 was the collection undertaken. Necessarily it was to be con 
 fined to the various magazines, periodicals, and annuals, as 
 well as to the few collections of poems and stories that 
 Poe made during his lifetime. I soon found that Poe, in his 
 frenzied struggle against starvation, could not choose 
 either as to periodical or form of publication. He was com 
 pelled to select the magazine that would pay for his con 
 tribution : or, as was occasionally necessary, to use these 
 articles as a stop-gap in any periodical with which he hap 
 pened to be connected. I was not only ignorant of the titles 
 but, even after these were known, I found publications 
 
174 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 had been made in so haphazard a manner that, frequently, 
 it was difficult to determine which of the named maga 
 zines should be regarded as containing the original issue. 
 The bibliography of both The Raven and The Bells illus 
 trate this uncertainty. 
 
 Poe s desperate financial condition made it necessary for 
 him to seek diligently for publications that would accept 
 his contributions, and to repeat himself in many periodi 
 cals. It was not the well known or the popular magazines 
 that sought him; nor would they accept the poems and 
 stories that are now regarded as his masterpieces. 
 
 This was partly due to sectional reasons; bitter rivalry, 
 social as well as literary, marked the Dixie line. It was es 
 pecially because of personal enmities engendered by over- 
 bitter criticisms, and to the righteous verbal castigations in 
 which Poe so unreservedly and joyfully indulged. 
 
 If some struggling periodical offered a prize it was Poe 
 who won it, and when such a magazine died, it frequently 
 happened that Poe s choicest literary work was buried in it. 
 
 For these reasons the quest for Poe remains should prove 
 a trial ground for the bibliomaniac. No search better re 
 pays the labor and money expended. So little valued, or 
 known, are these periodicals that, though priceless as con 
 taining original Poe contributions, they bring no price. 
 For this reason the rich collector has no incentive for in 
 vading this field, though he may pay enormous sums for 
 second rate and, to coming generations, unknown English 
 writers whose works are still esteemed because of some 
 association detail. It certainly is true that, as it relates to 
 Poe and other well-known writers, Americana is neither 
 sought, nor known, nor is it held to be of value. As an 
 example of this, a file of the "New England Magazine," 
 containing many of the best-known poems by Longfellow, 
 Bryant, Whittier and, among other items, Holmes first 
 two papers of the Autocrat, otherwise unobtainable, sold at 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 175 
 
 one of our most important sales of this year for something 
 less than two dollars. At the same time three thousand 
 three hundred dollars was paid for Lamb s "Poetry for 
 Children/* A Poe collection based on first publications 
 and the usual alternative is a de luxe edition cannot be 
 rapidly acquired, and can be found only by delving into 
 the trash and rubbish heaps that contain the mouldering 
 remains of long dead magazines. 
 
 It has seemed to me a curious fact that only in the in 
 edible oyster can pearls be found. We find only in these 
 discarded and defunct magazines the pearls Poe so indis 
 criminately scattered broadcast. 
 
 Few times were the choicest strung and in only one or 
 two instances were they mounted in individual settings. 
 So little appreciated or regarded were they that few of these 
 jewels survive in their original state, and because of this 
 scarcity Poe s earliest and consequently least worthy 
 work has become the most expensive of all Americana, 
 while those which best deserve such a monetary tribute are 
 either lost or are held, financially speaking, valueless. 
 
 Nor is the price placed on Poe s youthful work of recent 
 date. In the April, 1903, number of the Book-Lover, 
 Louis Northorp, in discussing the prices of Americana, 
 gives some idea of the interest excited by the auction of 
 a Poe item : 
 
 The rarest of all first editions of American poetry is Tamerlane 
 and other Poems which is the actual first edition of Poe s poems ever 
 published. That little book of forty pages has become the rarest book 
 in the world. For more than sixty years one copy only was known to 
 exist an imperfect one in the British Museum. In 1892 another copy 
 was announced in the catalog of a Boston book auctioneer. Excite 
 ment ran high among collectors to secure this unique volume. Before 
 the sale $500 should have been looked upon as a good price for it. 
 When the little paper-covered volume was brought under the hammer, 
 an unusual excitement was manifested in the auction-room. The bid 
 ding was lively and advanced rapidly from $100 to $500; when $1000 
 
176 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 was reached, there was a pause for a moment, but soon the bids came 
 briskly again, until the much coveted volume was knocked down for 
 the astonishing price of $1875. 
 
 ... To show how impossible it is to predict the future value of a 
 rare book, I will add that last year the first edition of Poe s Poems 
 brought the unparalleled price of $2050 at auction; the second edition 
 (Baltimore, 1829) brought $1300, while the original brown paper copy 
 of The Murders in the Rue Morgue fetched $1000. Twenty-five years 
 ago a friend of mine picked up a copy of Poe s poems, (New York 1 83 1 
 edition) for twenty-five cents. Thinking to improve the appearance of 
 the shabby board binding my friend had the original covers removed 
 and had it rebound in full Russia. The Vandal ! 
 
 Last year a cousin of Edgar A. Poe disposed of this book at private 
 sale for $150, about one-fifth of its actual value. 
 
 Poe s work in the original covers, are worth their weight in gold. 
 Every first edition of his work is eagerly bought at fabulous prices. 
 
 Possibly it would have added to Northorp s surprise 
 could he have looked forward seventeen years to the day 
 when Tamerlane sold at auction for $11,600: a matter 
 to which I shall again refer. 
 
 But not all of Poe s work, certainly not the best, is thus 
 eagerly sought for, nor, if sought for, can it be found. 
 
 The "Southern Literary Messenger," and the "Broad 
 way Journal," both edited by Poe, and to which he con 
 tributed all that was best in him and in them, are for this 
 reason of distinct literary value. Though they had a wide 
 circulation, now they are rarely found. Many of the less 
 pretentious periodicals to which Poe contributed have 
 been so long out of circulation that they have become 
 practically extinct. Of one magazine, in which Poe won his 
 first recognition, Harrison says: "In spite of the large cir 
 culation of The Baltimore Saturday Visiter, not a single 
 file of it is known to exist." 
 
 Woodberry says that no copy of "The Flag of Our 
 Union", which contained a few Poe items, can be found 
 and, as far as I know, there is only one copy of the "Dollar 
 Newspaper" in existence. For these reasons it may seem to 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 177 
 
 be a hopeless task to attempt a complete Poe collection. 
 Even those magazines known to have survived, and which 
 occasionally can be found, are of such rare occurrence that 
 Poe bibliographers do not give them even their proper 
 titles, and have been seriously in error as to their contents. 
 
 None of the reasons assigned deter the bibliomaniac and, 
 though the hunt may be in obscure corners, and is often 
 barren of result, it only adds zest to the search. 
 
 Once upon a time I remember to have read a story re 
 garding a virtuoso who collected ceramics. He had em 
 ployed, as curator, a man noted for his ability to judge of 
 what was rare and for his indefatigable industry in hunting 
 out all that had made this collection notable. When this 
 collector died he left to his curator not only all his treasures, 
 but also a vast fortune with which to house and care for 
 them. The curator continued his search until he was in 
 possession of all the desirable pieces the world contained. 
 Thereupon not only did he cease collecting but he com 
 menced a dispersal of that which he had held so precious, 
 although he allowed no two specimens of his faience to go to 
 the same buyer. When he could not dispose of a piece for 
 what it was supposed to be worth he sold it for whatever 
 was offered. Rumor finally became a certainty: serious 
 flaws, blemishes and counterfeits had been found in this 
 so highly regarded collection. One vase that had been its 
 chief est treasure he gave to a wandering huckster as un 
 worthy of price. He scattered every article that had con 
 stituted this collection till no vestige of it remained. 
 
 Now a new energy possessed him. His step became elas 
 tic, the rose again bloomed in his cheek and his old-time 
 vigor reasserted itself. He was seen searching the high 
 ways and delving in the byways. He rummaged in the hid 
 den corners and sought out the old shops avoiding only 
 those denominating themselves "fie Antique iHjoppe;" for 
 nothing of interest is ever found there. 
 
178 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 He was often seen returning home laden with disre 
 putable-looking bundles, yet he carried them most tenderly. 
 At last he disappeared. When found in his garret where he 
 had evidently lived parsimoniously and where he had died 
 apparently of starvation, he was surrounded by his rarest 
 treasures, and in his dead hand was held the vase that had 
 been the aim and end of his tireless search. 
 
 For those who do not have to save hard-earned money, 
 and who do not have to deny certain appetities, and who 
 are not compelled to scrimp and plan, the real joy of book 
 collecting does not exist. I do not envy the man who can 
 indulge in the Shakespeare Folios, or who can afford to 
 pay $2,000,000 for a library, even if it contain the rarest 
 of first editions, illuminated manuscripts, Incunabula, 
 Caxtons et omne id. 
 
 Personal memories, founded on boyhood experience, 
 have taught me the danger of satiety. I remember that, as 
 a small boy living in the backwoods of Alabama, Sunday 
 was a gala day and I longed for its coming as does the 
 parched traveler for the desert oasis. This was not for 
 reasons religious, but because on that day the Circuit Rider 
 was entertained at dinner, and hot biscuits with yellow- 
 legged chicken were always served. For the whole week 
 during which I had waited for this feast, my throat had 
 been scratched by the rough corn-pone. 
 
 In times more recent, when hot biscuit and fried chicken 
 were within my daily command, I turned from them and 
 again welcomed the despised pone. 
 
 I am certain that my lone and imperfect Caxton gave 
 me greater mental exhilaration and bibliophile joy than 
 any wholesale acquisition of the rarest bibliographical 
 treasures could have brought me. 
 
 Over-rapidly acquired and without full time for their 
 absorption these rarities are sure to give mental indiges 
 tion. Unless you can feel the thrill of accomplishment 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 179 
 
 which possesses you when some long sought treasure has 
 been captured, the first and greatest pleasure of book-col 
 lecting is not for you. 
 
 I remember, when Aldines were still the vogue, I found 
 a "Juvenalis et Persis", dated MDI, with the straight anchor, 
 in spite of the fact that MDII has been assigned as the 
 date when the anchor was first used. I threw this Aldine to 
 one side with other discarded trash and, during the next few 
 visits to the shop, forgot its existence. Finally, when I had 
 reduced the patient dealer to exhaustion, my hand again 
 sought this Aldine, but only for the purpose of pointing 
 out certain defects that were in evidence. After severely 
 criticising its dilapidated though original vellum cover, 
 finding certain wormholes in its uncut pages, and animad 
 verting on the continued existence of a book printed in a 
 language long dead and that but few could now read, I 
 demanded his reason for trying to sell something so use 
 less, and ended with an inquiry as to what he thought a 
 book of this kind was really worth. In sarcasm an extremely 
 small sum was named which at once I paid : or rather, I 
 threw the money on the counter, clutched my bargain, and 
 was out and up the street before the amazed owner could 
 reconsider his offer. 
 
 What this book is worth I have not the remotest idea, 
 nor does such a question interest me. As for any pleasure 
 its contents has given me, I am certain that I overpaid ; 
 I have never made any attempt to read the dead and 
 forgotten language. Even could I, the memory of the 
 drudgery entailed in translating it, in my long past college 
 days, makes me know that it would be most stupid reading. 
 Nevertheless, to me this book is a treasure, for it recalls one 
 of my earliest book memories : more than this it was the 
 beginning of my acquaintance with Cowan, one of my good 
 book friends and our greatest authority on Californiana. 
 To me its value lies in the memory of its acquirement, and 
 
180 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 I have placed this "memory" among certain others all 
 imbedded in contiguous brain cells. It is these memories 
 which constitute my victory over Time and Age. 
 
 Years and experience have taught me the futility of 
 hoarding riches, and the fallacy of believing that money, 
 alone, can either compensate or protect me against the in 
 firmities of old age. Memories are our defense and our 
 consolation, and I gather them as eagerly and preserve 
 them with as much care as does a miser his gold. 
 
 As a specialist, I am often consulted by those who are 
 breaking under the worry and stress of business cares. At 
 once and always, I attempt to recall and reestablish those 
 fads and diversions which will store new memories outside 
 their business life. If I can find no "memories," and can 
 create no new interests, then indeed is my prognosis bad. 
 Golf may save a few, but its memories are trivial at least 
 my own had best be forgotten hunting and fishing are 
 only for those who are strong and vigorous, travelling 
 bores many who are unfitted and illy equipped for new 
 environments, or who prefer the comforts of home to dis 
 comforts and dust. I have occasionally, but with bad con 
 science, justified by the condition of physical and mental 
 weakness I have found, advised certain patients to major 
 on philately, as better than no "mania." In whatever 
 manner acquired, diversion of some kind, with its accom 
 panying memories, is essential to a contented old age. 
 
 It was old Dame Julia who begun her 
 
 "{Cretps&e on Jfpstfjpnnge" 
 
 with the following corroborative thought: 
 
 fealaman in fjte parablps tfaptf) tfjat a goob tfpprpte 
 mafeetf) a flourpnge aege tfjat te a faprc acgc anb longc 
 anb 3ptf) it i& goe : 3 asfee tfjte question? tofjicfte ben 
 tfte meaner & tfte cautfeg tfjat enbure a man in a merp 
 spprpte. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 181 
 
 For this reason do I collect and treasure my memories. 
 Many hundreds cluster in adjacent brain cells, stored and 
 catalogued and to be used as necessity requires. 
 
 Occasionally I have seen cattle grazing, browsing and 
 still eating when apparently all demands of appetite had 
 been satisfied. Then I have seen them seek some shady and 
 secluded spot where they rested and chewed the cud of con 
 tentment, thus setting an example of wisdom that we 
 humans might well imitate. 
 
 For these reasons I welcomed the hunt. As much as pos 
 sible avoiding the modern collections, except as guides 
 because of unfamiliarity, I sought in the highways and 
 the byways : occasionally my reward was proportionate to 
 the energy I expended. The really good things of Poe still 
 sell for a song. Others are expensive and may only be ac 
 quired by those who can properly pitch the note. In my 
 search I ransacked most of the cities, haunted the auction 
 rooms, patronized the "Publisher s Weekly," and searched 
 the Americana of our catalogs, but with only meager 
 results. 
 
 As a rule my inquiries were received with a vacant 
 stare ; or, from some old and wise book-dealer, a pitying 
 shake of the head as if I were seeking the wraith of one long 
 dead, or were attempting to resurrect the figure of an 
 antedeluvian which had not left even a pedal bone as a 
 guide for reconstruction. 
 
 It was not at all certain that some of these dealers ever 
 had heard of The Yankee," except as a generic term : from 
 my persistent inquiries they seemed to think that it was of 
 my own ancestry I was seeking information. They had 
 heard of a "Saturday Visitor," but did not know any 
 thing about a "Baltimore Saturday Visiter." If there were 
 one it was not on sale in New York. 
 
 When I asked for a "Flag of our Union," they respect 
 fully raised their hat, as a token of regard for my loyalty, 
 
182 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 but there was nothing under it; all they could suggest was 
 a military supply store across the street. Saturday Evening 
 Posts" could be found by the million but they were all 
 dated 1917, whereas the one I wanted was the issue of 
 November 27, 1841. My quest for the "Philadelphia Sat 
 urday Museum" was equally unavailing. They had heard 
 of a Museum in Philadelphia, but they assured me that it 
 did not compare with the Metropolitan and, as far as they 
 knew, it contained only the Liberty Bell and that was 
 cracked. They had never heard it called the "Philadelphia 
 Saturday Museum", but it might be, for the Phila- 
 delphians were a law unto themselves, and it was entirely 
 possible that they had selected this for their day of exhi 
 bition. And so it was with a dozen other publications 
 known to contain Poe contributions. Possibly they had 
 been destroyed, or had been sold to some junk dealer. Few 
 can now be found. I am sure that a copy of the "Union" 
 lies hidden away in some attic, for all could not have been 
 destroyed. There is a treasure trove and happy is he who 
 can uncover one of these old volumes. It is not difficult to 
 find Gifts, Opals, Visitors, and other fancifully named An 
 nuals for, as parlor table ornaments, they were the mode in 
 those days. Usually they were bound in leather, black 
 being the color most frequently chosen, as it corresponded 
 with the horsehair-covered furniture then in vogue. The Poe 
 articles have] added but slightly to their cost although, 
 except for the Cheney engravings, Poe s contributions give 
 them their only value. 
 
 Somewhere there is a "Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper" 
 containing Poe s prize story, The Gold Bug. Sooner or later 
 I shall find it. Possibly, in time, I may stumble on a file of 
 "The Baltimore Saturday Visiter," and if I do not, I know 
 where one volume of its remains can be found. It is in the 
 possession of descendants of the original editor an heir 
 loom such as a Virginian will never sell. All financial offers 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 183 
 
 properly have been refused, for no one worthy of this 
 treasure would have so desecrated it. Yet if enthusiasm 
 and "ways and means" fail to accomplish that which has 
 hitherto proved to be an impossible achievement, the 
 never-dying hope that chance will discover a "find" still 
 animates me, and I may yet add this treasure to the wan 
 derers I have already gathered in. 
 
 Should I succeed in these final discoveries, they will very 
 nearly fill my list of long advertised "wants," and in case 
 my realization results in loss of interest, it may be possible 
 a collector, equally enthusiastic, will fall heir to the distri 
 bution. It is certain that I shall never willingly see them 
 entombed in some rich man s library, or buried in a gen 
 eral "Museum." I have always regarded approvingly a 
 quotation which formerly was printed on the cover of an 
 auction catalog. It was extracted from the will of Edmond 
 de Goncourt : 
 
 My wish is that my Drawings, my Prints, my Curiosities, my 
 Books in a word, these things which have been the joy of my life 
 shall not be consigned to the cold tomb of a museum, and be subjected 
 to the stupid glance of the careless passerby : but I require that they 
 shall all be dispersed under the hammer of the Auctioneer, so that the 
 pleasure which the acquirement of each one of them has given me 
 shall be given again, in each case, to some inheritor of my own tastes. 
 
 For some years it was my custom to borrow a certain 
 book when I found myself in bibliological difficulty regard 
 ing Americana. At that time I had found no copy for 
 sale, or there were other and good reasons for its non- 
 acquirement. It has long been out of print and its cost has 
 doubled many times (at a recent auction sale it brought 
 $52.50), but its value remains. I refer to that Americana 
 bibliography compiled by our Nestor of Bookmen, P. K. 
 Foley. It was my desire to drink at the fountain-source 
 but to do this a trip to Boston was necessary. Although it 
 was my first visit, I neither inquired for the Column nor 
 
184 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 glanced at the Common, in spite of the fact that it had 
 been the favorite walk of the Autocrat. 
 
 With some trepidation I proceeded to a shop in an un 
 frequented street and made myself and my errand known. 
 This shop is not a "Book Emporium", but it is what all 
 good shops should be; cluttered from floor to ceiling with 
 rare Americana. There is nothing like it, except possibly 
 Spencer s, in London. My reception was kindly, although it 
 threatened to be barren of result. In fact, had I come a few 
 weeks earlier, Mr. Foley could have aided me greatly. His 
 Poe seemed not to be appreciated, and certain Thackeray 
 items were in greater demand on the other side: accord 
 ingly he had packed all of his Poe and Thackeray for ship 
 ment to England. After a moment s thought, Mr. Foley 
 ceased to dwell on the items composing this shipment and 
 reverted to topics less depressing. Surely what he had to 
 show fully compensated me for the time and energy ex 
 pended on this trip: and to be allowed to listen to the 
 kindly voice, wise in book lore, and to watch the twinkle 
 responsive to my book enthusiasm, was alone worth the 
 visit. 
 
 I found no ignorance and obtained much helpful advice. 
 He knew of those inedible oysters and had found many of 
 the pearls, but knowing that they were not appreciated 
 here, he had ceased offering them, and, for this reason, 
 he had prepared them for shipment to the other side. 
 
 Mr. Foley urged me to call on the following morning, as 
 he might in the meantime find something to justify 
 another day s stay. Personally I should have considered 
 myself well repaid by being allowed to partake of the 
 crumbs that fell from such a table. When I did call I found 
 a reason more substantial. It was not "The Oblong Box" 
 but a wooden one, open and partly unpacked ; and it con 
 tained all the Thackeray and Poe items mentioned the 
 previous day, the loss of which had not contributed to the 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 185 
 
 soundness of my night s rest. This case had been over 
 looked and forgotten till the world-war prevented ship 
 ment. I shall not here dwell on the Thackeray items, 
 although, for the first time, I found a complete "Cor 
 sair" containing the Thackeray "Letters from Paris", 
 which later were republished under the title "The Stu 
 dent s Quarter", as well as many other early American 
 reproductions of Thackeray s works. 
 
 Among other Poe items was "The Yankee," containing 
 the first of Poe s magazine contributions ; also a letter in 
 which he poured out his boyish heart, indulging in day 
 dreams and building air-castles which do not always come 
 true as they did for him. It was here I found my first com 
 plete "Broadway Journal." I had a Journal, but it lacked 
 that last and frequently missing number January 3, 1846, 
 in which Poe bade farewell "as cordially to foes as to 
 friends", and which was the last appearance of this, so often 
 sung, swan-song. And there were other periodicals and 
 publications of vast assistance in turning my meager 
 gleanings into complete collections. Of the very early 
 magazines, outside "The Yankee," I could get no trace, 
 and it was only after Mr. Foley kindly enlightened me 
 that I began to realize, the very great difficulty of my 
 quest. No one had seemed interested, and, as a consequence, 
 there had been no demand for the earlier magazines con 
 taining Poe s original contributions. I found that Wood- 
 berry s bibliography, so accurately copied from that of 
 Harrison s, while showing an intelligent understanding, was 
 not altogether reliable; for it was not in all points founded 
 on definite and first-hand knowledge. Hearsay evidence 
 is not always admissible. 
 
 Except in the "Southern Literary Messenger," the 1839- 
 1840 "Gentleman s," "Graham s," and the "Broadway 
 Journal," all of which Poe edited, only isolated articles can 
 be found ; and these are scattered in so many unknown and 
 
186 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 unobtainable magazines, and often so many years separate 
 their appearance in any one magazine, that a complete 
 collection becomes a formidable task. At least it becomes a 
 game for the bibliomaniac not for the plethoric and 
 gentlemanly collector who sits quietly in his counting 
 house paying out thousands of dollars for signed Shelleys, 
 unknown Lambs, and unread Keats items, imagining 
 that he has become a real, red-blooded book collector. He 
 is merely a book speculator. Such, necessarily, leave Poe to 
 the book-hound : or, if they do collect him, it is in some de 
 luxe edition, deformed by horrible illustrations in which the 
 artist, having no conception of Poe s real insight into the 
 human heart, and the spirit that ruled him in his deline 
 ation of that human soul, so evanescent and ill-grasped 
 except by the sensitives among us, attempts to delineate 
 Poe s thought by some horror or grotesque. Their book 
 shelves may be ornamented by some limited edition in 
 the sumptuous bindings with which Poe publishers usually 
 encase his works. Surely a full collection, in the assorted 
 garments in which the many owners have arrayed these 
 various magazines, is a formidable undertaking and a for 
 bidding sight, and one that would not please the dilettanti. 
 To the student of literature these magazines are of the 
 greatest interest; for authoritatively they measure the 
 capacity of the many authors that flourished in those days, 
 whose work was eagerly sought, and constituted the pabu 
 lum on which our fathers were fed and mentally were 
 nourished. Also they are made resplendent by "illumina 
 tions," showing the fashion plates that rendered our an 
 cestors so gorgeous, and which are still sought and collected 
 as curiosities. As a rule their owners are none the wiser if, 
 concealed in their pages, is to be found some of the best of 
 Poe s works. Do many possessors of the 1838 "Baltimore 
 Book" know or care that Slope lies hidden in its pages? 
 Possibly for this reason we find, occasionally, certain Poe 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 187 
 
 items preserved, not for their Poe associations, but because 
 of engravings and other embellishments. Where this has 
 not been the case, the hunt is far more difficult; and, 
 though years have been occupied in the search, there are 
 still lacunae in my collection that may never be filled. 
 
 There are compensations. I well remember when a very 
 competent book dealer accepted my offer of one dollar and 
 fifty cents the final and ultimate bargain price, slowly and 
 hesitatingly raised from seventy-five cents, and I be 
 came the possessor of a copy of The American Whig Re 
 view", which is credited with not only the first appearance 
 of The Raven, from which other journals borrowed it with 
 due credit, but many other Poe contributions, and also 
 some of the very best articles by writers still well known. 
 What this dealer paid for this rather important Poe item is 
 a matter for microscopical investigation. 
 
 Certain other magazines were arrived at after a far 
 greater expenditure, but I have a memory so well trained 
 and so conveniently constituted that I have entirely for 
 gotten the sordid business details. The fact seems to be 
 that dealers began to realize that I wanted these maga 
 zines, for my inquiries had been frequent, insistent and 
 demandful ; and, having once taken advantage of my in 
 nocence, their prices at times became exorbitant. I had 
 dreamed of a complete Southern Literary Messenger for a 
 very few dollars, but, as I remember, the price I paid was 
 somewhat in excess of my anticipations. Finally, paying 
 whatever was demanded, several years were necessary 
 to gather my Poe collection, still incomplete, yet one 
 of the few in existence because not many have felt the 
 "urge". 
 
 In my Poe life of search and research there is a third 
 occasion that I take pleasure in recalling. It was on a 
 recent visit to Chicago, that "City of Dreadful Night", yet 
 I was separated from all its narrowness of streets and over- 
 
188 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 crowded thorofares, its terrifying commercialism, and was 
 up many stories, gossiping with that most intelligent of 
 bookmen, Walter Hill. As usual, I was reminiscent, dwell 
 ing on my book memories, and had sought this interview, 
 knowing that Mr. Hill was as great a book-lover as he 
 was a book-dealer. If I found nothing rare or curious, or 
 that could satisfy my special "wants," I knew I would 
 nevertheless depart the richer for my visit. Book knowl 
 edge may be gained only by absorption. As the leech looks 
 for its nourishment to the occasional demands of necessi 
 tous victims, so do we book-collectors attach ourselves to 
 those who live with, and in, books; and, when we are ap 
 parently on a mission of benevolence, as a matter of fact 
 we are absorbing knowledge and gleaning information that 
 only long, varied and intimate intercourse with books can 
 give. 
 
 By chance the name of Poe slipped in, and, as I dilated 
 on the difficulties of my search, Mr. Hill listened sympa 
 thetically. He, also, invited me to come back on the follow 
 ing morning. While making no definite promise, he told 
 me of a book that for some years he had greatly treasured 
 and which he had never included in his book lists; nor had 
 he associated it with his commercial work. He had held it 
 as his peculiar possession. When I called again it was no 
 wooden box that I found, but a book royally cased and 
 protected. 
 
 In spite of my confidence in the exhibitor, I had exper 
 ienced so many disillusionment^ and disappointments, 
 where these preliminaries were most in evidence, that I 
 unconsciously hesitated, fearing, if not a jewelled binding, 
 at least some Sangorski "creation," or some flamboyant 
 production such as often impresses the book-collector, if 
 not the book-lover. 
 
 Not long ago I saw one of these jewelled bindings which 
 enclosed the 4th Omar. I quote from the sale catalog : 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 189 
 
 In the center of the panel is a garnet with an outer circle of 16 peri 
 dots; also four peridots are set in the strap-work border. The floral 
 designs on a solid back ground of gold are in vari-colored inlays with 
 14 garnets set in the margin. . . . Doublures of red levant morocco, 
 with a rich geometric design in gold, and blue inlays, and an outer 
 chain border, flys of maroon levant morocco, etc. 
 
 And this grotesque brought $300. If Omars are wanted, 
 why not get an Omar? I know a library containing a col 
 lection of Omars, each one of which is a necessary member 
 of the whole, and to handle each, and to fondle each, is a 
 pleasure that is understandable only to a bibliophile. The 
 eldest is royally housed and cased, and this covering 
 is justified because it holds an Omar in its original paper 
 cover, now so precious that it should be looked at through 
 glass, and should never be touched by a desecrating hand. 
 It is clean, fresh, and unsoiled and certainly was not 
 among those which Quaritch, in despair of finding a pur 
 chaser, exposed on his two-penny shelf. Then there is the 
 second, not quite so immaculate, but equally rare and even 
 more precious. It is in its original paper cover which bears 
 this inscription: 
 
 The third is a necessary member of the whole, for it 
 gives evidence of many changes which the man, who so 
 humbly inscribes himself as "translator," felt it wise to 
 make. For the first time it has put off its swaddling- 
 clothes and is garbed in conventional covers. 
 
 This collection can only be completed by the fourth and 
 definitive edition. As the fourth is the one for common use, 
 it should be dressed in its every-day working garb, not 
 tricked out in finery that no book-lover would touch not, 
 however, for reasons which render the first untouchable. 
 
 While this completes the essential Omars, there is 
 another that may not be overlooked. Vedder caught the 
 
190 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 spirit, and, of all who have made the attempt, his pencil 
 alone was guided by the same inspiration that begot this 
 poem translated it was not. The copy of Vedder accom 
 panying this group, happens to be an extremely early, 
 fresh, and brilliant collection of these drawings. 
 
 Three hundred for a rebound 4th Omar! No wonder 
 the vandal book-profiteers remember the finger prints, and 
 continue to deluge our "collectors." Like to the Like! 
 
 I well remember some book-loving salesman in Dodd, 
 Mead and Co., driven to violent protestations when his 
 lady customer, who had just purchased a first edition of 
 the "Leaves of Grass," the book was both printed and 
 bound by Whitman and a sloppy mess he made of both 
 jobs, in spite of which they constitute its criterion of 
 value ordered off the cover, which was unusually firm in 
 its hinges, and insisted on a blue crushed levant morocco 
 binding that would correspond with other of her library 
 furniture. It was to be hand-tooled, and undoubtedly it 
 proved a very satisfactory ornament, but she ruined the 
 strongest and best bound "Leaves" I have ever seen. 
 
 Occasionally some rare book deserves a fine binding. 
 I have the first issue of the first edition of the "Vicar," but 
 I show it with an anticipatory shudder, for I know the 
 exclamations of delight its binding will bring forth from 
 those who never examine it to determine the spelling of 
 "Waeckfield." For those who do, there is another copy 
 which I have to show. It was published in London and is of 
 the same date as the Salisbury copy ; and, for all I know, it 
 may antedate it. It is mentioned in no bibliography and I 
 have never seen another copy advertised or described. It is 
 unknown and unfriended, and it was probably born, as are 
 many other offspring, surreptitiously and without any one 
 to father it. No publisher s name gives it dignity: simply 
 it was ushered in with the Legend: "LONDON: Printed in 
 the year M,DCC,LXVI." 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 191 
 
 It is in its original binding and even though, in appear 
 ance it is dogeared and dilapidated, I take it to my heart 
 and fondle it, possibly for the reason that it looks so 
 friendless and forlorn. At least no binder s shears shall ever 
 trim it ; nor shall its forehead, although gray and bedrag 
 gled, ever be gilded and ironed out to erase its legitimate 
 wrinkles. It is never shown except to the very few who 
 constitute the inner circle, and who never exclaim over 
 a binding. 
 
 Knowing Mr. Hill, I had no right to dwell on these dis 
 concerting book memories, nor to question the worth of 
 what he had promised to show me ; in spite of the fact that 
 he had not clearly indicated the condition of dilapida 
 tion at which the binding had now arrived. In ninety years 
 many things can happen to one of those poorly printed 
 and cheaply bound board covers. For this reason I 
 watched eagerly as he unswathed this bibliographical 
 foundling. After the removal of the pull-case, its primary 
 cover and its tissue container have you ever plucked a 
 sparrow? he showed me the jewel these wrappings en 
 closed. It was the slenderest of tomes and in its pristine 
 state; fresh in its original binding and practically un 
 opened. Just why Mr. Hill was willing to part with what 
 for years he had regarded as his chief est treasure, I do not 
 know. Possibly he thought it was lonely for it was the 
 oldest of the family at least it had been acknowledged as 
 the eldest of the legitimate and lawful heirs. Perhaps 
 he thought that it might rest better among its kindred, 
 or it is possible, like the hapless bird, he gazed too long on 
 the glittering eye of the snake and was lost. 
 
 The book, the introduction to which has so long been 
 delayed, proved to be the long-sought volume, "Al Aaraaf, 
 Tamerlane, and Minor Poems." Nor can the appearance 
 it makes or the dress in which it is presented cause any 
 unfavorable comment. 
 
192 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 ALAARAAF, TAMERLANE, AND MINOR POEMS. By Edgar A. 
 Poe. Baltimore. Hatch and Dunning. 1829. 
 
 Collation: Title, Copyright and imprint (quotation, 2 lines). Half 
 title, (quotation, 1 line). Dedication: (quotation, 1 line), quotation, 
 3 lines): Proem: Text pp. (13)-21. Half title, Part II. Text pp. 
 (25)-38. Half title: Advertisement (two lines). Dedication: Text, 
 pp. (43)-54. Part III. (quotation, 2 lines), (quotation, 1 line). 
 Preface. Text, pp. 59-71. 
 
 This book was printed by Matchett and Woods, and 
 should carry their name, honorably, to future generations 
 of printers. While no attempt was made to produce a 
 de luxe copy, a remarkably readable type was selected, 
 and the proof-reading and printing show painstaking 
 care very different from the second edition of Poe s 
 poems. 
 
 The paper selected has withstood the ravages of time 
 and exhibits none of the foxing so characteristic of other 
 books printed at that period. It is in its original binding 
 and, although the boards bear slight stains, these are due 
 to the law of disintegration from which nothing is immune. 
 The margins are wide, the pages are clean, and the book 
 bears no evidence of having been often opened. 
 
 Poe s quotations scattered over several pages indicate a 
 youthful tendency toward the odd and picturesque, a ma 
 caronic exhibit of wide reading, and a knowledge of books 
 exhibiting learning not possessed by him. Among these 
 are: 
 
 Entiendes, Fabio, lo que voi deciendo? 
 Toma, si, lo entendio: Mientes, Fabio. 
 
 What has night to do with sleep? 
 
 COMUS. 
 
 My nothingness my wants 
 My sins and my contrition 
 
 SOUTHEY E PERSIS 
 
 And some flowers but no bays. 
 
 MILTON. 
 
AT. A 
 
 TAMERLANE, 
 
 AMD 
 
 MXHOR PC31CS. 
 
 BY EB0AB. A. *OH, 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 
 HATCH & DUNKING. 
 1829. 
 
194 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 The dedication of the first part is unique, being con 
 tained in these lines: 
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 Who drinks the deepest? here s to him. 
 
 CLEVELAND. 
 
 Preceding Al Aaraaf and intended as an explanation of 
 the subject matter of the poem is this quotation: 
 
 A star was discovered by Tycho Brahe which burst forth, in a 
 moment, with a splendor surpassing that of Jupiter then gradually 
 faded away and became invisible to the naked eye. 
 
 The arrangement of the contents is as remarkable as 
 is this dedication, and the explanatory and other quota 
 tions are equally original. At times they are unexplainable. 
 Al Aaraaf is divided into two parts, each prefaced by a 
 half title; the second division, technically the third part, 
 has a separate dedication with half title and quotations. 
 This third part contains Tamerlane and Miscellaneous 
 Poems and, in proper form, is dedicated to John Neal, the 
 editor of "The Yankee." 
 
 Poe always referred to this 1829 volume as his first 
 edition, so that the Tamerlane, printed in Boston in 
 1827, remains a bibliographical puzzle. It is only to be had 
 as a reprint ; even in this form, it is not a desirable item, 
 such as should have been reproduced when the original 
 could not be procured. An Englishman, who was not in 
 possession of the necessary literary vision, not only edited 
 this reprint, but attempted to improve the spelling, to 
 change the punctuation and to emend the text. When it 
 was published it was believed that the copy of Tamer 
 lane, belonging to the British Museum, from which the 
 reprint was made, was unique. Since that time three other 
 copies have been found. 
 
 The original title page did not contain Poe s name and 
 was simply arranged. 
 

 
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1% POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 TAMERLANE AND OTHER POEMS By A Bostonian [Quota 
 tion] Boston Calvin F. S. Thomas. . . Printer 1827. 
 
 The republication is more verbose. 
 
 TAMERLANE AND OTHER POEMS By Edgar Allan Poe First 
 published at Boston in 1827 and now first republished 
 from a unique copy of the original edition with a pre 
 face By Richard Herne Shepherd London George 
 Red way MDCCCLXXXIV. 
 
 The only reference to this volume outside a publisher s 
 list, is contained in an advertisement inserted into the 1829 
 edition announcing that, for personal reasons, the first 
 issue had been suppressed. It certainly was not circulated, 
 nor can we unravel the mystery of its genesis, nor the 
 reason for its suppression. 
 
 In explanation of the changes made in the republication 
 Shepherd states : 
 
 There are several palpable errata, as Mr. Ingram has remarked, 
 in Edgar Poe s first book. These I have thought it best to correct, 
 wherever they are perfectly obvious (a list of them and of proposed 
 conjectural emendations is appended), and I also have reduced the 
 orthography and punctuation to a uniform standard. The present case 
 was not one where a facsimile reprint was desirable, the typography, 
 arrangement, size, and general appearance of the original edition being 
 unsatisfactory in the extreme. 
 
 As this was supposed to be the only copy in existence it 
 would have been a bibliographical satisfaction to have 
 been able to secure an accurate reprint of the original 
 without Shepherd s emendations and corrections. He has 
 republished it typographically improved, but it is value 
 less as a reproduction. The redeeming feature of the one I 
 possess is that it was a presentation copy to Swinburne 
 and bears the impress of his ownership. Unfortunately, 
 Swinburne made no emendatory notes. In spite of the 
 personal association possessed by this item and the fact 
 that Shepherd limited his publication to one hundred, it 
 is valueless when compared with a copy of the original, 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 197 
 
 said to have been improperly punctuated, faultily spelled, 
 and miserably printed. When first described no one could 
 speak positively as to the binding, for the one in the British 
 Museum is without wrappers. Another, also lacking 
 wrappers, is in Philadelphia ; a third, with wrappers bound 
 in, is in the Huntington collection, while the fourth, "com 
 plete with wrappers and untouched by the binder," 
 what greater recommendation can the outside of any book 
 possess? was in the recent Halsey sale. This is the copy 
 to which reference already has been made and which was in 
 the McKee sale of 1900, where it brought the sum of 
 $2050. It was immediately resold for $2550. It was this 
 same copy that, in the Halsey sale, February, 1919, 
 brought $1 1,600 an unheard of price for even the highest 
 valued Americana. It is now in the Huntington collection, 
 but it is hardly possible that even Mr. Huntington will 
 countenance this duplication, enormous as are his powers 
 of appropriation, deglutition and absorption. Assuredly, 
 sooner or later, indigestion, or at least difficult assimila 
 tion, again will put one of these in circulation. 
 
 Nothing is definitely known concerning Calvin F. S. 
 Thomas except that this name is printed as publisher on 
 the first Tamerlane. Thomas is said to have lived in Boston 
 and it is presumed that he was a printer, but no other book 
 bearing his imprint has been found. There is no record 
 showing that he did live in Boston, when he left, or where 
 he went. There have been many attempts to elucidate these 
 obscure points, and much research has been given to a 
 solution of this riddle. Certain of Poe s biographers have 
 regarded it as a vital question and they have made many 
 ingenious explanations. It is, like much else that relates to 
 Poe s early life, a matter of conjecture. The interesting 
 thing to determine is Poe s reason for printing this volume, 
 for withdrawing it from circulation, and for not publish 
 ing it. 
 
198 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 I can find no authority for Harrison s statement : 
 
 This precious little volume, only forty copies of which are said to 
 have been printed, was published by the nineteen-year old printer, 
 Calvin F. S. Thomas, then living in Boston. Thomas afterwards 
 moved west and died, probably in Springfield, Mo., in 1876, without 
 being aware that he had ushered into the world the most unique speci 
 men of American poetic genius. 
 
 Possibly Harrison confounded the number issued with 
 the number of pages it is said to have contained. 
 
 Woodberry, the most painstaking of Poe biographers, in a 
 letter to Shepherd published in the reproduced Tamerlane, 
 offered the following solution: 
 
 Of the original edition Mr. Ingram states that he has a copy, and 
 thinks it unique because Poe stated that the edition was suppressed. 
 I do not think it was suppressed, however, and as you may be inter 
 ested in the matter I extend this note. The printer, Mr. Calvin F. S. 
 Thomas, was a very obscure man, who had a printer s shop at Boston 
 in that year ; I have sought through all the Thomas families of Massa 
 chusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Maryland, Ohio, etc., to which he was 
 likely to belong, and there is no trace of him. I can find no other book 
 with his imprint. Consequently I suppose the edition to have been 
 small and obscure. It was published between June and October, 1827, 
 probably in June. It was not noticed or advertised, apparently, but it 
 occurs in the North American Review s quarterly list of new publica 
 tions, in the October number, 1827. How Poe, a youth of eighteen, in a 
 strange city, friendless and penniless as he was, persuaded this un 
 known printer to issue this volume, is a mystery to me. I have talked 
 with old men, and have had the printers and publishers who survive 
 from that time interrogated, but though Boston was a small town, no 
 one knew Thomas or ever heard of him. You may be sure, how 
 ever, that the Mr. Ingram who seems to own Poe, is wrong in believing 
 that the volume was only printed, and not published. Poe left Boston 
 in October of that year. 
 
 Yet Woodberry, who certainly knows his Poe, ignores 
 the fact that it was Poe himself who, in his 1829 Tamerlane, 
 announced this suppression. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 ThU Poem was printed for publication in Boston, in the year 
 1827, but suppressed through circumstances of a private nature, 
 
 It is certain that, except for this advertisement, Poe 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 199 
 
 neither at the time he published Al Aaraaf, nor later in 
 1831, nor in 1845, when the final and definitive edition 
 was published, recognized or referred to this 1827 publica 
 tion. It is to C. F. S. Thomas, the boyhood friend of Poe, 
 that Woodberry attributes this volume. 
 
 The abundant alloy in the substance of the work, however, and the 
 rudeness of its execution justly condemned the volume to speedy 
 oblivion. It brought neither fame to the poet nor money to the 
 printer, and shortly after its publication Thomas removed to New 
 York. Neither in his stay in that city nor during his later life in Buf 
 falo, New York, and Springfield, Missouri, did Thomas, who lived 
 until 1876, ever mention, either in his own family or, so far as is 
 known, to his friends or associates, that his first venture in the book- 
 trade was Poe s verses. In view of this fact, in connection with the 
 general publication of reminiscences by all who were ever well 
 acquainted with Poe, and the special interest of this obscure portion 
 of his life, it may be safely inferred that Thomas never identified the 
 first author he knew with the famous poet who wrote The Raven. 
 
 Neither Thomas nor his family remembered these poems 
 as having been published by him, nor so far as has been 
 ascertained, was he at any time in the publishing business 
 elsewhere. In 1876 Poe was too well known, and too many 
 reminiscences had been recalled, for so important an 
 association to have been forgotten. It may have been 
 that this publication was the result of Poe s love for 
 "mystification," and that for this reason he used the name 
 of his boyhood friend. 
 
 Why Poe suppressed this volume is the real mystery 
 if mystery there be. Possibly the key is contained in the 
 preface to Tamerlane. 
 
 The greater part of the Poems which compose this little volume 
 were written in the year 1821-2, when the author had not completed 
 his fourteenth year. They were of course not intended for publication; 
 why they are published now concerns no one but himself. Of the 
 smaller pieces very little need be said ; they perhaps savour too much 
 of egotism ; but they were written by one too young to have any knowl 
 edge of the world but from his own breast. 
 
 In Tamerlane he has endeavored to expose the folly of even 
 risking the best feelings of the heart at the shrine of Ambition. He is 
 conscious that there are many faults (besides that of the general char- 
 
200 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 acter of the poem), which he flatters himself he could, with little 
 trouble, have corrected, but unlike many of his predecessors, has been 
 too fond of his early productions to amend them in his old age. 
 
 It is apparent that this matter of revision, to which Poe 
 thus jokingly alluded, was not altogether persiflage. It is 
 possible, when he saw the printed volume, and found it as 
 unsatisfactory as Shepherd believed it to have been, that 
 he reconsidered and seriously attempted a very complete 
 revision. In the version published in 1829 hardly a stanza 
 remains unaltered, and it is difficult to recognize similarity 
 in the two poems except as two versions with the same 
 general theme. To illustrate, I quote and parallel as much 
 of the two poems as will serve to elucidate this suggestion. 
 
 1827 
 
 I 
 
 "I have sent for thee, holy friar; 
 But twas not with the drunken hope, 
 Which is but agony of desire 
 To shun the fate, with which to cope 
 Is more than crime may dare to dream, 
 That I have call d thee at this hour: 
 Such, Father, is not my theme 
 Nor am I mad, to deem that power 
 Of earth may shrive me of the sin 
 Unearthly pride hath revell d in 
 I would not call thee fool, old man, 
 But hope is not a gift of thine; 
 If I can hope (O God! I can) 
 It falls from an eternal shrine. 
 
 II 
 
 The gay wall of this gaudy tower 
 Grows dim around me death is near. 
 I had not thought, until this hour 
 When passing from the earth, that ear 
 Of any, were it not the shade 
 Of one whom in life I made 
 All mystery but a simple name, 
 Might know the secret of a spirit 
 Bow d down in sorrow, and in shame. 
 Shame, said st thou? 
 
 Ay, I did inherit 
 
 That hated portion, with the fame, 
 The worldly glory, which has shown 
 A demon-light around my throne, 
 Scorching my sear d heart with a pain 
 Not Hell shall make me fear again. 
 
 1829 
 
 1 
 
 "Kind solace in a dying hour! 
 Such, father, is not (now) my theme 
 I will not madly deem that power 
 Of Earth may shrive me of the sin 
 Unearthly pride hath revell d in 
 I have no time to dote or dream: 
 You call it hope that fire of fire! 
 It is but agony of desire: 
 If I can hope Oh God! I can 
 Its fount is holier more divine 
 I would not call thee fool, old man, 
 But such is not a gift of thine. 
 
 Know thou the secret of a spirit 
 Bow d from its wild pride into shame. 
 O! Yearning heart! I did inherit 
 Thy withering portion with the fame, 
 The searing glory which hath shone 
 Amid the jewels of my throne. 
 Halo of Hell! and with a pain 
 Not Hell shall make me fear again 
 O! craving heart! for the lost flowers 
 And sunshine of my summer hours! 
 Th* undying voice of that dead time, 
 With its interminable chime, 
 Rings, in the spirit of a spell. 
 Upon thy emptiness a knell. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 201 
 
 in 
 
 I have not always been as now 
 The fever d diadem on my brow 
 I claim d and won usurpingly 
 Ay the same heritage hath given 
 Rome to the Caesar this to me; 
 The heirdom of a kingly mind 
 And a proud spirit, which hath striven 
 Triumphantly with human kind. 
 
 3 
 
 I have not always been as now : 
 The fever d diadem on my brow 
 I claim d and won usurpingly 
 Hath not the same fierce heirdom given 
 Rome to the Caesar this to me? 
 The heritage of a kingly mind, 
 And a proud spirit which hath striven 
 Triumphantly with human kind. 
 
 In mountain air I first drew life; 
 The mists of the Taglay have shed 
 Nightly their dews on my young head ; 
 And my brain drank their venom then, 
 When after day of perilous strife 
 With chamois, I would seize his den 
 And slumber, in my pride of power, 
 The infant monarch of the hour 
 
 For, with the mountain dew by night, 
 My soul imbibed unhallow d feeling; 
 And I would feel its essence stealing 
 In dreams upon me while the light 
 Flashing from cloud that hover d o er, 
 Would seem to my half closing eyes 
 The pageant of monarchy! 
 And the deep thunders echoing roar 
 Came hurriedly upon me, telling 
 Of war, and tumult, where my voice, 
 My own voice, silly child! was swelling 
 (O how would my wild heart rejoice 
 And leap within me at the cry) 
 The battle cry of victory ! 
 
 On mountain soil I first drew life: 
 The mists of the Taglay have shed 
 Nightly their dews upon my head, 
 And, I believe, the winged strife 
 And tumult of the headlong air 
 Hath nestl d in my very hair. 
 
 So late from Heaven that dew it fell 
 ( Mid dreams of an unholy night) 
 Upon me with the touch of Hell, 
 While the red flashing of the light 
 From clouds that hung, like banners, 
 
 o er 
 
 Appeared to my half-closing eye 
 The pageantry of monarchy, 
 And the deep trumpet-thunder s roar. 
 Of human battle, where my voice, 
 My own voice, silly child ! was swelling 
 (O! how my spirit would rejoice, 
 And leap within me at the cry) 
 The battle-cry of Victory ! 
 
 IV 
 
 The rain came down upon my head 
 But barely shelter d and the wind 
 Pass d quickly o er me but my mind 
 Was maddening for twas man that 
 
 shed 
 
 Laurels upon me and the rush 
 The torrent of the chilly air 
 Gurgled in my pleased ear the crush 
 Of empires, with the captive s Prayer, 
 The hum of suitors, the mix d tone 
 Of flattery round a sovereign s throne. 
 
 XVII 
 
 I reach d my home my home no more 
 For all was flown that made it so 
 I pass d from out its mossy door, 
 In vacant idleness of woe. 
 There met me on its threshold stone 
 A mountain hunter, I had known 
 In childhood, but he knew me not. 
 Something he spoke of the old cot: 
 It had seen better days, he said; 
 
 The rain came down upon my head 
 Unshelter d and the heavy wind 
 Was giant like so thou, my mind! 
 It was but man, I thought, who shed 
 Laurels upon me: And the rush 
 The torrent of the chilly air 
 Gurgled within my ear the crush 
 Of empires with the captive s prayer 
 The hum of suitors and the tone 
 Of flattery round a sovereign s throne. 
 
 22 
 
 I reach d my home my home no more 
 For all had flown who made it so 
 I pass d from out its mossy door, 
 And, tho my tread was soft and low, 
 A voice came from the threshold stone 
 Of one whom I had earlier known 
 O! I defy thee, Hell, to show 
 On beds of fire that burn below. 
 An humbler heart a deeper wo 
 
202 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 XVII (continued) 23 
 
 There rose a fountain once, and there Father, I firmly do believe 
 Full many a fair flower raised its head : I know for Death who comes for me 
 But she who rear d them was long dead, From regions of the blest afar, 
 And in such follies had no part, Where there is nothing to deceive, 
 
 What was there left me now? despair Hath left his iron gate ajar, 
 A kingdom for a broken-heart. And rays of truth, you cannot see 
 
 Are flashing thro Eternity 
 I do believe that Eblis hath 
 A snare in cv ry human path 
 Else how, when in the holy grove 
 I wandered of the idol, Love, 
 Who daily scents his snowy wings 
 With incense of burnt offerings 
 From the most unpolluted things, 
 Whose pleasant bowers are yet so riven 
 Above with trellaced rays from Heaven 
 No mote may shun no tiniest fly 
 The lightning of his eagle eye 
 How was it that Ambition crept, 
 Unseen, amid the revels there, 
 Till growing bold, he laughed and leapt 
 In the tangle of Love s very hair? 
 
 In the 1827 version, Tamerlane is divided into seventeen 
 stanzas, while, in the one of 1829, where all is revised and 
 much is omitted, there are twenty-three. It is difficult to 
 follow the story, which is deficient in ideas, declamatory in 
 style, and without continuity of plot. 
 
 The conclusions are verbally dissimilar and are equally 
 senseless as a denouement of the plot. 
 
 My theory as to Poe s reason for suppressing the first 
 Tamerlane would be more credible had he not revised and 
 published this second version. If the first had been written 
 when Poe was fourteen, much could have been forgiven, 
 especially the suppression: but this second publication 
 must have been rewritten, and he was twenty when it was 
 published. 
 
 The solution of this question is probably very simple 
 as simple as was the method Columbus adopted for forcing 
 an egg to stand on its end. Poe s financial inability to pay 
 debts contracted was always a marked feature of his 
 business ventures; unfriended and unknown as he un 
 doubtedly was at this time, there might have arisen an 
 acute financial crisis which prevented the payment of 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 203 
 
 obligations he had assumed. If this be a fact the real 
 explanation is simple, and the conclusions are not difficult 
 to draw. It seems unfortunate that the Baltimore printers 
 were not equally insistent in their demands. Personally, 
 the last version pleases me no better than the first, and the 
 final stanzas seem a most impotent and lame conclusion 
 to a story lacking in narrative, and without historical foun 
 dation or metrical skill. Poe s reputation would not have 
 been diminished had he destroyed all copies of the first and 
 had he not rewritten and published his chosen edition. 
 
 Not one of the poems of the first volume was repub- 
 lished verbatim in the second. Though a few retain the 
 same title, they are so thoroughly emended that they 
 appear to have been fully rewritten, and they retain but 
 slight traces of their original phraseology. Only two of these 
 
 poems were republished practically unaltered: "To ," 
 
 beginning "I saw thee on thy bridal day," a rather pre 
 cocious production for a boy of fourteen and The Lake. 
 
 To illustrate the care with which Poe recast, and the 
 thoroughness with which he rewrote the poems he believed 
 worthy of reproduction, I give both versions of a poem 
 originally called Visit of the Dead, in the 1829 version 
 christened Spirits of the Dead. 
 
 VISIT OF THE DEAD SPIRITS OF THE DEAD 
 
 Thy soul shall find itself alone Thy soul shall find itself alone 
 
 Alone of all on earth unknown Mid dark thoughts of the grey tomb- 
 The cause but none are near to pry stone 
 
 Into thine hour of secrecy. Not one, of all the crowd, to pry 
 
 Be silent in that solitude, Into thine hour of secrecy: 
 
 Which is not loneliness for then Be silent in that solitude 
 
 The spirits of the dead, who stood Which is not loneliness for then 
 
 In life before thee, are again The spirits of the dead who stood 
 
 In death around thee, and their will In life before thee are again 
 
 Shall then o ershadow thee be still: In death around thee and their will 
 
 For the night, tho clear, shall frown; Shall overshadow thee: be still. 
 
 And the stars shall look not down The night tho clear shall frown 
 
 From their thrones, in the dark heaven, And the stars shall look not down 
 
 With light like Hope to mortals given, From their high thrones in the Heaven, 
 
 But their red orbs, without beam, With light like Hope to mortals given 
 
 To thy withering heart shall seem But their red orbs, without beam, 
 
 As a burning, and a fever To thy weariness shall seem 
 
 Which would cling to thee for ever. As a burning and a fever 
 
 Which would cling to thee for ever : 
 
204 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 But twill leave thee. as each star Now are thoughts thou shalt not 
 
 In the morning light afar banish 
 
 Will fly thee and vanish : Now are visions ne er to vanish 
 
 But its thought thou canst not banish. From thy spirit shall they pass 
 
 The breath of God will be still; No more like dew-drop from the grass: 
 
 And the mist upon the hill The breeze the breath of God is 
 
 By that summer breeze unbroken still 
 
 Shall charm thee as a token, And the mist upon the hill 
 
 And a symbol which shall be Shadowy shadowy yet unbroken, 
 
 Secrecy in thee. Is a symbol and a token 
 
 How it hangs upon the trees, 
 A mystery of mysteries! 
 
 Both of these were omitted by Poe in the 1845 collection 
 of poems. While neither of them were worthy of such inser 
 tion, they illustrate something of Poe s style, and give a 
 faint indication of his future mastery of words and versi 
 fication. A poem called the Evening Star was entirely 
 omitted, although it bears a close resemblance to Poe s 
 later and better work. 
 
 EVENING STAR. 
 
 Twas noontide of summer, 
 
 And mid-time of night ; 
 
 And stars, in their orbits, 
 
 Shone pale, thro the light 
 
 Of the brighter, cold moon, 
 
 Mid planets her slaves, 
 
 Herself in the Heavens, 
 
 Her beam on the waves. 
 
 I gazed awhile 
 
 On her cold smile ; 
 
 Too cold too cold for me 
 
 There pass d, as a shroud, 
 
 A fleecy cloud, 
 
 And I turn d away to thee, 
 
 Proud Evening Star, 
 
 In thy glory afar, 
 
 And clearer thy beam shall be; 
 
 For joy to my heart 
 
 Is the proud part 
 
 Thou bearest in Heaven at night, 
 
 And more I admire 
 
 Thy distant fire, 
 
 Than that colder, lowly light. 
 
 All could have been emended or omitted without dimin 
 ishing the reputation Poe later earned. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 205 
 
 Preceding the poems, under the title "Preface", the 
 poem now known as Romance was published. This was 
 greatly amplified in the 183 1 edition, where Poe used it as 
 a preface to his poems and entitled it "Introduction". This 
 amplification consisted in the addition of several stanzas 
 that remind one of Milton s lighter verse; certainly it has 
 no relation to that of Poe : 
 
 And so, being young and dipt in folly 
 
 I fell in love with melancholy. 
 
 In the 1845 edition the original version was restored, 
 with the title "Romance . 
 
 The eleven explanatory notes carried by the 1827 edition 
 were omitted from that of 1829; wisely, for they were 
 most juvenile in conception and added nothing in the way 
 of interpretation. For instance, in explaining his reason for 
 using the term "holy friar", in the first line of Tamerlane, 
 Poe, apparently in all seriousness, published this foot note : 
 
 How I shall account for giving him a friar as a death-bed confes 
 sor I cannot exactly determine. He wanted some one to listen to his 
 tale and why not a friar? It does not pass the bounds of possibility 
 quite sufficient for my purpose and I have at least good authority on 
 my side for such innovations. 
 
 To illustrate the humorous attitude Poe occasionally 
 assumed, I quote from his poem Fairyland: 
 
 In easy drapery falls 
 Over hamlets, and rich 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 labarynth of light 
 And then, how deep ! O ! deep ! 
 Is the passion of their sleep! 
 In the morning they arise, 
 And their mooney covering 
 Is soaring in the skies, 
 With the tempests as they toss, 
 *Like almost any thing 
 Or a yellow Albatross. 
 *Plagiarism see the works of Thomas Moore passim. [Edr. 
 
206 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 At this time Poe was in active correspondence with John 
 Neal, the editor of "The Yankee," to whom he later dedi 
 cated the 1829 version of Tamerlane. 
 
 There had appeared among the editorial notes reference 
 to communications received from "E. A. P." In the No 
 vember number there is another reference to Poe. 
 
 Many papers intended for this number have been put aside for the 
 next, from necessity. Among others are Night The Magician Un 
 published Poetry (being specimens of a book about to be published in 
 Baltimore), and a long piece of poetry which may or may not appear. 
 
 Evidently Neal regarded these contributions hopefully 
 and encouraged Poe to further effort. The December issue 
 contained a long article, probably written by Neal to whom 
 had been submitted the manuscript of Poe s proposed 
 book of poems. 
 
 The following passages are from the manuscript-works of a young 
 author, about to be published in Baltimore. He is entirely a 
 stranger to us but with all their faults, if the remainder of Al 
 Aaraaf and Tamerlane are as good as the body of the extracts 
 here given to say nothing of the more extraordinary parts 
 he will deserve to stand high very high in the estimation of the shin 
 ing brotherhood. Whether he will do so, however, must depend, not so 
 much on his worth now in mere poetry, as upon his worth hereafter in 
 something yet loftier and more generous we allude to the stronger 
 properties of the mind, to the magnanimous determination that 
 enables a youth to endure the present, whatever the present may be, 
 in the hope, or rather the belief, the fixed unwavering belief, that 
 in the future he will find his reward. I am young, he says in a letter 
 to one who has laid it on our table for a good purpose, I am young 
 not yet twenty am a poet if deep worship of all beauty can make 
 me one and wish to be one in the more common meaning of the 
 word. I would give the world to embody one half the ideas afloat in 
 my imagination. ... I appeal to you as a man that loves the same 
 beauty which I adore the beauty of the natural blue sky and the 
 sunshiny earth there can be no tie more strong than that of brother 
 for brother it is not so much that they love one another, as that they 
 both love the same parent their affections are always running the 
 same direction the same channel and cannot help mingling. I am, 
 and have been, from my childhood, an idler. It cannot therefore be 
 said that 
 
 I left a calling for this idle trade 
 A duty broke a father disobeyed. 
 
 for I have no father nor mother. 
 
THE 
 
 YANKEE; 
 
 AZfO 
 
 BOSTON LITERARY GAZETTE. 
 
 Conducted by JOHN NEAfc. 
 
 UTILITY -The greatest happiness of the greatest number BENTHA.M. 
 
 AUGUST; 1829. 
 
 NEW SERIES NO. I. 
 
 Boston: 
 
 WELLS AND LIIXY COURT^STREET. 
 
 PORTLAND : Office of JOHN NEAL, Congress-Street 
 
 1829. 
 
208 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 The poems to be published are Al Aaraaf Tamerlane one 
 about four, and the other three hundred lines, with smaller pieces. 
 Al Aaraaf has some good poetry, and much extravagance, which I 
 have not had time to throw away. A/ Aaraaf is a tale of another world 
 the star discovered by Tycho Brahe, which appeared and dis 
 appeared so suddenly or rather, it is no tale at all. 
 
 Very long quotations are given both from Al Aaraaf and 
 Tamerlane, as well as from some of the Minor Poems. 
 It was a creditable, if not laudatory, notice, and justified 
 Poe in dedicating the Tamerlane to Neal. It does not quite 
 explain the reason for his peculiar dedication of Al Aaraaf, 
 but in all things, even in his punctuation, Poe was a law 
 unto himself. His self-assertive letter would serve as an 
 amusing instance of literary pride had it not been so fully 
 justified by his later accomplishment. 
 
 So far as is known "The Yankee" was the first magazine 
 to contain any of Poe s contributions. No contributor 
 is mentioned by name, although such indication is usually 
 made by initials. Two of the poems contained in this mag 
 azine now are attributed to Poe. The Skeleton Hand, 
 signed "P.", bears some resemblance to the work of Poe, 
 aged 14-20. The same redundancy of words, and ideas 
 darkly hinted, Poesque in conception, are the marks of 
 identification. 
 
 THE SKELETON-HAND 
 
 Lo ! one is on the mountain side, 
 
 While the clouds are passing by 
 
 With their black wings flapping heavily, 
 
 Like eagles in the sky ; 
 
 Or lying up in the forest trees, 
 
 And waiting there for the mountain-breeze. 
 
 And now he passes through the clouds 
 
 And up to the mountain-top, 
 
 Nor yet to look at the joyous sun 
 
 Does the hasty traveller stop. 
 
 But he leaped down in the broken path 
 
 With a step as light and free 
 
 As ever in his days of mirth, 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 209 
 
 In the dance and revelry. 
 
 Why endeth he his hasty speed? 
 
 Why stoppeth on his way? 
 
 In truth it is a fearful thing, 
 
 For human tongue to say. 
 
 He fears that toward him pointeth there, 
 
 A fleshless human hand ; 
 
 Where the mountain rains have swept away, 
 
 Its coverings of sand; 
 
 That hand his very soul doth stir, 
 
 For it proveth him a murderer. 
 
 Ay long ago on the mountain side, 
 
 The fearful deed was done; 
 
 And the murderer thought him safe, that none 
 
 Could see, save the broad bright sun, 
 
 As he rolled in the heavens the dead above, 
 
 And flooded the earth with his rays of love. 
 
 Now lifted he his clouded eye, 
 
 To the mountain crests behind ; 
 
 And o er them came the broad black clouds, 
 
 Upheaving with the wind ; 
 
 And on them their thick darkness spread 
 
 A crown upon the mountain s head. 
 
 And then shone out the flaming sun, 
 
 From the waters of the sea; 
 
 And God s own bow came in the clouds, 
 
 And looked out gloriously ; 
 
 But its colours were of wo and wrath, 
 
 That threw their light o er the murderer s path. 
 
 And now God s chariots the clouds, 
 
 Came rolling down with might; 
 
 Their wheels like many horsemen were, 
 
 In battle or in flight. 
 
 And yet no power to move hath he, 
 
 His soul is in an agony. 
 
 Over the murderer and dead, 
 
 They rolled their mighty host; 
 
 Old ocean s waves come not so thick, 
 
 By northern tempests tost. 
 
 Forth from their mighty bosom came, 
 
 A flash of heaven s wrath, 
 
 And away the heavy clouds and dun, 
 
 Rolled from the murder-path. 
 
 And the sun shone out where the murderer lay, 
 
 Before the dead in the narrow way 
 
 With his hand all seared, and his breast torn bare 
 
 God s vengeance had been working there. 
 
210 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 The Magician is with more certainty assigned to Poe. 
 
 THE MAGICIAN* 
 Thou dark, sea-stirring storm, 
 Whence comest thou in thy might 
 Nay wait, thou dim and dreamy form 
 Storm spirit, I call thee tis mine of right 
 Arrest thee in thy troubled flight. 
 
 STORM SPIRIT 
 
 Thou askest me whence I came 
 I came o er the sleeping sea, 
 It roused at my torrent of storm and flame, 
 And it howled aloud in its agony, 
 And swelled to the sky that sleeping sea. 
 Thou askest me what I met 
 A ship from the Indian shore, 
 A tall proud ship with her sails all set 
 Far down in the sea that ship I bore, 
 My storms wild rushing wings before. 
 And her men will forever lie, 
 Below the unquiet sea ; 
 And tears will dim full many an eye, 
 Of those who shall widows and orphans be, 
 And their days be years for their misery. 
 A boat with a starving crew 
 For hunger they howled and swore; 
 While the blood from a fellow s veins they drew 
 I came upon them with rush and roar 
 Far under the waves that boat I bore 
 Two ships in a fearful fight 
 When a hundred guns did flash 
 I came upon them no time for flight 
 But under the sea their timbers crash 
 And over their guns the wild waters dash 
 A wretch on a single plank 
 And I tossed him on the shore 
 A night and a day of the sea he drank, 
 But the wearied wretch to the land I bore 
 And now he walketh the earth once more 
 
 MAGICIAN 
 
 Storm spirit go on thy path 
 The spirit has spread his wings 
 And comes on the sea with a rush of wrath, 
 As a war horse when he springs 
 And over the earth his winds he flings 
 And over the earth nor stop nor stay 
 The winds of the storm king go out on their way. P. 
 *The punctuation throughout is the author s by desire. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 211 
 
 While it has not been definitely proved that either The 
 Skeleton Hand or The Magician were written by Poe, I 
 believe that the evidence, both because of their construc 
 tion and their signatures, justifies such an assignment. 
 While these poems bear no resemblance in their versifica 
 tion or the metrical use of words to Poe at his best, in 
 my opinion, no poem written by Poe during this period 
 foretold his later accomplishment. In his early poems many 
 words suffered elision and dashes were frequent. This Poe 
 characteristic is noticeably absent in The Skeleton Hand, 
 and its having been proof-read possibly explains the foot 
 note appended to The Magician. Such a request, odd and 
 unusual, would have been characteristic of Poe. 
 
 POEMS. By Edgar A. Poe. Second Edition. New York : 
 Published by Elam Bliss. 1831. 
 
 Collation : Half Title, Title, Contents, Quotation. Introductory Let 
 ter to Mr. pp. (13) -29. Introduction (Poem) "Romance" pp, 
 
 33-36. Text 39-124. 
 
 This book bears the inscription "To the U. S. Corps of 
 Cadets this Volume is Respectfully Dedicated." It is pre 
 faced by a letter containing Poe s earliest creed as to what 
 should constitute poetry. It is addressed to a mythical 
 friend and, in it, he not only explains his poetic faith, but 
 he lays down his well known dogma as to metaphysical and 
 definitive poetry; or as he happily expressed this idea: 
 "Music, when combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry; 
 music without the idea is simply music; the idea without 
 the music is prose from its very definitiveness." 
 
 Believing only a portion of my first volume to be worthy a second 
 edition that small portion I thought it as well to include in the 
 present book as to republish by itself. I have, therefore, herein com 
 bined Al Aaraaf and Tamerlane with other Poems hitherto unprinted. 
 Nor have I hesitated to insert from the Minor Poems, now omitted, 
 whole lines, and even passages, to the end that being placed in a fairer 
 light, and the trash shaken from them in which they were imbedded, 
 they may have some chance of being seen by posterity. . . . 
 
212 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 It has been said, that a good critique on a poem may be written 
 by one who is no poet himself. This, according to your idea and mine 
 of poetry, I feel to be false the less poetical the critic, the less just 
 the critique, and the converse. On this account, and because there are 
 
 but few B s in the world, I would be as much ashamed of the 
 
 world s good opinion as proud of your own. 
 
 ******** 
 
 I mentioned just now a vulgar error as regards criticism. I think the 
 notion that no poet can form a correct estimate of his own writings is 
 another. I remarked before, that in proportion to the poetical talent, 
 would be the justice of a critique upon poetry. Therefore, a bad poet 
 would, I grant, make a false critique, and his self-love would infallibly 
 bias his little judgment in his favor; but a poet, who is indeed a poet, 
 could not, I think, fail of making a just critique. 
 
 ******** 
 
 As I am speaking of poetry, it will not be amiss to touch slightly 
 upon the most singular heresy in its modern history the heresy of 
 what is called very foolishly, the Lake School. . . . 
 
 Aristotle, with singular assurance, has declared poetry the most 
 philosophical of all writing but it required a Wordsworth to pro 
 nounce it the most metaphysical. He seems to think that the end of 
 poetry is, or should be, instruction yet it is a truism that the end of 
 our existence is happiness ; if so, the end of every separate part of our 
 existence everything connected with our existence should be still 
 happiness. Therefore the end of instruction should be happiness ; and 
 happiness is another name for pleasure ; therefore the end of instruc 
 tion should be pleasure: yet we see the above mentioned opinion 
 implies precisely the reverse. . . . 
 
 Poetry, above all things, is a beautiful painting whose tints, to 
 minute inspection, are confusion worse confounded, but start boldly 
 out to the cursory glance of the connoisseur. We see an instance of 
 Coleridge s liability to err by reason of his very profundity, and of his 
 error we have a natural type in the contemplation of a star. He who 
 regards it directly and intensely sees, it is true, the star, but it is the 
 star without a ray while he who surveys it less inquisitively is 
 conscious of all for which the star is useful to us below its brilliancy 
 and its beauty. 
 
 As to Wordsworth, I have no faith in him: that he had, in youth, 
 the feelings of a poet, I believe. . . . He was to blame in wearing 
 away his youth in contemplation with the end of poetizing in his man 
 hood. With the increase of his judgment the light which should make 
 it apparent has faded away. . . . The long wordy discussions by 
 which he tries to reason us into admiration of his poetry, speak very 
 little in his favor: they are full of such assertions as this "Of genius 
 the only proof is the act of doing well what is worthy to be done, and 
 what was never done before" indeed! then it follows that in doing 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 213 
 
 what is unworthy to be done, or what has been done before, no genius 
 
 can be evinced. 
 
 ******** 
 
 What is Poetry? Poetry! that proteus-like idea, with as many 
 appellations as the nine-titled Corcyra ! Give me, I demanded of a 
 scholar some time ago, give me a definition of poetry? . . . He pro 
 ceeded to his library, brought me a Dr. Johnson, and overwhelmed me 
 with a definition. Shade of the immortal Shakspeare! I imagined to 
 myself the scowl of your spiritual eye upon the profanity of that scur 
 rilous Ursa Major. Think of poetry, and then think of Dr. Samuel 
 Johnson ! Think of all that is airy and fairy-like and then of all that is 
 hideous and unwieldy ; think of his huge bulk, the Elephant ! and then 
 and then think of the Tempest the Midsummer Night s Dream 
 
 Prospero Oberon and Titania ! 
 
 ******** 
 
 A poem, in my opinion, is opposed to a work of science by having, 
 for its immediate object, pleasure, not truth; to romance, by having 
 for its object an indefinite instead of a definite pleasure, being a poem 
 only so far as this object is attained : romance presenting perceptible 
 images with definite, poetry with indefinite sensations, to which end 
 music is an essential, since the comprehension of sweet sound is our 
 most indefinite conception. Music, when combined with a pleasurable 
 idea, is poetry ; music without the idea is simply music ; the idea with 
 out the music is prose from its very definitiveness. 
 
 To sum up ... I have, dear B , what you no doubt per 
 ceive, for the metaphysical poets, as poets, the most sovereign con 
 tempt. 
 
 The sentiments contained in this preface may not fully 
 represent Poe s mature opinions, and they certainly are 
 characterized by youthful ebullition, but these beliefs 
 were the foundation on which Poe based the papers that 
 constituted his Literati and Marginalia. Probably they 
 were essentially true for such poetry as Poe composed ; but 
 Poe was not a master poet. 
 
 In this edition, which Poe designated the "second edi 
 tion," all of his earlier poems either were rejected or so 
 altered as to lose their identity ; yet they so clearly repre 
 sent the transitional phase of his genius, and so strongly 
 indicate the rising glory of his later creations, that they 
 are worthy of being most fully discussed. The later poems, 
 those that he believed might by reason of their intrinsic 
 merit have "some chance of being seen by posterity," 
 
214 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 were Israfel, The Doomed City, later changed into and re 
 named The City by the Sea, Irene, transformed into The 
 Sleeper, A Paean, now known as Lenore, and The Valley 
 Nis and Fairyland, both later suppressed, or emended 
 almost beyond recognition. 
 
 Poe was justified in his expressed belief. These poems 
 have now become a part of his best known work and two 
 of them rank among his best. Not one of those contained 
 in either the 1827 or the 1829 volume ever are popularly re 
 called, and, when republished, are consigned to the appen 
 dices. While this may not be strictly true of Tamerlane and 
 Al Aaraaf, the exception does not invalidate the truth of 
 this statement. Both Tamerlane and Al Aaraaf were re 
 tained, although there were many omissions, emendations 
 and additions. They were not only made to include lines, 
 but, also, whole poems formerly published under individual 
 titles. Al Aaraaf was given a new introductory stanza. All 
 these changes and additions were omitted when Poe issued 
 his volume "The Raven and Other Poems", where he chose 
 the 1829 versions of such of his poems as he cared to repro 
 duce. Poe republished the 1827 version of To Helen with 
 very few textual changes. These strengthened the effect 
 of the poem, although the verbal alterations were slight. 
 This poem, while bearing the same title as that other 
 To Helen, which Poe composed under the compulsion of 
 his abnormal passion for Mrs. Helen Whitman, was also 
 inspired by his love for the memory of a woman the 
 original "Helen." According to Woodberry, she was 
 Jane Stith Stannard, the mother of a boyhood friend 
 whom, as a child, Poe occasionally visited. The details of 
 this childhood love, and the devotion Poe displayed in his 
 worshipful idealization of the mother-love given him, have 
 been related by Mrs. Whitman in her memoir of Poe. 
 

 i 
 
 o 
 
216 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 While at the academy in Richmond, which he entered in his 
 twelfth year, he one day accompanied a school mate to his home, 
 
 where he saw for the first time Mrs. H S , the mother of 
 
 his young friend. This lady, on entering the room, took his hand and 
 spoke some gentle and gracious words of welcome, which so pene 
 trated the sensitive heart of the orphan boy as to deprive him of the 
 power of speech, and, for a time, almost of consciousness itself. He 
 returned home in a dream, with but one thought, one hope in life to 
 hear again the sweet and gracious words that had made the desolate 
 world so beautiful to him, and filled his lonely heart with the oppres 
 sion of a new joy. This lady afterwards became the confidant of all his 
 boyish sorrows, and hers was the one redeeming influence that saved 
 and guided him in the earlier days of his turbulent and passionate 
 youth. After the visitation of strange and peculiar sorrows she died, 
 and for months after her decease it was his habit to visit nightly the 
 cemetery where the object of his boyish idolatry lay entombed. The 
 thought of her sleeping there in her loneliness filled his heart with 
 a profound, incommunicable sorrow. When the nights were very 
 dreary and cold, when the autumnal rains fell, and the winds wailed 
 mournfully over the graves, he lingered longest and came away most 
 regretfully. 
 
 These statements throw some light on Poe s early char 
 acteristics, showing him to have possessed amiable and 
 lovable traits. Poe always longed for this mother-love 
 which the early death of his own mother had denied him. 
 Occasionally he was allowed to visit this friend, and Mrs. 
 Stannard lavished on Poe the same affection she gave her 
 own son, and so won him that he gave her his undying love. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman would not have drawn this picture had 
 she not had foundation for her statements. Woodberry s 
 unkind reference to this passage in Poe s life can only be 
 explained by the fact that "contact with the subject may 
 have bred prejudice." 
 
 He saw this lady, Jane Stith Stannard, but once. She died April 28, 
 1824, at the early age of thirty-one years; but the tale that he haunted 
 her grave by night, with all its later Poesque atmosphere, must be 
 dismissed. His superstitious sense was early developed by darky tales, 
 and it was in his shivering response to these that the germinal terror 
 of his genius first stirred. 
 
 This assumption of Woodberry is a gratuitous slur on 
 the memory of Poe, and is without foundation, nor will 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 217 
 
 critics agree with him that To Helen "has been over 
 praised." 
 
 Mrs. Whitman again refers to this subject : 
 
 It was the image of this lady, long and tenderly, and sorrowfully 
 cherished, that suggested the stanzas "To Helen" published among 
 the poems written in his youth, which Russell Lowell says have in 
 them a grace and symmetry of outline such as few poets ever attain, 
 and which are valuable as displaying what can only be expressed by 
 the contradictory phrase of innate experience . 
 
 The following lines, taken from the 1831 version of The 
 Valley Nis, undoubtedly refer to this reverential memory 
 of his boyhood friend : 
 
 Helen, like thy human eye 
 There th uneasy violets lie 
 There the reedy grass doth wave 
 Over the old forgotten grave 
 One by one from the tree top 
 There the eternal dews do drop 
 
 It is certain that through life Poe remained steadfast in 
 his love for this mother-memory. Occasionally, it is neces 
 sary to make a statement with a sanctity that not even 
 the sworn oath gives. Under such circumstances one will 
 necessarily recall that memory most sacredly treasured 
 among the archives contained in the Holy of Holies: in 
 Poe s later life such an occasion arose when he protested 
 to Mrs. Shew: 
 
 You must know and be assured of my regret and sorrow if aught I 
 have ever written has hurt you. My heart never wronged you. I place 
 you in my esteem in all solemnity beside the friend of my boyhood 
 the mother of my school-fellow, of whom I told you, and as I have re 
 peated in the poem. 
 
 It has been assumed that Lenore was a further expres 
 sion of this boyish bereavement. In its original form, The 
 Paean, it was not in his early collections nor does it contain 
 a genuine note of grief. 
 
 The Doomed City was fully revised when Poe published 
 it under the name of The City by the Sea. 
 
218 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 THE DOOMED CITY 
 
 Lo! Death hath rcar d himself a throne 
 In a strange city, all alone, 
 Far down within the dim west 
 And the good, and the bad, and the 
 
 worst, 
 
 Have gone to their eternal rest. 
 There shrines, and palaces, and towers 
 Are not like anything of ours 
 O! no O! no ours never loom 
 To heaven with that ungodly gloom! 
 Time-eaten towers that tremble not ! 
 Around, by lifting winds forgot, 
 Resignedly beneath the sky 
 The melancholy waters lie. 
 A heaven that God doth not contemn 
 With stars like a diadem 
 We liken our ladies eyes to them 
 But there! that everlasting pall! 
 It would be mockery to call 
 Such dreariness a heaven at all. 
 Yet tho no holy rays come down 
 On the long night-time of that town, 
 Light from the lurid, deep sea 
 Streams up the turrets silently 
 Up thrones up long-forgotten bowers 
 Of sculptur d ivy and stone flowers 
 Up domes up spires up kingly halls 
 Up fanes up Babylon-like walls 
 Up many a melancholy shrine 
 Whose entablatures intertwine 
 The mask the viol and the vine. 
 There open temples open graves 
 Are on a level with the waves 
 But not the riches there that lie 
 In each idol s diamond eye, 
 Not the gaily-jewell d dead 
 Tempt the waters from their bed : 
 For no ripples curl, alas! 
 Along that wilderness of glass 
 No swellings hint that winds may be 
 Upon a far-off happier sea : 
 So blend the turrets and shadows there 
 That all seem pendulous in air, 
 While from the high towers of the town 
 Death looks gigantically down. 
 But lo! a stir is in the air! 
 The wave! there is a ripple there! 
 As if the towers had thrown aside, 
 In slightly sinking, the dull tide 
 As if the turret-tops had given 
 A vacuum in the filmy heaven: 
 The waves have now a redder glow 
 The very hours are breathing low 
 And when, amid no earthly moans, 
 Down, down that town shall settle hence, 
 Hell rising from a thousand thrones 
 Shall do it reverence, 
 And Death to some more happy clime 
 Shall give his undivided time. 
 
 THE CITY BY THE SEA 
 
 Lo! Death has reared himself a throne 
 In a strange city lying alone 
 Far down within the dim West, 
 Where the good and the bad and the 
 
 worst and the best 
 Have gone to their eternal rest. 
 There shrines and palaces and towers 
 (Time-eaten towers that tremble not!) 
 Resemble nothing that is ours. 
 Around, by lifting winds forgot, 
 Resignedly beneath the sky 
 The melancholy waters lie. 
 No rays from the holy heaven come 
 
 down 
 
 On the long night-time of that town ; 
 But light from out the lurid sea 
 Streams up the turret silently 
 Gleams up the pinnacles far and free 
 Up domes up spires up kingly halls 
 Up fanes up Babylon-like walls 
 Up shadowy long-forgotten bowers 
 Of sculptured ivy and stone flowers 
 Up many and many a marvellous shrine 
 Whose wreathed friezes intertwine 
 The viol, the violet, and the vine. 
 Resignedly beneath the sky 
 The melancholy waters lie. 
 So blend the turrets and shadows there 
 That all seem pendulous in air, 
 While from a proud tower in the town 
 Death looks gigantically down. 
 There open fanes and gaping graves 
 Yawn level with the luminous waves; 
 But not the riches there that lie 
 In each idol s diamond eye 
 Not the gaily- jeweled dead 
 Tempt the waters from their bed ; 
 For no ripples curl, alas! 
 Along that wilderness of glass 
 No swellings tell that winds may be 
 Upon some far-off happier sea 
 No heavings hint that winds have been 
 On seas less hideously serene. 
 But lo, a stir is in the air! 
 The wave there is a movement there! 
 As if the towers had thrust aside, 
 In slightly sinking, the dull tide 
 As if their tops had feebly given 
 A void within the filmy Heaven. 
 The waves have now a redder glow 
 The hours are breathing faint and 1 ow 
 And when, amid no earthly moans, 
 Down, down that town shall settle 
 
 hence, 
 
 Hell, rising from a thousand thrones, 
 Shall do it reverence. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 219 
 
 The other poems contained in this volume, A Paean, 
 Irene, and The Valley Nis, were so completely rewritten 
 that, when compared with their later publications, they 
 appear to have completely lost their identity. The Paean 
 survives under the name Lenore, but, in my opinion, the 
 original version was the better one ; at least there was no 
 reference to "Guy de Vere." There is a complete change of 
 versification, it is simpler in construction, and less dramatic 
 than is the poem now known as Lenore. A short quotation 
 will exemplify these changes : 
 
 THE PAEAN 
 
 I 
 How shall the burial rite be read? 
 
 The solemn song be sung? 
 The requiem for the loveliest dead, 
 
 That ever died so young? 
 
 II 
 Her Friends are gazing on her, 
 
 And on her gaudy bier, 
 And weep! oh! to dishonor 
 
 Dead beauty with a tear! 
 They loved her for her wealth 
 
 And they hated her for her pride 
 But she grew in feeble health, 
 
 And they love her that she died. 
 
 IV 
 They tell me (while they speak 
 
 Of her "costly broider d pall") 
 That my voice is growing weak 
 
 That I should not sing at all 
 
 V 
 Or that my tone should be 
 
 Tun d to such a solemn song 
 So mournfully so mournfully, 
 
 That the dead may feel no wrong. 
 
 VI 
 But she is gone above, 
 
 With young Hope at her side, 
 And I am drunk with love 
 
 Of the dead, who is my bride. 
 
 LENORE 
 
 Ah, broken is the golden bowl! 
 
 the spirit flown forever! 
 Let the bell toll ! a saintly soul 
 
 floats on the Stygian river; 
 And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear? 
 
 weep now or never more ! 
 See! on yon drear and rigid bier 
 
 low lies thy love, Lenore! 
 Come ! let the burial rite be read 
 
 the funeral song be sung! 
 An anthem for the queenliest dead 
 
 that ever died so young 
 A dirge for her the doubly dead 
 
 in that she died so young. 
 "Wretches! ye loved her for her wealth 
 
 and hated her for her pride, 
 "And when she fell in feeble health, 
 
 ye blessed her that she died! 
 "How shall the ritual, then, be read? 
 
 the requiem how be sung 
 "By you by yours, the evil eye, 
 
 by yours, the slanderous tongue 
 "That did to death the innocence 
 
 that died, and died so young?" 
 "Peccavimus; but rave not thus! 
 
 and let a Sabbath song 
 Go up to God so solemnly 
 
 the dead may feel no wrong ! 
 
 Israfel, published in 183 1 , was republished in the "South 
 ern Literary Messenger" for August, f !836,with theomission 
 of one line and a few emendations. Poe completely revised 
 it for the October, 1841 "Graham s." It underwent further 
 emendation in the 1845 publication. 
 
220 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 ISRAFEL* 
 (1831 Edition) 
 
 I. 
 
 In Heaven a spirit doth dwell 
 Whose heart-strings are a lute 
 None sing so wild so well 
 As the angel Israfel 
 And the giddy stars are mute. 
 
 Tottering above 
 
 In her highest noon 
 
 The enamored moon 
 
 Blushes with love 
 
 While, to listen, the red levin 
 
 Pauses in Heaven. 
 
 III. 
 
 And they say (the starry choir 
 And all the listening things) 
 That Israfeli s fire 
 Is owing to that lyre 
 With those unusual strings. 
 
 IV. 
 
 But the Heavens that angel trod 
 Where deep thoughts are a duty 
 Where love is a grown god 
 Where Houri glances are 
 Stay! turn the eyes afar! 
 Imbued with all thy beauty 
 Which we worship in yon star. 
 
 Thou art not, therefore, wrong 
 Israfeli, who despisest 
 An unimpassion d song; 
 To thee the laurels belong 
 Best bard, because the wisest. 
 
 VI. 
 
 The extasies above 
 With thy burning measures suit 
 Thy grief if any thy love 
 With the fervors of thy lute 
 Well may the stars be mute! 
 
 VII. 
 
 Yes, Heaven is thine: but this 
 Is a world of sweets and sours: 
 Our flowers are merely flowers, 
 And the shadow of thy bliss 
 Is the sunshine of ours. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 If I did dwell where Israfel 
 Hath dwelt, and he where I, 
 He would not sing one half as well 
 One half as passionately, 
 And a stormier note than this would 
 
 swell 
 From my lyre within the sky. 
 
 *And the Angel I traf el who has the 
 sweetest voice of all God s creatures. 
 Koran. 
 
 ISRAFEL* 
 
 (Graham s Magazine, October, 1841) 
 In Heaven a spirit doth dwell 
 
 "Whose heart-strings a lute;" 
 None sing so wildly well 
 As the angel Israfel, 
 And the giddy stars (so legends tell) 
 Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell 
 
 Of his voice, all mute. 
 Tottering above 
 
 In her highest noon 
 
 The enamored moon 
 Blushes with love, 
 
 While, to listen, the red levin 
 
 Pauses in Heaven, 
 
 With the rapid Pleiades, even, 
 
 Which are seven. 
 And they say (the starry choir 
 
 And the other listening things) 
 That Israfeli s fire 
 Is due unto that lyre 
 
 By which he sits and sings 
 That trembling living lyre 
 
 With those unusual strings. 
 But the Heavens that angel trod, 
 
 Where deep thoughts are a duty 
 Where Love is a grown God 
 
 Where Houri glances are 
 Imbued with all the beauty 
 
 Which we worship in the star 
 
 The more lovely, the more far! 
 Thou art not, therefore, wrong 
 
 Israfeli, who despisest 
 An unimpassioned song 
 To thee the laurels belong, 
 
 Best bard because the wisest. 
 Merrily live, and long! 
 The ecstasies above 
 
 With thy burning measures suit 
 Thy grief, thy joy, thy hate, thy love, 
 
 With the fervor of thy lute. 
 
 Well may the stars be mute! 
 Yes, Heaven is thine ; but this 
 
 Is a world of sweets and sours 
 
 Our flowers are merelv flowers 
 And the shadow of thy bliss 
 
 Is the sunshine of ours. 
 If I did dwell 
 Where Israfel 
 
 Hath dwelt, and he where I, 
 He might not sing one half so well 
 
 One half so passionately, 
 While a bolder note than this might 
 swell 
 
 From my lyre within the sky! 
 
 *And the Angel Israfel, or Israfeli, 
 whose heart-strings are a lute, andwhois 
 the most musical of all God s creatures. 
 Koran. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 221 
 
 The Valley Nis survived only partially; in its republica- 
 tion it suffered the elision of many lines and was called 
 The Valley of Unrest. 
 
 THE VALLEY NIS 
 (1831 Edition) 
 
 Far away far away 
 
 Far away as far at least 
 
 Lies that valley as the day 
 
 Down within the golden east 
 
 All things lovely are not they 
 
 Far away far away? 
 
 It is called the valley Nis. 
 
 And a Syriac tale there is 
 
 Thereabout which Time hath said 
 
 Shall not be interpreted. 
 
 Something about Satan s dart 
 
 Something about angel wings 
 
 Much about a broken heart 
 
 All about unhappy things: 
 
 But "the valley Nis" at best 
 
 Means "the valley of unrest." 
 
 Once it smiled a silent dell 
 
 Where the people did not dwell 
 
 Having gone unto the wars 
 
 And the sly, mysterious stars, 
 
 With a visage full of meaning, 
 
 O er the unguarded flowers were leaning : 
 
 Or the sun ray drip ed all red 
 
 Thro the tulips overhead, 
 
 Then grow paler as it fell 
 
 On the quiet Asphodel. 
 
 Now the unhappy shall confess 
 
 Nothing there is motionless: 
 
 Helen, like thy human eye 
 
 There th uneasy violets lie 
 
 There the reedy grass doth wave 
 
 Over the old forgotten grave 
 
 One by one from the tree top 
 
 There the eternal dews do drop 
 
 There the vague and dreamy trees 
 
 Do roll like seas in northern breeze 
 
 Around the stormy Hebrides 
 
 There the gorgeous clouds do fly, 
 
 Rustling everlastingly, 
 
 Through the terror-stricken sky, 
 
 Rolling like a waterfall 
 
 O er th horizon s fiery wall 
 
 There the moon doth shine by night 
 
 With a most unsteady light 
 
 There the sun doth reel by day 
 
 "Over the hills and far away." 
 
 Irene was later rewritten and renamed The Sleeper. It 
 contains much that could well have been omitted or hu 
 manized; also much that characterizes Poe at his best. 
 
 THE VALLEY OF UNREST 
 (Amer. Whig Review, April, 1845.) 
 
 Once it smiled a silent dell 
 
 Where the people did not dwell ; 
 
 They had gone unto the wars, 
 
 Trusting to the mild-eyed stars, 
 
 Nightly, from their azure towers, 
 
 To keep watch above the flowers 
 
 In the midst of which all day 
 
 The red sun-light lazily lay. 
 
 Now each visiter shall confess 
 
 The sad valley s restlessness. 
 
 Nothing there is motionless 
 
 Nothing save the airs that brood 
 
 Over the magic solitude. 
 
 Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees 
 
 That palpitate like the chill seas 
 
 Around the misty Hebrides ! 
 
 Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven 
 
 That rustle through the unquiet Heaven 
 
 Unceasingly, from morn till even, 
 
 Over the violets there that lie 
 
 In myriad types of the human eye 
 
 Over the lilies there that wave 
 
 And weep above a nameless grave! 
 
 They wave: from out their fragrant 
 
 tops 
 
 Eternal dews come down in drops. 
 They weep: from off their delicate 
 
 stems 
 
 Perennial tears descend in gems. 
 They wave; they weep; and the tears, 
 
 as they well 
 
 From the depth of each pallid lilly-bell 
 Give a trickle and a tr inkle and a knell. 
 
222 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 IRENE 
 
 Tis now (so sings the soaring moon) 
 
 Midnight in the sweet month of June, 
 
 When winged visions love to lie 
 
 Lazily upon beauty s eye, 
 
 Or worse upon her brow to dance 
 
 In panoply of old romance, 
 
 Till thoughts and locks are left, alas! 
 
 A ne er-to-be untangled mass. 
 
 An influence dewy, drowsy, dim. 
 
 Is dripping from that golden rim; 
 
 Grey towers are mouldering into rest. 
 
 Wrapping the fog around their breast: 
 
 Looking like Lethe, see! the lake 
 
 A conscious slumber seems to take, 
 
 And would not for the world awake: 
 
 The rosemary sleeps upon the grave 
 
 The lilly lolls upon the wave 
 
 And million bright pines to and fro, 
 
 Are rocking lullabies as they go, 
 
 To the lone oak that reels with bliss, 
 
 Nodding above the dim abyss. 
 
 All beauty sleeps: and lo! where lies 
 
 With casement open to the skies, 
 
 Irene, with her destinies! 
 
 Thus hums the moon within her ear, 
 
 "O lady sweet! how earnest thou here? 
 
 "Strange are thine eyelids strange thy 
 
 dress 
 "And strange thy glorious length of 
 
 tress! 
 
 "Sure thou art come o er far-off seas, 
 "A wonder to our desert trees! 
 "Some gentle wind hath brought it 
 
 right 
 
 "To open thy window to the night, 
 "And wanton airs from the tree-top, 
 "Laughingly thro the lattice drop, 
 "And wave this crimson canopy, 
 "Like a banner o er thy dreaming eye! 
 "Lady, awake! lady, awake! 
 "For the holy Jesus sake! 
 "For strangely fearfully in this hall 
 "My tinted shadows rise and fall!" 
 The lady sleeps: the dead all sleep 
 At least as long as Love doth weep: 
 Entranc d, the spirit loves to lie 
 As long as tears on memory s eye: 
 But when a week or two go by, 
 And the light laughter chokes the sigh, 
 Indignant from the tomb doth take 
 Its way to some remember d lake, 
 Where oft in life with friends it 
 
 went 
 
 To bathe in the pure element, 
 And there, from the untrodden grass, 
 Wreathing for its transparent brow, 
 Those flowers that say (ah hear them 
 
 now!) 
 
 THE SLEEPER 
 
 At midnight, in the month of June, 
 I stand beneath the mystic moon. 
 An opiate vapour, dewey, dim 
 Exhales from out her golden rim. 
 And, softly dripping, drop by drop, 
 Upon the quiet mountain top. 
 Steals drowsily and musically 
 Into the universal valley. 
 The rosemary nods upon the grave; 
 The lilly lolls upon the wave; 
 Wrapping the fog about its breast. 
 The ruin moulders into rest; 
 Looking like Lethe, see! the lake 
 A conscious slumber seems to take, 
 And would not, for the world, awake. 
 All Beauty sleeps! nd lo! where lies 
 (Her casement open to the skies) 
 Irene, with her destinies! 
 Oh, lady bright! can it be right 
 This window open to the night? 
 The wanton airs, from the tree-top, 
 Laughingly through the lattice drop 
 The bodiless airs, a wizard rout. 
 Flit through thy chamber in and out, 
 And wave the curtain canopy 
 So fitfully so fearfully 
 Above the closed and fringed lid 
 Neath which thy slumb ring soul lies 
 
 hid, 
 
 That, o er the floor and down the wall, 
 Like ghosts the shadows rise and fall! 
 Oh, Lady dear, hast thou no fear? 
 Why and what art thou dreaming here? 
 Sure thou art come o er far-off seas, 
 A wonder to these garden trees! 
 Strange is thy pallor! strange thy dress! 
 Strange, above all, thy length of tress, 
 And this all solemn silentness! 
 The lady sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, 
 Which is enduring, so be deep! 
 Heaven have her in its sacred keep! 
 This chamber changed for one more 
 
 holy, 
 
 This bed for one more melancholy, 
 I pray to God that she may lie 
 Forever with unopened eye, 
 While the dim sheeted ghosts go by! 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 223 
 
 To the night-winds as they pass, My love, she sleeps! Oh, may her sleep, 
 
 "Ai! ai! alas! alas!" As it is lasting so be deep! 
 
 Pores for a moment, ere it go, Soft may the worms about her creep! 
 
 On the clear waters there that flow, Far in the forest, dim and old, 
 
 Then sinks within (weigh d down by For her may some tall vault unfold 
 
 wo) Some vault that oft hath flung its black 
 
 Th uncertain, shadowy heaven below. And winged panels fluttering back, 
 
 Triumphant, o er the crested palls, 
 
 The lady sleeps: oh! may her sleep Of her grand family funerals 
 
 As it is lasting so be deep Some sepulchre, remote, alone, 
 
 No icy worms about her creep: Against whose portals she hath thrown 
 
 I pray to God that she may lie In childhood, many an idle stone 
 
 Forever with as calm an eye, Some tomb from out whose sounding 
 
 That chamber chang d for one more door 
 
 holy She ne er shall force an echo more, 
 
 That bed for one more melancholy. Thrilling to think, poor child of sin ! 
 
 Far in the forest, dim and old, It was the dead who groaned within. 
 
 For her may some tall vault unfold, 
 Against whose sounding door she hath 
 
 thrown, 
 
 In childhood, many an idle stone 
 Some tomb, which oft hath flung its 
 
 black 
 
 And vampyre-winged pannels back, 
 Flutt ring triumphant o er the palls 
 Of her old family funerals. 
 
 At all times these poems are rhythmical, and occasionally 
 they are possessed of a sweetness and tenderness and of so 
 delicate an ideality as strongly to affect us. The horrible 
 and disagreeable ideas suggested are the result of a studied 
 effort. They are not "the outpourings of a diseased brain 
 poisoned by alcohol and opium," producing the macaber 
 images so frequently indulged in by Lauvriere. 
 
 AI Aaraaf and Tamerlane were the only poems that were 
 republished with their original titles. AI Aaraaf was given 
 an entirely new opening stanza that was not in the first 
 edition and was not retained in the definitive edition of 
 1845. The other changes were verbal and immaterial. 
 
 AL AARAAF (7^29 Edition). AL ARAAF (1831 Edition). 
 
 PART I Part First 
 
 O! NOTHING earthly save the ray Mysterious star! 
 
 (Thrown back from flowers) of beauty s Thou wert my dream 
 
 eye, All a long summer night 
 
 As in those gardens where the day Be now my theme! 
 
 Springs from the gems of Circassy By this clear stream, 
 
 O! nothing earthly save the thrill Of thee will I write; 
 
 Of melody in woodland rill Meantime from afar 
 
 Or (music of the passion-hearted) Bathe me in light! 
 Joy s voice so peacefully departed (Thy world has*) not the dross of ours, 
 
 *Reading conjectural because of uninked type. 
 
224 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 That like the murmur in the shell, Yet all the beauty all the flowers 
 
 Its echo dwelleth and will dwell That list our love, or deck our bowers 
 
 Oh, nothing of the dross of ours In dreamy gardens, where do lie 
 
 Yet all the beauty all the flowers Dreamy maidens all the day, 
 
 That list our Love, and deck our While the silver winds of Circassy 
 
 bowers On violet couches faint away. 
 
 Adorn yon world afar, afar Little oh! little dwells in thee 
 
 The wandering star Like unto what on earth we see : 
 
 Twas a sweet time for Nesace for Beauty s eye is here the bluest 
 
 there, In the falsest and untruest 
 
 Her world lay lolling on the golden air, On the sweetest air doth float 
 Near four bright suns a temporary The most sad and solemn note 
 
 rest If with thee be broken hearts, 
 
 An oasis in desert of the blest. Joy so peacefully departs, 
 
 That its echo still doth dwell, 
 Like the murmur in the shell. 
 Thou ! Thy truest type of grief 
 Is the gently falling leaf 
 Thou ! thy framing is so holy 
 Sorrow is not melancholy. 
 
 The spelling "Araaf" is a misprint. Both in the table of 
 contents and where elsewhere noted in this edition, the 
 original spelling is given. Why Poe changed the ordinary 
 spelling "Al Araf," which apparently is the Mohammedan 
 name for Purgatory, a region midway between Heaven and 
 Hell, if my theological geography be correct I do not 
 know, unless it was so metamorphosed that it might seem 
 in keeping with the rest of this poem : nor does there seem 
 to have been any good reason for suppressing this version 
 and restoring that of the first edition. 
 
 In lack of continuity of thought and in obscurity of its 
 subject matter, it comported well with the rest of Al 
 Aaraaf. It lacks the melodic rhythm and "that red drop 
 of blood" which has givenlife to many of Poe sot her poems, 
 even where they were equally lacking in subject matter. 
 
 In Tamerlane several passages were inserted that, later, 
 were omitted. 
 
 Despair, the fabled vampire-bat, 
 Hath long upon my bosom sat, 
 And I would rave, but that he flings 
 A calm from his unearthly wings. 
 I reach d my home what home? above, 
 My home my hope my early love, 
 Lonely, like me, the desert rose, 
 Bow d down with its own glory grows. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 225 
 
 were interjected at the end of the second stanza. For the 
 eighth stanza, as here numbered, Poe introduced The Lake, 
 originally published in the 1827 Tamerlane, though it con 
 tained the emendations adopted in the 1 829 version. There 
 were other insertions, one of special interest being a new 
 rendition of stanza 22 already quoted. In this edition it is 
 made to read : 
 
 XXIV 
 
 If my peace hath flown away 
 In a night- or in a day 
 In a vision or in none 
 Is it, therefore, the less gone? 
 I was standing mid the roar 
 Of a wind beaten shore, 
 And I held within my hand 
 Some particles of sand 
 How bright and yet to creep 
 Thro my fingers to the deep! 
 My early hopes? no they 
 Went gloriously away, 
 Like lightenings from the sky 
 Why in the battle did not I ? 
 
 All additions that I have enumerated were suppressed 
 in the 1845 edition, and, except in a very few instances, the 
 original readings were restored. I have made no effort to 
 indicate all these changes, for this study undertakes to 
 detail only such particular alterations and reconstructions 
 as proved of personal interest to me, or that seemed of 
 value as an indication of Poe s mental growth. 
 
 Harrison, in the notes appended to his "Virginia Poe" 
 ("Poems" Vol. VI I) has very fully and accurately indicated 
 all emendations of the original text. I regard it as unfor 
 tunate that he did not more fully carry out his expressed 
 purpose of exhibiting the growth of Poe s power of versi 
 fication by publishing the poems as originally issued, 
 instead of adopting the revisions Poe made twenty-five 
 years later when he was in the zenith of his mental 
 power. 
 
226 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Harrison explains : 
 
 These editions bring to the front the best poems and leave the 
 earlier and inferior poems to the last. If the student of the poetry fol 
 low this order he is sensible of the anti-climax of such an arrangement. 
 Moreover it furnishes no clue whatever to the developing powers of 
 the artist and leaves the impression of waning rather than that of 
 waxing talent. To obviate this . . . the poems are so arranged as to 
 show Poe s growth and are here printed as nearly as possible in the 
 order in which they were produced. 
 
 Had Harrison, in carrying out this most intelligent con 
 ception, printed the poems as they were originally pub 
 lished, and had he indicated in his notes the changes to 
 which they were subjected, rather than the reverse, he 
 would have made these emendations more understandable 
 to the reader. 
 
 Nor can Harrison justly criticize Poe who naturally 
 desired to exhibit these poems not as they were originally 
 issued, but as they were altered after passing through the 
 process of his artful craftsmanship and the trained under 
 standing of his matured intellect. They rightly bear the 
 imprint of his final judgment. Except as an elucidation of 
 the development of Poe s genius, they should have been 
 suppressed, although it is not to be expected that a writer 
 will ignore the youthful work in which he once gloried, 
 and on which he had rested his hope of immortality. 
 
 The second printing of these poems was made possible 
 by subscriptions received from Poe s acquaintances at 
 West Point. I assume that Poe had few friends among the 
 cadets capable of appreciating his mental capacity, or of 
 sympathizing with his poetical aspirations, and that the 
 "Dear B ," to whom this prefatory letter was ad 
 dressed, was a figment of Poe s imagination. At all events, 
 the letter served the purpose of introducing his somewhat 
 original views on the true aim of poetry to his larger 
 audience. 
 
 This volume proved a disappointment to those who 
 subscribed believing, as they did, that it would contain 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 227 
 
 some of the many personalities in which Poe had indulged 
 in his characterization of those in command at West Point. 
 Harrison summarizes its reception: 
 
 They, supposing the volume to contain squibs and pasquinades, 
 satires and jokes against the professors, were, it is said, egregiously 
 disappointed on receiving the volume, to find it contained only 
 Israfel, To Helen, Lenore, The Sleeper, The Valley of Unrest, and 
 other masterpieces ! 
 
 Guffaws of amazement received this third venture of Gaffy Poe, 
 according to General Cullum. 
 
 Woodberry, quoting from General Magruder, further 
 describes the circumstances attending its issuance, and the 
 meagerness of Poe s reward. 
 
 The Cadets, especially from the South, generally subscribed at 
 seventy-five cents a copy, which the superintendent allowed to be 
 deducted from our pay. . . . The sum thus raised enabled him, I 
 suppose, to save a small margin for his traveling expenses and neces 
 sities beyond the cost of publication. The book was not supplied to 
 the subscribers until some time after he had left the Point. It was a 
 miserable production mechanically, bound in green boards and 
 printed on inferior paper. The subscription was not fully paid until 
 the book was delivered, and I remember a general expression of indig 
 nation at the inferior quality and condition of the book. 
 
 That this volume was received with indignation and 
 was treated contumeliously, and that it was scorned by 
 its recipients, possibly explains the inscription I found on 
 a fly-leaf of my own copy, evidently written by its indig 
 nant recipient : 
 
 This publication deserves Magruder s strictures. The 
 paper used for printing was of the poorest quality, the type 
 
228 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 was battered, and all its mechanical features show a most 
 slovenly and careless production. It occasionally happens 
 that the first letter, or even several words, failed of repro 
 duction because of uninked type; such letters or words 
 must be conjecturally supplied either by the context or by 
 an indefinite type impression. The small sum of seventy- 
 five cents, which was the charge originally made for this 
 book of poems, does not represent its present value. Had 
 our contemptuous youth been able to have restrained his 
 indignation, and had laid aside this purchase, he could not 
 have left a more valuable asset at least on so small an 
 investment. Possibly the boards that formed its original 
 cover, and which at one time may have been green, can 
 now be described only as drab. Time and careless handling 
 have dealt harshly with its dilapidated exterior. Fortu 
 nately, no crushed levant morocco covering has been 
 supplied. 
 
 For its acquirement, I am again indebted to Mr. Hill. 
 Advertisements had failed, and no trace of a copy could 
 be found. I had scrutinized the catalogs in a vain search, 
 and, while their perusal had abundantly rewarded, this 
 particular item still eluded me. 
 
 As a rule the bibliophile finds no hunt so exciting as 
 that given by the catalog pursuit. I never receive one 
 describing rare and old books I read no others without 
 an expectant thrill, a hope that some long missed but 
 eagerly sought title lies hidden in its pages; or perhaps I 
 find some old friend, and immediately begin to compare with 
 my own, condition, issue, binding and $ mark ; and when I 
 find the price of one soaring, especially if its condition does 
 not shame my own copy, it is balm to my heart. Biblio 
 maniacs are as confirmed gamblers as are those whose 
 souls in time become identified with the "tickers", and 
 whose heartbeats quicken or grow weak in unison with 
 their click. Not that we are willing to sell, but we like to 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 229 
 
 feel, foolish as our mania may seem that, should we so de 
 sire, the sale would return us many-fold. 
 
 In late years there has arisen an ominous cloud which 
 has obscured the peaceful and happy prospect, and which 
 in time may pour on us a flood of uncalled-for speculation. 
 A golden thread has been most skillfully woven into the 
 musty woof of book-collecting, and our spiders have so 
 spun their webs that escape may be difficult, and we may 
 find ourselves helplessly enmeshed. Nor can it be said that 
 this is altogether a modern development, for it has been 
 attempted many times in the past years. There is a story 
 current that, some fifty years ago, the head of one of our 
 best known English firms was the possessor of two copies 
 of the first Boccaccio. A third copy, supposed to be the only 
 one that for years could come up for sale, the others being 
 in permanent collections, had been announced for auction. 
 Ordinarily a few guineas, fifty at most, was regarded as a 
 fair price. When this dealer, without being forced, bid sev 
 eral hundred guineas, it was difficult to understand the 
 "psychology" underlying his action. Later, when at 
 tempts were made to purchase one of these copies, it was 
 found that a new price had been set by this monopolist. 
 Some of our American dealers have so elaborated this 
 method of book-inflation, and have so recklessly offered 
 unheard-of prices, publicly to illustrate the futility of op 
 posing them although in the end they were made to pay 
 high, or their customers were, which was a more serious 
 matter that this procedure has for the time being utterly 
 demoralized "prices current," and book profiteering has 
 become a recognized and legitimate venture more specu 
 lative than the "food-corners." 
 
 I have been told that the Hoe library, which was sold for 
 nearly two million dollars, did not cost a quarter of that 
 sum. Evidently this increase was partly due to the book- 
 knowledge and marvelous discrimination of the col- 
 
230 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 lector, and to the fact that, when a book was allowed 
 entrance to his library, it was the most perfect of its kind. 
 Occasionally it was unique, and such a collection could be 
 found nowhere else. This careful selection entitled the 
 collector to an enhancement of price, but the vast increase 
 was not a necessary consequence of this painstaking care 
 in collecting. I was present at certain of these sales a 
 guest of the lamented Livingston, on the night of the sale 
 of the great Bible, and the psychology of the bidders 
 interested me as greatly as the books that were auctioned. 
 The "madness of crowds" was evident. In the heat of com 
 petition the bids made were out of proportion to the value 
 of the books offered, and could only be accounted for by 
 mental contagion. Although a reaction has followed and, in 
 many instances, the prices of certain books have never 
 approached those at that time bid, the sale did set a new 
 scale of values on many rare books there offered. This sale 
 has been so thoroughly advertised that the public has 
 become strongly impressed with the possibility of specu 
 lation in this new field, and certain dealers have so artfully 
 cultivated public opinion that many individuals are now 
 collecting, not because they are book-lovers, but in the 
 hope of making a gain on their investment. 
 
 We may dream of finding bargains but, as a rule, they 
 do not materialize, and we delude ourselves when we believe 
 that some hoped for "find" is possible of realization. When 
 a book once has passed through the hands of a book-loving 
 dealer, a man whose whole life has been passed in the 
 study of the outside, if not the inside of a book, who 
 knows all about dates, binding, margins and the various 
 issues (many first editions are not first issues, and fre 
 quently the first, for some good reason, is not the desirable 
 copy), an amateur finds but meager pickings. Not in 
 frequently it has happened that, when I believed I had 
 found a bargain and had prided myself on some sharp 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 231 
 
 turn, I have had occasion to pay dearly for my ignorance. 
 As a matter of fact ignorance in matters bookish is a crime 
 an excuse which no self-respecting bibliophile ever will 
 offer. We should appear pleased, rub our bruised ego, adjust 
 our lightened pocketbook, and pass it to the next. This is 
 one of the recognized "amenities" of book-collecting and 
 our chief est amusement. 
 
 A collector s greatest pleasure, next to collecting, is 
 watching for and noting the enormous gains he could har 
 vest were he disposed to sell. The large crop of millionaires 
 who have adopted book-collecting because of its supposed 
 literary inoculation, or social distinction, or for other and 
 good reasons, are giving unlimited orders to the book experts 
 who collect for them. There is another, an unmentionable 
 class, skilled in all book lore, that uses its knowledge for 
 the purpose of gathering together all that is valuable, and 
 unloading these collections in the auction houses. Stimu 
 lated by the hope of gain, these books continue to circulate, 
 ever enhancing in price, and the end cannot be predicted. 
 These classes, one feeding on the other, have so increased 
 the old time book values that one can, without boasting, 
 * point with pride to the sum that might be obtained, did he 
 wish to sell. "Did one wish to sell", except some old, cut- 
 down and rebound volume, recalling a vision of it as we 
 remember its old time form, when it was fresh, crisp, and 
 uncut in its original binding, is the true test of a biblioman 
 iac. Should ever I offer to part with some book I have ap 
 parently valued and housed, it will be well for the purchaser 
 to be on his guard and to watch his step. Either there is 
 another better preserved and ready to take its place, or there 
 is concealed within its vitals a canker which has so eaten 
 into my heart that the very thought and sight of it has 
 grown unendurable. Those who really love books would 
 as soon think of selling their children into slavery as to 
 part with some treasured, loved, and oft-fondled volume, 
 
232 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 unless they know that it will have tender care and loving 
 consideration, and that it will be held, housed, and pro 
 tected as its worth deserves. 
 
 It is not well for any collector, whatever the wealth he 
 may possess, unduly to indulge in the catalog habit. After 
 all, collecting is an indication of intelluctual, rather than of 
 financial capacity ; no better index of the mental equation 
 that every man possesses exists than a glance through, 
 not his library, but the books that he treasures, and that 
 he collects because they appeal to him. 
 
 These are not, necessarily, first editions, and but rarely 
 are they expensive books; all books ever published, worth 
 the reading, have been reproduced and are within the 
 reach of those who love them, and who are willing to 
 sacrifice some other self-indulgent habit to that of book 
 collecting. The extreme to which this habit may lead is 
 well called a "mania", and is as much an obsession to those 
 afflicted with it as is any other mental peculiarity. Yet, 
 when possessed and held within proper limits, its delights 
 must be explored to be believed. Unfortunately, in time, 
 our pampered tastes refuse other aliment, and when that 
 stage is reached, when our game must be "rare" to be 
 enjoyed, we do not find a great amount of literature that 
 will satisfy. Occasionally we meet with a "Ballinger" 
 whose book-loving heart beats responsive to our own ; or 
 some "Amenities of Book-collecting" may throw a glamor 
 over our mania that raises it to the dignity of a profession. 
 
 When Mr. Newton exhibits some of his rare association 
 books or other bibliographical treasures that produce in us 
 a thirst that cannot be assuaged, and which engenders an 
 appetite that cannot be satisfied, inducing a ptyalism that 
 is embarassing, he, doubtless unintentionally, commits a 
 breach of the peace by exciting in us a desire to break cer 
 tain of the Commandments. It is well that he particular 
 izes only at a distance and through the medium of print. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 233 
 
 Should ever I be given the privilege of personal inspec 
 tion he ought to see to it that certain of the treasures he 
 enumerates are kept in his safety vault or under guard. 
 Surely though, from his numberless treasures, he would 
 not miss a Kilmarnock Burns, or the "Songs of Innocence," 
 and possibly he might not discover the absence of a certain 
 drawing. I can sympathize with his appreciation of them, 
 but I would give them as devoted care and, possibly be 
 cause there are not so many upon which to lavish 
 my love, even more undivided worship. To others he is 
 welcome. He can keep his Dickens with their curlicued sig 
 natures on his most exposed shelf. They would not disturb 
 my dreams. But I wonder what he has of Thackeray, the 
 Bighearted ? Has he "The Snob," containing Thackeray s 
 first literary essays and theTimbuctoo parody; or a "Flore 
 et Zephyr" with the spindle-shanked legs; or one of those 
 treasured books showing that Thackeray gave more of his 
 time to drawing on the unprinted margin the images that 
 welled up in his contemplative mind than he did to reading 
 the printed page? Even though all listed may not be in 
 Mr. Newton s individual possession, they belong to him 
 morally, if not legally, and he enters the list as their 
 champion surely one worthy of encounter in a friendly 
 bout. Unfortunately two or three, or for that matter very 
 many that he mentions, if met, would completely unhorse 
 me, and I would be vanquished because of my inability to 
 oppose the slightest resistance to such syren blandish 
 ments. I would not be deaf to the "Songs of Innocence," 
 and no amount of wax could obtund her enchanting music. 
 I met her once. One glance convinced me that my * Job and 
 "Dante" required her sisterly presence, and many other of 
 Blake s Visions cried aloud for the soothing lullaby to 
 which she alone could give a proper rendition. She was 
 beautifully hand colored before this I had never been 
 able to endure the sight of hand-painted ladies and only 
 
234 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 the financial stringency that would have enforced swim 
 ming the Atlantic and "counting" some three thousand 
 miles of ties, prevented her acquirement. It is true that I 
 had intended to stop all other collecting and to pursue her 
 alone, but, since that time, speculators have so exaggerated 
 the price that her pursuit seems useless. Nor have I remained 
 true to my enchantress. In the years that have followed I 
 have met with many other adventures if not adventur 
 esses in book collecting, and my book loves are fickle. 
 
 Others mentioned have proved equally attractive and 
 even more elusive. I met "Robinson Crusoe" once and 
 was fast being overcome without putting up my usual fight 
 when I discovered that this was the Huth copy, the first 
 volume of which contained "apyly" unmistakably mis 
 spelled, but the second volume was found to be imperfect. 
 For this reason, and for a much lower price, I bought one 
 with the proper spelling. Alhough I rejected the Crusoe 
 on that ground, I must acknowledge that it would have 
 found in my library many companions also "not quite," 
 in spite of the vow I made many years ago. 
 
 There is one described that, were she in reach, I should 
 never forego, however time might stale, or custom change, 
 or age wither her. I refer to Thackeray s own conception 
 of Becky Sharp s rejection of the "dixonary," and the 
 further fortunate fact that it was not Johnson s first. 
 
 Others mentioned excite in me no itching acquisitive 
 ness, and against them I could "joust most doughtily." 
 I want none of Newton s blue-stocking Thrale, whose sole 
 reputation rests on the senile affection of an old man in his 
 dotage, even at his best not a thing of beauty or a writer 
 I love, however I may admire his elephantine proportions, 
 mentally and physically. Victoria, with her youthful flour 
 ishes, does not [interest me ; others, although respectable, 
 will never have a place on my shelves. 
 
 Such statements as these are made only to illustrate the 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 235 
 
 fact that tastes, even in books, differ : if they did not, how 
 we would tear and rend ! 
 
 It is not difficult to understand why this small and badly 
 printed volume of the second edition of Poe s poems, with 
 its drab colored, although sound board binding, did not 
 appeal to its original owner. It was not prepossessing and, 
 even at the present time, if met with by one of the un 
 knowing its reception would be no more cordial than that 
 given to it by the outraged cadet. If the recipient had been 
 properly advised, and had this volume been purchased 
 at the suggestion of and through the profiteer, I fear 
 that its time-stained and dilapidated cover would have 
 been torn off, and that this little scare-crow would now 
 rest in a jewelled binding ; or that some hand tooled "crea 
 tion" would have taken the place of the homely, hand- 
 scarred, and ink besmudged face that I now regard so 
 approvingly. At least its individuality remains and no non 
 descript covering conceals its imperfections. I have placed 
 it among those other ill-clad members of its family that, so 
 far as was possible, have retained their original covers. 
 Not one of them is gorgeously bedecked, nor are any in 
 closed in a decollete binding so cut down as to expose for 
 adverse criticism the anatomy of construction, although in 
 many instances the symmetry of their proportions is such 
 that if fully exposed this fact would bring no blush of 
 shame. A very few are so perfect that not even a fig-leaf, 
 much less a calf s skin, shall cover their naked purity. 
 
 The addition of these poems was particularly welcome, 
 for it resulted in practically reuniting the surviving 
 members of a family that, at best, had never been fully as 
 sembled. Like their creator, they had been born in inhos 
 pitable climes and had grown up among unfriendly 
 environments. So unacknowledged and anonymously had 
 they been published that many received no christening 
 greetings ; so unannounced and unnoticed were they that 
 
236 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 even their author could not name their birth places nor 
 their birth days like their progenitor they had been wan 
 derers over the face of the earth, contumeliously man 
 handled. No tablet ever marked either their birthplaces or 
 their temporary abodes. Out of such poverty and dire 
 necessity did they spring that, twin-like, it is with dif 
 ficulty that they can be distinguished, and some confusion 
 has followed attempts to claim priority. All, to a greater 
 or less degree, have been defaced by the hand of time; 
 indifference, neglect and careless housing in their poverty 
 stricken tenements have scarred their honest features. 
 They deserved a kinder fate, but need no tribute as to 
 their many and eminent merits. For many months they 
 have occupied the seat of honor at my right hand, and they 
 have been my constant companions. How long my fickle 
 heart will hold them as its chiefest delight is not a matter 
 of possible prognostication. 
 
 In reproducing their ill-clad and unadorned figures I am 
 merely illustrating the frequently experienced apothegm 
 that most lovable qualities and eminent merit may be 
 hidden behind the roughest of exteriors, and that such 
 books must be judged by their contents only. That the 
 eldest of this group has been renounced and disowned does 
 not mitigate the grief I feel for its absence: like Rachel I 
 mourn and find little comfort in its reproduction. Rather 
 than live with the pampered and legitimate heir, I would 
 have preferred, like Hagar, to have wandered forth, every 
 where seeking for the life-giving spring that saved 
 Ishmael, and which, when found, must have proved so 
 refreshing and invigorating as fully to have repaid the 
 hardships of the desert search. However, that one should 
 drink twice at this fountain, and monopolize its available 
 source, is not a thing to be patiently borne. 
 
 The publication of the second edition could not have 
 brought any financial reward, nor did it add to Poe s 
 

 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 237 
 
 literary reputation, although it deserved recognition as con 
 taining evidence of his developing genius. There was no 
 Star that pointed, a beacon light, to its humble birth place, 
 and there were no Wise Men to worship at this newly 
 erected shrine. 
 
 The mystery as to Poe s means of existence, to the life he 
 lived, and to the things he wrote, is not one that ever 
 fully can be dissipated. It is doubtful that he again en 
 tered the army. To ordinary reasoning this would seem 
 most improbable, knowing that twice he had been unable 
 to become reconciled to military life. He might have 
 visited Europe on sailing vessels, but the life of a sailor 
 could have not been more congenial than was that of a 
 soldier. He was without occupation and must have been 
 strongly attracted by the profession of Letters. It is 
 known that a portion of this transitional period 1831 to 
 1834 was spent in and around Richmond and Baltimore, 
 and it is more than probable that he contributed to the 
 contemporaneous magazines of those cities. Could these 
 magazines be resurrected, and a list be found of the contri 
 butors, it is certain that many Poe contributions would be 
 discovered. Whether or not this would prove a desirable 
 consummation is a matter of serious doubt. Poe was most 
 industrious in selecting and revising such work as, in his 
 judgment, was worthy; and, as far as has been ascer 
 tained, everything he rejected proved the soundness of 
 his judgment. Poe, 14-21, wrote much that we could wish 
 had not been republished. We know that he did not con 
 fine his literary work to poetry, but that he wrote stories 
 which he read to his friends. None of these very early 
 stories, outside those contained in The Folio Club," so far 
 as is known, have been published. Probably neither the 
 poems nor the tales can now be identified, the poems of 
 this period bearing little resemblance to those on which 
 his fame rests. 
 
238 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 One story that appeared in "The Yankee" has at 
 tracted my particular notice; for it is so much better in 
 construction and in the elaboration of its plot, as to bear 
 no comparison to any other contribution in it. In addition, 
 certain details are given that might be regarded as auto 
 biographic. The experiences detailed are such as Poe might 
 well have met with when he decamped from home and 
 shipped for Europe. The meeting with an old friend, and 
 the unlocked for denouement, characterizes Poe s method of 
 treating the mysterious, and the marked originality of the 
 plot, and occasionally the boyish and immature reflections, 
 point to great capacity that had not yet achieved stability. 
 I assume that, had Poe written it, he would sooner or later 
 have recast it, and that some of its characters and charac 
 teristics would have been retained. It is so much better 
 than any other story contained in this magazine, and it is 
 so inferior to Poe at his best but not at his worst, as in 
 The Scythe of Time, that its authorship is properly a 
 matter for investigation. It is contained in the same issue 
 as The Skeleton Hand and immediately follows; but, unlike 
 the other contributions contained in this number, it bears 
 not even an initialed signature. 
 
 Poe, aged twenty, might have tried his prentice hand, 
 and it is possible that this may in time be shown to be his 
 maiden effort : but all such speculations are at best untrust 
 worthy and without any foundation of proof, This story, 
 however, has intrinsic merit and a shadowy resemblance 
 to Poe s characteristic style and to his penchant for the 
 mysterious, on which he did so often dwell. 
 
 Of all the recent commentators on the early work, and 
 especially on the early poetry of Poe, J. H. Whitty deserves 
 especial recognition. While it is true that Poe could have 
 best judged what he believed should be given to posterity, 
 and while it is evident that he did collect all that had 
 merit and should live, he reckoned without taking into 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 239 
 
 consideration the insatiable curiosity of his bibliographers. 
 Many poems that he wished posterity to forget and which 
 he refused to include in his collected work, have, neverthe 
 less, been discovered ; we recognize them as his offspring, 
 even if they bear only the faintest resemblance to those 
 children of his genius by which he desired to be known 
 to coming generations. 
 
 One periodical, unknown to Woodberry and Harrison, 
 called The Saturday Courier," has been found, covering 
 the year 1832, and containing five of Poe s stories, viz. : Mer- 
 genstein, A Tale of Jerusalem, Due de I Omelette, A Decided 
 Loss (later known as Loss of Breath) and Bon-Bon, pub 
 lished with the title The Bargain Lost. None of these bore 
 Poe s signature. Both The Bargain Lost and Loss of 
 Breath are said markedly to differ from the tales later pub 
 lished under their newer titles. Two files of this date have 
 been found and are now a part of historical collections in 
 Wisconsin and Massachusetts. The original discovery was 
 made by Professor Campbell of Texas. No complete file 
 of the"Saturday Visiter" has been found. A unique bound 
 volume for the year 1833 has been located by Professor 
 French, and, though privately owned, its contents have 
 been given careful study. Some discoveries have been 
 made, and several new poems have been found that 
 undoubtedly were written by Poe. It was this "Visiter" 
 that offered the prize won by Poe, the publication of whose 
 story established his reputation. What a complete file 
 would have shown as to Poe s early work is problemat 
 ical ; such a discovery would be a matter of interest to stu 
 dents but could not materially enhance Poe s reputation. 
 
 I am indebted to Thomas Ollive Mabbott, our youngest 
 and most enthusiastic Poe bibliographer, for the details 
 of these recent discoveries, and for their verification by 
 reason of his personal investigations. 
 
 Whitty has added a number of poems to those already 
 
240 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 accepted as specimens of Poe s early work, but none of 
 these had the right to live because of any merit they 
 possessed. Many of them were evidently "thrown off" 
 without thought of future curiosity or preservation, and 
 it is questionable to just what extent we have the right 
 to play the part of "Resurrectors." 
 
 All of the poems so far identified have been republished 
 in the latest edition of Poe s Poetical Works, edited by 
 Whitty. They add nothing to Poe s reputation. Many 
 of them are "doggerel", such as one unconsciously may 
 scribble, or as absent-mindedly may be used to decorate a 
 scrap of paper. These trifles are totally unworthy of pres 
 ervation. They are brain children resulting from youthful 
 folly that his mature judgment disowned, provided they 
 were by any possibility recalled when poetry became with 
 Poe a "passion." They cannot be considered legitimate 
 specimens of his youthful poetry a selection of which he 
 carefully made. Yet so avaricious are we of all things relat 
 ing to Poe that we cannot reject even these trifles. They 
 are interesting morceaux in spite of the fact that, in no 
 way, do they properly represent even his youthful work. 
 
 From these contributions, as well as from the testimony 
 of friends that Poe made during these years, it seems 
 probable that he passed the greater portion of his time in 
 Richmond and Baltimore, and it is assumed that Allan par 
 tially financed him. At best his literary life must have been 
 strenuous, and while there is no definite record as to his 
 habits, they were not such as to attract unfavorable atten 
 tion, or to cause serious comment among his friends. It is 
 equally certain that there were periodical attacks which 
 temporarily unfitted him for the ordinary routine of life. 
 
 Our first definite knowledge of Poe commences with his 
 "discovery" by John H. Kennedy, whose writings were at 
 one time quite the vogue among Southerners. A prize had 
 been offered by the "Saturday Visiter" of Baltimore, and 
 
.- 
 
 SOUTH E-J!.\ 
 
 LTTERARY MESSENGER, 
 
 MYKllY DEPARTMENT OF LITERATIM 
 
 THE FINE ARTS 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 
 
 ug i 
 
 K 
 
 :f.Tl.UlVNOT:< 
 
 : on (he 
 
 
 
 Album,., 
 
 
 
 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 241 
 
 Kennedy had been nominated one of the judges. So im 
 pressed was he by the stories contained in "The Folio 
 Club", submitted for this prize, that he sought Poe s ac 
 quaintance and from the resulting association we have 
 many details of Poe s life following his first literary 
 achievement. It was through Kennedy that Poe became ac 
 quainted, and later associated with, T. W. White, "Printer 
 and Proprietor" of "The Southern Literary Messenger." 
 
 THE SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER: Devoted to 
 Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts. Rich 
 mond : T. W. White, Publisher and Proprietor. 
 
 Vol. I August to September, 1835 (13 numbers). 
 Vol. II December to November, 1836 (12 numbers). 
 Vol. Ill January to December, 1837. 
 Vol. (assorted) 1838 to 1848. 
 Vol. XV January to December, 1849. 
 
 In the first number published White lamented the 
 "vassalage" of the South to the North. His effort to pub 
 lish a representative magazine was an experiment. 
 
 It is understood that the first number of the Messenger will be 
 sent forth by its Publisher, as a kind of pioneer to spy out the land of 
 literary promise, and report whether the same be fruitful or barren. 
 . . . Hundreds of similar publications thrive and prosper north of the 
 Potomac, sustained as they are by the liberal hand of patronage. 
 Shall not one be supported in the whole south? 
 
 White believed that a medium for proper representation, 
 and exploitation, of Southern literature and Southern 
 writers, required such a magazine. 
 
 While we shall endeavor to render the Messenger acceptable to 
 all, it is more particularly our desire to give it as much as possible a 
 Southern character with those of the region in which it has taken root. 
 
 While White was not a man of editorial capacity, and 
 made no pretension to literary ability, he associated those 
 with him who did possess these requisite qualifications. 
 Apparently their services were contributed with the same 
 
242 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 sectional enthusiasm that induced White to attempt the 
 publication of this journal and thai seemed to animate all 
 who contributed to its success. James Heath was the acting 
 editor of the early issues. It is probable that Poe s direct 
 connection with the "Messenger" began in July, 1835. 
 
 In September he must have been in full charge for in the 
 December issue White wrote : 
 
 The gentleman, referred to in the ninth number [May] of the Mes 
 senger, as filling its editorial chair, retired thence with the eleventh 
 number ; and the intellectual department of the paper is now under the 
 conduct of the Proprietor, assisted by a gentleman of distinguished 
 literary talents. Thus seconded, he is sanguine in the hope of rendering 
 the second volume which the present number commences, at least as 
 deserving of support as the former was: nay, if he reads aright the 
 tokens which are given to him of the future, it teems with even richer 
 banquets for his readers, than they have hitherto enjoyed at his 
 board. 
 
 Apparently the "intellectual department" was satisfac 
 torily conducted by Poe, and the "Messenger" flourished 
 under his administration. At that time the circulation was 
 said to have been about 700. When Poe left the journal 
 sixteen months later this had increased to over 5000. How 
 ever it was not a time of uninterrupted prosperity, nor 
 was White altogether free from anxiety. We know that 
 occasionally Poe was incapacitated to perform properly 
 his duties, and that there were serious interruptions. In 
 spite of these infrequent lapses Poe did much review 
 writing. If he added to his store of poems and tales, there 
 is no evidence of this fact. Even so, the "Messenger" 
 furnished an excellent medium for exhibiting all the work 
 that, at twenty-four, he had written. For this reason a de 
 tailed statement of all that Poe contributed to the "Mes 
 senger," during 1835-36, well illustrates and summarizes 
 his literary accomplishments up to this date. 
 
 January, 1835: Review of "Poems, by William Cullen 
 Bryant." 
 
 March: Berenice A Tale. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 243 
 
 April: Morella A Tale. Review of "Confessions of a 
 Poet/ 
 
 Harrison, alone of Poe s biographers, has attempted a 
 bibliography detailing the individual contributions of Poe 
 to this magazine. Even the most cursory examination of 
 the files of the "Messenger" shows careless tabulation on 
 his part, yet as a whole his work is good in that it gives all 
 of Poe s known contributions. 
 
 There may be uncertainty as to the authorship of the 
 first reviews. In the early issues for 1835 there are many 
 that Harrison assigns to Poe. He probably had good 
 reason for his selection, possibly access to the "Messenger" 
 records, but he does not state his authority. 
 
 May: Lion-izing A Tale. By error, Harrison assigns 
 this to the April number with the title "Some Passages in 
 the Life of a Lion." In this case as in all others he denom 
 inates the story by its later name, not using the one under 
 which it was originally published. 
 
 There are only three reviews for this month, all of which 
 Harrison assigns to Poe. One of these is a full review of 
 "Horse-Shoe Robinson." In it Poe attempts to repay the 
 debt of gratitude he owed Kennedy, its writer. 
 
 June : Hans Phaall A Tale. Harrison called this story 
 "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Phaal." 
 Woodberry writes it "Pfaal." 
 
 During this time Poe lived in Baltimore and his associa 
 tion with the "Messenger" was through correspondence. 
 It is probable that he took charge in July, or at least that 
 he came to Richmond about that time and began his per 
 sonal association with the "Messenger." 
 
 July: The Visionary A Tale. From this time it is pre 
 sumed that Poe was in charge of the "intellectual depart 
 ment." Harrison credits Poe with only three of the seven 
 reviews contained in this issue of the "Messenger." 
 
 There also was published, for the first time, the poem 
 
244 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 To Mary "Poe s Mary." This poem bears some resem 
 blance to a poem later published in Graham s, March, 1842, 
 known as To One Departed. Neither of these have been since 
 republished and I assume that their omission, when so 
 much that is trashy and unworthy has been included, is 
 due to an oversight. 
 
 TO MARY TO ONE DEPARTED 
 
 Mary, amid the cares the woes Like some enchanted far-off isle 
 
 Crowding around my early path, In some tumultuous sea 
 (Sad path, alas! where grows Some ocean vexed as it may be 
 
 Not ev n one lonely rose,) With storms; but where meanwhile, 
 
 My soul at least a solace hath Serenest skies continuall > 
 In dreams of thee, and therein knows Just o er that one bright island smile 
 
 An Eden of sweet repose. For mid the earnest cares and woes 
 
 And thus thy memory is to me That crowd around my earthly path 
 
 Like some enchanted, far-off isle, (Sad path, alas, where grows 
 
 In some tumultuous sea Not even one lonely rose!) 
 Some lake beset as lake can be My soul at least a solace hath 
 
 With storms but where, meanwhile, In dreams of thee; and therein knows 
 
 Sunset skies continually An Eden of bland repose. 
 
 Just o er that one bright island smile. 
 Seraph ! thy memory is to me. 
 
 To F now included among Poe s poems, seems to be 
 
 a composite of these two. 
 
 August: Bon-Bon A Tale. In addition forty books are 
 mentioned by title but the criticisms are so perfunctory as 
 not to deserve consideration. 
 
 There appears in this issue an interesting article regard 
 ing the "Visiter" awards, inspired, if not written, by Poe. 
 
 As one or two of the criticisms in relation to the Tales of our 
 contributor, Mr. Poe, have been directly at variance with those 
 generally accepted, we take the liberty of inserting here an extract 
 from a letter . . . which we find in the Baltimore Visiter. This paper 
 having originally offered a premium for the best Prose Tale, and also 
 one for the best Poem both these premiums were awarded ... to 
 Mr. Poe. The award was, however, subsequently altered ... in 
 consideration of his having received the higher one. . . . Among the 
 prose articles were many of various and distinguished merit ; but the 
 singular force and beauty of those sent by the author of the Tales of 
 the Folio Club leave us no room for hesitation. We have accordingly 
 awarded the premium to a Tale entitled Ms. Found in a Bottle. It 
 would hardly be doing justice to the writer of this collection to say 
 that the Tale we have chosen is the best of the six offered by him. . . . 
 These tales are eminently distinguished by a wild, vigorous, and 
 poetical imagination. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 245 
 
 We presume this letter must set the question at rest. Lionizing is 
 one of the Tales here spoken of The Visionary is another. The Tales 
 of the Folio Club are sixteen in all, and we believe it is the author s 
 intention to publish them all in the autumn. 
 
 The Coliseum was republished and was further desig 
 nated "A Prize Poem," Poe apparently taking the will for 
 the deed. 
 
 This August number also contained To Sarah, which 
 Whitty assigns to Poe. This poem is signed "Sylvio" and 
 contains nothing characteristic of Poe. It states: 
 
 The silvery streamlet gurgling on, 
 
 The mock-bird chirping on the thorn, 
 
 Remind me, love, of thee 
 
 They seem to whisper thoughts of love, 
 
 As thou didst when the stars above 
 
 Witnessed thy vows to me ; 
 
 The gentle zephyr floating by, 
 
 In chorus to my pensive sigh, 
 
 Recalls the hour of bliss, 
 
 When from thy balmy lips I drew 
 
 Fragrance as sweet as Hermia s dew, 
 
 And left the first fond kiss. 
 
 If these lines be Poe s, they were written during a period 
 of irresponsibility. Could this assignment be authenti 
 cated, and Whitty undoubtedly has proof, this same un 
 fortunate seizure would also account for the paucity of 
 Poe s criticisms. I find an indicial reference to this poem 
 stating that it is a rendition of "Sappho s Ode To the Be 
 loved Fair , a stanza of it in Sarah Lines to." 
 
 September : Loss of Breath. This, by a sub-title, is des 
 ignated "A Tale a la Blackwood." Judging by the con 
 tents of this story, Poe did not have an exalted opinion of 
 the excellencies of the Blackwood tales. That number also 
 contained the lines written to * Eliza/ but this was so closely 
 
 paraphrased by that now known To F , as not to 
 
 deserve repetition. 
 
 There are seven reviews, all by Poe. They show careful 
 study and critical ability. 
 
246 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 This September issue completed Volume I, which con 
 sisted of thirteen numbers. For some reason that I do not 
 know, there was no issue in October or November. The 
 first number of Volume II was published in December, 
 1835, but in it no reference was made to this omission. For 
 the first time White announced that "a gentleman of dis 
 tinguished talents" had been associated with him in the 
 "intellectual department", although he mentions no name. 
 Poe in reality had been actively connected with the "Mes 
 senger" for several months and deserved fuller recognition 
 of the work he had contributed. 
 
 Vol. II, commencing with December, is essentially the 
 individual work of Poe. He wrote all the reviews and criti 
 cisms, nearly one hundred in number, republished many 
 of his poems and a few of his tales and contributed much 
 fresh material. He undertook this new campaign with a 
 full quiver, and he shot with such accuracy that he 
 pierced many inflated reputations of overpraised writers. 
 Though their work made a fair target for his sharp-pointed 
 and occasionally envenomed arrows, unfortunately by 
 reason of such criticisms he raised a host of enemies whom 
 later he had to meet in his metropolitan struggle for exist 
 ence. 
 
 December: Scenes from an Unpublished Drama, Part I. 
 This was later republished with the added title "Politian." 
 For some unknown reason, Poe republished its third 
 appearance MS. Found in a Bottle. Of the sixty-eight 
 pages included in this magazine twenty-eight were devoted 
 to criticisms, a few brief, the majority full reviews. For the 
 first time the vitriolic character of Poe s onslaughts was in 
 evidence. In his review of "Norman Leslie," a novel 
 written by T. S. Fay, one of the editors of "The New York 
 Mirror," he indulged in bitter comment and fierce denun 
 ciation which were uncalled for, however bad the story. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 247 
 
 Well ! here we have it ! This is the book the book par excellence 
 the book bepuffed, beplastered, and be-Mirrored: the book attrib 
 uted to Mr. Blank, and said to be from the pen of Mr. Asterisk : 
 the book which has been about to appear in press in progress 
 in preparation and forthcoming : the book graphic in antici 
 pation talented a priori and God knows what in prosjpectu. For 
 the sake of everything puffed, puffing, and puffable, let us take a peep 
 at its contents. 
 
 This tirade of critical comment was followed by a scathing 
 eight-column analysis of the story. It was a new procedure, 
 a form of literary castigation that must deeply have 
 wounded the author. 
 
 Harrison adds another review Latrobe s "Rambler in 
 North America" as belonging to December. This was not 
 published till January, 1836. 
 
 January : This issue contained the second and conclud 
 ing Scenes From An Unpublished Drama. Another of his 
 Folio tales, Metzengerstein, A Tale in Imitation of the 
 German, was published, and the reviews, nine in number, 
 were all made with painstaking care. In the first of these 
 Poe included the combined poetry of Mrs. Sigourney, Miss 
 Gould and Mrs. Ellet, in one criticism an extended notice 
 of eleven columns. As a rule the amount of space covered is 
 no criterion of the labor expended, or of the value of a 
 criticism : in the case of Poe it is a fairly accurate index. He 
 wasted neither space nor labor. While treating his subjects 
 with the chivalry such poetesses inspire, whatever be their 
 sins of commission, Poe very elaborately summarizes their 
 various demerits. If he put on the mask of flattery it fell 
 when he formulated his conclusions. Only in his criticisms 
 of Mrs. Osgood did the heart dominate the head. 
 
 In the Paean, which was republished, the ninth stanza 
 was omitted, and the eighth, tenth, and eleventh were 
 elaborately emended, though they did not approximate 
 those changes made when it was transformed into Lenore. 
 
 February : A tale, The Due De L Omelette, is all that Poe 
 contributed to the reading columns, unless a translation 
 
248 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 from the French, named The Cousin of the Married" be 
 his. It bears more resemblance to an original contribution 
 than to a translation. However, to attribute to Poe what 
 ever in the "Messenger" that is above mediocre, is absurd ; 
 even the style of Poe is not so characteristic that one can 
 with any certainty select. There is one of these critical 
 reviews, among the ten which appear in this issue, that is 
 unmistakable. It is a long and painstaking dissection of 
 "Paul Ulric." 
 
 These two volumes are by Morris Mattson, Esq., of Philadelphia, 
 and we presume that Mr. Mattson is a very young man. Be this as it 
 may, when we called Norman Leslie the silliest book in the world we 
 had certainly never seen Paul Ulric. One sentence in the latter, how 
 ever, is worthy of our serious attention. We want a few faithful 
 laborers in the vineyard of literature, to root out the noxious weeds 
 which infest it*. 
 
 In itself the book before us is too purely imbecile to merit an ex 
 tended critique but as a portion of our daily literary food as an 
 American work published by the Harpers as one of the class of 
 absurdities with an inundation of which our country is grievously 
 threatened we shall have no hesitation, and shall spare no pains, in 
 exposing fully before the public eye its four hundred and forty-three 
 pages of utter folly, bombast, and inanity. 
 
 Fourteen columns galvanize this long forgotten produc 
 tion into a temporary resuscitation that gives it the simili 
 tude of life. It comes as a ghostly skeleton whose bones Poe 
 rattles so artfully that he accentuates thecachinationof his 
 sardonic laughter. As it has utterly disappeared, compari 
 son with the original is not possible ; but, preserved very 
 much as Bierce embedded his "Black Beetles in Amber," 
 it lives in memory because of Poe s characterization. 
 
 Another article well worth perusal is Poe s personal tri 
 bute to the memory of Chief Justice Marshall, whom Poe, 
 as a boy, had known and loved. While given as a review of 
 orations and eulogies on Marshall s public life, it is in fact 
 a short and most appreciative biographical sketch, cover 
 ing twenty-two columns. 
 
 There also appeared in this February number, the first of 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 249 
 
 Poe s articles on Autography. These consisted of a series 
 of letters to which were attached facsimile reproductions of 
 genuine signatures. Each letter was so characteristic of the 
 writer, the style of whom it was intended to imitate, 
 that several who were quoted wrote protesting that, 
 according to their best memory, they had never written 
 the letters attributed to them. These were not caricatures 
 in the manner of Thackeray and Harte ; they were decidedly 
 brief characterizations in the style Poe later adopted for 
 his Marginalia and Literati. At the same time they 
 were droll in their affectation of certain peculiarities of 
 style, and especially of the verbosity and redundancy which 
 in those days writers cultivated. Occasionally only the 
 signature was reproduced, and from the idiosyncrasy of 
 letter formation, Poe pretended to interpret and judge the 
 capacity and peculiarity of style that characterized the 
 writer. 
 
 LETTER XI. 
 
 JVo York, . 
 
 .My Dear Sir,- I must be pardoned for refusing your request touching your MS. " Treatise on Pigs." I was 
 obliged, some years ago, to come to the resolution not to express opinions of works sent to me. A candid opi 
 nion of those whose merit seemed to me small, gave offence, and I found it the best way to avoid a judgment in 
 any case. I hope this will be satisfactory. 
 
 I am, my Dear Sir, very respectfully yours, 
 
 JOSEPH L. MILLER, ESQ. 
 
 Mr. Irving s hand writing is common-place. There 
 is nothing indicative of genius about it. Neither could 
 any one suspect, from such penmanship, a higfi finish 
 in the author s compositions. This style of writing is 
 more frequently met with than any other. It is a very 
 usual clerk s hand scratchy and tapering in appear- 
 
 ance, showing (strange to say) an eye deficient in a 
 due sense of the picturesque. There may be something, 
 however, in the circumstance that the epistle to Mr. 
 Miller is evidently written in a desperate hurry. Paper 
 very indifferent, and wafered. 
 
 March: Except that this issue contained Epimanes 
 there was nothing of interest, either as it related to Poe or 
 other contributors. To Helen again makes its appearance, 
 without emendations. Of the five reviews, four are neg 
 ligible; only one, "Georgia Scenes," a book that remains a 
 popular contribution to the mores of the Southern 
 "Cracker," received adequate and appreciative notice. 
 
 April: A Tale of Jerusalem is the last of the "Tales of 
 
250 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 the Folio Club" to appear in the "Messenger." It com 
 pleted the series, so far as this particular journal was con 
 cerned. When Poe first tendered his tales for the "Visiter" 
 prize they were six in number, viz. : MS. Found in a Bottle, 
 Berenice, Morella, Lionizing, Hans Phaall and TheVisionary. 
 In addition to these, ten tales had been prepared for pub 
 lication, but were rejected by Carey and Lea. Fourteen 
 had now been published either in the "Messenger" or 
 other journals, and Siope remained unpublished, though it 
 had been submitted to Miss Leslie for the 1836 Gift. The 
 sixteenth tale is said, by Woodberry, to have been Ligeia; 
 by others, A Descent into the Maelstrom. This latter, pub 
 lished in Graham s several years later, like other of Poe s 
 poems and tales, may have been held in reserve. The really 
 noticeable fact is that Poe had written the great majority 
 of these tales and poems, which constitute the foundation 
 of his reputation, before he was twenty-four ; and that all 
 those he reproduced in the "Messenger" were written 
 before his connection with it. This, necessarily, does not 
 hold true of his critical work. It is to be noted that during 
 this time all of his early literary efforts were devoted to the 
 field of criticism. It is possible that Poe wrote much that 
 was later republished in other journals. 
 
 I do not particularize the succeeding numbers for 1836. 
 Poe s reviews have been tabulated by Harrison; and, 
 while a few inaccuracies are to be noted, no attempt will 
 be made at correction. In the succeeding months of this 
 year there were no further literary contributions, except 
 that, in August, Pinakidia was published. This is com 
 posed of pithy critical aphorisms borrowed from 
 well-known writers; in it, he draws attention to various 
 plagiarisms and adaptations of popular quotations. His 
 criticisms were neither so elaborate nor so numerous as in 
 the earlier numbers. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 251 
 
 One is strongly tempted to attribute to Poe many of the 
 best selections contained in the "Messenger," even where 
 his peculiar style is only slightly in evidence. While to 
 point out these is at times irresistible, the suggestion that 
 they were contributed by Poe comes from the heart, and 
 is not a matter of judgment. In the January, 1835, issue 
 there is a story called "The Doom" which impressed White 
 so unfavorably that, in his particular column, it called 
 forth a protest against the "wild and incredible;" and, 
 after his usual manner, he moralizes on "wickedness meet 
 ing with its just award:" even on him its literary merit 
 seems to have made such an impression as to allow its pub 
 lication with apologies and explanations. In construction 
 and narrative, The Doom is worthy of Poe and without 
 any very great stretch of the probabilities it might well be 
 an idealization of his love episode with Miss Royster. 
 White protested that the writer of this story "should have 
 drawn the mantle of oblivion over his dark frailties." He 
 also declaimed against a tendency to "profane and un 
 chaste allusions," assuring his readers "that the Messen 
 ger shall not be the vehicle of sentiments at war with the 
 interests of virtue and sound morals the only true and 
 solid foundation of human happiness." White by no means 
 approved of Poe s stories, and in his "Editorial Remarks" 
 on Morella, he regrets that Poe "has drank so deep at some 
 enchanted fountain, which seems to blend in his fancy the 
 shadows of the tomb with the clouds and sunshine of life." 
 
 Several papers entitled "Essays on English Poetry," 
 unsigned, might well be the work of Poe, and an essay on 
 "Genius," in the April, 1836, "Messenger," shows evidence 
 of an extremely clever summarization of the subject 
 certainly not one that required any editorial apology. Yet 
 Poe inserted a note protesting against being held "respon 
 sible for the opinions of his contributors." 
 
 Poe did the same thing when, without his signature, he 
 
252 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 republished in July, 1836, the preface to his 1831 poems, 
 
 Letter to B , with a similar note denying responsibility. 
 
 "They have vigor and originality but of course we shall 
 not be called upon to endorse the writer s opinions." 
 Neither essay required such an apology ; as far as I know, 
 they are the only articles in the "Messenger" thus editor 
 ially noticed. Had the similarity ended with these notes 
 the suggestion here made would be the merest guess ; in 
 addition, both papers dealt with the definition of poetry and 
 contained equally pronounced ideas as to its true object. 
 
 Another paper by Poe, worthy of special mention, was 
 Maelzels Chess-player. In this he discussed the explana 
 tions which had been made by Sir David Brewster and 
 others regarding this automaton with human intelligence. 
 In discussing the various theories that had been advanced, 
 Poe gave evidence of his powers of analytical reasoning. 
 
 There are two series of contributions that appeared in 
 this journal which serve to render its pages somewhat 
 humorous. One of these was the column of "Editorial Re 
 marks" before alluded to, and which constituted White s 
 entire contributions. The other was that of his daughter 
 Eliza, to whom Poe had addressed the album verse. She 
 not only composed poems, but saw to it that they were 
 published. Her contributions were usually Odes to Spring 
 or concerned other meteorological phenomena. The heart 
 shared in her moods, for she dealt largely with the emo 
 tions. She exhibited familiarity with all meters, and she 
 ran the gamut of all possible rhymes, yet one of her most 
 successful poems was that one in which she made use of 
 neither. She called it The Broken Heart. 
 
 yet did they soon discover 
 The rosy tinge upon her youthful cheek 
 Concentrate all her radiance into one 
 Untimely spot, and her too delicate frame 
 Wither away beneath the false one s power. 
 But lovelier yet, and brighter still she grew 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 253 
 
 Though death was near at hand as the moon looks 
 Most lovely as she sinks within the sea. 
 Her fond devoted parents watch with care 
 The fatal enemy : friends and physicians 
 Exert their skill most faithfully. 
 
 That the effort to restore Eliza was successful, is evident. 
 She lived many years and when in her seventies she de 
 tailed some interesting Poe reminiscences. 
 
 Although much of Poe s notable literary work had ap 
 peared in the "Messenger," neither his tales nor his poems 
 received particular notice in the columns of the metro 
 politan journals. Poe s gibes and stings forced recognition 
 where his stories failed. These criticisms could not fail 
 seriously to wound the vanity of budding authors and un 
 fledged poets, and they laid the foundation of bitter 
 personal enmities. Poe especially enjoyed flinging sar 
 casms at those he delighted in calling "TheFrogpondians," 
 and they retorted in kind. The adverse criticisms of Henry 
 James, our transplanted transcendentalist, were made 
 notable because of Shaw s sarcastic flings in answer. Emer 
 son s reference to Poe s "jingling verses" are not forgotten 
 and they may become the measure by which generations 
 to come will judge Emerson s critical ability. Nor can 
 all of Poe s critical reviews be judged by the same high 
 standard. His capacity as a critic was only exhibited on 
 those subjects with which he possessed personal familiarity. 
 
 Poe unhesitatingly gave reverence where reverence was 
 due. In spite of the abnormal state which late in his life gave 
 rise to the "Longfellow war," Poe s known appreciation of 
 Longfellow s poetry must not be forgotten, and his full 
 reviews of Bryant, and of Miss Barrett and Tennyson, is 
 evidence of his capacity for discriminating criticism. 
 
 Although Poe s connection with the "Messenger" was so 
 brilliant a period in his own literary life, and although it 
 brought such substantial gain in circulation to this journal, 
 it suddenly came to a close in February, 1837. This was 
 
254 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 unquestionably due to the irregular life Poe led, and to the 
 fact that he could not long continue in the drudgery of 
 office work, nor could he patiently bear the grind of daily 
 toil. Pegasus hitched to a plow never pulled well. 
 
 The January number had seemed to show a recrudes 
 cence of Poe s genius. In addition to the first installment of 
 Pym, it contained two poems, A Ballad, and To Zante. In a 
 review of Bryant, to whom he gave eighteen columns, Poe 
 made an elaborate and comprehensive study such as it is 
 a pleasure to record. Although he found much to discuss, 
 if not criticise, the fairness of his estimate at the time it 
 was given cannot be questioned, and his summarization 
 is now held to be true. 
 
 Therefore, could we consider the mere enjoyment of the beautiful 
 when perceived, or even this enjoyment when combined with the 
 readiest and truest perceptions and discriminations in regard to 
 beauty presented, as a sufficient test of the poetical sentiment, we 
 could have no hesitation in awarding to Mr. Bryant the very highest 
 poetical rank. But something more, we have elsewhere presumed to 
 say, is demanded. Just above, we spoke of objects in the moral or 
 physical universe coming within the periphery of his vision. . . . 
 Judging Mr. Bryant in this manner, and by a general estimate of the 
 volume before us, we should, of course, pause long before assigning 
 him a place with the spiritual Shelleys, or Coleridges, or Words- 
 worths, or with Keats, or even Tennyson, or Wilson, or with some 
 other burning 1 ights of our own day, to be valued in a day to come. . . . 
 Between Cowper and Young, perhaps, would be the post to assign 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 255 
 
 him. Even in this view he has a juster appreciation of the beautiful 
 than the one, of the sublime than the other. ... In regard to his 
 proper rank among American poets there should be no question. Few, 
 at least few who are fairly before the public, have more than very 
 shallow claims to a rivalry with the author of Thanatopsis. 
 
 Five other reviews for this month exhibit careful reading. 
 No definite explanation was made for Poe s resignation 
 from the Messenger" further than an explanatory note. 
 
 Mr. Poe s attention being called in another direction, he will de 
 cline with the present number, the Editorial duties of the Mes 
 senger." His critical notices for the month end with Professor An- 
 thon s Cicero what follows is from another hand. With the best 
 wishes to the Magazine, and to its few foes as well as to its many 
 friends, he is now desirous of bidding all parties a peaceful farewell. 
 
 This is the first of those valedictories that mark the 
 repeated failures in his journalistic life. That it was not 
 altogether voluntary is evident. That it was desired by 
 White can only be accounted for because of his inability 
 to depend on Poe s steadiness of purpose, and not because 
 of any lack of ability shown in the work assigned him. Poe 
 left his story, Arthur Gordon Pym, in an unfinished state 
 and made no attempt at this time to complete it; evi 
 dently some very definite break had occurred. 
 
 The completion of Pym was delayed for a year, and it 
 was then published simultaneously in New York and in 
 London. 
 
 The English edition differs from the American not only 
 in its title page but also in size, the number of pages, and 
 the quantity of reading matter. The last entry is that of 
 March 21st. Why the entry of March 22d was omitted 
 is not understandable. This entry carries the events a day 
 further, and dangers grow more threatening by the intro 
 duction of a "shrouded human figure", complicating, but 
 in no way elucidating, the denouement of the plot. 
 
 Woodberry, in giving a bibliographical description of 
 this book, has made peculiar errors. In quoting the title 
 page, he makes one omission and six mistakes. He sub- 
 
256 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 stituted for the name of the ship "Guy," Grey. He 
 omitted the date "in the month of June, 1827." He mis 
 spelled "survivers" and "farther," assuming that Poe 
 had correctly spelled them and he changed the punctua 
 tion. He also failed in properly naming the number of 
 pages. Knowing that Woodberry occasionally depended 
 on Griswold for those facts in his biography which show 
 misinformation, I turned to the memoir of Griswold in the 
 preface to the Literati, and found that my surmise was 
 correct. In vindication of Woodberry, and of his extreme 
 accuracy as a copyist, I can further say that his reproduc 
 tion of Griswold s description was letter perfect, even to 
 the capitalization of certain outstanding words composing 
 the title page a thing necessarily arbitrary. In the dis 
 cussion of this book, Woodberry takes his usual stand as a 
 critic of Poe. 
 
 The narrative is circumstantial and might well seem plausible to 
 the unreflecting and credulous, although there are a few slips. . . . 
 Its credibility, however, is not so strange, nor the realistic art so in 
 genious, as might be thought, since portions of it are either suggested 
 from other lately printed books, such as Irving s "Astoria," or 
 directly compiled (the detailed account of the South Seas is taken 
 almost textually from Morell s "Voyages") by the easy process of 
 close paraphrase. 
 
 While the basis of this opinion might not have been 
 "prejudice," it certainly was not based on a personal in 
 spection and examination of Morrell : it must have been 
 the result of hearsay evidence. This is not a fair statement 
 of the facts, and the most casual examination of the two 
 books shows that it is without foundation. For reasons 
 that I personally found to be good, such a comparison was 
 most difficult. I could find no trace of Morell nor could 
 I find his name in our Calif orniana: search of all available 
 lists or bibliographies gave me no evidence that such a 
 book had ever been published. None of the authorities 
 I consulted knew of such a title, and its existence became 
 
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258 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 doubtful. Finally it occurred to me to look up in "Pym" 
 Poe s own reference to this writer. There I found that the 
 name was not "Morell" but "Morrell" a slight change 
 that identified the sought for book as one that had been 
 published as described and spelled by Poe. Its acquirement 
 was a more difficult matter. My nearest approach was : 
 
 SCENES, INCIDENTS AND ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC 
 OCEAN, or the Islands of the Australian Sea during the 
 cruise of the Clipper Margaret Oakley, under the Com 
 mand of Capt. Benjamin Morrell. Clearing up the mys 
 tery which has heretofore surrounded this famous expe 
 dition, and containing a full account of the exploration 
 of the Bidera, Papua, Banda, Mindoro, Sooloo, and 
 China Seas, the manners and customs of the Inhabitants 
 of the Islands,- and a description of the vast regions 
 never before visited by Civilized Man." 
 
 This book was written by Thomas Jefferson Jacobs, and 
 definitely established that to which before I had only 
 found an unsatisfactory reference. Diligent search was 
 finally rewarded, and I secured not only the original work 
 of Morrell, but also that of his wife, who had accompanied 
 him on one of these voyages. She not only corroborated 
 many of the incidents related by Captain Morrell, but 
 further, and minutely, discussed the sentiments called forth 
 by her husband s love for her, and his consideration in mar 
 rying her and taking her with him on this voyage ; also her 
 pursuit by those in whose charge her husband had left her 
 and who should have protected her, the whole inter 
 spersed with observations and deductions drawn from the 
 experiences of extensive travel on a receptive mind. In the 
 matter of sentiment, the assertion of patriotic motives, and 
 a highly developed moral and religious code, Captain 
 Morrell set her a prolix example, not in all ways borne out 
 by the statements of Jacobs. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 259 
 
 Morrell s "Narrative" read: 
 
 A NARRATIVE OF FOUR VOYAGES, To the South Sea, North 
 and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and 
 Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Antarctic Ocean. 
 From the year 1822 to 183 1 . Comprising critical surveys 
 of Coasts and Islands, With Sailing Directions. And an 
 Account of Some new and valuable discoveries, includ 
 ing the Massacre Islands, where thirteen of the Author s 
 Crew were Massacred and eaten by Cannibals. To 
 which is prefixed A Brief Sketch of the Author s Early 
 Life. By Capt. Benjamin Morrell, Jun. New York: 
 Harper &z Brothers, Cliff Street, 1832. 
 This book was dedicated to the "Hon. Levi Woodbury, 
 Sectretary U. S. Navy." 
 
 These three books entirely exculpate Poe from either 
 servilely copying Morrell, or paraphrasing him. No inci 
 dent related bears the slightest resemblance to the dangers, 
 sufferings, horrors and mutinies to which Pym was sub 
 jected, further than the fact that Captain Morrell lost a few 
 men in his attempt to establish a trading station. He lost 
 no ship and had, outside his one misfortune, no exciting 
 adventures. Being a man of scientific mind Captain Mor 
 rell did make and relate certain zoological observations that 
 Poe copied, and also mentioned other details, geographical 
 and historical. Poe refers to these voyages of Morrell s, 
 repeatedly quoting statements, and he makes no effort to 
 conceal their source. Occasionally he paraphrases and 
 judiciously condenses the somewhat verbose descriptions 
 of Morrell, as when he describes the nesting penguins and 
 albatross. Neither in conception, narrative, plot, nor action, 
 does the voyage of Pym bear the slightest resemblance to 
 those of Morrell. In addition, Poe quotes the narratives of 
 Captain Cook and of other captains who sailed these seas. 
 Poe made use of their reports for his historical, zoologi 
 cal, and geographical facts, and freely acknowledged his 
 
260 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 indebtedness. As far as I can judge his inventions were 
 original. He enumerated numberless horrors: starvation, 
 confinement in a rat-infested hole in the bottom of the 
 ship, a fight with a mad-dog and with men more brutal, 
 the shipwreck with its accompanying hardships, the ap 
 proaching rescue ship of death with the horrors it con 
 tained, and other occurrences equally exciting, revolting 
 and overwhelming. 
 
 Looking toward Augustus, I perceived that he had become at once 
 deadly pale, and that his lips were quivering in the most singular and 
 unaccountable manner. Greatly alarmed, I took notice of his eyes, 
 which were glaring at some object behind me. I turned my head and 
 shall never forget the ecstatic joy that thrilled through every particle 
 of my frame, when I perceived a large brig bearing down on us. ... 
 The vessel in sight was evidently a large hermaphrodite brig of a 
 Dutch build . . . and had suffered much in the gale which had 
 proved so disastrous to us. ... The awkward manner in which she 
 sailed was remarked by us. She yawed about so considerably, that 
 once or twice we thought it impossible she could see us. Upon each of 
 these occasions we screamed and shouted at the top of our voices, 
 when the stranger would appear for a moment to change her intention, 
 and again hold to us. No person was seen upon the decks until she 
 arrived in about a quarter of a mile of us. We then saw three seamen, 
 whom by their dress we took to be Hollanders. Two of these were 
 lying on some old sails near the forecastle, and the third who appeared 
 to be looking at us with great curiosity, was leaning over the starboard 
 bow near the bowsprit. This last was a tall stout man, with a very 
 dark skin. He seemed by his manner to be encouraging us to have 
 patience, nodding to us in a cheerful although rather odd way, and 
 smiling constantly so as to display a set of the most brilliantly white 
 teeth. The brig came on slowly and now more steadily than before 
 < . . we poured our whole soul in shouts of thanksgiving to God for 
 the complete unexpected and glorious deliverance. Of a sudden there 
 came wafted over the ocean a smell, a stench, such as the world has 
 no name for no conception of hellish utterly suffocating insuf 
 ferable, inconceivable. . . . The brig was within fifty feet of us, when 
 suddenly a wide yaw threw her off full five or six points and as she 
 passed under our stern we had a full view of her. Shall I ever forget 
 the triple horror of that spectacle? Twenty-five or thirty human 
 bodies, among whom were several females, lay scattered about in the 
 last and most loathsome state of putrefaction! We plainly saw that 
 not a soul lived in that fated vessel. Yet we could not help shouting to 
 the dead for help! . . . We were raving with horror and despair 
 ... As our first loud yell of terror broke forth, it was replied to by 
 something from near the bowsprit of the stranger so closely resembling 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 261 
 
 the scream of a human voice that the nicest ear might have been 
 startled and deceived. At this moment another sudden yaw brought 
 the region of the forecastle into view and we beheld the origin of the 
 sound. We saw the tall stout figure still leaning on the bulwark, and 
 still nodding his head to and fro, but his face was now turned from us 
 so that we could not behold it. His arms were extended over the rail, 
 and the palms of his hands fell outward. . . . On his back, from 
 which a portion of the shirt had been torn, leaving it bare, there sat a 
 huge seagull, busily gorging itself with the horrible flesh, its bill and 
 talons deep buried, and its white plumage spattered with blood. . . . 
 The gull arose lazily from the body upon which it had been feasting, 
 and flying directly above our deck, hovered there awhile with a por 
 tion of clotted and liver-like substance in its beak. The horrid morsel 
 dropped at length with a sudden splash immediately at the feet of 
 Parker. May God forgive me ! but now there flashed through my mind 
 a thought, a thought which I will not mention, and I felt myself 
 making a step towards the ensanguined spot. I looked upward, and 
 the eyes of Augustus met my own with a degree of intense and eager 
 meaning which immediately brought me to my senses. ... As the 
 gull relieved it of its weight it swung round and fell partly over. . . . 
 Never surely was any object so terribly full of awe! The eyes were 
 gone, and the whole flesh around the mouth, leaving the teeth utterly 
 naked. This then was the smile which had cheered us on to hope! 
 
 This is a record of misfortunes that not even Pym could 
 have met and long survived. The fact of sailing the south 
 seas and meeting with geographical features and zoologi 
 cal data that were either copied or paraphrased should 
 cause no comment. PynVs descriptions and the plot of his 
 story alone call for criticism. There is no possibility of 
 plagiarism. Such a description as I have quoted, though 
 full of the essence of horror and disgust, necessarily is 
 the handiwork of a master. Certain of these revolting 
 details, such as that of Pym and his companions drawing 
 lots as to who should be sacrificed for the preservation of 
 the rest, or insanity by reason of hardships and exposure, 
 murders artistically planned and stratagems adopted for 
 overpowering mutineers and savages, occasionally have 
 been recorded ; but Morrell details none of these, further 
 than his own bravery when he slaughtered, from a dis 
 tance, many savages in retaliation for their forcible 
 objection to his occupation of their island. 
 
262 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Woodberry s mistaking the spelling of Morrell is but a 
 small matter, and was the result of copying Harrison too 
 faithfully. His assertion that the plot and material facts 
 were either suggested by or copied from Morrell was 
 original. The fact that it resulted in an exciting book hunt 
 should not be held against him. Probably the book is not 
 so rare as I had supposed ; after the correct spelling was 
 established, my strenuous search located two other copies. 
 
 Local pride induces me to interject Morrell s description 
 of San Francisco as he found it in the year 1825. 
 
 The bay of San Francisco, connected with the surrounding scenery, 
 is the most delightful place I have ever seen on the western coast of 
 America. It presents a broad sheet of water, of sufficient extent to 
 float all the British navy without crowding; the circling grassy shores, 
 indented with convenient coves, and the whole surrounded by a 
 blooming verdant country, pleasingly diversified with cultured fields 
 and waving forests ; meadows clothed with the richest verdure in the 
 gift of bounteous May ; pastures covered with grazing herds ; hill and 
 dale, mountain and valley, noble rivers, and gurgling brooks. Man, 
 enlightened, civilized man, alone is wanting to complete the picture, 
 and give a soul, a divinity to the whole. Were these beautiful regions 
 which have been so much libelled, and are so little known, the pro 
 perty of the United States, our government would never permit them 
 to remain thus neglected. The Eastern and Middle states would pour 
 out their thousands of emigrants, until magnificent cities would rise 
 on the shore of every inlet along the coast, while the wilderness of 
 the interior would be made to blossom like a rose. 
 
 Possibly it was well that Poe did condense and para 
 phrase. 
 
 This story of Captain Pym received but scant attention 
 in America. That, in England, "such was the realism of the 
 narrative that it was taken for genuine" is a matter of 
 surprise. The fact that this story, as well as the one of 
 M. Valdemar, was believed, makes it evident that both the 
 English and Scotch are more credulous than their descend 
 ants now inhabiting Missouri. "The Narrative of Arthur 
 Gordon Pym does not impress me as possessing either a well 
 conceived plot, or a development of action and incident 
 worthy of Poe. While, with his usual facility, he invents 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 263 
 
 horrors unbelievable, and his imagination runs riot in 
 conceiving awful images, and in picturing the unknown 
 Antarctic region with its majestic tropical fauna where we 
 should have expected snow-environed inhabitants, he so 
 indiscriminately heaps disaster upon disaster, and invents 
 such impossible catastrophes which necessarily lead to the 
 certain destruction of Pym and his companions, that he 
 leaves not even a deus ex, machina for their extrication. 
 
 Poe ended this story with an explanatory note in which 
 he states that, by reason of "the late sudden and distress 
 ing death of Mr. Pym" the concluding chapters, describing 
 his manner of escape, "which were to have completed his 
 narrative, and which were to be retained by him for the 
 purpose of revision, have been irrevocably lost." This 
 statement makes a lame and impotent conclusion to a 
 most impossible situation. The added hieroglyphs, with 
 suggested decipherments, are not worthy of Poe s known 
 ability as a cryptographer. 
 
 I subjoin the description of the majestic surroundings 
 and the approaching doom that threatened to overwhelm 
 the helpless crew : 
 
 March 2 1 . A sullen darkness now hovered above us but from out 
 the milky depths of the ocean a luminous glare arose, and stole up 
 along the bulwarks of the boat. We were nearly overwhelmed by the 
 white ashy shower which settled upon us and upon the canoe, but 
 melted into the water as it fell. The summit of the cataract was utterly 
 lost in the dimness and the distance. Yet we were evidently approach 
 ing it with a hideous velocity. At intervals there were visible in it wide, 
 yawning, but momentary rents, and from out these rents, within 
 which was a chaos of flitting and indistinct images, there came rushing 
 and mighty, but soundless winds, tearing up the enkindled ocean in 
 its course. 
 
 The English publication ends at this date, but the Amer 
 ican carries the story of events one day further : 
 
 March 22. The darkness had materially increased, relieved only by 
 the glare of the water thrown back from the white curtain before us. 
 Many gigantic and pallidly white birds flew continuously now from 
 beyond the veil, and their scream was the eternal Tekli-li! as they re- 
 
264 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 treated from our vision. Hereupon Nu-Nu stirred in the bottom of the 
 boat; but on touching him we found that his spirit had departed. And 
 now we rushed into the embraces of the cataract, where a chasm threw 
 itself open to receive us. But there arose in our pathway a shrouded 
 human figure, very far larger in its proportions than any dweller 
 among men. And the hue of the skin of the figure was of the perfect 
 whiteness of the snow. 
 
 So ends this story of horrors. Why Poedid not complete 
 it I cannot conceive. That he possessed sufficient imagina 
 tion to have taken us into this unknown and tropical 
 Antarctic World which he had conceived, is not to be ques 
 tioned. The wonder to me is that he could have resisted so 
 opportune an occasion for depicting another balloon-hoax. 
 
 It seems to have been the custom during these years to 
 publish a Christmas Annual containing poems, tales, and 
 moralities, suitable for greetings and presents. Apparently 
 the best known writers contributed, and it is probable that 
 such articles brought some remuneration to their writers ; 
 if not, these Annuals brought very desirable publicity. 
 
 I will summarize those to which Poe contributed, 
 although their issuance covered several years. 
 
 THE GIFT: A Christmas and New Year s present 
 for 1836. Edited by Miss Leslie, Philadelphia: E. L. 
 Carey and A. Hart. 
 
 Much to Poe s annoyance, Miss Leslie chose the twice- 
 told story MS. Found in a Bottle. With justice Poe com 
 plained of this second reproduction: 
 
 The Gift [Miss Leslie s Annual for 1836] is out. They have pub 
 lished The MS. Found in a Bottle (the prize tale you will remember,) 
 although I not only told Mr. Carey myself that it had been published, 
 but wrote him to that effect on my return to Baltimore, and sent him 
 another tale in place of it (Epimanes). I can not understand why they 
 have published it or why they have not published either Slope 
 [Silence] or Epimanes [Four Beasts]. 
 
 The Gift also contained contributions from Paulding, 
 Irving and other writers known and unknown. Among the 
 unknown was a writer named Thompson, four of whose 
 
SIOPE -A FABLE. 
 
 [In the manner of the Psychological Autobiographies.] 
 
 EDOAn A. FOB. 
 
 Ours is a world of words: Gluiet we call 
 Silence which is the merest word of all. 
 
 Al Aaraaf. 
 
 "Listen to me," said the Demon, as he placed his 
 hand upon my head. **There is a spot upon this ac 
 cursed earth which thou hast never yet beheld. And 
 if by any chance thou hast beheld it, it must have been 
 in one of those vigorous dreams which come like the 
 Simoom upon the brain of the sleeper who hath lain 
 down to sleep among the forbidden sunbeams among 
 the sunbeams, I say, which slide from off the solemn 
 columns of the melancholy temples in the wilderness. 
 The region of which I speak is a dreary region in Libya, 
 by the borders of the river Zaire. And there is no 
 <juiet there, nor silence. 
 
 "The waters of the river have a saffron and sickly 
 hue and they flow not onwards to the sea, but palpi 
 tate forever and forever beneath the red eye of the sun 
 with a tumultuous and convulsive motion. For many 
 
266 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 stories were published. That one or all of his could not 
 have been omitted, and room found for Slope, cannot be 
 explained by unappreciation. Deficient as those times were 
 in literary comprehension, such a story could not have 
 been passed over, though it might not have possessed the 
 public appeal contained in the MS. Found in a Bottle. 
 The selection of certain stories that, from literary consid 
 erations, are so utterly worthless can only be accounted for 
 by Poe s suggestion, quid pro quo. 
 
 THE BALTIMORE BOOK, A Christmas and New Year s 
 Present: Edited by W. H. Carpenter and T. S. Arthur. 
 Baltimore ; MDCCCXXXVI 1 1 . 
 
 Harrison, ever considerate and tender of Poe, thor 
 oughly appreciative but at times overfond, in the following 
 criticism does not overpraise or underrate the excellence of 
 this issue of "The Baltimore Book/ 
 
 In a faded and time stained copy of the Baltimore Book for 1839 
 [1838] edited by W. H. Carpenter and T. S. Arthur, now lying before 
 us, we find Slope a fable (in the manner of the psychological auto- 
 biographists) by Edgar A. Poe. 
 
 Ours is a world of words : quiet we call 
 Silence which is the merest word of all. 
 
 (AL AARAAF) . 
 
 the earliest form of allegory which is perhaps Poe s most majestic 
 piece of prose, worthy of Jean Paul Richter in its music and its mag 
 nificence. This earliest form of the fable is destitute of the fine lines 
 from the Greek of Alcman [Alcmaeon] and their English interpreta 
 tion by Poe, found in later editions, and shows that Arthur Gordon 
 Pym did not wholly occupy the Poet s attention at this time. 
 
 These were the lines referred to. 
 
 TS xai 
 
 The mountain pinnacles slumber ; valleys, crags and caves are tileni. 
 
 In my opinion it is not a happy substitution, although 
 the Greek words look impressive. As Poe himself once upon 
 a time explained in The Psyche Zenobia, his satirical story 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 267 
 
 written to ridicule certain English writers, and which was 
 later named How To Write A Blackwood Article, the Greek 
 letters give not only a dignity of appearance but an air of 
 learning that is most impressive. 
 
 The very letters have an air of profundity about them. Only ob 
 serve, madam, the acute look of thatEpsilon. That Phi certainly ought 
 to be a Bishop! Was there ever a smarter fellow than that Omicron? 
 Just twig that Tau. In short there is nothing like Greek for a genuine 
 popper-sensation. 
 
 That Poe later adopted this same substitution shows a 
 lack of "good memory." 
 
 THE GIFT : A Christmas and New Year s Present for 1840. 
 Edited by Miss Leslie, Philadelphia : Carey & Hart. 
 
 4 The Gift," which appeared first in 1836 and was regu 
 larly published during the following years, contained noth 
 ing further by Poe until the issue of 1840, when William 
 Wilson, a psychological self-study, well worth the attention 
 of Poe students, appeared. The priority of appearance is in 
 question, as the story was first published in the October, 
 1839, issue of "The Gentleman s Magazine," although it is 
 credited to the 1840 Gift. Of all that Poe wrote, nothing 
 more firmly establishes the essential sanity and the intro 
 spective faculty of his mind, than does this story. As an 
 analysis of character, and an attempt to understand one s 
 own personality, and as an expression of outraged con 
 science, it has no equal. It is not only a psychological 
 study; it is also a presentment of the double personality 
 that so bitterly contended for the possession of Poe s soul. 
 That Poe recognized his defeat, and realized that he was 
 no longer able to resist the hereditary evil that finally 
 dominated and overcame him, is shown in the concluding 
 lines: 
 
 I immediately returned to my dying antagonist. But what human 
 language can adequately portray that astonishment, that horror which 
 possessed me at the spectacle then presented to view. The brief 
 
268 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 moment in which I had averted my eyes had been sufficient to pro 
 duce, apparently, l a material change in the arrangements at the upper 
 or farther end of the room. A large mirror, it appeared to me, now- 
 stood where none had been perceptible to me before; and, as I stepped 
 up to it in extremity of terror, mine own image, but with features all 
 pale and dabbled in blood, advanced, with a feeble and a tottering 
 gait, to meet me. 
 
 Thus it appeared, I say, but was not. It was my antagonist it was 
 Wilson, who stood before me in the agonies of his dissolution. Not a 
 line in all the marked and singular liniments of that face which was 
 not, even identically, mine own! His mask and cloak lay, where he 
 had thrown them, upon the floor. 
 
 It was Wilson but he spoke no longer in a whisper, and I could have 
 fancied that I myself was speaking while he said You have conquered 
 and I yield. Yet, henceforward, art thou also dead dead to the world 
 and its hopes. In me did st thou exist and in my death, see by this 
 image, which is thine own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself. 
 
 THE GIFT : A Christmas and New Year s Present for 1842. 
 Philadelphia : Carey & Hart. 
 
 This contains Eleonora, another autobiographical study. 
 
 In this instance the theme is wedded love, and is based 
 upon the affection Poe bore his wife. While this was written 
 three years before Virginia s death, it cannot be doubted 
 that he saw the end and keenly realized that she was not 
 to remain with him. That this thought at times drove him 
 frantic is evidenced in his letters, and the realization 
 that his wife was fore-doomed overwhelmed him with 
 grief. In Eleonora a picture is drawn that was in no sense 
 imaginary; it had an actual basis in the foundation of 
 Poe s life. This story so accurately reproduces the events 
 which led up to Poe s marriage with his cousin, and so 
 pathetically details the happiness their union brought that 
 it should set at rest any question of the love Poe gave his 
 wife, even though their marriage was one of convenience. 
 
 THE GIFT: A Christmas and New Year s Present. MDCCO 
 XLIII. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart. 
 
 In this was published The Pit and the Pendulum, in 
 which Poe crowds into one narration all the possible hor- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 269 
 
 rors that could overcome one in the presence of approaching 
 death. It is a tale of the Spanish Inquisition, diabolically 
 conceived, and excellently told. It was worthy of inclusion 
 in the narrative of Pym. 
 
 THE GIFT. A Christmas, New Year, and Birthday Present. 
 MDCCCXLV. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart. 1845. 
 
 This volume seems to have been enlarged to quarto, 
 or at least to large octavo, possibly for the purpose of 
 better accommodating itself to its new function. Poe s 
 contribution The Purloined Letter is trifling. In addition 
 to this Poe story, a few other well-known writers are 
 represented : Emerson by a Dirge patterned after but as I 
 remember to have heard some one say "a very long way 
 after," Burns. Among many now forgotten names, that of 
 Longfellow twice appears, for this Gift contains A Gleam 
 of Sunshine and The Hemlock Tree. 
 
 THE OPAL: A Pure Gift for the Holy Days. Edited by 
 N. P. Willis. With nine Illustrations, by J. G. Chapman. 
 New York: John C. Riker 15 Anne Street. 1844. 
 
 The Opal was issued by a New York house, under the 
 editorship of Willis. There was a change not only of con 
 tributors, but in the character of the subjects chosen. As a 
 rule these are either highly moral or distinctly religious. 
 Scriptural Prophecy occupies a prominent position, and 
 God will Appoint a Deliverer, The Triumph of Christianity, 
 and Religious Biography are among the subjects treated. 
 Is Death the King of Terrors? and The Dream of a Consump 
 tive, are filled with consolatory thoughts for the dying and 
 the Dream ends with the triumphal chaunt : 
 
 My dream was kindly given 
 
 The spirit s parting sign, 
 One glimpse of earth in beauty bright, 
 
 Ere breaks the morn divine. 
 
270 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Ah! see the skies are parting now, 
 
 A holier light is shed 
 I come, I come!" and that fair girl 
 
 Was gathered to the dead ! 
 
 These lines are characteristic of the contents as a whole, 
 maudlin and unduly religious. 
 
 According to the title page, this volume was "embel 
 lished" with edifying scenes; among them were Christ 
 Walking on the Sea, The Mother s Grave, the Dream of the 
 Consumptive, illustrated, and the Daughter of Jairus. 
 
 To this Opal Poe contributed A Morning on the Wissa- 
 hiccon. It is a pot-boiler, possibly suggested by a sketch in 
 the December 1835 "Messenger" similarly titled, but this 
 was in no sense the prototype. It is possible that Poe wrote 
 this Messenger description, but its contents do not justify 
 such a deduction. The introduction of the elk was a real 
 istic touch not in the original story and it could well have 
 been omitted. 
 
 Harrison, in introducing his discussion of "The Con- 
 chologist s First Text Book", Poe s chief contribution to 
 Zoology, says: 
 
 The year 1839 was signalized by two events, one unimportant, 
 but remarkable as showing the spirit of his enemies, the publication of 
 The Conchologists First Book; the other as witnessing the issue of 
 perhaps the most original volume of short stories ever published the 
 Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. 
 
 As we write, the first and second editions of the manual on con- 
 chology are before us. The facsimile of the title page of the edition 
 of 1839 reveals all the minutiae of the descriptive title once in 
 vogue. . . . The outside cover has a stamped illustration of shells, 
 weeds, and grasses, and the book is bound in paper boards. 
 
 THE CONCHOLOGIST S FIRST BOOK : or, A System of Testa 
 ceous Malacology, Arranged expressly for the use of 
 Schools, in which the animals, according to Cuvier, are 
 given with the shells, a great number of new species 
 added, and the whole brought up, as accurately as pos 
 sible, to the present condition of the science. By Edgar 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 271 
 
 A. Poe. With illustrations of two hundred and fifteen 
 shells, presenting a correct type of each genus. Phila 
 delphia: Published for the author, by Haswell, Barring- 
 ton, and Haswell, and for sale by the principal book 
 sellers in the United States. 1839. 
 It is to be noticed that this book was attributed to Poe 
 alone, and that no other name was mentioned either as 
 editor or author. 
 
 Occasionally it happens that when a thief breaks in 
 and steals it is necessary for him to use a "fence" for the 
 disposal of his stolen goods. In this case, it was one "Profes 
 sor" Wyatt who not only stole the goods but, in connec 
 tion with Isaac Lea, the printer, arranged the contents and 
 attended to the publication of the whole work ; Poe prob 
 ably knew little of its derivation but allowed his name to 
 be used for a financial consideration. At this time Poe s 
 name was beginning to be well known. It is true that Poe 
 did write the title page, and certainly he composed the 
 Preface. The name of both Wyatt and Lea are most care 
 fully suppressed, and no mention is made of either except, 
 incidentally, in the preface : 
 
 In conclusion, the Author has only to acknowledge his great in 
 debtedness to the valuable public labors, as well as private assistance, 
 of Mr. Isaac Lea of Philadelphia. To Mr. Thomas Wyatt, and his late 
 excellent Manual of Conchology, he is also under many obligations. No 
 better work, perhaps, could be put in the hands of the student as a 
 secondary text book. Its beautiful and well colored illustrations afford 
 an aid, in the collection of a cabinet, scarcely to be met with elsewhere. 
 
 E. A. P. 
 
 Harrison is my authority for the statement : 
 
 Wyatt had published through the Harpers an expensive work that 
 would not sell : hence turning to Poe as a necessitous litterateur of the 
 day, willing and anxious for a pot boiler, he engaged the Poet to 
 popularize the work, and to issue an edition under his own (Poe s) 
 name. Wyatt sold the book himself. 
 
 It would seem that Poe was only the stool-pigeon, for 
 there was a reason, and a very grave reason, why Wyatt 
 did not desire to father the work. 
 
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POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 273 
 
 There is no mention, either in the preface or in any part 
 of the book, of a small volume which, after many years of 
 search, is a part of my collection. 
 
 THE CONCHOLOGIST S TEXT-BOOK. Embracing the Ar 
 rangements of Lamarck and Linneaus, with a Glossary 
 of Technical Terms by Captain Thomas Brown, Fellow 
 of the Linnaean Society, Member of the Wernerian, Kirk- 
 wanian and Phrenological Societies, and late President 
 of the Royal Physical Society, etc., etc., etc., Illustrated 
 by nineteen engravings on steel. Glasgow: Archibald 
 Fullarton & Co. : MDCCCXXXIII. 
 
 Alhough there was nowhere any mention of Brown, Wyatt, 
 through the medium of Poe s name, paid it a higher compli 
 ment. He "lifted" the book bodily, placed it in a new cover, 
 and, with a rattling good preface from Poe, launched it in 
 an effort to ballast his own work if it was his own. 
 In this way has been preserved to us an undoubtedly 
 clever work in its own particular department of scientific 
 research; but, except for the misunderstood kindness of 
 Lea and Wyatt, Brown would hardly have been treasured 
 in this generation, nor would I have had to pay the long 
 price I was compelled to pay to its resurrector. In writing 
 the preface Poe did not require, nor did he seek, any 
 assistance. In the use of Latin and Greek phrases, and 
 their use in derivation, he was a master. Note the way in 
 which he begins his preface : 
 
 The term Malacology, an abbreviation of Malacoxoology from 
 the Greek MoAaxcx; soft, Zooov an animal, and A6yog a discourse, 
 was first employed by the French naturalist, de Blainville, etc., etc. 
 
 I can find nothing in Brown that will square with this 
 phraseology and evident familiarity with the dead lan 
 guages which still furnish all our scientific terminology. 
 
 About ten years ago Tregaskis acquired "The Plan of a 
 Dictionary," written by one Sam. Johnson; and possibly 
 
274 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 twice a year since then he has kept on acquiring them. At 
 least, about that frequently, he publishes in his most 
 interesting catalog this stereotyped announcement: The 
 best written prospectus ever published, and of course the 
 least successful." I am willing to back Poe s preface 
 against anything Johnson ever wrote about his dictionary ; 
 or, for that matter, anything his critics ever wrote about 
 it or him. My own copy of this prospectus makes dread 
 fully heavy and dull reading. In spite of Mr. Tregaskis 
 well known literary attainments, I fear, in this case, he 
 is like the fox that lost its tail and attempted to set up 
 this mutilation as the fashion. Or it may be he never read 
 Poe s preface. 
 
 When it came to the introduction, which contained a 
 scientific discussion of the subject matter, evidently the 
 writer got into water beyond his depth ; at least he felt he 
 could not improve on Brown s facts, even though it was 
 possible to rearrange them advantageously. 
 
 POE or WYATT. BROWN. 
 
 The term "Conchology," in its Conchology or Testaceology, is 
 legitimate usage, is applied to that department of Natural His- 
 that department of Natural His- tory which treats of animals with 
 tory, which has reference to ani- a testaceous covering or shell, 
 mals with testaceous coverings or ********* 
 shells. Conchology has been some- 
 It is not unfrequently com- times confounded with Crustace- 
 pounded [sic] with Crustaceology, ology, but the slightest attention 
 but the distinction is obvious and to the subject will at once dis- 
 radical, lying not more in the cover the obvious difference 
 composition of the animal s habi- which exists between these two 
 tation than in the organization of classes. 
 
 the animal itself. This latter, in ********* 
 
 the Crustacea, is of a fibrous na- On the other hand shells of 
 
 ture, and has articulated limbs; crustaceous animals, are cast and 
 
 the shell strictly adapted to the renewed annually. The animals 
 
 members, covers the creature like are of a fibrous texture (not na- 
 
 a coat of mail, in produced at one ture) with articulated limbs, are 
 
 elaboration, is cast or thrown covered, as it were, in a coat of 
 
 aside periodically, and, again, at mail. Besides the shells of crus- 
 
 one elaboration, renewed; it is taceous animals are produced all 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 275 
 
 moreover composed of the animal at one ; [once ?] those of the tes- 
 matter with phosphate of lime, tacea evidently are formed by the 
 In the Testacea, on the contrary, animal gradually adding to them 
 the inhabitant is of a simple and either annually or at least per- 
 soft texture without bones, and iodically. . . . Testaceous shells 
 is attached to its domicil by a are, in general, permanent cover- 
 certain adhesive muscular force; ings for the inhabitants, and the 
 this domicil, too, is a permanent animal is of a soft and simple na- 
 one, and is increased, from time ture, without bones of any kind; 
 to time, by gradual adhesions on and attached to its domicile by a 
 the part of the tenant; while the certain adhesive principal pos- 
 entire shell, which is distributed sessed by some of the muscles, 
 in layers, or strata, is a combina- . . . Testaceous shells are 
 tion of carbonate of lime, with a composed of carbonate of lime, 
 very small portion of gelatinous combined with a small portion of 
 matter. gelatinous matter; while those 
 
 of the Crustacea are composed 
 of phosphate of lime, along with 
 the animal matter. 
 
 This paraphrasing continues for several pages. While, 
 possibly, the version attributed to Poe is better written, 
 Brown is the more intelligible. For instance I could not tell 
 just what was meant by Poe s statement : 
 
 And is attached to its domicil by a certain adhesive muscular force ; 
 this domicil is a permanent one, and is increased from time to time, by 
 gradual adhesions on the part of the tenant. 
 
 until I read in Brown : 
 
 Testaceous shells are, in general, permanent coverings for its inhab 
 itants . . . attached to its domicil by a certain adhesive principle, 
 possessed by some of the muscles. 
 
 Another thing that interferes with the lucidity of my 
 presentation of Brown s Introduction, and makes it some 
 what disjointed is that, in choosing, it was a most difficult 
 task to select those statements I desired as parallels. 
 Not only was it necessary to skip long passages which 
 greatly would have aided in making Brown s descriptions 
 clear, but, at times, several pages intervene. On the 
 other hand, I have quoted Poe in sequence and without 
 omission or interruption. I suspect Poe was the better 
 writer, while Brown was the more learned conchologist. 
 
276 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Again, this Brown manual was dated 1833, while the Poe 
 edition was not published until 1839; thus Poe or Wyatt 
 had several years in which, possibly, great advances were 
 made in the study of conchology. Apparently, nothing 
 new was discovered. If so, the editors were so considerate 
 as to take no undue advantage. 
 
 The first four plates figuring the shells are evidently 
 reproductions printed from those of Brown while the other 
 eight plates contained accurate copies. While there are 
 only twelve plates in Poe s Conchology Brown s work 
 contains nineteen. A careful examination shows that this 
 excess is not such an advantage as it might seem ; for the 
 seven extra plates in Brown s Conchology were reproduced 
 in that attributed to Poe by placing a greater number of 
 shells on each plate. 
 
 Evidently in the Poe edition it was not believed that 
 any improvement could be made in the "Explanation to 
 the Parts of the Shell," so it was reprinted verbatim. 
 
 However, the two publications do differ in one essential 
 detail, and for this reason are readily distinguishable. The 
 plates in the Poe edition are, as a rule, colored, while those 
 of Brown are untinted. The covers also should easily dif 
 ferentiate them, as the Poe copy is in decorated boards; 
 and the man who drew the bottom of the ocean, of which 
 a representation is figured on the cover, gave full range to 
 his imagination, a thing from which possibly Brown re 
 frained ; yet as my Brown copy is encased in half-leather 
 binding, I cannot be certain that the original cover was 
 not equally ornate. Had the designer of the Poe cover ever 
 visited Catalina, and had he seen the bottom of the ocean 
 from a glass bottomed boat, he would not have drawn such 
 a picture. Sometimes, however, I have noticed that lack of 
 knowledge gives freer rein to the imagination, for it is 
 untrammelled by facts. 
 

 IK& 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 277 
 
 TALES OF THE GROTESQUE AND ARABESQUE. By Edgar A. 
 Poe. Quotation (3 lines) in Two Volumes. 
 Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard. 1840. 
 
 Collation: Vol. 1. Title, copyright (dated 1839), imprint, Dedica 
 tion, Preface, pp. (l)-6, contents Vol. I. Text, pp. (9)-243. 
 
 Collation: Vol. II. Advertisement, pp. (I)-IV. Title, Copyright 
 (dated 1839), Imprint, Contents, Vol. II. pp. (5)-222. Appendix 
 pp. 223-228. 
 
 The only new stories this publication contained were 
 Von Jung and Why the Little Frenchman Wears his Hand 
 in a Sling. The sixteen originally offered Carey & Lea 
 were included and the other seven had appeared either in 
 the Annuals or in the various periodicals with which Poe 
 was connected and which have already been named. If 
 Poe had written others they had not been published ; yet 
 in his preface he stated that these were only a selection of 
 those he had intended for this publication, and inti 
 mated that there were others he had either formulated or 
 had not used because they were not suitable for inclusion 
 under the title he had chosen. 
 
 The epithets Grotesque and Arabesque will be found to indi 
 cate with sufficient precision the prevalent tenor of the tales here pub 
 lished. But from the fact that during a period of some two or three 
 years I have written five and twenty short stories whose general 
 character may be so briefly defined, it cannot be fairly inferred at all 
 events it is not truly inferred that I have for this species of writing, 
 any inordinate, or indeed any peculiar taste or prepossession. I may 
 have written with an eye to this republication in volume form, and 
 may, therefore, have desired to preserve, as far as a certain point, a 
 certain unity of design. This is, indeed, the fact; and it may even 
 happen in this manner, I shall never compose anything again. . . . 
 But the truth is that, with a single exception, there is, in no one of 
 these stories in which the scholar should recognize the distinctive 
 features of that species of pseudo-horror which we are taught to call 
 Germanic, for no better reason that that some of the secondary names 
 of German literature have become identified with its folly. If, in many 
 of my productions, terror has been the thesis, I maintain that terror is 
 not of Germany, but of the soul. 
 
 Judging from this statement of Poe s, many of his other 
 
TALES 
 
 O? THE 
 
 GROTESQUE AND ARABESQUE. 
 
 BY EDGAR A. POE 
 
 Seltsamen tocbter Jovit 
 Scinero schosskinde 
 Der PAanttuu 
 
 Gorraf. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 LEA AND BLANCHARD. 
 1840. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 279 
 
 stories were unpublished, possibly unwritten ; yet he fully 
 believed in his capacity for a different kind of work, and it 
 is probable that much of his later production already had 
 been planned. 
 
 The public did not care for these stories, and no second 
 edition was called for, although the first edition consisted 
 of only 750 copies. A year later Poe offered Lea & Blanch- 
 ard eight additional stories to be issued in a second edition 
 with those already published, but this offer was not 
 accepted. 
 
 In 1843 Zieber & Co. published two of his tales Murders 
 in the Rue Morgue and The Man That Was Used Up. This 
 little publication is now the rarest of Poe items, for only 
 three copies have been found. The one in the Huntington 
 collection is valued at $4000. 
 
 THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, LITERATURE, AND 
 THE ARTS. A monthly Magazine. Baltimore : Brooks and 
 Snodgrass, Editors and Proprietors. John Murphy, 
 Printer, Light Street. 
 
 Vol. I. September, 1838, to December, 1838. 
 
 Vol. II. January, 1839, to June, 1839. 
 
 Both Brooks and Snodgrass apparently were well known 
 literary men, and while Poe was in Baltimore he was on 
 terms of intimacy with them. Their attempt at establish 
 ing a literary journal should have been a successful un 
 dertaking, both being well equipped for the editorial duties 
 of a journal of that period. They did provide a most 
 liberal quantity, the first four numbers, constituting Vol. 
 I, extending over 500 pages: the second, consisting of 
 six numbers, was not so large, for it was entering into a 
 slow decline. The last number was dated June 14, 1839. 
 
 The fate of the "American Museum" is only a further 
 evidence that quantity cannot make up for quality. It 
 may be said in its favor that it adopted none of the 
 
TIIK 
 
 AMERICAN MUSEUM 
 
 OF 
 
 SCIENCE, LITERATURE, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE ARTS. 
 
 A MONTHLY MAGAZINE. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 BALTIMORE: 
 BROOKS & SNODGRASS, 
 
 EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. 
 
 1838. 
 
 MURPHY, PWXTKB, LWDT STREET. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 281 
 
 chromos, or "illuminations, "or fashion plates, which later 
 made Godey s and Graham s so appetizing to the tastes of 
 their time. 
 
 It was during the "lean years" of 1838-9, after Poe had 
 ceased his connection with the "Southern Literary Mes 
 senger", and before he became associated with Burton, 
 that he contributed the embalming fluid which has pre 
 served this short lived periodical to us. In the initial 
 number Ligeia first appeared. Surely Poe admirably se 
 lected the setting, for the lady was as lonesome and out 
 of place there as Poe depicted her in the story. 
 
 In the November number there was published The 
 Psyche Zenobia, a title which Harrison (and, following 
 him, and adopting from him this bibliographical error, 
 Woodberry), assigns to the December number, under the 
 title How to Write a Blackwood Article. Under a separate 
 title is enumerated A Predicament (The Scythe of Time) 
 again incorrectly assigned to the December number. It is 
 essentially a part of Psyche Zenobia and it was so published ; 
 neither in matter nor manner should it be thus divided. 
 That, later, it was separated and selected as properly be 
 longing to "The Tales of The Grotesque and Arabesque," 
 was an error of judgment. The story, published alone, is 
 absurd ; unless one is led up to it by The Psyche Zenobia or 
 "Susy Snooks, as she preferred to be called, its absurdity 
 is heightened. In attempting to accommodate himself to 
 what he believed to be the style of a Blackwood writer, Poe 
 undertook something of which he was not capable. While 
 he may have possessed a sense of humor, it is certain that 
 he failed whenever he attempted to give expression to it. 
 This story was not worthy of Poe. Taken with Zenobia it 
 can be tolerated, but, without it, there is a resemblance to 
 certain of the vermes ; when cut in half, both ends may, in 
 a mutilated way, live and grow; but they never regain 
 their perfect form. It was written as a travesty on the 
 
282 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 class of literature appearing in Blackwoods; the story 
 itself was written to illustrate the absurdity of some of 
 these Blackwood stories. Why Poe took The Psyche Zenobia 
 out of its context and published it separately, I cannot 
 understand ; possibly he thought it grotesque. 
 
 In naming the birthplace of the gem of all Poe s poems, 
 The Haunted Palace, Harrison s mistake has caused me 
 some inconvenience as well as personal embarrassment. He 
 bibliographs it as having been published in the "Baltimore 
 Museum" of April, 1839. Since finding it in the "American 
 Museum" of that date, I have doubted that such a periodi 
 cal as the "Baltimore Museum" ever existed, and have 
 accordingly withdrawn it from my periodically published 
 "wants." While with Harrison apparently it was careless 
 ness rather than ignorance, others have adopted and per 
 petuated this mistake. 
 
 This second volume contained in its January and Feb 
 ruary numbers Literary Small Talk by Edgar A. Poe. 
 While Poe never revived this title it was evidently the 
 progenitor of his Literati and Marginalia. 
 
 These articles contributed to the Museum during the 
 years 1838-9, measure the amount of his published work 
 during this period ; evidently it did not constitute the whole 
 of it, for much that later appeared must have been in the 
 process of gestation. Yet how Poe lived on the meagre 
 returns from these articles in this obscure journal proba 
 bly only his devoted "Muddy" knew. 
 
 THE GENTLEMAN S MAGAZINE, AND MONTHLY AMERICAN 
 REVIEW. Edited by William E. Burton. Philadelphia: 
 William E. Burton. Opposite the Exchange, Dock St. 
 1839. 
 
 Volume IV and V January to December, 1839 
 Volume VI and VII January to December, 1840 
 
THE HAUNTED PALACE. 
 
 B7 K. A. POE, ESi}. 
 
 IN the greenest of our valleys 
 
 By good angels tenanted, 
 Once a fair and stately palace 
 
 Snow-white palace reared its head 
 In the monarch thought s dominion- 
 It stood there! 
 Never Seraph spread his pinion 
 
 Over fabric half so fair* 
 
 Banners yellow, glorious, golden, 
 
 On its roof did Boat and flow-* 
 
 This all this was in the olden 
 
 -Time long ago 
 And every gentle air that dallied, 
 
 In that sweet day, 
 
 Along the rampart plumed and pallid, 
 A winged odour went away. 
 
 All wanderers in that happy valley, 
 Through two luminous windows saw 
 
 Spirits moving musically 
 To a lute s well tuned law, 
 
 Round about a throne where sitting 
 (Porphyrogene!) 
 
 In state his glory well befitting, 
 The sovereign of the realm was seen. 
 
 And all with pearl and ruby glowing 
 
 Was the fair palace door; 
 Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing. 
 
 And sparkling evermore, 
 A troop of echoes, whose sweet duty 
 
 Was but to sin 
 In voices of surpassing beauty, 
 
 The wit and wisdom of their king. 
 
 But evH things in robes of sorrow, 
 Assailed the monarch s high estate! 
 
 Ah, let us mourn for never morrow 
 Shall dawn upon him desolate! 
 
 And round about his home the glory, 
 That blushed and bloomed, 
 
 Is hut a dim-remembered story 
 Of the old time entombed. 
 
 And travellers now within that valley, 
 Through the red-litlen windows, see 
 
 Vast forms that move fantastically 
 To a discordarit melody; 
 
 While, like a rapid ghastly river, 
 Through the pale door, 
 
 A hideous throng rush out forever, 
 And laugh but smile no more. 
 
284 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 In May, 1839, Poe contributed his initial review to 
 Burton s "Gentleman s Magazine." 
 
 Burton was a well known actor ; a comedian with literary 
 aspirations, but with so little capacity that he did not de 
 serve, and consequently did not receive at Poe s hands, the 
 slightest literary recognition. In July Poe became asso 
 ciated with him as assistant editor of the "Gentleman s." 
 Although there was friction, this association continued for 
 twelve months. During this time, Poe contributed many 
 reviews, as well as some of his best stories, and repub- 
 lished a few poems. I again summarize : 
 
 July: Spirits of the Dead, unchanged from the 1829 ver 
 sion, was Poe s first contribution. He also abstracted the 
 poem, originally published as a part of The Visionary, and 
 republished it under the title To lanthe in Heaven. It is 
 now known under the title To One in Paradise. While it 
 was republished with but a single emendation, the final 
 verse was omitted : 
 
 Alas ! for that accursed time 
 
 They bore thee o er the billow 
 From Love to titled age and crime 
 
 And an unholy pillow 
 From me, and from our misty clime, 
 
 Where weeps the siver willow! 
 
 The name "lanthe" is of uncertain derivation. It was used 
 by Longfellow in 1832 as the title of a poem later sup 
 pressed. During Poe s editorship two poems with this title 
 were published in "The Messenger." 
 
 August: The Man that was Used Up. Poe amplified the 
 title, A Tale of the late Bugaboo and Kickapoo Campaign. Of 
 the fourteen reviews six are attributed to Poe. Fairyland 
 and To The River were republished without emendation. 
 
 September: The Fall of the House of Usher. In this tale 
 Poe inserted The Haunted Palace, formerly published in 
 the "American Museum." While there are many reviews 
 of books, there are no criticisms worth recording. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 285 
 
 There is one poem, entitled Silence, undoubtedly the 
 prototype, and probably the original version, of that poem 
 now included in Poe s collected works under the name 
 Sonnet Silence. Poe, who at that time was the editor of 
 4 The Gentleman s," placed it on a page opposite The Fall 
 of the House of Usher, and signed it P., suggesting, if not 
 fully acknowledging its authorship. 
 
 SILENCE. SILENCE. A SONNET. 
 
 (Burton, September, 1839.) (Graham s, April, 1840.) 
 
 There is a silence where hath been no There are some qualities some incor- 
 
 sound, porate things 
 
 There is a silence where no sound That have a double life a life aptly 
 
 may be, made, 
 
 In the cold grave under the deep, The type of that twin entity which 
 
 deep sea, springs 
 
 Or in wide desert where no life is found, From matter and light, evinced in solid 
 Which hath been mute, and still must and shade. 
 
 sleep profound ; There is a two-fold Silence sea and 
 No voice is hush d no life treads shore 
 
 silently, Body and soul. One dwells in lonely 
 But clouds and cloudy shadows places, 
 
 wander free, Newly with grass o ergrown. Some 
 That never spoke over the idle ground ; solemn graces 
 
 But in green ruins, in the desolate walls Some human memories and tearful lore, 
 
 Of antique palaces, where man hath Render him terrorless his name s "No 
 
 been More" 
 
 Though the dun fox, or wild hyena, He is corporate Silence dread him not ! 
 
 calls, No power of evil hath he in himself; 
 
 And owls, that flit continually be- But should some urgent fate untimely 
 
 tween, lot ! 
 
 Shriek to the echo, and the low winds Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless 
 
 moan, elf, 
 
 There the true Silence is, self-conscious Who haunteth the dim regions where 
 and alone. hath trod 
 
 No foot of man) commend thyself to 
 P- God! 
 
 Why Poe chose the second version, and why the first 
 has been omitted from his poetical collection, I do not 
 know. In my opinion, the first is the more poetical, natural, 
 and a less labored version. 
 
 This number contained eighteen reviews, and apologies 
 for the omission of certain others because of lack of space. 
 Of the four mentioned as omitted, and which were to 
 appear later, only one was published, "Hyperion." 
 
 Certain of these reviews were characterized by some 
 of Poe s old time acerbity, and it was on this occasion, 
 
286 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 possibly, that Poe and Burton so seriously differed as to 
 the character of the criticisms that were admissible. 
 
 October: William Wilson was for the first time pub 
 lished. Poe, in printing it, announced that it was from The 
 Gift" of 1840, in which connection I have already referred 
 to it. Of the four unusually short criticisms, one was Poe s 
 review of "Hyperion." 
 
 Were it possible to throw into a bag the lofty thought and manner 
 of the "Pilgrims of the Rhine," together with the quirks and quibbles 
 and true humor of "Tristram Shandy," not forgetting a few of the 
 heartier drolleries of Rabelais, and one or two Phantasy pieces of the 
 Lorrainean Callot, the whole when well shaken up and thrown out, 
 would make a very tolerable imitation of "Hyperion." This may 
 appear to be commendation but we do not intend it as such. Works 
 like this of Professor Longfellow, are the triumphs of Tom O Bedlam, 
 and the grief of all true criticism. 
 
 In making this estimate, Poe was well within his rights 
 as a critic. Whenever Longfellow left his strait but chosen 
 way, and ventured on the highroad travelled by the 
 many, he found the going difficult and unprofitable, and 
 he transformed his admirers into apologists. 
 
 December: The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion. 
 Poe, in this conception of a future life, disclosed a mental 
 attitude that serves to illustrate certain of his moral 
 qualities. By early training, as well as by a natural bent of 
 his mind, he was strongly impressed with the actuality of 
 a future state. Always he treated religious and moral 
 problems with reverence, and while he did not accept dog 
 mas, and professed no definite belief, he was never irrever 
 ent and was always respectful in his attitude toward 
 religious matters. 
 
 Yet Poe was filled with a pantheistic hope that later 
 became a morbid obsession, to which in his treatise on 
 the origin of the Universe he gave free rein. That the prob 
 lem of the stars had long dominated Poe s mind is evident 
 from his early poem, Al Aaraaf, in which he gave free 
 expression to the fancy that finally crystalized in Eureka 
 
BURTON S GENTLEMAN S MAGAZINE. 
 THE CONVERSATION OF EIROS AND CHARMION. 
 
 B T K D G A H A. P E . 
 
 E i UGH. Why do you call me Eiros t 
 
 CH A K M IDS. So henceforward will you always be called. Yon must forget, too, my earthly name, 
 and speak to me as Charmion. 
 
 EIROS. This is indeed no dream ! 
 
 CHARXIOH. Dreams are with us no more hut of these mysteries anon. I rejoice to see you 
 looking life-like and rational. The film of the shadow has already passed from offyoui eyes. Be 
 of heart, and fear nothing. Your allotted days of stupor have expired ; and, to-morrow, I will my 
 self induct you into the full joys and wonders of your novel existence. 
 
 Eines. True I feel no stupor none at all. The wild sickness and the terrible darkness have 
 left me, and I hear no longer that mad, rushing, horrible sound, like the " voice of many waters." 
 Yet my senses are bewildered, Charmion, with the keenness of their perception of the new. 
 
 On A n MI ON. A few days will remove all this but I fully understand you, and feel for you. It 
 is now ten earthly years since I underwent what you undergo yet the remembrance of It hangs by 
 me still. You have now suffered all of pain, however, which you will suffer in Aidenn. 
 
 EIROS. In Aidenn 1 
 
 CHARMION. In Aidenn. 
 
 EIROS. Oh God ! pity me, Charmion ! I am oyeiburthcned with the majesty of all things 
 of the unknown now known of the speculative Future merged in the august and certain Present 
 
 CK IBM ION. Grapple not now with such thoughts. To-morrow we will speak of this. Your 
 mind wavers, and its agitation will find relief hi the exercise of simple memories. Look not around, 
 nor forward but back. I am burning with anxiety to hear the details of that stupendous event 
 which threw you among us. Tell me of it. Let us converse of familiar things, in the old familiar 
 language of the world which has so fearfully perished. 
 
 EIROS. Most fearfully, fearfully ! this is indeed no dream. 
 
 CHARMION. Dreams are no more. Was I much mourned, my Eiros t 
 
 EiROd. Mourned, Charmion? oh deeply. To that last hour of all there hung a cloud of intense 
 gloom and devout sorrow over your household. 
 
 CHARMION. And that last hour speak of it. Remember that, beyond the naked fact of the 
 catastrophe itself, I know nothing. When, coming out from among mankind, I passed into Night 
 through the Grave at that period, if I remember aright, the calamity which overwhelmed you was 
 utterly unanticipated. But, indeed, I knew little of the speculative philosophy of the day. 
 
 EIROS. The individual calamity was, as you say, -entirely unanticipated; but analogous mis 
 fortunes had been long a subject of discussion with astronomers. I need scarce tell you, my friend, 
 that, even when you left us, men had agreed to understand those passages in the most holy writings 
 which speak of the final destruction of all things by fire, as having reference to the orb of the earth 
 alone. But in regard to the immediate agency of the ruin, speculation had been at fault from that 
 epoch in astronomical knowledge in which the comets were divested of the terrors of flame. The 
 very moderate density of these bodies had been well established. They had been observed to paw 
 among the satellites of Jupiter, without bringing about any sensible alteration either in the masses 
 or in the whits of these secondary planets. We had long regarded the wanderers as vapory creations 
 of inconceivable tenuity, and as altogether incapable of doing injury to our substantial globe, even in 
 the event of contact. But contact was not in any degree dreaded ; for the elements of all the comets 
 were accurately known. That among them we should look for the agency of the threatened fiery 
 destruction had been for many years considered an inadmissible idea. But wonders and wild fancies 
 had been, of late days, strangely rife among mankind ; and, although it was only with a few of the 
 ignorant that actual apprehension prevailed upon the announcement by astronomers of a new comet, 
 yet this announcement was generally received with I know not what of agitation and mistrust 
 
 The elements of the strange otb were immediately calculated, and it was at once conceded by all 
 observers that its path, at perihelion, would bring it into veiy close proximity with the earth. There 
 were two or three astronomers, and these of secondary note, who resolutely maintained that a contact 
 was inevitable. I cannot veiy well express to you the effect of this intelligence upon the people. 
 For a few short days they would not believe an assertion which their intellect, so long employed 
 
288 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 as a demonstrated hypothesis. In this Conversation, he 
 recounts the catastrophe that ended in world destruction, 
 and raises his subject to a plane of heavenly contempla 
 tion characteristic of the noble qualities of soul with which 
 nature had endowed him. Incidentally, in this, he drew 
 the picture which, to him, represented the Aidenn of future 
 happiness. Possibly each of us has the right to construct 
 in imagination our own future abode, and to describe it in 
 whatever light may best please our individual wishes : no 
 man may approach this great problem which faces all of us 
 without reverently uncovering, and voicing a hope, if not 
 a belief, as to what the future will bring. At least each 
 man s soul contains its own heaven ; no two of us want the 
 same future state, any more than, in life, our ambitions 
 drive us for the same goal. Poe summarized in this story 
 his confession of hope, although in no sense can it be said 
 to have been a definite faith or belief. 
 
 The reviews both in the November and December 
 numbers are without interest. Possibly these deficiencies 
 marked the periodical seizures that at times obsessed Poe. 
 
 January, 1840: Poe s story of Western adventure, 
 which he called The Journal of Julius Rodman, appeared 
 in this issue. It continued until July, when the narrative 
 ended somewhat abruptly because, at this time, Poe 
 ceased his connection as editor with Burton. Unlike Pym, 
 it contains nothing that shows any effort on the part of 
 Poe either for imaginative effect, or of originality. It is a 
 diary of ordinary happenings that befell a trapper who 
 made his way to the headwaters of the Yellowstone. It 
 contains nothing except a summary of what might have 
 befallen the most unimaginative of explorers, and it must 
 have been the result of editorial drudgery. In it, Poe 
 closely follows Astoria, Lewis and Clarke s, Pike s, and 
 the many other accounts of Western exploration. Probably 
 it was modelled on the "Narrative of a Journey Across the 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 289 
 
 Rocky Mountains," by a naturalist named John K. Town- 
 send, which was published in 1839. Certainly the Journal 
 of Julius Rodman does not equal this Narrative in inter 
 est, and one cannot but regret that this composite compi 
 lation emanated from a man so capable of original descrip 
 tion as was Poe. 
 
 The reviews, four in number, are somewhat elaborate. 
 "Alciphron," a poem by Thomas Moore, was analyzed 
 and unfavorably compared with "Queen Mab" in a 
 manner that again exhibits Poe s capacity as a critic. 
 While Poe did not major on these exhibitions of critical 
 acumen, as he did in the "Messenger," the few serious 
 attempts at this style of composition show him at his best. 
 
 February: Peter Pendulum another unfortunate at 
 tempt at the humorous is one of Poe s least worthy 
 stories. This number also contained one of his well known 
 reviews. The "Voices of the Night," by Longfellow, met 
 Poe s most exacting standard of poetical perfection, and 
 he gives it the praise and pays it the tribute that it so 
 fully deserves. Coming from Poe such a criticism does not 
 so much reflect credit on Longfellow, or add to his reputa 
 tion as a poet, as it does on the capacity of Poe as a critic 
 and on the honesty of his judgment. 
 
 It is by no means our design to speak of the volume before us in 
 detail. The spirit of Professor Longfellow is as well determined from 
 the shortest of these Voices of the Night, (which are altogether his 
 best pieces) as from all that he has written combined. We look upon 
 the Beleaguered City as his finest poem. There is a certainty of 
 purpose about it which we do not discover elsewhere; and in it, the 
 writer s idiosyncratic excellences, which are those of expression, 
 chiefly, and of a fitful (unsteady) imagination, are the most strikingly 
 displayed. The Hymn to the Night, however, will be the greatest 
 favorite with the public, from the fact that these idiosyncratic beauties 
 are there more evident and more glowing. 
 
 I heard the trailing garments of the Night 
 
 Sweep through her marble halls! 
 I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light 
 
 From the celestial walls! 
 
290 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 I felt her presence, by its spell of might, 
 
 Stoop o er me from above; 
 The calm, majestic presence of the Night, 
 
 As of the one I love. 
 I heard the sounds of sorrow and delight, 
 
 The manifold soft chimes 
 That filled the haunted chamber of the Night 
 
 Like some old poet s rhymes. 
 From the cool cisterns of the midnight air 
 
 My spirit drank repose ; 
 The fountain of perpetual peace flows there 
 
 From those deep cisterns flows. 
 O holy Night! from thee I learn to bear 
 
 What man has borne before! 
 Thou layest thy finger on the lips of care, 
 
 And they complain no more. 
 
 No poem ever opened with a beauty more august. The five first 
 stanzas are nearly perfect by which we mean that they are nearly 
 free from fault, while embodying a supreme excellence. Had we seen 
 nothing from the pen of the poet but these five verses, we should have 
 formed the most exaggerated conception of his powers. Had he 
 written always thus, we should have been tempted to speak of him 
 not only as our finest poet, but as one of the noblest poets of all time. 
 
 This should be remembered rather than the "Long 
 fellow War" that exhibited Poe s abnormal irritability. 
 Even then, it was not lack of appreciation of Longfellow as 
 a poet; simply an unnecessarily harsh method in his at 
 tempt to point out a certain tendency which Poe believed 
 to be an unfortunate appropriation of the thoughts of 
 others, but it is a tendency which all who take pleasure in 
 the poems of Longfellow do not necessarily disapprove. 
 
 Although so unreservedly praising Longfellow, even at 
 this time Poe did not fail to point out certain limitations. 
 He denied Longfellow the universal capacity which he 
 so fully awarded Tennyson long before the world recog 
 nized him as one of our greatest poets. That Longfellow 
 had limitations all critics agree. In the end Poe s esti 
 mate must be accepted; yet the harshness of his later 
 criticisms is regrettable and has greatly injured him in 
 the estimation of all lovers of Longfellow, and in the esti 
 mation of all fair-minded men. Much also could be alleged 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 291 
 
 against the narrow limits both of Poe s poetry and of his 
 tales, even though in the peculiar qualities that character 
 ize them, they are supreme. His attacks are not yet for 
 gotten nor forgiven. 
 
 Probably it will be many years before a tablet marks 
 the spot where Poe was born could it now be located or 
 imagined and another generation will have passed before 
 a statue to Poe adorns Boston Common. Poe, however, 
 would not have aspired to such an honor. 
 
 It would be well for Poe compilers to take note of a 
 statement made in this critical review: "Neither should 
 any author, of mature age, desire to have this poetical 
 character estimated by the productions of his mind at 
 immaturity." 
 
 May: The leading article for this month was a formal 
 discussion of Bryant, written to accompany a very excel 
 lent engraving of him. It is neither so long nor so elaborate 
 as the "Messenger" review, though in it Poe reasserts the 
 opinions and estimate formerly made. The Philosophy of 
 Furniture was a criticism by Poe on the prevailing taste of 
 "glitter" and "glare" which he attributes to our republican 
 institutions and to the fact that "here, a man of large 
 purse has a very little soul which he keeps in it." 
 
 July : The last chapter of the Journal of Julius Rodman 
 appeared in this number, but the narrative was never com 
 pleted. It also closed Poe s connection with Burton. 
 
 Poe s work in this magazine again represented all that 
 he had written up to this time ; while small in quantity, its 
 quality is so good as to entitle the "Gentleman s" to a 
 position of honor in all Poe collections. With the "South 
 ern Literary Messenger," of which, as far as Poe is con 
 cerned, it is the successor, it represents all the surviving 
 work of Poe with a few exceptions. The one "stain" on it 
 is the continual introduction of stories by Burton ; these 
 brand the man the literary quack Poe asserted him to be. 
 
292 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Nothing else of interest in Graham s," as it relates to 
 Poe, requires mention except The Man in the Crowd .strongly 
 reminiscent of Hawthorne, although I believe that this 
 field was Poe s by right of priority of occupation. 
 
 After Poe s connection with the "Gentleman s" had ter 
 minated, for some months he made no serious attempt to 
 find a position. Poe had long been ambitious to found a 
 magazine and, for many months preceding his separa 
 tion from Burton, this idea seems to have so obsessed him 
 that this was alleged to have been the dominating cause. 
 
 Temperamental incompatibility also must have been a 
 powerful factor of that separation. Poe demanded inde 
 pendence of action and the right freely to express his 
 opinions a liberty he necessarily took, no matter whom 
 he hurt. Griswold alleges that Poe took advantage of his 
 connection with the "Gentleman s" in founding this new 
 magazine. Necessarily, when Poe did undertake to estab 
 lish "The Penn Magazine," which at once became his 
 dominating idea, he made use of all possible means to fur 
 ther his project. What aid his knowledge of the circulation 
 of the "Gentleman s" would have been is not apparent, for 
 it was the public approval he sought. It could be won only 
 by the pabulum offered, and that was not such as Poe 
 could provide. It took a more tempting menu to satisfy the 
 national taste, and it was supplied ad nauseam. 
 
 GRAHAM S LADY S AND GENTLEMAN S MAGAZINE. (The 
 Casket and Gentleman s United) Embracing Every De 
 partment of Literature : Embellished with Engravings, 
 Fashions and Music, arranged for the Piano-forte, Harp 
 and Guitar. Philadelphia: George R. Graham. 1841. 
 
 Volume XVIII and XIX to December, 1841. 
 Volume XX and XXI to December, 1842. 
 Volume XXII-XXXV to December, 1849. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 293 
 
 At the end of 1840, as the above title indicates, "The 
 Gentleman s Magazine" was bought by Graham, and, with 
 this consolidation, the scope of the magazine was broad 
 ened to include a larger clientele. One short word was 
 added to the title that made for popularity. This word was 
 "Lady s." The journal was so designed as to include all 
 that would prove of interest to its female readers, as well 
 as the males to which the "Gentleman s" had catered. For 
 this reason fashion plates, mat-work on embossed paper 
 designs, and steel engravings were added, forming a com 
 bination of picturesque atrocities that rivalled those to be 
 found in "Godey s Lady s Book." 
 
 The "Metzotinto" reproductions were a chromo horror 
 unbelievable to those not acquainted with the fashion 
 plates of those days, while the "embossed work" consisted 
 of such paper perforations as now line our candy boxes. 
 The steel engravings were well done, and the titles 
 "Stags at Bay," "The Gleaners," "The Playmates," with 
 "Why Don t HeCome?" and "He Comes," together with 
 certain musical selections that the lack of a rhythmical 
 soul prevents me from judging, appealed to the readers of 
 those days. At the time the "Gentleman s" was consoli 
 dated with "The Casket," their combined circulation did 
 not exceed 5000. At the end of 1842 it had reached 40,000. 
 
 It is certain that whatever energy or able editorial 
 work Poe might have injected into his proposed "Penn 
 Magazine," it never could have survived such competi 
 tion. From his prospectus it would seem that his only 
 ambition was to furnish a high-class literary and critical 
 magazine such as would represent the best that America 
 could produce. His plan failed and he was compelled again 
 to seek editorial work. 
 
 Early in 1841 , Poe was offered an assistant editorship on 
 Graham s magazine and, for the present foregoing his plan 
 to establish his own, this offer was accepted. 
 
294 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 In the preface to the "Tales of the Grotesque and Ara 
 besque" Poe apparently bade adieu o the "Germanic" hor 
 rors, with the result that most of the tales he now published 
 assumed that ratiocinative character for which he is so 
 greatly admired. It is impossible to claim priority for any 
 special class either of poems or tales. They were miscellan 
 eous in character, and the date of their publication was in no 
 way indicative of the time at which they were written. Un 
 doubtedly many of Poe s poems and tales had been in the 
 possession of various editors, who either did not recognize 
 their literary value or believed the public would be un- 
 appreciative of their merit. After Poe s direct connection 
 with the editorship of "Graham s" had ceased, he sub 
 mitted for publication the most popular of his stories, The 
 Gold Bug. After it had lain in Graham s drawer for some 
 months, unpublished, Poe withdrew it and entered it for the 
 $100 prize offered by an obscure newspaper of Phila 
 delphia, named "The Dollar Newspaper." For this reason 
 The Gold Bug was ushered into the world in a paper so 
 ephemeral that only one copy, now in the possession of the 
 Maryland Historical Society, can be found. 
 
 The facts regarding The Raven seem to be a matter of 
 even greater uncertainty, not only as to method of com 
 position but also as to date. Mr. Rosenbach, in an article 
 published in 1887, states: 
 
 I read The Raven before it was published, and was in Mr. George 
 R. Graham s office when the poem was offered to him. Poe said that his 
 wife and Mrs. Clemm were starving, and he was in very pressing need 
 of money. I carried him $15 that contributed by Mr. Graham, Mr. 
 Godey, Mr. McMichael and others, who condemned the poem, but 
 gave the money as a charity. 
 
 Possibly it was not altogether due to a stupid and unap- 
 preciative public that the importance of Poe s work re 
 ceived such slight recognition. 
 
 The nature of the articles contributed to "Graham s" 
 makes this a question of biographical and psychological 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 295 
 
 interest. It is possible that Poe again had collected much 
 new work, which he failed to insert either in "Burton s" or 
 Graham s because the recompense he received from these 
 journals was not in proportion to the contributions fur 
 nished. With some brilliant exceptions, "Graham s" was 
 the receptacle of his twice, and, occasionally, thrice told 
 tales; this constant repetition raises the doubt of Poe s 
 continuing capacity for original work. While it does not 
 seem necessary to particularize all of his contributions in 
 "Graham s," certain of those he did furnish were among 
 his best. 
 
 In April appeared The Murders in the Rue Morgue; in 
 May, A Descent into the Maelstrom; in June, The Island 
 Fay; in August, The Colloquy of Monos and Una. These 
 stories probably mark the very highest point to which the 
 genius of Poe attained, although it is possible that they had 
 been among those stories laid away for special publication. 
 It is not certain that The Descent into the Maelstrom was 
 among these, or that it was included among "The Tales of 
 the Folio Club" offered to Carey & Lea in 1834. But it is 
 to be remarked that these stories, with one or two excep 
 tions, included all the work he furnished in the way of 
 prose contributions. This supposed deterioration only holds 
 true of his prose works: his poetical gift, his sense of 
 melody with the increasing knowledge of versification, held 
 till the end. The Marginalia and Literati critiques, in 
 which he so unsparingly lashed those who had been aptly 
 called the "Quacks of Helicon," were but repetitions of 
 his former criticisms and, with few exceptions, they add 
 nothing to the value of the critical estimates given. 
 
 In "Graham s" Poe again took up his articles on autog 
 raphy and exhibited remarkable ability in deciphering all 
 cryptograms offered him for solution. Although the pro 
 cess seems simple it is one difficult for the mind to grasp. 
 
 It is possible that The Raven, not published till some 
 
2% POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 years later, was built up on the foundation of reasoning 
 and deduction Poe attempted to explain in his essay, 
 Rationale of Verse; if so, the process is so unintelligible to 
 ordinary comprehension that the majority of critics have 
 refused to accept it. 
 
 Harrison, in summarizing the work of Poe, remarks : 
 
 At thirty years of age, before George Eliot or Emerson, or one 
 might say Walter Scott, had begun to write, Poe had produced most 
 of the prose and much of the verse, upon which his enduring fame will 
 rest. 
 
 None of the writers Harrison mentions possessed any of 
 the genius that resulted in the early development of a 
 Keats or a Shelley, a Burns, a Byron, or a Poe. They 
 bloomed early and, productively speaking, they died 
 early. 
 
 Although their names are immortal, their lives were filled 
 with evil fortune and unhappiness, mainly for the reason 
 that their point of view so differed morally, or their vision 
 was so distorted by hereditary obsessions, that they could 
 not be judged by the standards the normal man has 
 established. 
 
 It is not necessary to list the many republications and 
 revisions of the works that Poe printed in "Graham s." 
 
 It is possible that he used many of these merely for 
 the purpose of filling unoccupied space, and it is certain 
 they brought him no extra compensation. In his last few 
 months, while employed on "Graham s" these contribu 
 tions were infrequent. Two additional stories, The Masque of 
 the Red Death and The Oval Portrait, complete his publica 
 tions during the time he was employed as editor. 
 
 It is known that these contributions were continued for 
 some years after Poe left "Graham s", although there is no 
 certainty as to titles. These consisted principally of re 
 views, but they did not include any of his well known tales 
 or poems. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 297 
 
 THE NEW MIRROR, of Literature, Amusement and In 
 struction: containing Original Papers; Tales of Ro 
 mance; Sketches of Society, Manners, and Everyday 
 Life; Domestic and Foreign Correspondence; Wit and 
 Humour; Fashion and Gossip; the Fine Arts, Literary 
 and Dramatic Criticism; Extracts from New Works; 
 Poetry, Original and Selected ; The Spirit of the Public 
 Journals; etc., etc., etc. Edited by George P. Morris. 
 Illustrated by J. G. Chapman. Published Weekly. 
 
 Volume I. April to September, 1843 
 Volume II. October to March 30, 1844 
 Volume III. April to November, 1844 
 
 Later N. P. Willis was associated in the management. 
 
 Harrison assigns a great number of contributions signed 
 E. P., which appeared in the "New Mirror," to Poe. They 
 are translations from the French, and cover many subjects. 
 They belong to the "pot-boiler" class, show no originality 
 and, if made by Poe, could only have been undertaken 
 through sheer necessity. 
 
 While Poe was not officially connected with "the New 
 Mirror" until late in September, 1843, his contributions 
 date from May. They consisted of translations from the 
 French, usually short stories. Finally he majored on a 
 long serial called The Merchants Daughter. As a mechan 
 ical paragraphist", Poe continued to be regularly employed 
 on this publication for the balance of this year, and con 
 tributed many translations but his work cannot definitely 
 be identified. Woodberry states : 
 
 The statement that Poe contributed translations from the French 
 to the New Mirror from April, 1843, to its discontinuance, and signed 
 with his initials, rests on a negligent examination of the files. The 
 translations referred to begin January 3, 1843 (i, 9) and are signed 
 E. P. ; they continue to the end, but they are also signed at the be 
 ginning of the articles By a Lady. For example, i, 307, 355, etc. The 
 complete list is published in The Virginia Poe, xvi, 368-371. They are 
 perhaps from the pen of Emily Percival. 
 
298 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 As a rule Woodberry is at least accurate, but why he 
 went so far astray, when this paper was accessible, is not 
 understandable. The "New Mirror" was first issued in 
 April 8, 1843, and i, 9 is a blank so far as Poe is concerned. 
 May 1 3 is properly named as the first date of the appear 
 ance of these translations. Nor is Woodberry correct in his 
 statement that these translations are prefaced, "By a 
 Lady." They are signed E. P. and no mention of the lady 
 translator is made till the third installment of The 
 Merchants Daughter, i, 262, where the initials are missing. 
 Many other translations bear the signature E. P., and Poe 
 partisans will rejoice if ever it be established that they 
 were made "By a Lady." Possibly a seizure temporarily 
 incapacitated Poe. "By A Lady," without signature, con 
 tinued through the three numbers that followed. 
 
 The last issue of "The New Mirror" was that of Septem 
 ber 28, 1844. In this the editors made an illuminating 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENT 
 
 The undersigned, having for some time published a popular peri 
 odical, the postage on which varied, at the caprice of the postmasters, 
 from two cents to fifteen, and having struggled in vain with the Depart 
 ment to secure either certainty or moderation, as to its cost by post 
 age, have determined to struggle no longer against such oppressive 
 discouragement, but to change the form of the Weekly Mirror, and to 
 issue in addition a Daily Paper, to be called THE EVENING MIRROR. 
 . . . THE WEEKLY MIRROR will contain the condensed spice and 
 variety of the six daily papers, without advertisements. Adieu, dear 
 reader, till we meet again. 
 
 The "Weekly Mirror" retained this name for only sixteen 
 numbers when, without explanation, its title was changed 
 to "New York Mirror", a name that was retained at least 
 till 1846, covering all Poe association. It was on this news 
 paper that Poe was given a minor position Woodberry 
 calls it that of "an assistant or mechanical paragraphist 
 and it was mainly through this association that Willis 
 was able, later, to speak with such positiveness as to Poe s 
 habits, and to form the estimate of Poe s character that 
 he used as the basis for his "Memoir." 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 299 
 
 Contained in these is much that Poe wrote in his ca 
 pacity of "sub-editor", but it is difficult always to select. 
 An article entitled Plagiarism, in No. 20, was his and it 
 deals in no kindly vein with Griswokfs "Poets and Poetry." 
 
 There is a sympathetic review of Poe s lecture on this 
 production, written by Willis, containing this criticism : 
 
 What we heard last night convinced us, however, that one of the 
 most readable and salable of books would be a dozen of such Lectures 
 by Mr. Poe, and we give him a publisher s counsel to print them. . . . 
 Mr. Poe gently waked up the American poetesses. He began with 
 Mrs. Sigourney, whom he considered the best known, and who, he 
 seemed to think, owed her famousness to the same cause as Old 
 Boss Richards the being kept before the people. He spoke 
 well of her poetry abstractly, but intimated that it was strongly be- 
 Hemans d, and that without the Hemans-hood and the newspaper 
 iteration, Mrs. Sigourney would not be the first American Poetess. 
 . . . Mrs. Osgood came next, and for her he prophesied a rosy future 
 of increasing power and renown. . . . He spent some time in showing 
 that the two Miss Davidsons, with all their merit, were afloat on 
 bladders in a sea of glory. The pricking of these bladders, by the way, 
 and the letting out of Miss Sedgwick s breath, was most artistically 
 well done. ... Of the inspirejd males Mr. Poe only took up the 
 copperplate five BRYANT, HALLECK, LONGFELLOW, SPRAGUE and 
 DANA. These, as having their portraits engraved in the frontispiece 
 of Griswold s Poets and Poetry of America, were taken to represen 
 the country s poetry, and dropped into the melting-pot accordingly. 
 Mr. BRYANT came first as the allowed best poet; but Mr. Poe, after 
 giving him high praise, expressed a contempt for public opinion, 
 and for the opinion of all majorities, in matters of taste, and intimated 
 that Mr. Bryant s universality of approval lay in his keeping within 
 very narrow limits, where it was easy to have no faults. HALLECK, 
 Mr. Poe praised exceedingly, repeating with great beauty of elocution 
 his Marco Bozarris. LONGFELLOW, Mr. Poe said, had more genius than 
 any other of the five, but his fatal alacrity at imitation made him 
 borrow, when he had better at home. SPRAGUE, but for one drop of 
 genuine poetry in a fugitive piece, was described by Poe as Pope and 
 water. DANA found very little favor. Mr. Poe thought his metre harsh 
 and awkward, his narrative ill-managed, and his conceptions eggs 
 from other people s nests. . . . Mr. Poe had an audience of critics 
 and poets between two and three hundred of victims and victim- 
 izers and he was heard with breathless attention. 
 
 It is greatly to be regretted that this is the only refer 
 ence to his lecture, which is said to have contained a 
 scathing criticism of Griswold s "Poets and Poetry of 
 
300 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 America," and which Griswold failed to insert in Poe s 
 "Complete Works." 
 
 It was in the "Weekly Mirror" that the Longfellow war 
 raged. It was begun by Poe, who, in his criticism of Long 
 fellow s "Waif", in No. 16, said: 
 
 Obviously, this volume is a collection of some few of the prettiest 
 shells that have been thrown ashore by the poetic ocean; but, looking 
 behind this idea, we see that Mr. Longfellow s real design has been to 
 make a book of his Waifs, and his own late compositions, conjointly; 
 since these late compositions are not enough in number to make a 
 book of themselves: an ingenious thought, too, with which no one 
 can possibly quarrel. There are fifty brief poems in all, exclusive of the 
 Proem which is professedly by the compiler; and, of these fifty, the 
 seventeen attributed to Anonymous (a person who writes more and 
 better than any man living,) we take to be the work of him who com 
 posed Outre-Mer. . . . Let us mention some half dozen of the great 
 names which embellish the compilation: Shelley, Herrick, Marvel, 
 Browning, Hood, and Horace Smith: there are others, too, nearly, 
 if not equally, eminent. Of course, then, we mean a compliment worth 
 at least a bow with the hand upon the heart, when we say that the 
 Proem is the worthiest composition in the volume. 
 
 It is unfortunate that this complete criticism has not 
 been more widely republished. Harrison partly quotes it as 
 it appeared in the Marginalia, but the heart of the 
 criticism was omitted. Evidently Poe approved within cer 
 tain limits, but his own peculiar method leaves me in doubt 
 as to just how far this approval was intended seriously to 
 be taken. 
 
 The first quatrain of this poem, nevertheless, embodies a fault of 
 illustration which Mr. Longfellow often commits; let us quote the 
 verses : 
 
 "The day is done, and the darkness 
 Falls from the wings of Night, 
 As a feather is wafted downward 
 From an eagle in his flight." 
 
 The single feather is imperfectly illustrative of the omniprevalent 
 darkness but our more special objection is to the likening of the 
 falling of one feather to the falling of another. Night is personified 
 as a bird, and darkness (the feather of this bird) falls from it how? 
 as another feather falls from another bird. Why, it does this of course. 
 The illustration is identical that is to say, null. It has no more force 
 than an identical proposition in logic. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 301 
 
 It is probable that Poe attempted a compliment in the 
 following : 
 
 There is no error, as a general rule, more certainly fatal to a poem 
 than defective rhythm; but in this case the cautious, skillfully 
 planned and dexterously executed slip-shod-iness is so thoroughly in 
 unison with the nonchalant air of the thoughts which, again, are so 
 capitally applicable to the thing done (a mere introduction of other 
 people s fancies) that the effect of the looseness of metre becomes 
 palpable, and we see at once that here is a case in which to be correct 
 would have been inartistic. 
 
 Evidently Poe resented the fact that "no American 
 poet was included among Longfellow s selections"; he 
 concluded his criticism as follows : 
 
 We conclude our notes on the Waif, with the observation that, 
 although full of beauties, it is infected with a moral taint or is this a 
 mere freak of our own fancy? We shall be pleased if it be so; but there 
 does appear, in this exquisite little volume, a very careful avoidance 
 of all American poets who may be supposed especially to interfere 
 with the claims of Mr. Longfellow. These men Mr. Longfellow can 
 continuously imitate (is that the word?) and yet never even inciden 
 tally commend. 
 
 It was this final thrust that induced Willis, in the same 
 issue, to offer his columns to any Boston friend who desired 
 to answer. This was feebly responded to by a correspond 
 ent signing himself H., denying that Longfellow had 
 written any of the anonymous poems. As a matter of fact, 
 the "Proem" was the only poem contributed by Longfellow. 
 
 It is difficult to understand Poe s reason for using the 
 pseudonym "Quarles" in the American Review while his 
 own name prefaced the "Mirror" publication. 
 
 In the February 1845 number The Raven was published. 
 This poem having been issued in advance, the following 
 explanation was prefaced : 
 
 We are permitted to copy (in advance of publication) from the 
 2d No. of the American Review, the following remarkable poem by 
 EDGAR POE. In pur opinion, it is the most effective single example of 
 fugitive poetry ever published in this country; and unsurpassed in 
 English poetry for subtle conception, masterly ingenuity of versifica 
 tion, and consistent sustaining of imaginative lift and poker ishness. 
 It is one of these dainties bred in a book which we feed on. 
 
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POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 303 
 
 In Number 22, in an adjoining column to that containing 
 Willis s review of the Poe lecture, was finally printed a 
 reply, signed by Outis, and Poe found a worthy foeman. 
 The war was prosecuted with vigor in the "Mirror," till 
 Willis refused further space, and then on Poe s part in 
 the "Broadway Journal." The "Mirror" contains much 
 else, both that Poe wrote and that referred to Poe. 
 Among the latter were several parodies of The Raven. 
 One of these was called "The Owl," another "The 
 Whippoorwill" ; neither rose above the mediocrity of 
 parodies although they showed the rapidity with which 
 TheRavenhad become popularized. Probably the best thing 
 was a humorous prose criticism, attempting an analysis 
 of the underlying thought which proved that there was 
 no "think." Poe was sensitive to these criticisms and com 
 plained of them as silly and pointless. 
 
 Nearly fifty other pieces, mostly reviews and transla 
 tions, which appeared in the "Mirror" have been attrib 
 uted to Poe. Many of these were signed E. P., but none of 
 them deserves particular notice; they were perfunctory 
 contributions made in his capacity as editor. During this 
 time many of his noteworthy productions were published 
 in other journals, for the reason, apparently, that in the 
 salaried position Poe occupied he could not afford to 
 furnish articles that other magazines were willing to buy. 
 During this time appeared in various publications: The 
 Tell Tale Heart, a marvelous description, from the alienist s 
 standpoint, of an incipient homicidal mania, The Pit and 
 The Pendulum, The Mystery of Marie Roget, Lenore, The 
 Gold Bug and The Black Cat. It was only by courtesy that 
 The Raven appeared in the "Mirror." 
 
 In addition to these major productions, many others 
 less well known were published. Morning on the Wissa- 
 hicon, republished under the title The Elk, A Tale of the 
 Ragged Mountains, The Balloon Hoax, Diddling Con- 
 
304 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 side red as One of the Exact Sciences, Mesmeric Revelations, 
 The Premature Burial, The Oblong Box, The Angel of the 
 Odd, as well as his Marginalia, appeared in various 
 magazines and annuals. 
 
 This certainly was the fruiting season of Poe s genius. 
 Or was it that The Raven created a demand for his 
 poems and tales, and caused them more eagerly to be 
 sought for both by publishers and the public? 
 
 THE PIONEER. A Literary and Critical Magazine. J. R. 
 Lowell and R. Carter, Editors and Proprietors. Jan 
 uary, 1843. Boston : Leland and Whiting, 67 Washington 
 Street, opposite the Post Office. 
 
 This journal was established and was excellently edited 
 by Lowell, although it did not survive the year that gave 
 it birth. While Lowell s work is trifling, consisting of one 
 poem, a few essays, and probably "literary notices" and 
 "literary intelligence," he was fortunate in the character 
 of his contributors. John Neal, the Yankee editor, furnished 
 several readable sketches, the one on "Aaron Burr" being 
 of special interest. 
 
 Hawthorne published in "The Pioneer" his well known 
 tales "The Hall of Fantasy" and "The Birth Mark." 
 
 It is interesting at this time to look back and attempt to 
 recognize those Hawthorne placed in this Hall. One is not 
 surprised to find Longfellow occupying a well deserved 
 seat, but that Holmes should occupy the Throne of Honor 
 is a little startling. Who was Percival ? and by what right 
 did Pierpont and Sprague, or even Dana occupy seats 
 among the poets? It is embarrassing to read of "The 
 young author of Dolon," and to have another referred to as 
 the "author of Arthur Mervyn," yet I suppose it is pos 
 sible for some book worm to delve into the archives of our 
 early literature and read the riddle. Charles Brockden 
 Brown s name recalls no answering memory, nor do I 
 
THE PIONEER. 
 
 an& Critical 
 
 J. B. LOWELL AND R. CARTER, 
 
 EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS. 
 
 1843. 
 
 VOL. I. NO. I. 
 
 Reform, therefore, without bravery or scandal of former times and persons ; but yet set it down to thyself 
 as Veil to create good precedents as to follo\7 them. LOBO BACOB. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 LELAND AND WHITING, 
 
 87 WASHINGTON STREET, OPPOSITE THE POST OFFICE. 
 
 Three sheet periodical. HUNTED LIT FBEEMAN AM> SOUU4 ^3 per. ana. ia adv. 
 
306 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 believe that the fault lies altogether with myself. Halleck 
 and Willis occupy prominent positions. Sargent, Tucker- 
 man and Hillard receive mention, while "Lowell, the poet 
 of the generation that now enters upon the stage," is 
 especially honored. "There was Washington Allston, who 
 possesses the freedom of the hall by the threefold claim of 
 painter, novelist and poet." Another reference deserves 
 notice: "I saw Mr. Rufus Griswold, with pencil and mem 
 orandum book, busily noting down the names of all the 
 poets and poetesses there, and likewise of some, whom 
 nobody but himself had suspected of ever visiting the 
 hall." Evidently Griswold was not highly regarded even in 
 his own day. A strange omission was the name of Whittier. 
 
 I looked eagerly for some reference to Poe. Finally it 
 came at the bottom of the list. Evidently he was not loved, 
 nor regarded as a literary man rather he was placed as 
 a critic in the "Hall" erected by the kindliest and one of the 
 greatest of our men of letters. He was persona non grata 
 in this assemblage of the Unknowns. "Mr. Poe had gained 
 ready admittance for the sake of his imagination, but was 
 threatened with ejectment, as belonging to the obnoxious 
 class of critics." 
 
 But, side by side with this semi-humorous statement of 
 Hawthorne s was Poe s refutation, and the printed evidence 
 of his right not only to entry but to primacy. Although only 
 three numbers of the "Pioneer" were published, each con 
 tain a proof of Poe s supremacy in the three departments 
 in which he excelled. The January number contained The 
 Tell Tale Heart. In that of February was his revised and 
 reconstructed Paean, republished as Lenore. The third and 
 concluding number contained Poe s Notes upon English 
 Verse, probably his most logical essay in that field in 
 which he was master. The one published in the November, 
 1848, "Southern Literary Messenger," under the title 
 The Rationale of Verse, while more elaborated, I believe 
 
THE TELL-TALE HEART. 
 
 SONNET. 
 
 87 J. R. LOWELL. 
 
 OUR love -is not a fading earthly flower ; 
 
 Its winged seed dropt down from paradise, 
 And nursed by day and night, by sun and shower, 
 
 Doth momently to fresher beauty rise : 
 To us the leafless autumn is not bare, 
 
 Nor winter s rattling boughs lack lusty green, 
 Our summer hearts make summer s fulness where 
 
 No leaf or bud or blossom may be seen : 
 For nature s life in love s deep life doth lie, 
 
 Love whose forgetfulness is beauty s death, 
 Whose mystic key these cells of thou and I 
 
 Into the infinite freedom openeth, 
 And makes the body s dark and narrow grate 
 The wide-flung leaves of heaven s palace-gate. 
 
 THE TELL-TALE HEART. 
 
 BY E DGAR A. POE 
 
 Art is long and Time is fleeting, 
 And our hearts, though stout arid brave, 
 
 Still, like muffled drums, are beating 
 Funeral marches to the grave. 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 TRUE ! . nervous very, very dreadfully 
 nervous I had been, and am ; but why will you 
 say that I am mad I The disease had sharp 
 ened my senses not destroyed not dulled 
 them. Above all was the sense of hearing 
 acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in 
 the earth. I heard many things in hell. How, 
 then, am I mad ? Harken ! and observe how 
 healthily how 7 calmly I can tell you the whole 
 story. 
 
 It is impossible to say how first the idea en 
 tered my brain ; but, once conceived, it haunted 
 me day and night.. Object there was none. 
 Passion there was none. I loved the old man. 
 He had never wronged me. He had never 
 given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. 
 I think it was his eye ! yes, it was this ! He 
 had the eye of a vulture a pale blue eye, 
 with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me^ 
 my blood ran cold ; and so, by degrees very 
 gradually I made up my mind to take the 
 life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the 
 eye forever. . 
 
 Now thi is the point.. You fancy me mad. 
 Madmen know nothing. But you should have 
 
 seen me. You should have seen how wisely I 
 proceeded with what caution with what 
 foresight with what dissimulation I went to 
 work ! I was never kinder to the old man than 
 during the whole week before I killed him. 
 And every night, about midnight, I turned the 
 latch of his door and opened it oh so gently ! 
 And then, when I had made an opening suffi 
 cient for my head, I first put in a dark lantern^ 
 all closed, closed, so that no light shone out, 
 and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would 
 have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it 
 in ! I moved it slowly very, very slowly, 
 so that I might not disturb the old man s sleep. 
 It took me an hour to place my. whole head 
 within the opening so far that I could see the 
 old man as he lay upon his bed. Htt ! would, 
 a madman have been so wise as this? And 
 then, when my head was well in the room, I 
 undid the lantern cautiously oh, so cau 
 tiously (for the . hinges creaked) I undid 
 it just so much that, a single thin ray fell upon 
 the vulture eye. And this I did for seven 
 long nights every, night just at midnight 
 but I found the eye always closed ; and, SO it 
 
308 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 shows evidence of Poe s mental deterioration. I do not be 
 lieve that Poe s story, The Tell Tale Heart, in statement, 
 in simplicity of construction, and in horror of conception, 
 can be paralleled by any other in our language. It is a 
 study of a homicidal maniac. As such, its superior is not 
 found in our medical annals. 
 
 True! nervous very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am ; 
 but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my 
 senses not destroyed not dulled them. Above all was the sense of 
 hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the earth. I 
 heard many things in hell. ... It is impossible to say how first the 
 idea entered my brain; but, once conceived, it haunted me day and 
 night. ... I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had 
 never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his 
 eye! Yes, it was this! One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture a 
 pale blue eye, with a film over it. Whenever it fell upon me my blood 
 ran cold ; and so by degrees very gradually I made up my mind to 
 take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever. 
 . . . You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should 
 have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded. . . . 
 Every night about midnight, I turned the latch of his door and 
 opened it. ... I moved it slowly very, very slowly, so that I might 
 not disturb the old man s sleep. Would a madman have been so wise 
 as this? . . . And this I did for seven long nights, but I found the eye 
 closed ; and so it was impossible to do the work ; for it was not the old 
 man who vexed me but his Evil Eye. . . . Upon the eighth night I 
 was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch s minute 
 hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night, had 
 I felt the extent of my own powers of my sagacity. ... I fairly 
 chuckled at the idea ; and perhaps he heard me ; for he moved on the 
 bed suddenly, as if startled. ... I kept quite still and said nothing. 
 For a whole hour I did not move a muscle. . . . Presently I heard a 
 slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. ... I 
 knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the 
 world slept it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening with its 
 dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. . . . When I had waited 
 a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved 
 to open a little a very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it 
 you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily until, at length, a 
 single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice 
 and fell upon the vulture eye. It was open wide, wide open and I 
 grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness all 
 a dull blue, with a hideous veil over it that chilled the very marrow 
 of my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old man s face or 
 person; for I had directed the ray as by instinct, precisely upon the 
 damned spot. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 309 
 
 And now have I not told you what you mistake for madness is but 
 over acuteness of the senses? now, I say, there came to my ears a 
 low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in 
 cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man s 
 heart. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the 
 soldier into courage. . . . Meantime the hellish tattoo of the heart 
 increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every 
 instant. ... I say louder every moment ! do you mark me well ? . . . 
 But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the heart must burst. 
 . . . With a yell I threw open the lantern and jumped into the room. 
 He shrieked once only once. . . . But, for many minutes the heart 
 beat on with a muffled sound. This did not vex me; it would not be 
 heard through the wall. ... I placed my hand upon the heart and 
 held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone 
 dead. His eye would trouble me no more. ... I then took up three 
 planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited it between the 
 scantlings. ... As the bell sounded the hour there came a knocking 
 at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, for 
 what had I now to fear? There entered officers of the police. A shriek 
 had been heard during the night; suspicion of foul play had been 
 aroused. ... I smiled, for what had I to fear? ... I took my visi 
 tors all over the house. I bade them search search well. I led them 
 at last to his chamber. ... I brought chairs into the room and de 
 sired them here to rest from their fatigues. . . . The officers were 
 satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. 
 . . . Ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My 
 head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears : But still they sat and 
 chatted. The ringing became more distinct : it continued and became 
 more distinct. I talked more freely but it continued and gained 
 definiteness until at length, I found that the noise was not in my 
 ears. 
 
 No doubt I now grew very pale ; but I talked more fluently, and 
 with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased. It was a low, dull, 
 quick sound much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in 
 cotton, yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly more 
 vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. ... I foamed I 
 raved I swore ! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and 
 grated it upon the boards, but the noise rose above all and continually 
 increased. It grew louder louder louder! And still the men chatted 
 pleasantly and smiled. ... I felt I must scream or die! and now 
 again! hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! 
 
 "Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! 
 tear up the planks, here, here! it is the beating of his hideous 
 heart!" 
 
 Lauvriere is seriously in error in confusing the motive 
 underlying this story with that of The Black Cat. In the 
 latter, the murder was the compulsive act of a diseased 
 
310 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 brain inflamed and engorged by constant use of alcohol 
 which produced morbid changes that resulted in uncontrol 
 lable outbreaks of anger, but with no delusion. Our medical 
 literature, as well as our daily papers, have noted many 
 such crimes. The Tell Tale Heart has a delusional basis and is 
 to be differentiated, pathologically as well as etiologically, 
 from The Black Cat. It is in this that its appeal to the 
 psychiatrist lies. No better description exists of the slowly 
 developing homicidal impulse, swayed by no passion or 
 sudden emotion, but reasoned and premeditated, and 
 based on an uncontrollable delusion. 
 
 THE BOSTON MISCELLANEY of Literature and Fashion. 
 Edited by Nathan Hale, Jr. 
 
 Volume I. January to July, 1842, 
 Volume 1 1 . July to December, 1 842 
 
 This magazine is only mentioned to protest against 
 claims that have been made in its behalf as containing 
 matter of Poe interest. 
 
 As far as I can ascertain these were the only two volumes 
 of this Miscellaney , published, and neither contained any 
 reference to Poe, further than a review of "Griswold s 
 American Poetry", and it is that one which Griswold paid 
 Poe to write. Its insertion was probably the result of a 
 quid pro quo, for, as Griswold assured Poe, he (Griswold) 
 would find a way to have it published. Although this 
 journal contains little Poeana, there is much of interest 
 in it. There are several poems by Lowell, The Old Eng 
 lish Dramatis", and a few of his essays. W. W. Story, 
 Longfellow, Thoreau, and other well known writers were 
 contributors. It was profusely illustrated with fashion- 
 plates and engravings. Among these, the Astor House, 
 Bunker Hill Monument and Boston Common vividly 
 recall past glories. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 311 
 
 THE LADIES COMPANION. A Monthly Magazine Embrac 
 ing Every Department of Literature. Embellished with 
 Original Engravings, and Music arranged for the Piano 
 forte and Guitar. 
 
 Volume XVIII. October, 1842, to May, 1843 
 Volume XIX. May, 1843, to October, 1843 
 New York : William W. Snowden 
 
 This magazine belongs to the same class of publication as 
 "Graham s," "Godey s" and other of the periodicals that 
 catered to the public taste of those days. 
 
 Unlike "Graham s," which for some years maintained a 
 high standard, and included among its contributors the 
 best known writers of those days, the "Ladies" apparently 
 was satisfied with writers less well known at least few 
 names appeared which students of American literature now 
 can place. Among this set of unknown writers, and in this 
 distinctly third rate magazine, we find the name of Poe. 
 It was in November, 1842, that the first installment of The 
 Mystery of Marie Roget appeared, to be followed by the 
 second installment in December, and the third and con 
 cluding installment in February, 1843. It is another of 
 Poe s detective stories and he calls it "A Sequel to The 
 Murders in the Rue Morgue ." It is in reality an at 
 tempted solution of a murder that actually had occurred. 
 It is said that later developments seemed to establish Poe s 
 deductions as correct, but all such statements are to be 
 taken cum grano sails. However, Woodberry relates the 
 inetresting fact that Mary Rogers employer, a man named 
 Anderson, believed that he was in mediumistic communi 
 cation with her, and that she not only detailed the facts 
 of the murder but remained in personal association with 
 him and advised him in business matters. 
 
 "Snowden s," for October, contained The Landscape 
 Garden. 
 
312 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 GODEY S MAGAZINE AND LADY S BOOK. Edited by Mrs. 
 Sarah J. Hale, Morton M Michael and Louis Godey. 
 
 Volumes XXVIII and XXIX to December, 1844 
 Volumes XXX and XXXI to December, 1845 
 Volumes XXXII and XXXIII to December, 1846 
 Volumes XXXIV to XL to December, 1849 
 
 Bad as the illustrations are, and absurd as are the 
 fashion plates and the mezzo-tints of those days, the tales, 
 sketches and poetry appeal even less to the taste of modern 
 readers. Such inane contents indicate a demand that does 
 not speak well for the literary judgment of those days. 
 
 Yet it is among these trivial contributions that we must 
 seek for much of Poe s work. In this magazine was first 
 published A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, The Oblong Box, 
 The Thousand and Second Tale of Scheherazade and Numbers 
 3 and 4 of the Marginalia, the first two having been pub 
 lished in the "Democratic Review." The Literati, in its 
 entirety, was published in "Godey s," May to October, 1846. 
 Poe s last contribution was The Cask of Amontillado, in the 
 November number. After that date his regular contribu 
 tions ceased. In February, 1849, Mellonta Tauta was pub 
 lished. There were occasional reviews, the most notable 
 one being entitled "Tale Writing: Hawthorne." 
 
 THE AMERICAN REVIEW. A Whig Journal of Politics, Lit 
 erature, Arts and Science. New York: Wiley and Put 
 nam. 1845. 
 
 Volumes I and II to December, 1845 
 Volumes III and IV to December, 1846 
 Volumes V and VI to December, 1847 
 Volumes VII and VIII to December, 1848. 
 
 In January, 1845, this American magazine, worthy of 
 its great city, and of any period of American literature, 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 313 
 
 was first published. While from its title it would seem that, 
 in its foundation, it was intended to be essentially political, 
 and while for that reason it no longer holds the interest it 
 at one time possessed, it represents the beginning of 
 that great movement that ended in secession; and this 
 subject in all its phases was most fully discussed. But it 
 contained much of interest besides political subjects. 
 There were reviews of foreign matters; especially was 
 our relation to the "Naboth s Vineyard," surrounding us, 
 frequently considered. Our policy in acquiring territory, 
 especially as it related to Texas, Oregon and California, 
 was seriously debated. Even the possibility of constructing 
 a great Pacific railroad was fully discussed, and one is sur 
 prised by the breadth of vision our fore-fathers showed 
 in getting what we had no legal, but every right, utilitarian 
 and economical to have. It would seem that, while honesty 
 is the best policy, the other policy occasionally pays. 
 
 One of the delightful features of this magazine was that 
 it was not all political, literary, or even confined to topics 
 of world interest. It had, as an associate editor, C. W. 
 Webber, who had sat at the feet of Audubon, and who well 
 deserved the friendship that naturalist gave him. In re 
 turn, and because of that friendship, we have some very 
 delightful sketches and details of actual experiences relat 
 ing to Audubon. In his younger and more adventurous 
 life, Webber had lived among the wild animals, brute and 
 human, and had studied many of the subjects that par 
 ticularly interested Audubon. The two met in their travels, 
 the one old in honors and already a celebrity, the other a 
 neophite,|but with a heart full of love and veneration. 
 Webber s pen pictures give us much information of the 
 great naturalist in the declining years of his life, when he 
 was still vigorous mentally and physically. 
 
 Entertaining, and well worth preserving as these is 
 sues are, they would not have been so eagerly sought as 
 
314 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 they have been, had not Poe also been a frequent and im 
 portant contributor. For the second number issued in 
 February, 1845, contains the original publication of The 
 Raven. This poem was preceded by an explanatory note 
 signed by the "Ed. Am. Rev." but which sounds extra 
 ordinarily like Poe. 
 
 The resources of English rhythm for varieties of melody, measure, 
 and sound, producing corresponding diversities of effect, have been 
 thoroughly studied, much more perceived by very few poets in the 
 language. While the classic tongues, especially the Greek, possess, by 
 power of accent, several advantages for versification over our own, 
 chiefly through greater abundance of spondaic feet, we have other and 
 very great advantages of sound by the modern usage of rhyme. Allit 
 eration is nearly the only effect of that kind which the ancients had in 
 common with us. 
 
 "Quarles," for some unknown reason, was selected as a 
 pseudonym. In a note special attention is called to the 
 poem as being "the most felicitous" that the writer had 
 yet met with in the English language. It was also pub 
 lished in the "Mirror" simultaneously with its appearance 
 in the "Review." In the "Mirror" Poe used his own name. 
 
 In the April number, Some Words with a Mummy was 
 first published. In the same number two of Poe s poems, 
 The Valley of Unrest, signed, and The City by the Sea, un 
 signed, also appeared. To the July number Poe con 
 tributed Eulalie A Song. In September there was an 
 elaborate review of Poe s tales, a revision of which had 
 just appeared, published by Wiley and Putnam. This was 
 probably written by Duyckinck, who had made the selec 
 tion a selection which Poe hotly resented as not repre 
 senting his best stories. 
 
 Another and important contribution by Poe was made 
 to the "Review" in December, 1845, when The Facts in the 
 Case of M. Valdemar was published. This was the second of 
 his tales that had been separately republished in England. 
 It was given the following title: 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 315 
 
 MESMERISM IN ARTICULO MORTIS. An astounding and 
 horrifying narrative, showing the extraordinary power 
 of mesmerism in arresting the Progress of Death. By 
 Edgar A. Poe, Esq., of New York. London : Short & Co. 
 1846. 8 King St. Bloomsbury. Price three pence. 
 
 It was with reference to this tale that an apothecary, 
 who lived in Stonehaven, Scotland, wrote Poe inquiring as 
 to the authenticity of the story. His letters were given in 
 extenso in the "Virginia Poe," although, at that time, Poe s 
 answer, which completed the correspondence, had not been 
 found. 
 
 It was to this letter that Poe referred when he wrote to 
 Duyckinck : 
 
 By the enclosed letter from Stonehaven, Scotland, you will see that 
 The Valdemar Case still makes a talk, and that a pamphlet edition 
 of it has been published by Short and Co. of London under the title of 
 Mesmerism in Articulo Mortis. It has fairly gone the rounds of the 
 London Press, commencing with The Morning Post. The Monthly 
 Record of Science etc. gives it with the title The Last Days of M. 
 Valdimir, by the author of a Somnambule. My object in enclosing 
 the Scotch letter and the one from Miss Barrett, is to ask you to do 
 me a favor which (just at this moment) may be of great importance. 
 It is, to make a paragraph or two for some one of the city papers. 
 
 For many years this answer of Poe s had been lost, and 
 the finding of it was the result of a search instituted be 
 cause the Stonehaven letters had been found among Gris- 
 wold s possessions. It is this letter I was fortunate enough 
 to find. It completes the Ramsay correspondence. 
 
 This inquiry and Poe s answer, with the concluding 
 Ramsay letter, as a specimen of "Scotch density," is worth 
 recording. 
 
 Stonehaven, Scotland, 
 
 Nov. 30 1846. 
 
 Sir: As a believer in Mesmerism I respectfully take the liberty of 
 addressing you to know if a pamphlet lately published in London by 
 Short & Co., Bloomsbury) under the authority of your name & en 
 titled Mesmerism, in Articulo- Mortis, is genuine. 
 
 It details an acc t of some most extraordinary circumstances, con- 
 
316 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 nected with the death of a M. Valdemar under mesmeric influence 
 by you. Hoax has been most emphatically pronounced upon the pam 
 phlet by all who have seen it here, & for for the sake of the Science & of 
 truth a note from you will oblige. 
 
 In behalf of the Science, 
 
 Your very obt. Svt. 
 
 Arch Ramsay. 
 To Edgar A. Poe, Esq., 
 
 New York. 
 Please address A. Ramsay, 
 
 Stonehaven, Scotland. 
 
 New York 
 
 December 30. 46. 
 
 Dear Sir: Hoax is precisely the word suited to M. Valdemar s case. 
 The story appeared originally in The American Review/ a Monthly 
 Magazine, published in this city. The London papers, commencing 
 with the Morning Post and the Popular Record of Science, took 
 up the theme. The article was generally copied in England and is now 
 circulating in France. Some few persons believe it but / do not 
 and do nt you. 
 
 Very Resp: 
 Yr ob. St. 
 
 Edgar A. Poe. 
 
 P.S. I have some relatives, I think, in Stonehaven, of the name of 
 Allen, who again are connected with the Aliens and Gaits of Kilmar- 
 nock. My name is Edgar Allan Poe. Do you know any of them? If so, 
 and it would not put you to too much trouble, I would take it as a 
 favor if you could give me some account of the family. 
 
 To A. Ramsay Esq.. 
 
 Stonehaven, Kincardinshire, Scotland 
 14 April, 1847. 
 
 Dear Sir, I was duly honored with your kind favor of the 30 Deer 
 last & have to apologize for my ingratitude in not sooner returning my 
 best thanks for the trouble you had taken in replying to my enquiry 
 regarding the case of M. Valdemar but I delayed from time to time in 
 expectation of beint able to find out the parties you enquire about of 
 the name of Allan. I am however sorry to say that all my endeavors 
 have been in vain, 
 
 There are a good number of the name here & hereabout, & I have 
 made inquiry of all of them I could find but none of them appear to 
 be connected with the families or the place you mention. 
 
 If you can give me any other clue by which they might be traced I 
 shall be most happy to do anything in my power to find them. 
 
 The Pamphlet on Vademar is published in your name as the sole 
 
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 Vrw ^vvtrvr- 
 
 ^D & 
 

 7 
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 \) 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 317 
 
 conductor & operator in the case so I thought you could at once affirm 
 or deny it, but from the tenor of your letter to me this appears not to 
 be the fact. 
 
 I am Dear Sir 
 
 Very Respectfully 
 
 Your Much obliged & obdt Svt 
 Arch Ramsay 
 Druggist 
 
 Another important contribution to the "American Re 
 view" for December, 1847 was Ulalume. When it was 
 written, or how long it had been laid away, is not certain. 
 Poe apparently hesitated to publish it. A Miss Ingram, 
 recalling a meeting with Poe, says : 
 
 He recited The Raven, Annabel Lee, and last of all Ulalume, with the 
 last stanza of which he remarked that he feared it might not be intel 
 ligible to us, as it was scarcely intelligible to himself and, for that 
 reason, had not been published. 
 
 In a letter to the same lady Poe wrote: 
 
 I have transcribed Ulalume but I fear you will find the verses 
 scarcely more intelligible today in my manuscript than last night in 
 my recitation. I would endeavor to explain to you what I really meant 
 or what I fancied I meant, by the poem, if it were not that I re 
 membered Dr. Johnson s bitter remarks about the folly of explaining 
 what, if worth explanation, would explain itself. He has a happy wit 
 ticism, too, about some book, which he calls as obscure as an ex 
 planatory note. 
 
 As to the morbid mental state that inspired the com 
 position of Ulalume, and as to Poe s method, I quote 
 Woodberry : 
 
 It is built out of the refrain, the most difficult mode of construction, 
 and consequently it requires in the reader not only a willingness to 
 accept monotony as a means of expression, but a content with it ; the 
 thought moves so slowly, with such difficult increments of meaning 
 and indistinguishable deepening of tone, that, like an expiring mind, 
 it just only keeps wearily in action. . . . For these and other reasons 
 the sympathetic mood without which no such poem is comprehended, 
 must be of rare occurrence in this case ; but if ever that mood comes, 
 that physical exhaustion and mental gloom and dreaming upon the 
 dark, in which the modes of expression in this poem are identical with 
 those of nature . . . this poem may well seem the language of a 
 spirit sunk in blank and moaning despair, and at every move beaten 
 back hopelessly on himself. It was written at the period of Poe s 
 
1847.] Ulalume: A Ballad. 599 
 
 TO 
 
 I-LALUME: A BALLAD. 
 
 THE slties they were ashen and sober ; 
 
 The leaves they were crisped and sere 
 
 The leaves they were withering and sere ; 
 It was night in the lonesome October 
 
 Of my most immemorial year ; 
 It was hard by the dim lake of Anber, 
 
 In the misty mid region of Weir- 
 It was down by the dank tarn of Auber, 
 
 In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir 
 
 Here once, through an alley Titanic, 
 
 Of cypress, I roamed with my Soul 
 Of cypress, with Psyche, my Soul. 
 
 These were days when my heart was volcanic 
 As the scoriae rivers that roll 
 As the lavas that restlessly roll 
 
 Their sulphurous currents down Yaanek 
 In the ultimate climes of the pole 
 
 That groan as they roll down Mount Yaanek 
 In the realms of the boreal pole. 
 
 Our talk had been serious and sober, 
 
 But our thoughts they were palsied and sere 
 Our memories were treacherous and sere 
 For we knew not the month was October, 
 
 And we marked not the night of the year 
 (Ah, night of all nights in the year !) 
 We noted not the dim lake of Auber 
 
 (Though once we had journeyed down here) 
 We remembered not the dank tarn of Auber, 
 Nor the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir. 
 
 And now, as the night was senescent 
 And star-dials pointed to morn 
 As the star-dials hinted of morn 
 
 At the end of our path a liquescent 
 And nebulous lustre was born, 
 
 Out of which a miraculous crescent 
 Arose with a duplicate horn 
 
 Astarte s bediamonded crescent 
 
 Distinct with its duplicate horn. 
 
 And I said " She is warmer than Dian : 
 She rolls through an ether of sighs 
 She revels in a region of sighs : 
 She has seen that the tears are not dry on 
 
 These cheeks, where the worm never dies, 
 And has come past the stars of the. Lion 
 To point us the path to the skies 
 To the Lethean peace of the skies 
 Come up, in despite of the Lion, 
 
 To shine on us with her bright eyes- 
 Come up through the lair of the Lion 
 
 With Love in her luminous eyes,** 
 TOL. TL NO. VL 39 
 
000 Ulalume: A Ballad. [Deo., 
 
 But Psyche, uplifting her finger, 
 
 Said" Sadly this star I mistrust 
 
 Her pallor I strangely mistrust : 
 Oh, hasten ! oh, let us not linger ! 
 
 Oh, fly ! let us fly ! for we must." 
 In terror she spoke, letting sink her 
 
 Wings till they trailed in the dust 
 In agony sobbed, letting sink her 
 
 Plumes till they trailed in the dust . 
 
 Till they sorrowfully trailed in the dust. 
 
 I replied-" This is nothing but dreaming : 
 
 Let us on by this tremulous light ! 
 
 Let us bathe in this crystalline light ! 
 Its Sybillic splendor is beaming 
 
 With Hope and in Beauty to-night : 
 
 See ! it flickers up the sky through the night ! 
 Ah, we safely may trust to its gleaming, 
 
 And be sure it will lead us aright 
 We safely may trust to a gleaming 
 
 That cannot but guide us aright, 
 
 Since it flickers up to Heaven through the night." 
 
 Thus I pacified Psyche and kissed her, 
 And tempted her out of her gloom 
 And conquered her scruples and gloom : 
 
 And we passed to the end of the vista, 
 
 And were stopped by the door of a tomb 
 By the door of a legeuded tomb ; 
 
 And I said " What is written, sweet sister, 
 On the door of this legended tomb ?" 
 
 She replied " Ulalume Ulalume 
 
 Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume ! * 
 
 Then my Tieaft it grew 7 ashen and sober 
 
 As the leaves that were crisped and seie 
 
 As the leaves that were withering and sere, 
 And I cried " It was surely October 
 
 On this very night of last year 
 
 That I journeyed I journeyed down here 
 
 That I brought a dread burden down here 
 
 On this night of all nights in the year, 
 
 Oh. what demon has tempted me here ? 
 Well I know, now this dim lake of Auber- 
 
 This misty mid region of Weir 
 Well I know, now, this dank tarn of Auber, 
 
 In the ghoul-haunted woodland of Weir." 
 
 Said we, then the two, then " Ah, can it 
 
 Have been that the woodlandish ghouls 
 
 The pitiful, the merciful ghouls 
 To bar up our way and to ban it 
 
 From the secret that lies in these wolds 
 
 From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds 
 Had drawn up the spectre of a planet 
 
 From the limbo of lunary souls 
 This sinfully scintillant planet 
 
 From the Hell of the planetary souls ?" 
 
320 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 lowest physical exhaustion. . . . It is more than likely that the lack 
 of finish in conjunction with the justness of touch in its essential 
 structure, we have in this poem the most spontaneous, the most un 
 mistakably genuine utterance of Poe, the most clearly self portraying 
 work of his hand. 
 
 Poe s own criticism of this poem is given in a letter to 
 Willis: 
 
 My Dear Willis: I send you an "American Review" in which is a 
 ballad by myself, but published anonymously. It is called Ulalume 
 the page is turned down. I do not care to be known as its author just 
 now, but I would take it as a great favor if you would copy it in the 
 H. J. with a word of inquiry as to who wrote it ; provided always that 
 you think the poem worthy the room it would occupy in your paper 
 a matter about which I am no way sure. 
 
 I do not believe that Ulalume was the result of a delib 
 erate attempt at composition; rather, as Poe himself 
 expressed it, "the words were actually present to me/* 
 Composed entirely of rhythm and of words whose import 
 was intended to appeal only to a soul overburdened with 
 woe, no poem was ever written comparable with it ; if so, 
 "it died in the borning." 
 
 THE BROADWAY JOURNAL. 
 
 Volume I. January to June, 1845 
 Volume II. June to January (3), 1846 
 
 As far as my own copy goes, this is all the information I 
 have. I can find no title page nor table of contents. These 
 usually follow at the end of the year but, in this case, it is 
 probable that the end of the "Journal" seemed so near that 
 such matters were considered useless effort. None of Poe s 
 bibliographers seem to be in possession of all the facts. 
 Harrison says: "Its collapse was announced the day after 
 Christmas. ... A final number, dated January 3, is said 
 to have been issued under the editorship of Thomas Dunn 
 English." There certainly was an issue of January 3, con 
 taining Poe s valedictory : but Harrison is mistaken in his 
 
THE BROADWAY JOURNAL. 
 
 VOL. 1. NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 1845. N 1. 
 
 TVwfi, tcfuthtr tr <Wf If fatten, ft At mtauu-t of Icnovltdgt and tit b*ti- 
 
 Mf or rccc*rt*dtd bytariity,unotJ>t<ifb*t igforcaut, or iontMf vonr. 
 
 LOOTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 There is bat one way of coming into the world, says Dean 
 Swift, although there are a great many ways of going out of it, 
 and we wish there were but one way of coming before the pub 
 lic in a newspaper for the first time ; that we might be spar 
 ed Ihe possibility of a blunder in our first appearance, by fol 
 lowing in the line of safe precedents. But since we ace left 
 to our own discretion, and have no kind friend to take us by 
 the hand and present us to our dear friend, the Public, we 
 will tell our own story as shortly as possible. 
 
 It is not improbable that somebody may object to our 
 name, and exclaim with Milton s Stall-reader,- 
 
 Bleu*,w)uttawoidoa 
 A title pge Ittttto! 
 
 but we have chosen it for the sake of individuality.sndbecauseit 
 is indigenous, and furthermore is indicative of the spirit which 
 we intend shall characterise our paper. Broadway is confess 
 edly the finest street in the first city of the New World. It is 
 the great artery through which flows the best blood of our sys 
 tem. All the elegance of our continent permeates through it. 
 If there is a handsome equipage set up, its first appearance is 
 made in Broadway. The most elegant shops in the Cityline 
 its; sides ; the finest buildings are found there, and all fash 
 jons exhibit their first gloss upon its sidewalks.. . Although 
 it has a character of its own, the traveller often forgets him 
 self in walking through it. and imagines himself in London 
 or Paris. Wall street pours its wealth into its broad chan 
 nel, and all the dealers in intellectual works are here center 
 ed ; every exhibition of art is found here, and the largest car- 
 avanseries in the world border upon it. Its pavement has 
 been trod by every distinguished man that has visited our 
 continent.; those who travel through it are refreshed by the 
 most magnificent fountains in the world. It has a sunny 
 side too, where we have opened our office of delivery. It ter 
 minates at one end in the finest square in the city, doubtless in 
 the Union, and at the other in the Battery, unrivalled for its 
 entire beauty, by any marine parade in the world. So travellers 
 say. For ourselves, we have seen many in the old world 
 and the new, but none that equal it. As Paris is France, 
 and London, England; so is Broadway, New York; and 
 New York is fast becoming, if she be not already, America, 
 in spite of South Carolina and Boston. 
 
 We have little hope of making our paper among other 
 journals, what Broadway is among other streets, but we 
 shall do what we can to render it i some degree worthy of 
 the name that we have given it. We are fully aware that 
 " we have a reasonable quantity of giants" to encounter in our 
 undertaking, and that we have to rely more upon good inten 
 tions than good weapons to overcome them, but it must be an 
 unreasonably tall giant that shall overcome our perseverance 
 in the end. 
 
 In the conduct of our paper we shall follow the advice oflso- 
 crates to his pupils, and " study the people," but rather with a 
 
 view to profif them than ourselves. We have a prodigious re 
 spect for the people, tempered with no small amount of love, 
 but we think with Falstaff, " that either well-bearing, or igno 
 rant carriage, is caught^ as men take diseases, one of anoth- 
 er; therefore it is well to take heed of our company ;" and 
 we shall chose rather to talk to the people than with them. 
 We do not arrogate to ourselves the character of a reformer; 
 yet we hope to reform some of the abuses which we some* 
 times hear spoken of as existing among us. The husband* 
 man who never pulls up a weed in his garden. can never 
 hope to see them all removed from his enclosures. 
 
 We shall endeavor to make our paper entirely original, 
 and, instead of the effefe vapors of English Magazines, 
 which have heretofore been the chief filling of our weekly 
 journals, give such homely thoughts as may be generated 
 among us ; and if our columns do not smack of home, it 
 will be because " our spirits have been so married in coo* 
 junction with the participation of foreign society," that we 
 cannot procure a divorce. 
 
 As we are entirely disconnected with any of the traders 
 in literature, and have no personal friends among our liter- 
 ary producers, saving an illustrious name or two, in Mr. 
 Griswold s Pantheon we have no inducements to indulge 
 in the luxury of puffing ; but, we entertain so kindly a feel 
 ing towards the whole brood of unfortunates, called Ameri 
 can authors, that we can never find it in our hearts to utter 
 an ill word of them, or to treat them otherwise than with 
 honest candor. 
 
 Although our daily and weekly press often contain admir 
 able criticisms on literature and art, with the spirit of a 
 quarterly review compressed into the limits of a half column, 
 yet these are rather accidental than a general rule, and the 
 public, in many cases, must submit to the actual cautery of 
 buying and reading a new book before they can judge of its 
 quality. There are too many good things to be had for 
 time and money, to waste these precious commodities on 
 uncertain productions. A sixpence worth of honest criti-- 
 cism will often save a dollar, or an hour, from being mis 
 spent. 
 
 We shall devote a good part of our columns to the inter 
 ests of American Art ; especially to Painting and Architec 
 ture, and shall give specimens of American designs, in 
 both departments, as often as they can be procured of suffi 
 cient merit to entitle them to notice. 
 
 The Lecture room, the Concert, and the Theatre, will all 
 be dealt with ; and though we hoist the signal of no politi 
 cal party, we shall dabble in politics when there is any thing 
 in the wind worth heeding. 
 
 As the refinement of modern times has given birth to a 
 ladies literature, which, out of compliment to the sex is 
 made as unmeaning as possible, we shall so far conform to 
 the complexion of the times as to have a LADIES LEAF, 
 wherein we shall do our best to be very lady-like and inno 
 cent. We can promise all, both ladies and gentlemen, that 
 we shall raise no blushes on the cheek of modesty, because 
 modest people are not easily put out of countenance ; but 
 the salacious and foul-minded are always changing colour. 
 Our pea has two ends to it, and if we sometimes fail to 
 
322 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 statement that it was in the issue of December 26. There 
 was no issue on this date, December 27 being the last issue 
 for the year 1845. It was numbered 25 and the final copy 
 for January 3, 1846, was numbered 26. It still carried 
 under its title the words, "Edgar A. Poe, Editor and Pro 
 prietor." It made no reference to English, but it did contain 
 his Poem "Azthene." Poe contributed nothing except this 
 farewell: "Unexpected engagements demanding my whole 
 attention, and the objects being fulfilled, so far as regards 
 myself personally, for which The Broadway Journal was 
 established, I now, as its editor, bid farewell as cordially 
 to foes as to friends. Edgar A. Poe." 
 
 For just what purpose the "Journal" was established I 
 have been unable to ascertain, further than the statement 
 in the prospectus signed by John Briscoe that: 
 
 The Broadway Journal will differ from any of the weekly Period 
 icals now published in this city, and it will be made up entirely of 
 original matter consisting of Essays, Criticisms on Art and Literature, 
 Domestic and Foreign Correspondence, and Literary and Scientific 
 Intelligence. 
 
 In the early numbers Briscoe signed his name publisher, 
 and mentions no editor, although it is known that Briggs 
 was associated with him in that capacity. The number 
 issued on March 10 contained the first public announce 
 ment connecting Poe, or other editors, with the "Journal" : 
 "C. F. Briggs, Edgar A. Poe, and C. H. Watson, Editors." 
 The first issue was dated January 4, 1845. Briggs thus 
 explained Poe s connection with the "Journal," which was 
 not officially announced till the eighth number, although 
 it had contained many Poe contributions : 
 
 Poe is an assistant to me, and will in no manner interfere with my 
 own way of doing things. It was requisite that I should have his or 
 some other person s assistance, on account of my liability to be taken 
 off from the business of the paper, and as his name is of some authority 
 I thought it advisable to announce him as an Editor. 
 
 Again Briggs wrote Lowell : 
 
 I thought it best to gain Poe s services as a critic because he always 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 323 
 
 had a reputation for reviewing, and I could gain them by allowing him 
 a certain portion of the profits of the paper. . . . Poe s fol-de-rol 
 about plagiarism I do not like, but the replies which it provokes serve 
 us as advertisements, and help us along. As he dealt more severely by 
 me and my friend Aldrich than anybody else I do not think anybody 
 has any right to complain about his thumps. I think that you are too 
 sensitive in regard to Longfellow ; I really do not see that he has said 
 anything offensive about him .... Poe has indeed a very high ad 
 miration for Longfellow, and so will he say before he is done. . . . 
 The Rev. Mr. Griswold told me some abominable lies about him, but 
 a personal acquaintance with him has induced me to think highly of 
 him. Perhaps some Philadelphian has been whispering foul things in 
 your ear about him. Doubtless his sharp manners have made him 
 many enemies. But you will think better of him when you meet him. 
 
 Evidently the "Journal" was not a financial success and 
 there was a serious misunderstanding between Briscoe and 
 Briggs, which resulted in the displacement of Briggs. 
 Watson and Poe constituted the editorial staff. Briggs 
 connection ended with the issue of June 28, completing 
 Volume I . The "Journal" did not appear the following week, 
 the delay being due to this editorial change. Number one 
 of the second volume made its appearance on July 12, still 
 under the management of Briscoe. 
 
 On October 25, Poe assumed full control and announced 
 himself "Editor and Proprietor," and, for the first and 
 only time, he attained the ambition of his life. But his 
 fruiting season was passed as far as invention and ideation 
 were concerned : his powers were slowly waning, and con 
 tentious criticism and captious judgments replaced his 
 severe but just estimates. 
 
 Apparently Poe s first contribution, after association, 
 was another onslaught on "Outis," and, incidentally, on 
 Longfellow. This he continued in the two following num 
 bers, March 15 and 22, concluding his criticisms in the 
 first April number, apparently for the reason that he could 
 elicit no answer. 
 
 Who was "Out is?" 
 
 Poe contributed many reviews. More than sixty, with 
 
324 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 several essays, have been attributed to him. That they 
 brought little financial gain is indicated in a letter he 
 wrote to his friend Thomas. 
 
 And yet, Thomas, I have made no money. I am as poor now as I ever 
 was in my life except in hope, which is by no means bankable. I have 
 taken a third interest in the Broadway Journal, and for everything 
 I have written for it I have been of course so much out of pocket. In 
 the end it will pay me well at least the prospects are good. 
 
 In addition to these reviews and essays, Poe republished 
 many of his tales and poems, so that The Journal" be 
 came a depository for his final revision. 
 Harrison says : 
 
 His new papers were, for the most part, hack-work articles on 
 anastatic printing, street paving, magazine literature, etc., etc. He 
 also utilized passages from old book reviews by incorporating them in 
 new notices. 
 
 The short lived Broadway Journal enabled him to revise and 
 reprint, generally in more finished form, nearly everything that he had 
 produced. He has been bitterly reproached and sneered at by persons 
 who should have known better, whose own search for imperfection is 
 directly the reverse of Poe s continual search for perfection. 
 
 Poe s other contributions to The Journal during the time that 
 he had a third interest, were plentiful but not fresh. The very early, 
 grotesque, Peter Snook and the long rejected tale The Premature 
 Burial, of which no earlier publication is found were the freshest 
 stories. 
 
 Both the Literati and the Marginalia, published about 
 this time, were compiled from various reviews long before 
 printed. While in many instances they were recast, they 
 contain nothing original. 
 
 Probably the market for anything bearing Poe s name 
 now was good because of the great reputation The 
 Raven had given him: the misfortune was that no ca 
 pacity for supplying this demand was left. That Poe fully 
 appreciated his opportunity is certain. He wrote to Thomas: 
 
 I send you an early copy of the B. Journal containing my Raven. 
 It was copied by Briggs, my associate, before I joined the paper. The 
 Raven has had a great run, Thomas, but I wrote it for the express 
 purpose of running just as I did the Gold Bug. The bird beat the bug, 
 though, all hollow. 
 
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326 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 After Poe failed in his journal, he did not cease in his 
 effort to establish a new magazine, but necessity or sickness 
 for awhile forced him to rest, or to write only those things 
 that may be classed as restatements either of literary 
 opinions or of other subjects already published. He contri 
 buted three of his Marginalia to "Graham s" and his 
 Literati to Godey s," together with a few reviews. After 
 this period his magazine work practically ceased. 
 
 There were a few new magazines to which Poe made un 
 important contributions. 
 
 COLUMBIAN LADY S AND GENTLEMAN S MAGAZINE, Em 
 bracing Literature in Every Department: Embellished 
 with the finest Mezzotint Engravings, Music and Col 
 ored Fashions. Edited by John Inman. 
 
 Volumes I and II. 1844 
 Volumes III and IV. 1845 
 Volumes V and VI. 1846 
 Volumes VII and VIII. 1847 
 
 Scattered through various numbers, several known Poe 
 contributions are to be found. How many there are, not 
 identified, is, at best, guess-work. 
 
 Mesmeric Revelation, published in August, 1844, again 
 deals with hypnotism which, for over a century, had been 
 a matter of great scientific interest and medical research, 
 but which is still encumbered with so much charlatanism 
 that its real value as a therapeutic measure is not yet fully 
 comprehended. It has been exhibited under so many forms, 
 and it has been so frequently misnamed, that its actual 
 power is not generally understood, nor have all of its 
 capabilities been recognized. First prominently exploited 
 by Mesmer, its efficacy was not denied by the commission 
 appointed by the Academy of Medicine of Paris, on which 
 our own Franklin served. Their report is one of my most 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 327 
 
 valued if not valuable bibliographical treasures. While 
 not denying its utility, their explanation entirely freed it 
 from the gross and superstitious beliefs, and the electrical 
 reactions that had been supposed to be the basis of its 
 curative value, and they demonstrated that it was the 
 mind itself, and no extraneous influences or surroundings, 
 that produced the hypnotic trance. Nor was this subject 
 one of recent manifestation although, for the first time, it 
 came under reputable and scientific investigation. The 
 subject is one of the oldest with which our historical annals 
 deal. From the time that Saul consulted the Witch of 
 Endor and was impressed with the belief that he had 
 visioned Samuel, down to the "Christ Cures," and the 
 Omphalists who, by fixedly gazing at their navels were 
 thrown into trances in which they communicated with 
 God-head exhibiting many hysterical manifestations, as 
 well as the various legends of Saints with their shrine cures, 
 and other supernatural middle-age marvels, have these 
 same psychological phenomena been exhibited. The mani 
 festations of this power were not confined to the Dark Ages: 
 the Kingly Touch, * Kenelm Digby s Weapon Salve, the 
 "Strange Cures"of Greatrak s, with his hypnotized oak tree 
 and the "Metallic Tractors" of Perkins, are only a few 
 of the hundreds of recorded and certified methods of cure. 
 Nor is this power a matter of past centuries. It never 
 flourished more vigorously than at the present time. The 
 shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes still cures its thousands; 
 even reproductions of this grotto are efficacious where faith 
 is sufficiently strong. Christ s demand for "faith," is a 
 necessary prerequisite to such cures. The homeopathic 
 craze has subdivided into many cults, all of which have 
 their devoted followers. Christian Science is the latest 
 development of this belief, but, like all others, it will 
 have its day and pass into "innocuous dessuetude." Nor 
 is the practice of medicine, in its most regular form, free 
 
328 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 from this influence; it frequently happens that it is 
 the physician who prescribes the drug, not the drug 
 prescribed, which effects the cure. Medicine, as a science, 
 hardly has passed its twenty-first birthday, although it is 
 now on a solid foundation of demonstrated truth which 
 will drag it out of the mire of superstition. For the first 
 time are we certain of the cause of malaria, typhoid fever, 
 diphtheria, and many other diseases, and the proof that our 
 knowledge is solidly founded is that we have been able to 
 produce preventative serums. That we have not been able 
 to discover the particular germ of every disease need not 
 be a matter for shame. The last thirty years has accom 
 plished more than, and even now outmeasures the millions 
 of years that have elapsed without any medical progress. 
 Nor are our regular physicians who unconsciously practice 
 this mesmeric power open to criticism. The public is a 
 credulous and mentally unbalanced patient that could not 
 exist without some hand-hold; so spineless that it can 
 not stand unaided. It does not yet know that ninety per 
 cent of ordinary ailments would recover with good nursing 
 and without medical aid, in spite of the fact that Chris 
 tian Science is setting such a marvelous curative exhibi 
 tion. 
 
 Nor can the influence of hypnotism, with its varied mani 
 festations be measured by such mental phenomena as I have 
 mentioned. A more mysterious phenomenon, as ill under 
 stood as is the mind itself, demands solution; yet, until we 
 understand the many problems still unsolved as to the 
 brain structure and cell function and its method of mani 
 festing the power of cognition and sensory perception, no 
 one can declare with certainty its method of comprehen 
 sion or its limits. We know that under favorable conditions 
 "mediums" develop a capacity for "introspection," but to 
 explain this is the merest guesswork; that it in some 
 way involves the reading of our own minds a sixth sense 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 329 
 
 given them, which ordinarily they do not possess, satisfies 
 me, in spite of the fact that it is an individual opinion. How 
 ever it explains nothing. Very few, especially after hearing 
 Sir Oliver Lodge s own explanation of his belief, follow him 
 into its complete realization. We know that this hypnotic 
 sleep is the basis of all such manifestations, but as the 
 mind and its devious meanderings cannot be followed, we 
 cannot hope to base a conclusion till we can discover the 
 psychological foundation. 
 
 While "suggestion" is a recognized medical procedure, 
 we know little more about it than did those who investi 
 gated Mesmer. Braid, a reputable physician, was its 
 greatest exponent in America during the last century, and 
 undoubtedly it was on his experiments that Poe based his 
 Mesmeric stories. Poe s discussion of this subject can no 
 more be argued than can that of Lodge. Both have the 
 right of explanation and deduction until such time as the 
 cause is made plain : we do not blame our old time medical 
 teachers because they taught us that malarial fever and 
 cholera were "miasmatic" in origin. 
 
 In the October issue of the "Columbian," Poe s story The 
 Angel of the Odd An Extravaganza, was published. It is a 
 most remarkable anticipation of Freud (by some pro 
 nounced Frauid, others omit the "i") and his theories, 
 and it is not for me to attempt its analysis; rather for 
 those marvelous "psycho-analysts," and recent novelists, 
 now so volubly contributing to a theory that has its origin 
 in somnolence and its explanation in the quiescence of 
 mental vacuity. That the world of science has taken notice 
 of a psychological problem based on so intangible a struc 
 ture as the dreams that come to us in sleep, is the real 
 mental state that should interest us. 
 
 In the December number Poe wrote a brief account of 
 the love scene depicted in the steel engraving of Byron and 
 Miss Chaworth which appeared in that issue. Poe asserts : 
 
330 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 That his attachment for this Mary (in whose very name there 
 indeed seems to exist an enchantment was earnest and long abiding, 
 we have every reason to believe. There are a hundred evidences of this 
 fact, scattered through his own poems, letters, the memoirs of his 
 relatives and contemporaries in general. ... In every allusion made 
 by the author of Childe Harold to his passion for Mary Chaworth, 
 there runs a vein of almost spiritual tenderness and purity, strongly 
 in contrast with the gross earthliness pervading and disfiguring his 
 ordinary love-poems. . . . She to him was the Egeria of his dreams 
 the Venus Aphrodite that sprang, in full and supernal loveliness, from 
 the bright foam upon the storm tormented ocean of his thoughts. 
 
 In March, 1847, The Domain of Arnheim the home of 
 the Arn(olds), Poe s play on his mother s maiden name 
 was published. This was an adaptation or "visualization" 
 of The Landscape Garden. 
 
 To- , a poem in blank verse, supposed to have been 
 inspired by Mrs. Shew, partakes of the character of other 
 things written about this time when Poe s mental state 
 excused much that he said and wrote. 
 
 THE UNION MAGAZINE of Literature and Art, Embellished 
 with the Finest Steel, Mezzotint, and Wood Engrav 
 ings, music, and Colored Fashions. Edited by Mrs. 
 C. M. Kirkland. 
 
 Volume I. July to December, 1847 
 Volumes II and III to December, 1848 
 
 In March, 1848, this magazine published Poe s Sonnet 
 beginning : 
 
 Seldom we find, says Solomon Don Dunce 
 Half an idea in the profoundest sonnet. 
 
 This sonnet, apparently written to embalm the name 
 "Sarah Anne Lewis," characterized its subject; but even 
 had it not been written to "fit" Mrs. Lewis, we would neces 
 sarily bracket it with other of his work produced during 
 his declining years. It contains sentiment but not the 
 slightest sense. Later the title was amplified and the poem 
 is now known as An Enigma. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 331 
 
 Another of Poe s poems, also written in memory of a 
 woman, appeared in the November, 1848, issue of the 
 
 "Union." This originally bore the title To , which 
 
 later was changed To Helen] it is said to be one of his 
 finest poems. 
 
 Volume IV was issued under the new title, "Sartain s 
 Magazine," this well known artist having purchased it 
 "to make the magazine a work of Art as well as of litera 
 ture." In March, 1849, A Valentine was published, again 
 containing "enwrapped from every reader," a name "that 
 nestling lies." This was the name of another woman, Mrs. 
 Frances Osgood. This kaleidoscopic appearance of so 
 many names does not so much honor the ladies, as it 
 reflects Poe s own unstable amative mental state. 
 
 Volume V, for November, 1849, contains the final ver 
 sion of The Bells. It had gone through many changes in its 
 slow development, and this poem was undoubtedly Poe s 
 last attempt in composition. 
 
 Volume VI, in its initial number, republished Annabel 
 Lee. Poe had given it to Sartain in memory of the kind 
 ness he had received, but it was not printed till after it 
 had appeared both in the "New York Tribune" and "The 
 Southern Literary Messenger." InOctober, The Poetic Prin 
 ciple was published, the final statement of Poe s poetic faith. 
 
 The only other magazine known to contain Poe items, 
 was called "The Flag of Our Union." The only copy of it 
 which so far has been found is now in the Congressional 
 Library in Washington. It contained the poem, To My 
 Mother, Poe s tribute to the love he bore Mrs. Clemm, as 
 well as his last and most passionate love message, To 
 Annie. 
 
 Although Poe s reputation had steadily grown, and he 
 was fully recognized before 1845, no collection of his poems 
 had been made, nor was there such a representative collec 
 tion of his Tales as he desired. 
 
332 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 In this year was published: 
 
 THE RAVEN AND OTHER POEMS. By Edgar A. Poe. New 
 York: Wiley and Putnam. 161 Broadway, 1845. 
 
 Collation . Half-title, title, copyright and imprint. Dedication, preface, 
 contents: text (pp. 1)-91. Publisher s list unnumbered (12 pages). 
 
 This appeared in the half title as "Wiley and Putnam s 
 Library of American Books." It was dedicated: 
 
 To the Noblest of her sex to the Author of The Drama of Exile* 
 TO MISS ELIZABETH BARRETT of England, I dedicate thisvolume, 
 with the most enthusiastic admiration and with the most sincere 
 esteem. E. A. P. 
 
 The preface follows : 
 
 These trifles are collected and republished chiefly with a view to 
 their redemption from the many improvements to which they have 
 been subjected while going the rounds of the press. If what I have 
 written is to circulate at all, I am naturally anxious that it circulate 
 as I wrote it. In defense of my own taste, nevertheless, it is incumbent 
 on me to say that I think nothing in this volume of much value to the 
 public, or very creditable to myself. Events not to be controlled have 
 prevented me from making at any time, any serious effort at what, 
 under happier circumstances, would have been the field of my choice. 
 With me poetry has been not a purpose but a passion ; and the pas 
 sions should be held in reverence; they must not they cannot at will 
 be excited with an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more 
 paltry commendations of mankind. E. A. P. 
 
 Undoubtedly this indifference to public opinion was a 
 pose on the part of Poe. There is much evidence to show 
 that he requested his friends to give publicity and to com 
 ment on his poems and tales even if they did not care to 
 commend them. It does represent a belief that poetry can 
 not be written at will, nor can it receive a money equiva 
 lent. Poe was too good a judge of what constituted literary 
 merit not properly to value his own work. 
 
 In addition to his later poems which had appeared be 
 fore 1845, this volume contained those issued in 1829, 
 including Al Araaf and Tamerlane. Later changes, espe 
 cially those made in the 1831 edition, were rejected and 
 the 1829 version was restored. These poems had been 
 slightly emended : the verbal changes were few and, as a 
 
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334 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 rule, they retained their original titles. Only two of the 
 1827 poems, Romance and A Song, were republished with 
 out change. All others were omitted, Tamerlane and Al 
 Araaf being issued as rewritten in 1829. 
 
 To these poems Poe appended the following note: 
 
 Private reasons some of which have reference to the sin of pla 
 giarism, and others to the date of Tennyson s first poems have 
 induced me, after some hesitation, to re-publish these, the crude com 
 positions of my earliest boyhood. They are printed verbatim without 
 alteration from the original edition the date of which is too remote 
 to be judiciously acknowledged. E. A. P. 
 
 It is a thin volume, padded though it is with these juven 
 ile poems ; yet upon what other collection ever issued could 
 a poet more confidently have relied to pass his name and 
 his fame to posterity? 
 
 In 1845 a new collection of his stories was published 
 with the title : 
 
 TALES. By Edgar A. Poe. New York: Wiley and Putnam. 
 161 Broadway, 1845. 
 
 Collation: Half-title, title, copyright and imprint. Contents: text 
 pp. (1) 228. Publisher s list unnumbered. 
 
 In the half title this appeared as No. 2 of Wiley and 
 Putnam s Library of American Books. 
 
 It contained only twelve stories. Apparently Poe was 
 not consulted as to the selection and was dissatisfied with 
 the result. In "The Broadway Journal" for July 12, 1845, 
 Poe made the following comment : 
 
 This collection embraces the Gold Bug; the Black Cat; Mesmeric 
 Revelation; Lionizing; The Fall of the House of Usher; the Descent into 
 the Maelstrom; the Colloquy of Monos and Una; the Conversation of 
 Eiros and Charmion; the Murders in the Rue Morgue; the Mystery of 
 Marie Roget; the Purloined Letter and the Man of the Crowd. This is a 
 selection from about seventy tales, of similar length, written by 
 Mr. Poe. No particular arrangement has been made in their selection. 
 The stories published in the volume before us, are neither better nor 
 worse, in general, than the remainder of the seventy. In the composi 
 tion of the whole series, variety of subject and manner, especially 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 335 
 
 diversity of invention, were the objects held in view. Of course these 
 objects are lost sight of, and must necessarily be sacrificed, in any 
 mere selection of twelve tales from seventy. 
 
 Harrison says : 
 
 Poe objected strongly to the selection because he thought it re 
 vealed his ratiocinative side too exclusively, to the detriment of the 
 romantic, poetic, humorous and imaginative facets of his many-sided 
 authorship. His own opinion of his prose works as revealed in the well 
 known letter to Lowell was as follows: "My best tales areLigeia, The 
 Gold Bug, the Murders of the Rue Morgue, The Fail of the House of 
 Usher, The Tell Tale Heart, the Black Cat, William Wilson and the 
 Descent into the Maelstrom. 
 
 EUREKA. A Prose Poem. By Edgar A. Poe. New York: 
 Geo. P. Putnam; of late firm of "Wiley and Putnam," 
 155 Broadway. MDCCCXLVIII. 
 
 Collation : Title, copyright, imprint. Dedication, preface, text pp. (7) 
 143. Publisher s list (1) 15 (16). Apparently advertising pages 5-12 
 omitted. 
 
 It is interesting to study the opinions regarding this 
 book, which various biographers have expressed. 
 Griswold asserts: 
 
 To the composition of Eureka he brought his subtlest and highest 
 capacities, in their most perfect development. 
 
 Denying that the Arcana of the Universe can be explored by induc 
 tion, but informing his imagination with the various results of 
 science, he entered with unhesitating boldness, though with no guide 
 but the divinest instinct, into the sea of speculation, and there 
 built up of according laws and their phenomena, as under the influence 
 of a scientific inspiration, his theory of Nature. . . . When I read 
 Eureka I could not help but think it immeasurably superior as an 
 illustration of genius to the Vestiges of Creation; and as I admired 
 the poem so I regretted its pantheism, which is not necessary to its 
 main design. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman in her "Defense of Poe" made the follow 
 ing comment : 
 
 The unrest and faithlessness of the age culminated in him. 
 Nothing so solitary, nothing so hopeless, nothing so desolate as his 
 spirit in its darker moods has been instanced in the literary history of 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 It has been said that this theory, as expressed in Eureka of the 
 universal diffusion of Deity in and through all things, is identical with 
 
EUREKA: 
 
 PROSE POEM 
 
 BY 
 
 EDGAR A. POE 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 GEO. P. PUTNAM, 
 
 OF LATE FIRM OT "WILEY & PUTNAM, 
 155 BROADWAY. 
 
 MDCCCXLVm. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 337 
 
 the Brahminical faith as expressed in the Bag vat Gita. But those who 
 will patiently follow the vast reaches of his thought in this sublime 
 poem of the Universe will find that he arrives at a form of unbelief 
 far more appalling than that expressed in the gloomy pantheism of 
 India, since it assumes that the central, creative Soul is, alternatively, 
 not diffused only, but merged and lost in the universe, and the universe 
 in it: A new universe swelling into existence or subsiding into noth 
 ingness at every throb of the Heart Divine. 
 
 The creative Energy, therefore, now; exists solely in the diffused 
 matter and spirit, of the existing universe. The author assumes, 
 moreover, that each individual soul retains in its youth a dim con 
 sciousness of vast dooms and destinies far distant in the bygone time, 
 and infinitely awful ; from which inherent consciousness the conven 
 tional World-Reason at last awakens it as from a dream. It says 
 you live, and the time was when you lived not. You have been created. 
 An Intelligence exists greater than your own, and it is only through 
 this Intelligence that you live at all. These things, he says, we 
 struggle to comprehend and cannot: cannot, because being untrue, they 
 are of necessity incomprehensible. 
 
 Harrison thinks : 
 
 Poe s argumentative faculty attained perhaps its highest expression 
 in Eureka: the theme, in itself so abstract, so transcendental, burns 
 and glows with a concrete radiance that seems to convince the reader 
 that it is true light and not quagmire phosphorescence; the suppleness 
 of the poet s tongue never abandons him as he climbs the empyrean 
 in his Excelsior flight and forces one stronghold after another of re 
 treating Deity, talking volubly of Newton, Kepler and LaPlace the 
 while, until at last Eureka burst from his lips and he fancies he has 
 found the Eternal. 
 
 Woodberry, not altogether relying on his own ability 
 to solve Poe s conception of this riddle of the universe, 
 called on Professor Irving Stringham of the Astronomical 
 Department of the University of California "for the sub 
 stance of the criticism of Poe s astronomical speculations." 
 The result of their double labor still leaves much to be 
 explained. 
 
 The mind knows intuitively . . . that the creative act of Deity 
 must have been the simplest possible; or, to expand and define this 
 statement, it must have consisted in willing into being a primordial 
 particle, the germ of all things existing without relation to aught, or, 
 in the technical phrase, unconditioned. 
 
 This particle, by virtue of the divine volition, radiated into space 
 uniformly in all directions, a shower of atoms, of diverse form, irregu 
 larly arranged among themselves, but all, generally speaking, equally 
 
338 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 distant from their source; this operation was repeated at intervals, 
 but with decreased energy in each new instance, so that the atoms 
 were impelled less far. 
 
 So this composite explanation continues for several 
 pages and a fairly lucid as demonstrated by this excerpt 
 explanation is made of Poe s Theory of the Universe. 
 However, the scrambled expositions of Poe, Woodberry 
 and Stringham do not seem to me to bear a marked resem 
 blance to Poe s unscrambled statement. Poe himself might 
 have felt highly gratified could he have read this apprecia 
 tion, but I believe that he would have rejected at least 
 two-thirds of the statements it contains. 
 
 I do not mean to criticise, or to deny, the capacity of 
 either critic further than to suggest that where a thing is 
 so essentially obscure, and so evidently unformed in the 
 creator s own brain, it was not wise to attempt a solution. 
 Their double explanation is sufficiently lucid. Just how 
 nearly it represents Poe s basic idea is the matter which 
 I regard as debatable. 
 
 Occasionally it has happened that astronomers have at 
 tempted to compute the distance of a star by measuring 
 the angle its rays make when the earth, in its revolution 
 around the sun, occupied those two positions the farthest 
 possible from each other. This they call the "parallax." 
 We, likewise, may be permitted, in our attempt at solving 
 this question, to go almost to our antipodes and there seek 
 for a solution. Distance may make clear, and an untram- 
 meled imagination may solve this vexed question. I refer 
 to Lauvriere s solution, contained in a Life of Poe, later 
 to be discussed. 
 
 In the Beginning, God created a particle without form, without 
 individuality, without emptiness, absolutely unique. This particle was 
 the germ of all things. It glittered in space in a wave of unequally dis 
 tributed atoms of different shapes. Other waves followed, the atoms 
 of which were forced among the original atoms by a slight pressure. 
 Still other waves followed that were somewhat weaker, but which, in 
 time, more or less completely filled this space with a multitude of 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 339 
 
 atoms. *Bearing a proportion to the number of atoms at the surface of 
 this sphere and starting at the square of the distance between these 
 surfaces and the center, the force of diffusion continues to decrease. * 
 As soon as this is exhausted an attractive force which is the natural 
 reaction, and which is in inverse proportion tothesquareof thisdistance, 
 develops and in its turn draws back the mass of atoms to a common 
 center. To prevent the immediate return of the atoms to their primi 
 tive unity a third force manifests itself. This is a repulsive force, 
 agglomerating these atoms into a mass, slowly forming sidereal bodies 
 of infinite and heterogeneous shapes. This repulsive force, a form of 
 immaterial ether which, lacking a better name, Poe called electricity, 
 manifests itself in light, heat, magnetism, even in life and brain power. 
 It is the spiritual element of things divine and for this reason it is im 
 possible of human analysis. It is the breath of God animating all 
 beings on this earth with a greater or less consciousness of divinity. Our 
 universe, where all these phenomena actually take place, is filled with 
 these reactions and with consequent condensation, the result of evo 
 lution. While the force of attraction slowly condenses it, that of 
 repulsion shapes it into combinations more and more complicated. 
 jHowever, as, in time, the play of these combinations will become 
 exhausted because the divine laws of creation have been fulfilled, the 
 attractive force, the inevitable consequence of primitive diffusion can 
 only increase itself in proportion to the force of repulsion, it being a 
 temporary invention of God that will have been lost.f From this will 
 come the fated result that all created worlds will, one by one, be in the 
 central conflagration by which means matter, which is in fact only 
 the result of attractive and repulsive forces, will be swallowed up; 
 will be engulfed in the bosom of the initial particle, and in the confu 
 sion of the two forces that constitute it. Thus will end our existing 
 universe. Others may come after it, as others have preceded it, and as 
 others possibly exist in infinite space. For each creation, in essence, is 
 only the ephemeral result of a diffusion and reabsorption into the 
 divine being. This was Poe s conception of the universe. 
 
 It is certain that Poe believed he knew what he was 
 trying to express and, in his attempt to make this plain to 
 the world, he used all the powers of thought-compelling 
 English in his vocabulary to convey his meaning to the 
 world, still in ignorance of the first cause. 
 
 These elucidations have been variously interpreted and, 
 a matter of surprise to me, serious attempts have been 
 
 *Proportionne a la fois au nombre des atomes, aux surfaces des spheres, et, 
 partant, au carre des distances entre ces surfaces et la centre, la force diffusive n 
 cesse de decroitre. 
 
 fMais, lorsqu a la longue se trouvera epuise le jeu de ces combinaisions, lorsque 
 seront accomplies les vues, divines sur la creation, la force d attraction, consequence 
 inevitable de la diffusion primitive, ne pourra que s accroitre de tout ce que la 
 force de repulsion, simple intervention temporaire de Dieu, aura perdu. 
 
340 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 made to formulate them. Poe has excited the admiration, 
 even if he has not been able to satisfy the comprehension 
 of many of his biographers. 
 
 Poe s own explanation deserves some consideration. In 
 discussing the subject as it was given in his preliminary 
 lecture he thus epitomized it : 
 
 General Proposition. Because nothing was, therefore all things are. 
 
 1 . An inspection of the universality of gravitation of the fact that 
 each particle tends not to any one common point, but to every other 
 particle, suggests perfect totality of absolute unity as the source of the 
 phenomenon. 
 
 2. Gravity is but the mode in which is manifested the tendency 
 of all things to return into their original unity. 
 
 3. I show that the law of the return i. e., the law of gravity is 
 but a necessary result of the necessary and sole possible mode of 
 equable irradiation of matter through a limited space. 
 
 4. Were the universe of stars (contradistinguished from the uni 
 verse of space) unlimited, no worlds could exist. 
 
 5. I show unity is nothingness. 
 
 6. All matter springing from unity sprang from nothingness, i. e., 
 was created. 
 
 7. All will return to unity, i. e., nothingness. 
 
 I would be obliged to you if you would let me know how far these 
 ideas are coincident with those of the Vestiges, 
 
 Very Resp y yr. ob. St., 
 EDGAR A. POE. 
 
 His full statement is not more comprehensible. 
 
 I design to speak of the Physical, Metaphysical and Mathematical 
 of the Material and Spiritual Universe: of its Existence, its Origin, its 
 Creation, its Present Conditions and its Destiny. . . . My general 
 proposition, then, is this: In the Original Unity of the First Thing 
 lies the Secondary Cause of ALL Things, with the Germ of their In 
 evitable Annihilation. . . . 
 
 As our starting-point, then, let us adopt the Godhead. Of this God 
 head in itself, he alone is not imbecile he alone is not impious who 
 propounds nothing. "We know absolutely nothing of the nature or 
 essence of God : in order to comprehend what he is, we should have to 
 be God ourselves. . . . By Him, however now, at least, the Incompre 
 hensible by Him assuming him as Spirit that is to say, as not 
 Matter a distinction which, for all intelligible purposes, will stand 
 well instead of a definition by Him, then, existing as a Spirit, let us 
 content ourselves, to-night, with supposing to have been created, or 
 made out of nothing, [not a shower of atoms, created from a particle, 
 radiated into space uniformly in all directions, as Woodberry inter 
 prets it] by dint of his Volition at some point of Space which we will 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 341 
 
 take as a center at some period into which we do not pretend to 
 inquire, but at all events immensely remote by Him, then again, let 
 us suppose to have been created whatl This is a vitally momentous 
 epoch in our considerations. What is it that we are justified that 
 alone we are justified in supposing to have been, primarily and solely, 
 created! We have attained a point where only Intuition can aid us: 
 but now let me recur to the idea which I have already suggested as 
 that alone which we can properly entertain of Intuition. It is but the 
 conviction arising from those inductions or deductions of which the pro 
 cesses are so shadowy as to escape our consciousness, elude our reason, or 
 defy our capacity of expression. 
 
 With this understanding, I now assert that an intuition alto 
 gether irresistible, although inexpressible, forces me to the conclusion 
 that what God originally created that that Matter which, by dint of 
 his Volition, he first made from his Spirit, or from Nihility, could have 
 been nothing but Matter in its utmost conceivable state of what? 
 of Simplicity? This will be found the sole absolute assumption of my 
 Discourse. 
 
 There are more than one hundred pages of this and 
 such. I have read it attentively and have tried to compre 
 hend it, for it reads exceedingly well without flaw or break 
 of sentence, but I fail to grasp the idea. 
 
 Some time ago, in reading Mark Twain s account of a 
 "Distressing Accident," which happened to one William 
 Schuyler, I was compelled to reread and again to read, but 
 I was not able to understand the cause leading up to the 
 accident, nor even the nature of the accident ; and still it 
 read with perfect fluidity and clarity. I recalled the cele 
 brated interview between Artemus Ward and Mark 
 Twain, and the suspicion that gradually grew up in Mark s 
 brain when he found that, although he could follow all 
 Artemus said with the greatest ease, comprehension was 
 lacking. The point of both joke-stories was their incom 
 prehensibility. 
 
 No one can accuse Poe of any desire or attempt to per 
 petrate a joke. This effort at explanation of the secrets of 
 the universe must be taken seriously. 
 
 In explaining Poe s mental state at the time he com 
 posed this book, I have made plain the belief that he was 
 not to be held responsible for all that he said or wrote. 
 
342 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 At the time of Poe s death, no complete edition of his 
 works had been published; nor, except for occasional 
 issues of special selections, the titles and contents of 
 which I have discussed, was there even a representative 
 collection. Except for the poems, Poe had been given no 
 choice as to selection, and only in the stray magazines and 
 other periodicals in which originally they had been pub 
 lished or republished, could his reviews and the majority 
 of his stories be found. Poe complained because, of the 
 seventy contributions offered Wiley & Putnam, Duyckinck 
 chose twelve that, in Poe s opinion, "are not my best, nor 
 do they fairly represent me in any respect." 
 
 Immediately upon Poe s death a well known compiler, 
 named W. R. Griswold, announced that he had been 
 selected by Poe to be his literary executor. Griswold called 
 upon Mrs. Clemm, obtained access to all of Poe s manu 
 scripts, letters, books and papers of every description, and 
 undertook the task of collecting and editing all that Poe 
 had written and published in the many magazines to which 
 he had been a contributor. From these papers Griswold 
 selected such as he believed to be worth preserving, but 
 apparently he found no original material among Poe s 
 papers which deserved publication. Either this collection of 
 Poe remainders was small, or, in the judgment of this liter 
 ary editor, it was without value. In this republication certain 
 reviews were suppressed, and others were modified either 
 by Poe before his death or by this editor. For some 
 reason Griswold never returned these manuscripts although 
 he had only requested the use of them as a corroborative 
 detail of their verbatim publication. Apparently he made 
 some arrangement with Mrs. Clemm by which he retained 
 permanent possession. The possible details of the trans 
 action, as well as Griswold s reason for undertaking this 
 editorship, have been sufficiently discussed in the "Psycho 
 pathic Study." At the time of Griswold s death very few 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 343 
 
 Poe manuscripts could be found. Possibly Griswold had the 
 legal right to do with these papers as he pleased. 
 
 Although Griswold explained that he "had been com 
 pelled by ill health to solicit the indulgence of my pub 
 lishers, who had many thousand dollars invested in an 
 unfinished work under my direction"; and he further 
 remarked: "I would gladly have declined a task imposing 
 so much labor," he was overpersuaded and felt it his duty 
 to comply because, he said, of the statement of "several 
 of Mr. Poe s intimate friends that he had long been in the 
 habit of expressing a desire that in the event of his death 
 I should be his editor, I yielded to this apparent necessity," 
 Woodberry, remarking on this selection by Poe, expressed 
 surprise, "notwithstanding a history of personal relations 
 that would seem to exclude the possibility of such a 
 choice." Although Willis had also been named by Mrs. 
 Clemm as an associate, apparently his only contribution 
 was his biographical essay. 
 
 This statement by Woodberry is based on the fact that 
 for years bitter personal enmity had existed between Gris 
 wold and Poe. This was characterized by open warfare on the 
 part of Poe, who wrote many articles personally reflecting 
 on Griswold and on his editorial fitness for review work, 
 as well as on his capacity as a writer. One of Poe s 
 bitterest criticisms was of Griswold s compilation: "The 
 Poets and Poetry of America." It contained statements 
 that justified Woodberry s expression of surprise. Among 
 other things Poe wrote, "We can only say to Mr. Griswold, 
 Jove protect us from his reviewing, and the public from 
 what he deems exquisite/ " Poe further accused Griswold 
 of plagiarism, and of deliberately altering and rearranging 
 matter submitted to him for publication. He asks: "How 
 came you to alter Dr. J. K. Mitchell s song in such a 
 manner that the author scarcely knew his own produc 
 tion?" In criticising Griswold s assertion that Tennyson 
 
344 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 "stole at first hand from Keats," Poe comments: "Well, 
 if this is not the height of assurance we don t know what 
 assurance is, coming as it does from one of the most 
 clumsy of literary thieves, and who, in his wildest aspir 
 ations, never even dreamed of an original thought." Poe 
 ended this criticism with the following statement: "For 
 gotten, save only by those whom he has injured and in 
 sulted, he [Griswold] will sink into oblivion, without 
 leaving a landmark to tell that he once existed; or, if he 
 is spoken of hereafter, he will be quoted as the unfaithful 
 servant who abused his trust." 
 
 It is true that there had been occasional truces in this 
 war; also that these criticisms were made entirely on the 
 side of Poe. Griswold had taken no notice of the verbal 
 assaults, nor had he in any way replied to Poe s taunts. 
 That at the time of Poe s death he had written the Lud- 
 wig obituary, and that important business engagements 
 occupied his full time, did not prevent him from delaying 
 or voiding these contracts and volunteering his services 
 to Mrs. Clemm. Either this action was the result of a most 
 magnanimous heart, and a desire to have the literary work 
 of a man he had never appreciated in life properly pre 
 sented after death, or there were other and compelling 
 reasons that induced him to make this offer. 
 
 Although ill and under contract to other publishers, 
 Griswold worked with feverish energy gathering together 
 and preparing for publication all of the tales and poetry 
 and a few of the reviews. These were published by Redfield 
 early in 1850. Griswold at least succeeded in doing that 
 in which Poe had so signally failed. Although Poe had 
 sought many publishers, only occasionally had he found one 
 who would undertake his material. Even on those few 
 occasions, he had not been allowed the right of editing. 
 Woodberry states that Griswold "finally persuaded Mr. 
 Redfield to try the experiment of issuing two volumes first, 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 345 
 
 which were published and had a fair sale then the third, 
 and finally the fourth volume were added to complete the 
 works." That Griswold was industrious as well as success 
 ful is certain, for although arrangements financial and 
 otherwise, were not completed with Mrs. Clemm until late 
 in November, 1849, it is to be noted that the first volume 
 containing the Tales, as well as the second volume 
 Poetry &c. (or Poetry and Miscellanies there are two 
 issues bearing different titles on the cover, but with 
 identical title pages,) was copyrighted in 1849. Whether 
 Redfield distrusted the salable qualities of Poe s works, 
 and for this reason drove a hard bargain, or whether 
 others participated in the profits that must have accrued, 
 is not known. It is certain that over twenty thousand sets 
 of these two volumes, with the succeeding two, were sold 
 an enormous circulation for those days. Neither the estate 
 of Poe nor Mrs. Clemm, directly or indirectly, received 
 any of this money. 
 
 Mrs. Clemm lived many years, a guest in the home of 
 "Annie" and other of her friends. She died in a publicly 
 supported home for the aged. 
 
 THE WORKS OF THE LATE EDGAR ALLAN POE. With No 
 tices of His Life and Genius. By N. P. Willis, J. R. 
 Lowell, and R. W. Griswold. In two volumes. Vol. I 
 Tales. New York: J. S. Redfield, Clinton Hall. 1850. 
 Vol. II Poems and Miscellanies. 
 
 Collation: Vol. I. Title, copyright, preface To the Reader signed 
 Maria Clemm. Half-title, contents. Life of Poe, by James Russell 
 Lowell pp. vii-xiii. Death of Edgar A. Poe. by N. P. Willis, pp. xiv-xx. 
 Text, pp. (1) 483. Illustrated by Sartain s engraving of Poe. 
 Vol. II. Title, copyright. Preface to the Poems signed E. A. P. 
 Contents, text, pp. (l)-495. 
 
 Poems and tales in this collection are, with a few excep- 
 ceptions, verbatim reprints taken from the works of Poe 
 already published, or from Poe s final revision of his tales 
 
346 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 and poems as republished in "Graham s," the "Broadway 
 Journal," and various other periodicals already mentioned. 
 Although it is certain, from the title page of the first 
 volume, that Griswold, immediately upon assuming control, 
 intended writing a memoir of Poe, evidently either lack of 
 time, or a deliberate purpose, induced him to delay its 
 issuance. Apparently, it was with forethought, and most 
 careful preparation, that he issued in the third volume, 
 the "Literati", a defamatory and untrue sketch of Poe. 
 
 THE LITERATI. Some Honest Opinions about Autorial 
 Merits and Demerits, with Occasional Words of Person 
 ality. Together with Marginalia, Suggestions and Es- 
 
 says. By Edgar A. Poe. Quotation. With a Sketch of 
 the Author by RufusWilmot Griswold. New York: 1850. 
 
 This contained a Memoir of Poe filled with malignant 
 statements, the result of the pent up ill-will Griswold had 
 so silently borne. This memoir was an amplification of 
 an obituary Griswold had written immediately after Poe s 
 death, which had been published in the Tribune with the 
 signature "Ludwig." At the time Mrs. Clemm consented to 
 Griswold s assuming the editorship of Poe s works, she did 
 not know that he had written the "Ludwig" obituary, nor 
 was it generally known. Later, Griswold fully acknow 
 ledged this article and openly stated "Poe was not my 
 friend, nor was I his", although he prefaced his memoir 
 with letters and statements to the effect that their rela 
 tions were friendly. 
 
 The Ludwig article began : 
 
 Edgar Allan Poe is dead. He died in Baltimore the day before yes 
 terday. This announcement will startle many, but few will be grieved 
 by it. 
 
 The poet was well known personally or by reputation, in all this 
 country; he had readers in England, and in several of the States of 
 Continental Europe; but he had few or no friends; and the regrets for 
 his death will be suggested principally by the consideration that in 
 him literary art lost one of its most brilliant, but erratic stars. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 347 
 
 After briefly sketching Poe s early life, and the eminent 
 respectability of "General Poe", as well as his relationship 
 to "Admiral MacBride," Griswold gives an account of 
 Poe s first literary adventure : 
 
 In 1832 the proprietor of a weekly gazette, in Baltimore, offered 
 two premiums, one for the best story in prose, the other in poetry. . . 
 Such matters are usually disposed of in a very off-hand way : commit 
 tees to award literary prizes drink to the payer s health, in good wines 
 over the unexamined MSS. which they submit to the discretion of 
 the publisher, with permission to use their names in such a way as to 
 promote the publisher s advantage. So it would have been in this case, 
 but that one of the committee, taking up a small book in such ex 
 quisite chirography as to seem like one of the finest issues of the press 
 of Putnam, was tempted to read several pages. Being interested he 
 summoned the attention of the company to the half-dozen composi 
 tions in the volume. It was unanimously decided that the prizes should 
 be paid to the first of geniuses who had written legibly. Not another 
 MSS. was unfolded. 
 
 Poe, coming for his prize money, is described as : 
 Thin and pale, even to cadaverousness, his whole appearance in 
 dicated sickness and the utmost destitution. A tattered coat concealed 
 the absence of shirt, and the ruins of boots disclosed more than the 
 want of stockings. 
 
 On what foundation Griswold based his description, or 
 whether it was altogether an imaginary sketch, cannot now 
 be determined. This extract, as well as the first, was pro 
 nounced to be an overdrawn statement of the real facts, 
 as occasionally is the newspaper way. Kennedy, Poe s 
 discoverer and friend, did say that Poe excused himself 
 from accepting an invitation to dinner, "for reasons of the 
 most humiliating nature my personal appearance." In 
 his "Reminiscences of Poe," John H. Latrobe, another 
 member of the committee that awarded Poe the prize 
 offered by "The Saturday Visiter," gives the following 
 description of Poe : 
 
 My office in those days was in the building still occupied by the 
 Mechanics Bank, and I was seated at my desk on the Monday follow 
 ing the publication of the tale, when a gentleman entered and intro 
 duced himself as the writer, saying that he had come to thank me, as 
 one of the committee, for the award in his favor. Of this interview my 
 recollection is very distinct indeed. . . . He was dressed in black, and 
 
348 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 his frock coat was buttoned to the throat, where it met the black stock, 
 then universally worn. Not a particle of white was visible. Coat, hat, 
 boots and gloves had very evidently seen their best days, but so far 
 as mending and brushing go everything had been done, apparently, 
 to make them presentable. 
 
 On most men his clothes would have looked shabby and seedy, but 
 there was something about this man that prevented one from criti 
 cising his garments and the details I have mentioned were only re 
 called afterwards. The impression made, however, was that the award 
 made in Mr. Poe s favor was not inopportune. Gentleman was written 
 all over him. . . . 
 
 Dr. Griswold s statement that Mr. Kennedy accompanied him 
 [Poe] to a clothing store and purchased for him a respectable suit, 
 with a change of linen, and sent him to a bath, is a sheer fabrication. 
 
 Describing Poe s personal appearance on the streets, 
 Ludwig wrote : 
 
 He was at times a dreamer dwelling in ideal realms in heaven 
 or hell peopled with creations and the accidents of his brain. He walked 
 the streets in madness or melancholy, with lips moving in indistinct 
 curses, or with eyes upturned in passionate prayers, (never for him 
 self, for he felt, or professed to feel, that he was already damned, but 
 for their happiness who at the moment were objects of his idolatry ;) or 
 with his glance introverted to a heart gnawed with anguish, and with 
 a face shrouded in gloom, he would brave the wildest storms; and all 
 night with drenched garments and arms wildly beating the wind and 
 rain, he would speak as if to spirits that at such times only could be 
 evoked by him from the Aidenn close by whose portals his disturbed 
 soul sought to forget the ills to which his constitution subjected him 
 close by the Aidenn where were those he loved the Aidenn which he 
 might never see but in fitful glimpses, as its gates opened to receive 
 the less fiery and more happy natures whose listening to sin did not 
 involve the doom of death. 
 
 This Ludwig article was bitterly criticised by John Neal, 
 Poe s first literary sponsor, as well as by Graham, his long 
 time associate, and by Willis, in his "Death of Edgar A. 
 Poe", contained in the first volume. It was to amplify and 
 to prove the basic truth of the Ludwig article that Gris- 
 wold wrote the memoir he prefixed to the Literati. Evi 
 dently smarting under these criticisms, he entered more 
 fully into details and extended his descriptions of Poe s 
 misbehavior, adding many statements later proved to 
 be false. In the first portion of this study, I have detailed 
 these allegations of Griswold. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 349 
 
 In 1856 Redfield published the fourth volume, thus com 
 pleting the full collection of Poe s works. It still contained, 
 in display type, the name of Griswold as author of the 
 Memoir. 
 
 THE WORKS OF THE LATE EDGAR ALLAN POE, with a 
 Memoir by Rufus Wilmot Griswold and notices of his 
 Life and Genius by N. P. Willis and J. R. Lowell. In 
 Four Volumes. IV. Arthur Gordon Pym, etc. Redfield. 
 1856. 
 
 This volume contained not only Pym but many other 
 of Poe s sketches and short stories with a few reviews. 
 
 There is another work of Poe that should be mentioned 
 but, unfortunately, it was never published. Had it been, 
 it is probable that it would have proved Poe s most valu 
 able contribution to criticism. That it must have been the 
 result of years of careful preparation is evident from the 
 subjoined letter of Poe. He gives his reason for delaying 
 the issuance, as well as suggesting the scope of the work : 
 
 You will see that I have discontinued the Literati in Godey s 
 Mag. I was forced to do so, because I found that people insisted on 
 considering them elaborate criticisms, when I had no other design 
 than critical gossip. The unexpected circulation of the series, also, 
 suggested to me that I might make a hit and some profit, as well as 
 proper fame, by extending the plan to that of a book on American 
 Letters generally, and keeping the publication in my own hands. I am 
 now at this body and soul. I intend to be through as far as I can 
 to examine analytically, without reference to previous opinions by 
 anybody all the salient points of Literature in general e. g., Poetry, 
 The Drama, Criticism, Historical Writing, Versification, etc., etc. 
 You may get an idea of the manner in which I propose to write the 
 whole book, by reading the notice of Hawthorne which will appear in 
 the January Godey, [June 1847 Tale Writing: Hawthorne. ] as well 
 as the article on The Rationale of Verse, which will be out in March 
 or April No. of Colton s American Magazine or Review. [ Southern 
 Literary Messenger, October and November, 1849]. 
 
 Do not trust, in making up your library, to the opinions in the 
 Godey series. I meant honest but my meaning is not so fully made 
 out as I could wish. I thought too little of the series myself to guard 
 sufficiently against haste, inaccuracy or prejudice. The book will be 
 
350 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 true to the best of my abilities. ... As regards The Stylus that 
 is the grand purpose of my life, from which I have never swerved for a 
 moment. But I cannot afford to risk anything by persistency and I 
 can afford to wait at least till I finish the book. When this is out I will 
 start the Mag. 
 
 It was this book which was advertised in "The Home 
 Journal" as of immediate issue. Evidently he had com 
 pleted the task ; otherwise such an advertisement would 
 not have been inserted. This must have been included 
 among the other Poe MSS, taken by Griswold, and it is 
 but right that to him should be given the dishonor of its 
 suppression. 
 
 Already I have dwelled sufficiently upon Poe s literary 
 enemies, and on the fact that others besides Griswold par 
 ticipated in the sentiments expressed in the Ludwig article ; 
 and it is not possible altogether to excuse Poe from certain 
 charges. In exculpation it can be said that a study of his 
 morbid mental state shows that he was not at all times to 
 be held responsible. While this must have been patent to 
 all who associated with Poe, possibly to those who did not 
 know him, such an explanation was worthy of slight 
 credence. 
 
 On all occasions Poe was the aggressor: often to his 
 credit, for, to one who studies the literature of that day, 
 either as originally published in the many contemporary 
 periodicals, or as selected and preserved in Duyckinck s 
 "Cyclopedia of American Literature," much that Poe 
 wrote, if over-severe, is undoubtedly true. In favorably 
 criticising Wilmer s "Quacks of Helicon," Poe asserted: 
 
 We repeat it : it is the truth which he has spoken ; and who shall con 
 tradict us? He has said unscrupulously what every reasonable man 
 among us has long known to be as true as the Pentateuch that, as a 
 literary people, we are one vast perambulating humbug. He has as 
 serted that we are clique-ridden ; and who does not smile at the obvious 
 truism of that assertion? He maintains that chicanery, with us, is a 
 far surer road than talent to distinction in letters. Who gainsays this? 
 The corrupt nature of our literary criticism has become notorious. 
 The intercourse between critic and publisher, as it now universally 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 351 
 
 stands, is comprised either in the paying and pocketing of blackmail, 
 as the price of a simple forbearance, or in a petty and contemptible 
 bribery, properly so called a system even more injurious than the 
 former to the true interests of the public, and more degrading to the 
 buyers and sellers of good opinion, on account of the more positive 
 service here rendered for the consideration received. We laugh at the 
 denial of our assertions upon this topic: they are infamously true. In 
 this charge of general corruption there are undoubtedly many noble 
 exceptions to be made. . . . But these cases are insufficient to have 
 much effect on the popular mistrust : a mistrust heightened by a late 
 exposure of the machinations of coteries in New York coteries which 
 at the bidding of leading booksellers, manufacture, as required from 
 time, to time, a pseudo-public opinion. 
 
 Poe strongly intimated that Griswold had accepted 
 money or, as he expressed it, a "quid pro quo" for admit 
 tance of certain writers into his collections, and that the 
 amount of space assigned them depended on the sum of 
 money they paid. Naturally, such statements intensified 
 the personal dislike that from their first meeting had 
 existed, into that deep rooted hatred the evidence of 
 which is so manifest in Griswold s memoir. Although Poe 
 made these statements regarding Griswold openly and in 
 print long before his death, and on all occasions displayed 
 his contempt, Griswold never openly resented it; on the 
 other hand, to Mrs. Clemm apparently he exhibited tender 
 solicitude and a desire to aid her in her bereavement. 
 Otherwise he could not possibly have obtained permanent 
 and complete possession of all Poe s literary possessions, 
 including even his books and private letters. 
 
 Poe, in his loyalty to the spirit that, even at that time, 
 was beginning to engender hatred between the North and 
 South, was particularly bitter against the New England 
 writers, and lost no opportunity to excoriate and jibe at 
 those who were so proud of Boston Common : 
 
 We know very well that amongst a certain clique of the Frogpond- 
 ians, there existed a predetermination to abuse us under any 
 circumstances. We knew, write what we would, they would consider it 
 worthless. We knew that were we to compose Paradise Lost they 
 would pronounce it an indifferent poem. It would have been very weak 
 
352 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 indeed in us, then, to have put ourselves to the trouble of attempting 
 to please these people. We preferred pleasing ourselves. 
 
 This, written concerning an invitation kindly intended, 
 seriously reflects on Poe, but may be excused because we 
 know that at this time Poe was occasionally irresponsible, 
 and that only in his morbid mood did he show this 
 peculiar attitude of mind. His Boston audience did not 
 understand, and his jest cut deep. All evidence given by 
 Poe s intimates makes us know that, when himself, he 
 was at least a gentleman. The gauge of battle thus flung 
 was taken up by the "Harbinger," the official organ of 
 Brook Farm, a fiasco at communism, immortalized in 
 Hawthorne s "The Blithedale Romance." 
 
 The "Harbinger" was edited by the "Brook Farm 
 Phalanx." This periodical characterized Poe as seeking: 
 
 Notoriety, through a certain blackguard warfare which he has 
 been waging against the poets and newspaper critics of New England, 
 and which it would have been more charitable to impute to insanity. 
 
 Poe s answer, published in one of the last issues of "The 
 Broadway Journal," was characteristic: 
 
 The Harbinger* edited by The Brook-Farm Phalanx is be 
 yond doubt the most reputable organ of the Crazyites. . . . What we 
 have done to the Harbinger , or what we have done to The Brook- 
 Farm Phalanx that The Brook-Farm Phalanx should stop the 
 ordinary operations at Brook Farm, for the purpose of abusing us, is a 
 point we are unable to comprehend. If we have done anything to 
 affront The Brook-Farm Phalanx we will make an apology forth 
 with provided The Brook-Farm Phalanx (which we have a curi 
 osity to see) will just step into our office, which is 304 Broadway. 
 
 This "fooling of Poe shows that he was not, by ancestry, 
 far removed from the "ould sod," and that by nature he 
 loved a fight. From what we know of Poe through other 
 sources, he did try to write something worthy of his 
 audience, but could not, and, at the last moment, was com 
 pelled to read extracts from Al Araaf. It is further known 
 that he.was not in a responsible condition, then or later. 
 It was about this time that Poe wrote to Duyckinck: "I 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 353 
 
 seemed to have just wakened from some horrible dream, 
 in which all was confusion and suffering. ... I really 
 believe that I have been mad." 
 
 The standard by which Poe s actions and moral charac 
 ter were to be judged, established by Griswold, remained 
 for many years the measure of the morals of the man. 
 
 While no one attempted any thorough study either of 
 Poe s life or of his writings, there frequently appeared, either 
 in short biographical sketches or in the prefaces to Poe s 
 works, references to his life, the main facts of which were 
 always based on Griswold s statements. These for many 
 years remained unquestioned by the reading public, in 
 spite of monographs either protesting against unfair judg 
 ments or filled with denials so sweeping that they did not 
 cover all the facts. These partisan statements in no way 
 lessened the settled conviction as to Poe s immoral life. 
 Gradually the judgment became firmly established that, in 
 spite of their brilliancy, possibly because of it, all of Poe s 
 work was the reflex of a brain diseased or drugged. Certain 
 of Poe s contemporaries and close associates, such as 
 Briggs of the "Broadway Journal," added their testimony 
 to that of Griswold. In the preface to the first English 
 illustrated edition of Poe s works, published in 1858, 
 Briggs prefaced the "Poems" with this statement: 
 
 A close study of his works will reveal the fact, which may serve in 
 some degree to remove this embarrassment, that there is nowhere dis 
 coverable in them a consciousness of moral responsibility. . . . The 
 Lenore whose loss he deplored, was a being fair to the eye, like Un 
 dine, without a soul. . . . Some of the biographers of Poe have been 
 harshly judged for the view given of his character, and it has naturally 
 been supposed that private pique led to the exaggeration of his 
 personal defects. 
 
 But such imputations are unjust: a truthful delineation of his 
 career would give a darker hue to his character than it has received 
 from his biographers. In fact he has been more fortunate than most 
 poets in his historians. Lowell and Willis have sketched him with a 
 gentleness and a reverent feeling for his genius: and Griswold, his 
 literary executor, in his fuller biography, has generously suppressed 
 much that he might have given. 
 
354 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 This Briggs is one, among others, whom Griswold so 
 considerately shielded from the sting of Poe s sarcasms 
 when, as editor of Poe s collected works, he rewrote and 
 softened Poe s estimate of "Harry Franco," the nom de 
 plume under which Briggs wrote. Briggs gratuitous insult 
 to Poe was a kindly tribute paid to the memory of Gris 
 wold by one whom he had considerately protected. 
 
 The statements of Griswold and his friends have been 
 accepted without question by European critics. We may 
 take pride in the fact that Poe is recognized by them as a 
 great story teller and poet, and that, in their estimation, 
 he ranks with certain of their writers not with those whom 
 they most highly regard. This toleration and recognition 
 is, however, tinctured with a certain condescension. The 
 estimates of his character, and of the things he wrote, are 
 not pleasant reading. This attitude was taken not neces 
 sarily because Poe was an American, but because, being the 
 man he was, both by reason of his strength and his weak 
 nesses, he was misunderstood and misrepresented. That 
 this was done ignorantly and not viciously does not make it 
 more excusable. For this reason, I will mention certain of 
 the foreign biographers before resuming a discussion of 
 those who, in recent years, have elucidated the facts, and 
 have more leniently judged the many things alleged. 
 
 In England Poe was regarded as a monster of vice, one 
 whose evil life placed him beyond the pale of public dis 
 cussion. The details of his life were said to be so shocking 
 that they could only be suggested. It was assumed that a 
 full statement was not a thing wise to give. Every refer 
 ence to his writings, and the prefaces to his published 
 works, reeked with foul insinuations, as if the facts could 
 not bear detailed repetition. He was classed among the 
 degenerates, or worse; and, when details were given, this 
 publication was excused for the reason that the facts might 
 teach a moral ; or wonder was expressed that such unde- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 355 
 
 niably good work could have emanated from so vicious 
 an individual, or from one whose brain was diseased. 
 
 That this was the fully accepted belief is evidenced both 
 in the prefaces to Poe s writings and in the contemporary 
 magazines of that time. 
 
 The "London Athenaeum" gave this judgment: 
 
 In most of Edgar Poe s tales there is either an extravagance, as 
 though they had been written by a man on the verge of delirium 
 tremens, or else a labored monotony, as though his resources were be 
 ginning to run dry. The poems, with their strange unwholesome vigor 
 (if such things can be) speak for themselves. Their writer, apart from 
 his works, had best be forgotten. Edgar Poe s stories seem, all of them, 
 to have been written under the inspiration of gin-and-water. 
 
 The first Englishman who attempted to stem this full 
 flood of ignorant criticism was Hannay, but his assertions 
 were met with jeers of derision ; it is not certain, even at the 
 present time, that Poe is there judged so kindly, nor are his 
 works so fully appreciated, as in either America or France. 
 
 "Fraser s Magazine" of August, 1857, contained a criti 
 cism of Poe based on a review of "The Poetical Works 
 of Edgar Allan Poe : With a Notice of his Life and Genius. 
 By James Hannay." 
 
 We must go back to the days of the early dramatists of Marlowe, 
 Dekker, Ford, Massinger, and Otway before we shall find any par 
 allel to the wild and morbid genius and the reckless and miserable life 
 and death of Edgar Allan .Poe. Never was there a sadder story than 
 that of this wayward and infatuated youth, his wasted opportunities, 
 his estranged friends, his poverty stricken manhood, his drunken 
 degradation, his gradual sinking lower and lower into the depths of 
 profligacy and misery till at last he died of delirium tremens at the 
 early age of 39. And his poetical genius, his extraordinary analytical 
 powers, his imagination that revolved in the realm of the awful, the 
 weird and the horrible ; his utter lack of truth and honor, his inveterate 
 selfishness, his inordinate vanity and insane folly all go to make a 
 picture so strange, so sad, that it cannot be easily forgotten. This 
 volume unhappily sets out with a biographical notice of Poe, written 
 by Mr. James Hannay, which we have read with considerable sur 
 prise. Should any man of sense and taste, not acquainted with Poe, be 
 so unfortunate as to look on Mr. Hannay s preface before reading the 
 poetry, it is extremely probable that he will throw the book into the 
 fire in indignation at the self conceit and affected smartness by which 
 the preface is characterized. 
 
356 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Hannay s defense was rather apologetic and was by no 
 means fulsome in its praise of Poe; evidently facts were 
 lacking on which to base a full statement. 
 
 In 1858, the "Edinburgh Review," in reviewing Gris- 
 wold s four- volume publication, again expressed the English 
 estimate of Poe. It was more elaborate in its denunciation. 
 That such a periodical would have assumed a tone so bitter 
 is evidence of the fact that it believed itself fully justified. 
 Unfortunately the article was not only quoted, but was 
 republished in full by various periodicals. This must have 
 been regarded as a definitive statement both in England 
 and America. I have already referred to this publication, 
 but will quote it more fully : 
 
 Edgar Allan Poe was incontestably one of the most worthless per 
 sons of whom we have any record in the world of letters. Many authors 
 have been as idle; many as improvident; some as drunken and dissi 
 pated; and a few, perhaps, as treacherous and ungrateful; but he 
 seems to have succeeded in attracting and combining, in his own 
 person, all the floating vices which genius has hitherto shown itself 
 capable of grasping in its widest and most eccentric orbit. Yet his 
 chances of success at the outset of life were great and manifold. 
 Nature was bountiful to him; bestowing upon him a pleasing person 
 and excellent talents. Fortune favored him; education and society 
 expanded and polished his intellect, and improved his manner into an 
 insinuating and almost irresistible address. Upon these foundations 
 he took his stand; became early very popular among his associates, 
 and might have erected a laudable reputation, had he possessed 
 ordinary prudence. But he defied his good genius. There was a per 
 petual strife between him and virtue, in which virtue was never tri 
 umphant. His moral stamen was weak, and demanded resolute treat 
 ment; but instead of seeking a bracing and healthy atmosphere, he 
 preferred the impurer airs, and gave way readily to those low and 
 vulgar appetites, which infallibly relax and press down the victim to 
 the lowest state of social abasement. The usual prizes of life repu 
 tation, competency, friendship, love presented themselves in turn; 
 but they were all in turn neglected or forfeited repeatedly, in fact, 
 abandoned under the detestable passion for drink. He outraged his 
 benefactor, he deceived his friends, he sacrificed his love, he be 
 came a beggar, a vagabond, the slanderer of a woman, the delirious 
 drunken pauper of a common hospital hated by some, despised by 
 others, and avoided by all respectable men. He was, as we have said, a 
 blackguard of undeniable type. We say all this very unwillingly; for 
 we admire very sincerely many things that Mr. Poe has produced. We 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 357 
 
 are willing to believe that there may have been, as Mrs. Osgood has 
 stated, an amiable side to his character and that his mother-in-law 
 had cause to lament his loss. We learn, moreover, from Mr. Willis, 
 that at one time, in the latter portion of his life, he was invariably 
 punctual and industrious. The testimony of that gentleman and of 
 Mr. Lowell (both men of eminence in literature), tempted us at first 
 to suspend our opinion of the author; but the weight of evidence on 
 the darker side proved overwhelming, and left us no choice but to 
 admit and to stigmatize with our most decided reprobation those 
 misdeeds that seem to have constituted almost the only history of his 
 short career. His was, as Mr. Griswold states, a shrewd and naturally 
 unamiable character. We refuse our assent to the argument of one of 
 his advocates, that his whole nature was reversed by a single glass of 
 wine. We lean to the ancient proverb, which asserts that Truth is 
 made manifest upon convivial occasions. 
 
 The writer suggests a curious revival of the "Longfellow 
 War" by gratuitously introducing the following statement : 
 
 We are not able to ascertain the precise date at which he borrowed 
 a poem from Professor Longfellow, imitated it, and afterward de 
 nounced the author as a Plagiarist from himself, the Simulator. The 
 mimic poem is called The Haunted House, and is one of Poe s best 
 pieces of verse. The original is The Beleaguered City, of Mr. Long 
 fellow. 
 
 It is probable that in the use of the words "The Haunted 
 House," this writer refers to The Haunted Palace, and this 
 error may be due to confusing this poem with The De 
 serted House of Tennyson, which is an embodiment of a 
 similar idea ; one typify ing death, the other, not death, but 
 a disordered mind. That either bears the slightest resem 
 blance, in basic idea or in expressed description, to The 
 Beleaguered City, is not possible. If one poem suggested, or 
 was in any way the prototype of the other, the originator 
 was Poe. The Haunted Palace was first published in the 
 "American Musuem" for April, 1839, and it is very certain 
 that Poe did not borrow the MS. from Longfellow, as 
 suggested. The Beleaguered City is equally remarkable both 
 for its underlying thought and its marvelous word- 
 cadence; further than this, the poems have nothing in 
 common, though apparently at one time, Poe believed 
 that Longfellow "imitated." The Beleaguered City was also 
 
358 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 published in 1839, but after the appearance of The Haunted 
 Palace. 
 
 The one-sidedness of the delineation of Poe seems to 
 have impressed the reviewer and, while he does not ques 
 tion Griswold s statements, he seems to feel conscious of 
 the possibility of the existence of a germ of good if only 
 it could be discovered. 
 
 We feel, even in the case of Mr. Poe, that it would have been desir 
 able if a fuller biography had accompanied his works. Honest and 
 able, so far as it goes, it leaves us without information on many mat 
 ters from which much might have been gathered to form an accurate 
 judgment. Perhaps, after all, we are copying the deformities only of 
 the man, at a time when we are anxious to submit all that was good 
 as well as all that was bad. The roughnesses that were so conspicuous 
 on the surface of Poe s character would naturally attract the notice 
 of his biographer in the first instance. But, underneath, was there 
 nothing to tell of? no cheer iness in the boy no casual acts of kind 
 ness no adhesion to old friendships no sympathy with the poor and 
 unhappy, that might have been brought forward as indicative of his 
 better nature. . . . For no man is thoroughly evil. There must be 
 slumbering virtues good intentions undeveloped even good actions, 
 claiming to have a place on record. . . . The influence of his faults 
 were limited, and the penalty he alone had to bear. But the pleasure 
 arising from his writings has been shared by many thousand people. 
 In speaking of himself personally, we have felt bound to express our 
 opinions without any subterfuge. But we are not insensible that, 
 while he grasped and pressed hardly upon some individuals with one 
 hand, with the other he scattered his gifts in abundance to the public. 
 
 In taking the statements of Griswold in preference to 
 those of Lowell and Willis, this reviewer naturally assumed 
 that, in inserting a "Memoir" into the Works of Poe, Gris 
 wold was only performing a painful duty, and that at least 
 he had not magnified Poe s faults. 
 
 For this reason no odium was attached to Griswold be 
 cause of his arraignment of Poe. His memoir was believed 
 to be as kindly a statement as the facts permitted, and 
 that in carrying out the unpleasant task that had been 
 delegated to him, it was Griswold s sense of duty, which 
 had forced from him these damaging statements. 
 
 It is curious to note changing customs which character- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 359 
 
 ize different times. Very lately intense indignation was ex 
 pressed because, in a recently published autobiography, 
 a statement was printed which reflected on Stevenson. 
 The propriety, not the truth, of this statement was ques 
 tioned, and, so vigorous were the denunciations, that sup 
 pression was necessary. Yet the insertion of virulent state 
 ments in Poe s own works, caused but little comment. 
 
 These Griswold statements were republished by many 
 periodicals both in England and America, and necessarily 
 they represented the estimate in which Poe was held. 
 
 Among foreign critics, the writings of Poe have ap 
 pealed especially to those of France, and it is among the 
 French that his earliest and most earnest literary admirers 
 were found. It is also among the writers of this nation that 
 the Griswold charges most fully have been accepted. These 
 charges in no way detracted from the pleasure Poe s work 
 gave them; but that they have essentially misunderstood 
 and misjudged Poe, the man, is a serious matter. 
 
 Even in America, the high position assigned to Poe is 
 occasionally questioned, and a tendency is apparent that 
 would deny his Americanism, and that would class him as 
 a distinct species with a French nomenclature. Occasion 
 ally he is called a "decadent" because, probably, of a cer 
 tain French School which has enthusiastically praised his 
 work, and who have modelled their own upon a portion of 
 it. Nor can it be said that he was German by reason of the 
 terror and horror which characterize certain of his stories. 
 Still less would the English claim him, even though his 
 stories of ratiocination exhibit pure intellect. America 
 hesitates to accept him in the same sense that she does 
 Cooper and Irving, and Walt Whitman. Poe is a writer 
 without a country, and no nation, nor age, nor period, may 
 claim him. Although his domain of letters is narrow, no 
 one has, and probably no one in future ages ever will 
 
360 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 equal him in the expression of purely intellectual clarity 
 of thought and in verbal resonance. 
 
 That he is regarded with special favor by the French is 
 not true, although before his death, a few of his stories 
 were accepted at their full value. By certain French writers 
 he is regarded as a master. 
 
 The great majority of their critics wonder and admire, 
 but they do not accept him as a peer in comparison with 
 their best writers. Nowhere has he been more severely 
 condemned. 
 
 His followers have proved his worst enemies, for their 
 praises rest on certain of his qualities that are most ab 
 normal. Neither his life nor many of his best qualities have 
 been fairly exhibited. Rather, they have set forth his ab 
 normalities, and they have made of him a monster: at 
 least a spectacle to be imitated by some, but to be shunned 
 by all who are not classed among the decadents. His chief 
 exponent, Baudelaire, who translated his work and who 
 set him up as a divinity, to be invoked and to be wor 
 shipped as a god, has seriously injured the standing of Poe 
 among the greater French writers. 
 
 As far as Baudelaire and his School are concerned, evi 
 dence is not required, and explanations are unnecessary. 
 
 Baudelaire apparently regarded Griswold s criticism of 
 Poe as typically American, and that it was in consonance 
 with our national standards. He follows the beaten tracks, 
 expatiating on Poe s excellent family and gentle birth, not 
 forgetting that his grandfather was a general in the Revo 
 lutionary War and an intimate friend of Lafayette, and 
 that his grandmother was related to Admiral McBride who, 
 in turn, "was allied to the noblest English houses." 
 
 I suspect that the last statement was supplied by the 
 Englishman on whose translation, inserted as a preface to 
 the Hotten publication of Baudelaire s Works, I depend. 
 
 Baudelaire dimly realized that Poe was born with an in- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 361 
 
 heritance, perhaps not of evil, but one that was fraught 
 with disaster. He psychologizes : 
 
 There are, in the history of literature, many analogous destinies of 
 actual damnation, many men who bear the word Luckless written in 
 mysterious characters in the sinuous folds of their foreheads. The 
 blind angel of Expiation forever hovers around them, punishing them 
 with rods for the edification of others. It is in vain that their lives ex 
 hibit talents, virtues or graces. Society has for them a special anathema, 
 accusing them even of those infirmities which its own persecutions 
 have generated. What would Hoffman not have done to disarm 
 Destiny? what Balzac not attempted to compel Fortune? Does there, 
 then, exist some diabolic Providence which prepares misery from the 
 cradle ; which throws, and throws with premeditation, these spiritual 
 and angelic natures into hostile ranks, as martyrs were once hurled 
 into the arena? Can there, then, be holy souls destined to the sacri 
 ficial altar, compelled to march to death and glory across the very 
 ruins of their lives? Will the nightmare of gloom eternally besiege 
 these chosen souls? . . . Their destiny is written in their very con 
 stitution; sparkling with a sinister brilliancy in their looks and in their 
 gestures; circulating through their arteries in every globule of their 
 blood. . . . I bring today a new legend to support this theory ; today, 
 I add a new saint to the holy army of martyrs, for I have to write the 
 history of one of those illustrious unfortunates, over-rich with poetry 
 and passion, who came after so many others, to serve in this dull 
 world the rude apprenticeship of genius among inferior souls. 
 
 A lamentable tragedy this Life of Edgar Poe ! His death a horrible 
 unravelling of the drama, where horror is besmutched with trivial 
 ities ! All the documents I have studied strengthen me in the convic 
 tion that the United States was for Poe only a vast prison through 
 which he ran, hither and thither, with the feverish agitation of a being 
 created to breathe in a purer world [Paris?], only a wild barbarous 
 country barbarous and gas-lit and that his interior life, spiritual 
 as a poet, spiritual even as a drunkard, was but one perpetual effort 
 to escape the influence of the antipathetical atmosphere. . . . We 
 might say that from the impious love of Liberty has been born a new 
 tyranny the tyranny of fools which, in its insensible ferocity, re 
 sembles the idol of Juggernaut. 
 
 Neiteer Baudelaire nor certain of his confreres were in a 
 position to throw stones even had they been so inclined. 
 Accepting as true all that Griswold alleged, they only made 
 answer, "What Then?" Certainly it was not Poe who was 
 at fault, but this parvenu of a nation, incapable of appre 
 ciating genius. 
 
 Once more I repeat my firm conviction that Edgar Poe and his 
 country were never upon a level. The United States is a gigantic and 
 
362 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 infantine country, not unnaturally jealous of the old continent. Proud 
 of its material development, abnormal and almost monstrous, this 
 newcomer into history has a naive faith in the all-powerfulness of in 
 dustry, being firmly convinced, moreover, like some unfortunates 
 amongst ourselves, that it will finish by devouring the devil himself. 
 Time and money are there held in extraordinary esteem; material 
 activity, exaggerated almost to the proportions of a national mania, 
 leaves room in their minds for little that is not of the earth. 
 
 Baudelaire attempted no critical discussion either of the 
 facts of Poe s life, or of his works, and accepted everything 
 both as related to his private life and all that he wrote, 
 even Eureka, as that of a master, though a master over 
 whelmed with drugs and drink. 
 
 Now, it is incontestable that, like those fugitive and striking im 
 pressions most striking in their repetition when they have been 
 most fugitive which sometimes follow an exterior symptom, such as 
 the striking of a clock, a note of music, or a forgotten perfume, and 
 which are themselves followed by an event similar to the event already 
 known, and which occupy the same place in a chain previously re 
 vealed like those singular periodical dreams which frequent our 
 slumbers there exist in drunkenness not only the entanglements of 
 dreams, but whole series of reasonings, which have need to reproduce 
 themselves, of the medium which has given them birth. If the reader 
 has followed me without repugnance, he has already divined my 
 conclusion. I believe that, in many cases, not certainly in all, the intoxi 
 cation of Poe was a mnemonic means, a method of work, a method 
 energetic and fatal, but appropriate to his passionate nature. The poet 
 has learned to drink as the laborious author exercises himself in rilling 
 note books. He could not resist the desire of finding again those visions, 
 marvelous or awful those subtle conceptions which he had met be 
 fore in a preceding tempest; they were old acquaintances which im 
 peratively attracted him, and to renew his knowledge of them, he took 
 a road most dangerous, but most direct. The works that give us so 
 much pleasure today were, in reality, the cause of his death. . . . 
 Upon the heart of this literature, where the air is rarified, the mind 
 can feel that vague anguish, that fear prompt to tears, that sickness 
 of the heart, which dwells in places vast and strange. Like our Eugene 
 Delacroix, who has elevated his art to the height of grand poetry, 
 Edgar Poe loves to move his figures upon a ground of green or violet 
 where the phosphorescence of putrefaction, and the odour of the hur 
 ricane, reveal themselves. Nature inanimate participates of the nature 
 of living beings, and, like it, trembles with a shiver, supernatural and 
 galvanic. Space is fathomed by opium; for opium gives a magic tinge 
 to all the hues, and causes every noise to vibrate with the most sonor 
 ous magnificence. Sometimes glorious visions, full of light and color, 
 suddenly unroll themselves in its landscape; and on the furthest 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 363 
 
 horizon line we see oriental cities and palaces, mist covered, in the 
 distance, which the sun floods with golden showers. 
 
 Baudelaire may speak for himself and his school ; these 
 apparently looked for inspiration to such sources, and 
 imitated the "Germanic horrors" occasionally indulged in 
 by Poe; however, I would like to have the prescription for 
 the mixture, or know the brand of the beverage, that in 
 spired Poe when at his best. Drink and drugs, after their 
 first stimulating or soothing effect, stupify. Their only 
 value is in reviving those physically exhausted and to re 
 lieve mental unrest.. They only stimulate and distort. 
 
 Again quoting from Baudelaire : 
 
 Diderot is a blood-red author ; Poe is a writer of the nerves even 
 something more and the best I know. . . . No man has told with 
 greater magic the exceptions of human life and nature, the ardors of the 
 curiosities of convalescence, the close of seasons charged with ener 
 vating splendors, sultry weather, humid and misty, where the south 
 wind softens and distends the nerves, like the chords of an instrument ; 
 where the eyes are filled with tears that come not from the heart ; hal 
 lucinations at first giving place to doubt, soon convinced and full of 
 reasons as a book; absurdity installing itself in the intellect, and gov 
 erning it with a crushing logic; hysteria usurping the place of will, a 
 contradiction established between the nerves and the mind, and mien 
 out of all accord expressing grief by laughter. He analyzes them where 
 they are most fugitive; he poises the imponderable, and describes in 
 that minute and scientific manner, whose effects are terrible, all that 
 imaginary world which floats around the nervous man, and conducts 
 him on to evil. 
 
 Although Baudelaire did not deny any of Griswold s 
 allegations he had not the facts, nor did he feel the 
 necessity of any explanation h edid resent, with Gallic 
 venom, the use Griswold made of his editorial authority : 
 
 The pedagogue vampire has defamed his friend at full length in an 
 enormous article wearisome and crammed with hatred which was 
 prefixed to the posthumous edition of Poe s works. Are there then no 
 regulations in America to keep curs out of cemeteries ? 
 
 This memoir concludes : 
 
 The characters of Poe, or rather the character of Poe, the man with 
 sharpened faculties, the man with nerves relaxed, the man whose ar 
 dent and patient will bids defiance to difficulties, whose glance is stead 
 fastly fixed, with the rigidness of a sword, upon objects that increase 
 
364 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 the more, the more he gazes this man is Poe himself; and his women, 
 all luminous and sickly, dying of a thousand unknown ills, and speak 
 ing with a voice resembling music, are still himself; or, at least, by 
 their strange aspirations, by their knowledge, by their incurable 
 melancholy, they participate strongly in the nature of their creator. 
 As to his ideal woman his Titanide, she reveals herself under different 
 names, scattering in his, alas ! too scanty poems, portraits, or rather 
 modes of feeling beauty, which the temperament of the author brings 
 together, and confounds in a unity, vague but sensible, and where, 
 more delicately, perhaps, than elsewhere, glows that insatiable passion 
 for the beautiful which forms his greatest claim, that is to say, the 
 essence of all his claims, to the affection and respect of poets. 
 
 While it is necessary to lay at the door of Baudelaire the 
 underlying idea, if there be one, which this long and intri 
 cate quotation would seem to indicate, it would not be 
 fair to attribute to him all the sins of commission that are 
 found in this involved paragraph; and, having heard 
 Baudelaire commended, I prefer to attribute much of this 
 cacophony to his translator. 
 
 Baudelaire may find all this apropos of Poe, but where 
 he made this discovery, or his reasons for drawing such 
 deductions, puzzles me. I rather suspect that such 
 thoughts were the result of a vermuth dream. 
 
 Lauvriere has placed upon Poe a brand more disfiguring 
 than that of Griswold ; for it has been assumed that Lauv- 
 riere s statement was only made after a careful study, a 
 full knowledge of the facts of Poe s life, and, above all, 
 that it was without prejudice. Thus handicapped it will 
 be a difficult task fairly to weigh the evidence on which 
 the judgment of future biographers must rest. 
 
 EDGAR POE : Sa Vie, et Son Oeuvre. Etude de Psychologic 
 Pathologique, Par Emile Lauvriere. Professeur agrege 
 au lycee de Charlemagne, Docteur [d]es lettres. Paris. 
 Felix Alcan, Editeur. 1904. 
 
 This work by Lauvriere, the standard Continental life 
 of Poe, is not only the French authority on all that con- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 365 
 
 cerns Poe s abnormal psychology, but, by many American 
 and English writers, its dicta are quoted as authoritative 
 scientific statements. Whether they should be so accepted 
 must be determined by an investigation of the qualifica 
 tions of Lauvriere to undertake this important pro 
 nouncement, and of the soundness and fairness of his 
 judgment. 
 
 No English translation of this work has been made and, 
 for this reason, at times, I have found it difficult fully to 
 comprehend Lauvriere s statements. His use of scientific 
 terms is confusing because, not being fully familiar with 
 their technical value, he has not always made plain those 
 finer distinctions that an alienist would have drawn. In 
 addition to this, certain of his statements are so grandilo 
 quently phrased, and so abound in hyperbole, that a literal 
 translation is not always possible. I can only vouch for 
 the fact that I have made a painstaking effort : I may not 
 always have arrived at the proper renditions and I may 
 not, in all instances, have made plain the finer shades 
 of meaning Lauvriere intended. My referees excellent 
 French scholars have not fully agreed among themselves 
 as to just what Lauvriere intended by certain of his 
 scientific statements. On the whole, his meaning is plain, 
 and his general conclusions are not difficult to under 
 stand. In addition to the rendering of obscure passages, or 
 words, into such phrases as the English language allows, 
 I will, where for clarity it seems necessary, add the 
 original text. 
 
 Lauvriere s book extends over seven hundred pages. 
 The first three hundred detail Poe s life; the other four 
 hundred contain a discussion of his writings. 
 
 In both the first and second portions of this critical 
 study, Lauvriere has formulated theories by which he 
 attempts to solve certain problems of Poe s life, and to 
 explain the peculiarities which he believes to be charac- 
 
366 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 teristic of much that Poe wrote. Accepting as true all that 
 Griswold alleged, Lauvriere has attempted to establish a 
 thesis that demonstrates an inter-relation between the 
 abnormalities described and the things that he asserts Poe 
 wrote during the time his brain was poisoned by stimu 
 lants, or narcotized by drugs. 
 
 His conclusion that Poe became a "madman" because of 
 a primarily disordered brain, diseased but stimulated by 
 alcohol, or hallucinated by opium, requires investigation. 
 
 Lauvriere s psychological studies are not confined to 
 one section. They are indiscriminately scattered through 
 more than seven hundred pages. Although in their en 
 tirety they do not cover forty of these, this number has 
 proved fully adequate by reason of the vigor, the concise 
 ness, and the positiveness of his assertions. Writing before 
 the publication of either Harrison s or Woodberry s 
 biographies, Lauvriere has adopted as his authority the 
 memoir by Griswold, and corroborates it by quotations 
 from Briggs. The contributions of Ingram and Gill have 
 been ignored ; apparently they did not fit into his theory. 
 His assertion that Poe s work is merely the manifestation 
 of a disordered brain deserves special consideration.* 
 
 Before we continue the narrative of this hopelessly foredoomed life 
 let us, for a moment, examine his contemporary work. We will find 
 there the same pathetic role played by the same individual, whose 
 haggard countenance is stamped by the imminence of insanity, [les 
 traits a peine accentues predisent rimmimnence de la folie.] Always 
 there is presented the same morbid hero, with his haggard, disease- 
 stamped face, haunted by specters; a Poe prematurely aged and 
 debilitated, who, stupified, sees in his own pages, as in a mirror, a 
 reflection of himself as he awaits the fate to which he is doomed. The 
 same exaggerated sensibility, the same overstrung nerves, the same 
 profoundly unbalanced and over-excited imagination, the legacy of a 
 decadent family which had been noted for the vigor of its imagination 
 and for the ardor of its passions, and which, finally, because of the 
 constitutional evil, manifested itself in a swarm of abnormal sensa 
 tions ; the same inconsistency ; the same incoherence arising because 
 of his inability to overcome an habitual timidity, [meme incon- 
 sistance meme incoherence qui vient de futiles efforts pour vaincre 
 Lauvriere. Edgar Poe. Sa Vie, et Son Oeuvre [1904]. Page 174. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 367 
 
 une trepidation habituelle,"] with excessive nervous agitation showing 
 itself by trembling and broken voice, or, brusque and hoarse and per 
 fectly modulated, such as one finds in the hopeless drunkard, or in the 
 incorrigible eater of opium. Why should one further seek to penetrate 
 into this habitual and excessive reserve, into this dark and unbearable 
 sorrow which reproduces itself over all that he sees in the physical 
 universe, or in our moral nature, and which over them constantly 
 casts its gloomy shadows? Those inconceivable and mysterious ob 
 sessions of terror and horror have, like an incubus, settled on his 
 heart causing him baseless alarms. It is into this pitiful condition he 
 sinks when, in that last hour of life, he loses his reason and must face 
 a horrible phantom of fear. 
 
 Sometimes, with staring eyes, in an attitude of profound attention, 
 he gazes into vacancy as if he were listening to imaginary voices, 
 again his eyes glow with mad hilarity attempting to hold in check an 
 hysterical seizure in which the wild saraband dance of delirious and 
 inchoate sensations, maddened even to crime, which rise in the sick 
 brain like the nightmare of a madman, when they are aroused and 
 throw themselves into the whirling dance, led by those two macaber 
 and satanic demons : Alcohol and Opium. 
 
 It is difficult to understand Lauvriere s application 
 this dizzy dance led by macaber demons, these resounding 
 words and misapplied metaphors either to Poe or to the 
 things he wrote. Apparently, to Lauvriere s mind, opium, 
 alcohol, madness and Poe were inextricably mixed, and 
 his portrait betrays this to such an extent that we fail to 
 recognize in the likeness the slightest resemblance to the 
 Poe we know, the Poe of whom even Gr is wold wrote, 
 "His beauty, his readiness, the daring spirit that breathed 
 around him like a fiery atmosphere." No testimony exists 
 either in the known facts of Poe s life or in the description 
 all biographers give of his personal charm and the bril 
 liancy of his conversation, nor yet in the things he wrote, 
 that would justify these lurid statements. It is most dif 
 ficult to understand Lauvriere s reason for describing Poe : 
 "Tantot il reste pendent des heures, les yeux fixes dans 
 Tegarement, en une attitude de la plus profonde attention 
 comme s il pretait Toreille a des bruits imaginaires ;" nor 
 his reason for assuming that this was a reproduction of 
 the sensations that haunted the mind of Poe. 
 
368 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 In Berenice Poe wrote: 
 
 To muse for long unwearied hours, with my attention riveted to 
 some frivolous device on the margin or in the typography of a book ; 
 to become absorbed, for the better part of a summer s day, in a quaint 
 shadow falling aslant upon the tapestry or upon the floor; lose myself, 
 for an entire night, in watching the steady flame of a lamp or the 
 embers of a fire; to dream away whole days over the perfume of a 
 flower; to repeat, monotonously, some common word, until the sound, 
 by dint of frequent repetition, ceased to convey any idea whatever to 
 the mind ; to lose all sense of motion or physical existence, by means 
 of absolute quiescence long and obstinately persevered in : such were 
 a few of the most common and least pernicious vagaries induced by a 
 condition of the mental faculties, not, indeed, altogether unparalleled, 
 but certainly bidding defiance to anything like analysis or explanation. 
 
 This assuredly does not justify Lauvriere s deduc 
 tions nor will it explain Teffroyable sarabande de 
 sensations incoherentes, deliriantes, affolees jusqu au 
 crime." It is merely the day dreams of the mentally indo 
 lent, and it well describes the auto-hypnotization uncon 
 sciously practiced by all of us when we sink into revery. 
 
 A study of the data upon which Lauvriere based this and 
 other statements, and from which he drew his conclusions, 
 makes it certain that such verbiage is not all French 
 exaggeration, nor was it written for literary effect. Swept 
 on by the torrent of scientific knowledge that he has 
 imbibed, he pours out and overwhelms Poe with a flood 
 of images drawn from an overwrought imagination. He 
 is sincere in his beliefs, even while his conclusions are 
 based partly on untruthful allegations and partly on 
 failure to understand scientific statements that can be 
 variously interpreted. For this reason, it is proper that 
 we know what was the foundation of his knowledge, 
 and what were the scientific truths on which he based his 
 conclusions. Lauvriere fully details the preparation he 
 made for his specal study : * 
 
 When discussing such a condition, ordinarily one will say Bah! 
 c est un malade, and passes on. But we did not care to side-step this 
 question. We wished with a clear conscience personally to investigate 
 
 *Lauvriere. Op. Cit. Preface, pages vi-vii. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 369 
 
 this matter, and to discuss it intelligently, and remembering that Poe 
 was a sick man, or, as Briggs expressed it, a psychological phenome 
 non, it occurred to us that a study of medicine would be necessary 
 and that, possibly, a physician could furnish the key to this startling 
 enigma that conjoined Poe s life and his work. 
 
 As our first inducement to begin on this study, a thing we little 
 foresaw when we entered upon this work, was the intermittent nature, 
 and frequent repetition of the brutal alcoholic attacks that were so 
 prominent a symptom in the disease of this poor poet. All the symp 
 toms of degeneration were so deeply graven in the flesh and soul of 
 Poe, they show as plainly in his poor haggard face, the face of an 
 inspired vagabond, as they do in the pages of his immortal prose and 
 verse. Mentally, as well as physically, this degeneration has left its 
 indelible mark upon his whole being. This explains all his abnorma - 
 ities; his strength and his weakness; his genius and his madness; his 
 defeats and his victories ; without them his life and his work resemble 
 monstrosities void of understanding; [monstruosites vides de sens] 
 with them there is no more mystery ; everything is made clear, logical 
 and harmonious. Although this extremely simple explanation of the 
 complicated problem was made not without difficulty, these final con 
 clusions were not arrived at without painstaking study and extreme 
 labor. It proved to be a new world for exploration: alienism, that 
 distant and terrifying province of scientific psychology. Happily the 
 means for exploration were at hand, and they served well for one in 
 terested, but untrained in scientific research. For this reason it proved 
 pleasant, although it required long months that had to be devoted to 
 this study. We did not hesitate. By reason of the permission granted 
 to us by M. Brouardel, we were allowed to consult, according to our 
 needs, such specialists as Ribot and Janet of the College of France, 
 and Dr. Klippel of the Paris Hospital. To them we return thanks for 
 the information they imparted, and for their considerate advice. 
 
 While Lauvriere deserves credit for the effort he made, 
 and for his good intentions, the result hardly justified this 
 preparatory course of study. 
 
 A little learning is a dangerous thing; 
 Drink deep, or touch not the Pierian spring. 
 
 It is the complete confidence with which Lauvriere has 
 accepted the various statements he quotes, and his unique 
 interpretation of them, that makes us know that he lacks 
 experience in their practical application. 
 
 Lauvriere was a "Docteur des Lettres," not a Doctor of 
 Medicine. In attempting to discuss a subject by its very 
 nature difficult, and not fully comprehended by our most 
 
370 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 advanced students, and one concerning which so many 
 diverse and radically opposed theories still are advanced 
 in explanation of things that, by their very nature, are 
 undecipherable, he undertook something for which he was 
 in no way prepared. It is the wise man whose knowledge, 
 like that of Socrates, consists in knowing its limitations. 
 I do not care to be understood as intimating that to 
 become a competent alienist one must be either a grad 
 uate in medicine or a Psychiatrist. On the other hand, the 
 reading of a few books, conversations with specialists, or 
 association with those qualified to speak with authority, 
 can not, in the course of a few months, prepare the most 
 eager investigator authoritatively to discuss a subject 
 which, after years of practical familiarity and constant 
 association, its students are forced to admit has no 
 anatomical foundation, and permits only of the most 
 general theorizing. 
 
 Neither the anatomy of the brain nor the pathological 
 changes it undergoes when it functions normally, have 
 been definitely established. Frequently it happens that 
 some new stain upsets our preconceived ideas of brain 
 cells, their association tracts, and their fibrillary connec 
 tion. Although we believe we are making slow advances 
 in special knowledge of this subject, no organ of the 
 human body is less understood by the physiologist than is 
 the brain. Unlike other departments of medicine, we have 
 no definitely accepted pathology or causation, or even a 
 classification which all follow who discuss these neuroses. 
 We still confuse first symptoms with causation; nor have we 
 the slightest conception what physiological changes under 
 lie normal ideation. Much less do we understand those 
 changes in the cells of the brain that are responsible for 
 abnormal psychology. We cannot solve the riddle of 
 heredity, even though the researches of Mendel, and others 
 who amplified his observations, have laid an excellent 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 371 
 
 foundation so far as body-characteristics are concerned. 
 Who has, or can, lay down definite rules for guidance in the 
 reproduction of those qualities of head and heart so neces 
 sary to the well-being of the race? We talk much of eugenic 
 laws, and various organizations learnedly discuss ways 
 and means of human improvment. We can breed for bulk, 
 or for other physical qualities; but we are more than 
 animals. Brain is not synonymous with brawn. We must 
 not measure the stature either of Napoleon or of Lloyd 
 George by the yardstick. In that famous debate between 
 those well known Georgia Senators, Toombs and Stevens, 
 when gigantic Toombs boasted that, if they would only 
 grease Stevens head and tie back his ears, he "could swal 
 low him whole," and little Stevens replied (borrowing 
 from Scott) that "if he did, Toombs would have more 
 brains in his belly than he had in his head," we have a 
 memorable truth. How can we infuse into the texture of 
 the brain those qualities that make for nobility of char 
 acter and greatness of soul ? that produced a Washington, 
 and that typifies a Wilson? What psychologist could have 
 formulated the mating that produced the lovable qualities 
 of a Goldsmith, or the dominating personality of a John 
 son? Who could have foretold the result of the paternal 
 accident that we trace in the life histories of Dickens and 
 Mark Twain? And what soothsayer could so have read 
 the augury as to have foretold the result of the mating of a 
 strolling actress (unknown, and who, possibly like Topsy, 
 "just growed") with the drunken, the degenerate, and the 
 shiftless son of a family "whose greatest enemy had always 
 been the bottle" ? For a very good reason, and one that no 
 amount of research ever can solve, the qualities of the 
 mind, as well as their morbid reactions, are too delicate 
 ever to be scientifically solved. For the world this is fortu 
 nate, however high an inheritance tax the victims of this 
 heredity must pay. Eradicate the nervous diathesis, 
 
372 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 suppress the hot blood that results from the overdose 
 mating of neurotics, from that unstable nervous organi 
 zation due to alcoholic inheritance, or even from insanity 
 and the various forms of parental degeneracy, and we 
 would have a race of stoics : men without imagination, in 
 dividuals incapable of enthusiasms, brains without person 
 ality, souls without genius. It is possible to mate for bulk. 
 By selecting desirable physical qualities we can produce a 
 perfect human brute, but we have lost those higher and 
 ennobling gifts that have made so much for the world s 
 pleasure and progress. Who could, or would, breed for a 
 hump-backed Pope, or a clubfooted Byron, a tubercular 
 Keats, or a soul-obsessed Poe? Nature has done fairly 
 well by us. Love, which mates opposites, which induces 
 the weak to cling to the strong, the bold and reckless to 
 seek the timid and retiring, the bulky frame to search out 
 its opposite in the small and compact stature, supposes a 
 method of selection more in accord with natural laws than 
 any eugenic statutes we could enact. The tuberculous and 
 the neurotic have their place in Nature s scheme. Suppress 
 them, and we have extinguished the flower before it has 
 fruited. While nature often throws these aside in the first 
 generation, always in the second or third unless comple 
 mentary mates are chosen, the genius in them has given 
 to the world much that the world ill could spare. 
 
 Into this mesh of theories, and into this quagmire of 
 ignorance of Nature s laws, Lauvriere boldly has entered 
 with his newly acquired knowledge. He attempts not only 
 to solve the riddle of the mind, but confidently passes on 
 questions of heredity. His study of genius is particularly 
 enlightening, and the result he reaches measures the 
 scientific value of his deductions. Using the translation of 
 Professor Morris: "In short, everywhere in this temple of 
 madness, we witness, enthralled by the charm of a dan 
 gerous art, the fascinating but exhausting spectacle of the 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 373 
 
 human faculties, sensibility, energy, intelligence, imagina 
 tion, reason, taste, outraged in paroxysms of pain. If the 
 frightful superiority of this extraordinary being comes 
 from genius, then genius is nothing but frenzied excesses." 
 To Lauvriere, Poe presents a type of genius in its most 
 repulsive form. He traces Poe s career from infancy, 
 stupefied by gin and surrounded by the squalor and 
 poverty-begotten environments that became the lot of the 
 dying mother, through unhappy boyhood with proud 
 spirit chafing against restraint, into young manhood un 
 disciplined by moral laws; and he shows Poe s matured 
 habits characterized by unceasing dissipation that weak 
 ened, and finally overthrew, a brain by inheritance ab 
 normal.* 
 
 Poe, from birth, was a degenerate. He was born under miserable 
 hygienic conditions and inherited from his parents both an alcoholic 
 neurosis and a phthisical constitution. With such an heredity this 
 abnormal Richmond child presented a precocious intelligence and 
 an exalted sentimentality, with a quick but intermittent energy on 
 which was laid the foundation of his indisciplinable character. With 
 a mind inflated by pride he passed an unstable youth immersed in a 
 series of ecstatic, morbid trances, and mystic visions commingled with 
 expansive ideas. Following closely upon such dreams came a series of 
 rash and unconsidered adventures until defeats, responsibilities, and 
 misery made of the rich, adopted, city child, of the proud poet, the 
 brilliant idealist and dreamer a deserter, a wandering vagabond 
 without hearth or home, an outcast, a madman, [un boheme sans feu 
 ni lieu, un declasse un detraque.] 
 
 Is he to be regarded as a man insane or as a genius, this strange, 
 unbalanced and impossible personality; a man whose brain wanders 
 on the border line between crime and genius? It is doubtless true that 
 toward the end of his life and of his sad career, this poor decadent 
 was a partially reasoning madman whose double, circular insanity 
 was allowed to grow greater and greater, and there came recurring 
 periods of depression complicated by outbreaks of erotomania. 
 
 In this estimate, evidently based on Poe s own words 
 which Lauvriere has little more than paraphrased, and 
 which we find in the opening description of William Wil 
 son, it is evidently assumed that Poe was giving an accur- 
 
 *Lauvriere. Op. Cit., page 307. 
 
374 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 ate autobiographic statement a thing impossible to 
 conceive except by one who assumes that everything Poe 
 wrote was only his reflected self, and that he could give 
 forth no other sentiments except those he individually felt. 
 
 I am come of a race whose imaginative and easily excitable tem 
 perament had at all times rendered them remarkable; and, in my 
 earliest infancy, I gave evidence of having fully inherited the family 
 character. As I advanced in years it was most strongly developed; 
 becoming, for many reasons, a cause of serious disquietude to my 
 friends and of positive injury to myself. I grew self-willed, addicted 
 to the wildest caprices, and a prey to the most ungovernable passions. 
 Weakminded, and beset with constitutional infirmities akin to my 
 own, my parents could do but little to check the evil propensities 
 which distinguished me. 
 
 Poe, in writing William Wilson, did exhibit consummate 
 psychological acumen. It is a story dreadful in its keen 
 psycho-analysis, but it was not necessarily a personal 
 experience, though he wrote in the first person. 
 
 Lauvriere bases not only the conception, but even the 
 ideation of much that Poe wrote upon his abnormal psych 
 ology while under the influence of drugs and stimulants.* 
 
 We believe that the truth is most difficult to arrive at for the 
 reason that spiritual superiority is the infinitely variable product of 
 mental faculties, more or less abnormal. . . . There is no human 
 faculty the morbid development of which may not end either in 
 genius or insanity, and, at times, it is difficult to draw the line of 
 demarcation separating them. Not to mention the alternating states 
 of exaltation and depression, equally characteristic of this state of 
 nervous tension, it frequently happens that the artistic vision changes 
 into an ocular hallucination; the inspiration of the poet into delirious 
 ramblings; the contemplations of the philosopher into ecstatic visions; 
 the unbending logic of the scientist into the reasoning paranoia; the 
 imperious energy of the man of action into a criminal impulsion : and 
 how often, and in how many celebrated cases, has not this fated 
 change come with some tragic denouement that has startled the 
 world? Between these two orbits of mental revolution, great as these 
 extremes may be, there exists, for the genius, a large neutral zone 
 where these differences, in the degree of the nervous and mental mani 
 festations, make their psychological relationship of less importance 
 than are the practical consequences that may result. In the midst of 
 this questionable zone floats the morbid genius of Poe. It was en 
 dowed with this distinctive precocity, and with the fatal predeter- 
 
 *Lauvriere. Op. Cit., page 6%. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 375 
 
 mined course characteristic of innate tendencies. It possesses for an 
 unstable basis morbid sensibility as greedy of, as it is susceptible to, 
 intense emotional states. From birth to death it balances between 
 conditions of ecstacy and melancholy, and this was the origin both of 
 Poe s poetic inspirations and of his fantastic creations; of his literary 
 dogmas and of his synthetical metaphysical creations. Because of 
 these alternating conditions both in his prose and verse, come those 
 passages of unutterable despair, as well as those vibrating with the 
 exhilaration of life. From this comes that glowing mystic cult which 
 unites beauty with death but ends by confounding them. From this 
 influence come seraphic lovers filled with platonic dreams rather than 
 inspired by passion. From this arises those macaber apparitions 
 exaggerated because of the emanations of alcohol and opium. From 
 this, also, comes those tremulous excesses of a degenerate character, 
 a prey to the most contradictory forces. On this doubly unstable 
 foundation his poetry, from its first childish prattle till its last senile 
 ramblings, always sings its sad melodies that, rising from unconscious 
 depths, survive reason. In his criticisms there is a mixture of bitter 
 intolerance and of proud, suspicious egotism. His stories abound with 
 hallucinatory visions of fear, and of obsessions that lead to criminal 
 acts and, occasionally, are characterized by adventurous flights of 
 intuition and marvelous chimeres de 1 imagination. Even in his 
 most grotesque mood, grinning behind his mask, his macaber visions 
 and deep sadness lie hidden; and, in his excited discussions of the most 
 abstruse problems, he erects on a frail and emotional basis the most 
 fantastic structures of occult pantheism. 
 
 The clarity of Poe s reasoning, and his powers of analy 
 sis as displayed by his solution of cryptograms, as well as 
 in many of his tales, disprove this generalization of Lauv- 
 riere. He has strangely ignored the keenness of the mental 
 processes that must have been employed in writing such 
 stories as The Gold Bug and the Murders in the Rue Morgue, 
 and the imaginative qualities displayed in The Domain of 
 Arnheim. Nor has he properly understood and differen 
 tiated, the varying mental states Poe delineated in The 
 Black Cat and The Tell Tale Heart. To use any of these 
 stories, or that masterly description of an overwrought 
 nervous depressive state, The. Fall of the House of Usher 
 (which in a certain way might have been auto-biographic) 
 as proof, or even as an illustration of a mental condition 
 brought on by the overuse of alcohol and opium, is a 
 psychological crime. It can only be explained by Lauv- 
 
376 POE. A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 riere s exaggerated belief in the value of the special studies 
 he made. Our investigations into the effect of even small 
 quantities of alcohol in retarding brain operations, must 
 have been well within his knowledge. That the brain could 
 have so functioned as to produce results that required the 
 highest idealizations and the strongest logical faculties, is 
 the best evidence that it was not dulled by alcoholic 
 poisoning. 
 
 This thrice-repeated dancing skeleton of Macaber, 
 which Lauvriere so insistently dangles before us, may have 
 been Germanic in its conception, but it is essentially 
 French in its later development, and in this peculiar 
 method of application. 
 
 While it is true that, upon occasion, Poe drank to excess, 
 and that, in time, these frequently-repeated, alcoholically- 
 poisoned drenchings did set up organic changes in the 
 brain cells and their coverings, these circumstances added 
 no brilliancy to Poe s mental faculties; on the contrary, 
 they slowly and insidiously unfitted him for his best work. 
 Although there were repeated acute mental disturbances 
 they were but of short duration. At no time, under the 
 most distorted nomenclature, could Poe have been clas 
 sified as a "madman," nor was he a "monster." Possibly 
 the vigor of Lauvriere s epithets carries him beyond a 
 scientific pronouncement : or it may be that these phrases 
 are to be understood only in a "Pickwickian" sense. 
 
 While it is true that, within certain limits, psychiatrists 
 are agreed on fundamental propositions, and accept as an 
 established fact the close relationship of diseases originat 
 ing in the nervous diathesis, further than this they are by 
 no means unanimous. We recognize groups of symptoms, 
 or "syndromes," as characterizing certain nervous states, 
 but, at best, we do not more than generalize in our at 
 tempts to classify them. Beyond this, at times we seriously 
 differ when specific claims are made as to definite causa- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 377 
 
 tion, or as to the modus operandi of brain functioning. 
 
 There are as many theories as there are text books 
 
 written. 
 
 Much less this dreamer, deaf and blind, 
 Named man, may hope some truth to find, 
 That bears relation to the mind. 
 For every worm beneath the moon 
 Draws different threads, and late and soon 
 Spins, toiling out his own cocoon. 
 
 Lauvriere s error consists in his attempt concretely to 
 apply these generalizations and his excess of faith in the 
 soundness of the doctrines he has absorbed. He accepts as 
 true all that has been alleged, and admits all into his dis 
 cussion as a basis for further generalization. In this way, 
 he has erected a structure both "arabesque and grotesque" 
 in which he has attempted to domicile Poe. 
 
 His final estimate measures the psychological acumen 
 of the man.* 
 
 Beneath this web of contradictory statements, the character of 
 Poe seems to be an enigma : an unreal and an unbelievable personality. 
 Some describe him as a man false, cruel, cynical ; more devil than hu 
 man, whose odious actions seem to arise from a monstrous perversion. 
 Others describe him as a peaceful friend, generous, invariably kind, 
 cheerful and courteous : a model in all that concerns social and domes 
 tic virtues; and that, in addition to this, he was the soul of honor. 
 Which of these opinions shall we accept? Whom of his biographers 
 are we to believe? In our opinion, both. It is not wise to adopt the 
 middle course and thus to efface an individuality which nature has so 
 markedly accentuated. Whether or not we like it we must accept this 
 double personality as a fact, and not as an exaggeration; and, further, 
 that they alternated the one with the other. Is it not a matter of 
 common knowledge that the dipsomaniac, whether drinking or ab 
 stinent, resembles a man with two personalities inhabiting the same 
 body ? one steady, sober, laborious, even austere ; the other only half 
 conscious, almost insane, a prey to all follies, to all excesses? This 
 double personality has been compared to a lighthouse that has two 
 differently colored lights and, according to the disk through which 
 the light shines, the rays appear red or blue. For this reason this 
 remarkable man, who, to his tavern companions appeared to be little 
 else than a degraded drunken sot, lacking human reason and moral 
 sense, was, in the eyes of his friends and admirers, a poor misunder 
 stood genius who was calumniated, and, for that reason, so much the 
 
 "Lauvriere. Of). Cit., page. 155. 
 
378 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 more worthy of admiration and sympathy. These two views cannot 
 possibly be reconciled, and we must accept both as equally true: two 
 aspects of this Janus with the double face. 
 
 There is, however, a seriously complicating factor. As we have 
 before remarked, dipsomania is nothing but an inherited form of 
 insanity, and it may present itself under many aspects. In many 
 cases, besides the more or less constant oscillation between melan 
 cholic depression and maniacal exaltation, there are a number of 
 eccentric deviations which cross one another because of acquired or 
 inherited degeneration. One should, for this reason, not speak of 
 duality in the presence of this mental incoherence, but rather of the 
 plurality of the ego, the breaking up of human personality, and the 
 return of the individual ego to initial chaos [Effritement de la per- 
 sonnalite humaine, retour de la colonie individuelle au chaos initial.] 
 An essential and striking clinical fact, says Dr. Magnan, is the 
 coexistence in the same individual patient of more or less marked 
 obsessions, occasionally present at the same time, more frequently 
 separated and exhibiting themselves at various periods of life. This 
 peculiarity is especially to be noted and is illuminating because it 
 makes clear and fully explains the nature of these morbid manifes 
 tations. When one thoroughly investigates the lives of these patients 
 it is only exceptionally that only one syndrome is found. It is not rare 
 to find several coinciding syndromes. Generally there is no law gov 
 erning this association, and their only point of relationship is in 
 their origin. The more one observes the more frequently one finds 
 examples of this multiplication. If all of these syndromes, thus co 
 existing, succeed and multiply themselves infinitely, it can only be 
 because of the basic fact of their having originated from the same 
 morbid condition, and that they are the result of cerebrospinal 
 automatism. Thus through the destructive agency of suffering and un- 
 happiness, of overwork and excesses of all kinds, this poor personality 
 of Poe, so sensitively and so impulsively organized and so badly co 
 ordinated, began by degrees to show evidence of disorganization. It 
 was for this reason that he began to show evidences of mental dis 
 turbance complicated by such impulses which, originally, he had under 
 control, but which now destroyed the general harmony. Slowly there 
 developed evidences of decay in his fragile and unstable individuality. 
 From the fact of this loss of mental control comes the heartbreaking 
 spectacle of a mind based originally on a groundwork of morbid sensi 
 bility, with time growing more diseased, with constantly increasing 
 symptoms characterized by obsessions, impulsions, and morbid fears ; 
 ideas of persecution and delusions of grandeur, all symptoms of a 
 hopeless insanity. 
 
 Neither by absorption nor experience did Lauvriere 
 understand more than the most general rudiments of a 
 subject which no one fully comprehends. In attempting to 
 apply these to Poe s particular psychology he accepted as 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 379 
 
 definitely established truths, the most generally applied 
 theories. It was not altogether because of his dependence 
 on Griswold for the facts of Poe s life that he wrote, 44 Sa 
 vie et son oeuvre appraisment commes des monstruosities 
 vides de sens." Surely Poe s own work was open to him: 
 had he not been blinded by scientific aphorisms, basically 
 true but misapplied, he could not have drawn the con 
 clusions he did. 
 
 Lauvriere s special study of dipsomania is based on ex 
 tracts and statements equally distorted. In copying from 
 Magnan, and in elaborating on that excerpt as applicable 
 to Poe, Lauvriere is in serious error. While it is a matter of 
 every day experience, authoritatively established by 
 scientific knowledge, that a man suddenly may be seized 
 by an obsession that compels him to seek oblivion in some 
 form of narcosis, alcoholic or drugged, and that, during 
 this time, he may sin grievously against the moral laws, 
 this fact does not make him either a madman or, neces 
 sarily, a degenerate, even while it is established with equal 
 definiteness that such attacks, frequently indulged in and 
 unduly prolonged, may induce organic changes in the 
 tissues that compose the brain matter, and produce 
 mental weakness and, temporarily, acute mental disturb 
 ance. 
 
 Lauvriere, rightly diagnosing Poe s inherited disease to 
 have been dipsomania, has made a special study of this 
 disease. * 
 
 Dipsomania is one of the evils following in the train of hereditary 
 insanity, heredity always dominating as a predisposing factor in its 
 causation : all such patients are predisposed to insanity by reason of 
 their ancestry, insofar as we have seen, or can determine. Should one 
 search into their early history it is found that, even in childhood, they 
 have shown peculiarities of character and abnormalities of mind which 
 distinguish them from other children of the same age, though raised 
 under the same social conditions. One of these characteristics is a 
 pronounced precocity. 
 
 *Lauvriere. Of). Cit., page. 45. 
 
380 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Such individuals are solitary, live apart, concentrate on special 
 subjects, and, as a rule, are unbalanced, with a predisposition to 
 melancholy. They are especially attracted by whatever is fantastic. 
 With few exceptions they belong to that class of degenerates known as 
 reasoning idiots. 
 
 Must we not, in reading these lines, admit that, in addition to these 
 leading characteristics, the unfortunate Poe possessed all these second 
 ary traits which so indelibly and cruelly marked the physiognomy 
 of this hereditary madman, doomed not only to abnormal mental 
 peculiarities but especially to dipsomaniacal fury. 
 
 Lauvriere has taken a very broad generalization of 
 Magnan s, which possibly was intended as a reference to 
 "psychoneuroses," and has used it as proof that "la Dip- 
 somanie n est qu un symptome de la folie hereditaire." 
 The explanation given of the duality of Poe s personality, 
 technically correct, assumed as true statements of the 
 facts of Poe s life that had no existence except in Gris- 
 wold s untrue assertions. In his scientific enthusiasm, 
 Lauvriere fails to take into account those things that are 
 a matter of common knowledge. Possibly a study of the 
 context accompanying the excerpt from Magnan would 
 show that Lauvriere s interpretation is misleading. It 
 certainly is not a fact that syndromes typifying definite 
 neuroses are interchangeable; nor do several of these 
 manifest themselves in the same individual either at the 
 same time or at different periods of his life history. One 
 who inherits sick headache does not have epilepsy as a 
 complicating factor, however closely related be their 
 origin. Neurasthenia remains neurasthenia and by no 
 means, directly or indirectly, does it necessarily change 
 into other neuroses. Dipsomania is not a term synony 
 mous with insanity; neither by heredity nor directly does 
 it bear a closer relation to mental diseases than do the 
 other neuroses. Should a mental disturbance develop 
 because of changed cerebral circulation, this is directly 
 due to an organic change produced because of meningeal 
 involvement, whereas insanity is essentially a functional 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 381 
 
 disturbance, without an organic basis, and having no dis 
 coverable pathological changes as a foundation. Dipso 
 mania has, as a predisposing factor, not insanity, but a 
 direct alcoholic inheritance. To call dipsomaniacs insane, 
 or to class them among the mentally unsound, is not 
 justified by our experience, even though, theoretically, they 
 belong to the same group and, at times, do show traces of 
 nervous instability with occasional irrational acts. Had 
 this unsoundness taken the form of megrim, no such repre 
 hensible term would have been applied. 
 
 To further make plain Poe s condition, Lauvriere 
 quotes Barine:* 
 
 Recently, Arvede Barine, in three brilliant articles overflowing 
 with generous enthusiasm, believed he had found in dipsomania, 
 alone, the key to this enigma. But this dipsomania of Poe, as we have 
 stated, can not be regarded as a form of drunkenness; rather it is 
 absolutely the result of alcoholic degeneration and is in fact a general 
 disease of the mind. . . . It is in vain that the frightened victim [of 
 dipsomania] repeatedly attempts to regain self control, and takes 
 oaths of reformation in attempting to strengthen his will-power over 
 this alcoholic compulsion an enemy that has now become a part of 
 his flesh. 
 
 In spite of all his efforts the vice persists and, unobtrusively, it 
 accomplishes its task by slowly undermining his bodily functions; 
 with an unstrung nervous system he becomes progressively weakened 
 physically, and there only remains moral insensibility to the finer 
 things of life, while all that is left is mental anarchy. There is a feverish 
 activity which ends in hopeless impotence, and, in place of ambitions 
 realized, only heart-breaking disappointments. It ends in hopeless 
 weakness. There comes fierce criticisms or exalted praise; monomania 
 of persecution, or the brilliant sparkling of a supreme genius; sensa 
 tional mystification, or a tenacious pursuit of gigantic projects. 
 
 Although, occasionally, it happens that dipsomaniacs 
 give evidence of a disturbed mentality, by no possible theory 
 can they be called madmen. I have many friends lawyers, 
 physicians, occasionally clergymen, and men prominent 
 in civil and business life who, possessing exceptional 
 mental endowments, are the victims of this inheritance. 
 Frequently they succeed in fighting off their periodical 
 
 *Lauvriere. Op. Cit., page 306. 
 
382 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 seizures; yet, when the obsession does overwhelm them 
 they will disappear for a few days or for weeks. What 
 happens during this period does not concern the world 
 as a rule. Whether they are able to remain in control of 
 their distraught nerves, or whether they are swept away 
 by the impetuosity of uncontrollable compulsions, they 
 are equally sufferers from an hereditary neurosis. By no 
 method of reasoning can this be considered tantamount 
 to insanity; nor justly can they be called insane, although 
 at times they may appear irrational, or be irresponsible. 
 
 Lauvriere s inclusion of dipsomania, insanity, moral 
 abnormalities, and genius in the same class is not one that 
 can be supported by any alienistic theory with which I am 
 familiar, however closely they may be related basically. 
 That Lauvriere has widened his group so as to include men 
 of genius is only in line with statements long ago made 
 which never have been accepted by alienists. In no cir 
 cumstances can their mental state come under the usually 
 accepted definition of insanity : "A condition of intellectual 
 disturbance characterized by delusions out of which the 
 patient cannot be reasoned." 
 
 Yet Lauvriere furnishes a long list of names of those 
 whom he includes in his classification, especially many 
 English writers. Among them are Swift, Johnson, Blake, 
 Burton, Rochester and others, and he adduces evidence of 
 their mental unsoundness. That he excludes much of French 
 literature from the taint of such origin is noteworthy* 
 
 If French literature present less abnormal talent and genius, it is 
 probably because the French spirit is more moderate and has been, 
 for a long period, under the moral discipline of the XVII century. 
 
 Evidently a nation cannot judge of its susceptibility to 
 such a charge more discriminatingly than can an indi 
 vidual. My own conception of French psychology is some 
 what different. 
 
 *Lauvricrc. Op. Cit., page 704. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 383 
 
 It is true that many names mentioned by Lauvriere 
 have legends associated with them that would indicate 
 peculiarities of character or accentuated mental conditions 
 in their possessors which would differentiate them from 
 the standards we have adopted and by which we judge 
 the average man. Abnormal development of one particular 
 faculty is regarded as a "gift"; yet it presupposes a cor 
 responding deficiency in some other mental quality. There 
 is no such thing as a "universal genius." The brilliant 
 orator, the musical genius, and the gifted painter are not, as 
 a rule, characterized by "common sense"; and frequently 
 they show a deficiency of mental poise because they lack 
 some prosaic quality with which the average individual is 
 endowed. An unbiased and unsympathetic investigation 
 into the life history of most of our great men, whether of 
 letters, science, or the arts, would exhibit many personal 
 peculiarities, if not mental abnormalities. While, possibly, 
 the "strict moral discipline of the XVI I century " may have 
 diminished this tendency among the French, Lauvriere 
 finds it even there. Nor does he fail to adduce the authority 
 of antiquity as proof of "the insanity of genius."* 
 
 This question is as old as the world. The ancients saw no differ 
 ence between the revelations of the wise-men and the ravings of the 
 mad-men. For this reason they believed that the delusions induced 
 by the gods were more trustworthy than were the deductions which 
 were the result of human thought. . . . There is a third delirium, 
 known as inspiration which, entirely enthusing a pure soul, animates 
 and transports it. Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae 
 was an adage evidencing the wisdom of the ancients. 
 
 Lauvriere gives this judgment of Poe and his writings :t 
 
 The important question of the relationship of genius to insanity 
 comes so definitely in the case of Poe, that Poe himself has asked it. 
 For this reason we cannot avoid it : let us treat it frankly, not with the 
 expectation of an impossible solution but in the hope of casting on it 
 the light of our own investigations and that of many others. 
 
 The whole monstrous work trembles beneath a wind of madness, 
 and is only held together by some harmonious law of logic and by the 
 
 *Lauvriere. Of). Cit. page 685. 
 fLauvriere. Of). Cit. page. 698. 
 
384 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 secret virtue of marvelous artifice. But so great is his art, which 
 triumphs over madness, that, from the coldest of judges, comes the 
 verdict : No, this extraordinary man who, in a few works, has given to 
 humanity some of its rarest thrills and supremest emotions, was indeed 
 mad; or if the word genius really means originality, there was in his 
 madness an inseparable as well as an undeniable mixture of genius. 
 
 This is an outrage on the memory of Poe comparable 
 only to the verbal assault of Griswold. That it is the result 
 of ignorance and not of malevolence may abate the moral 
 turpitude but it does not excuse the act. It is due the 
 good name of Poe that this stigma cast on his memory be 
 removed, provided a fair investigation of the facts of Poe s 
 life show that it is undeserved. It is certain that Lauv 
 riere s psychological studies do not justify him in passing 
 this verdict. 
 
 Beyond the question of Poe s abnormal psychology, as 
 expounded by Lauvriere, possibly I have no right to go. 
 In his critical discussion of Poe s work, Lauvriere s special 
 effort is to prove that they are the outpourings of a dis 
 eased brain, not the result of a logical comprehension and 
 intelligent effort at producing effects worthy of the world s 
 approval. However, there are certain comparisons with 
 other writers which equally exhibit Lauvriere s critical 
 capacity. For some unknown reason he links the name of 
 Byron with that of Poe, and constantly refers to the 
 influence Byron exerted over him, claiming that Poe s in 
 spiration was due to "son maitre Byron," or that "enthou- 
 siaste de Childe Harold, ait voulu se melee de devenir 
 1 emule de Byron autrement qu en vers?" The repetition of 
 these, and similar assertions, suggests that the general 
 Byronic influence is an ascertained fact, although, as far 
 as I can find, no attempt has been made to establish any 
 such association. Again Lauvriere couples the name of 
 Whitman with that of Poe, calling them the only two great 
 poets America has produced. While it is true that other 
 writers, usually those of European environment with a 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 385 
 
 leaning toward decadence, have put Whitman forward 
 as our greatest contributor to poetic literature, a study of 
 their other favorite writers, as well as of their own pro 
 ductions, hardly deserves a protest. It is certain that in 
 the exhibition of the human body naked, or but slightly 
 draped, and in the outspoken discussion of the human 
 passions; in the lack of concealment, and in the absence 
 of those refinements which differentiate the savage from 
 the civilized man, Whitman stands without a peer, al 
 though many imitators rival him in vulgarity. To compare 
 him, either as a poet or as a writer, with Poe, would seem to 
 reflect more upon the critical capacity of Lauvriere than 
 upon the literary reputation of Poe. 
 
 That this work of Lauvriere must possess merit as 
 literature, irrespective of its scientific or critical value, is 
 evident by the great reputation this study has achieved in 
 France, and the tribute paid it when it was crowned by 
 the French Academy. Whether or not it has been equally 
 honored by French alienists, I do not know. 
 
 It is said that Lauvriere s period of preparation extended 
 over six years. Judged by the psychopathic value of this 
 labor seven months should have more than sufficed. 
 
 If the crown with which this work has been distinguished 
 was bestowed for its literary merits, probably the award 
 was just ; if for its value as a contribution to the scientific 
 study of Poe s psychology, I dissent. Further, as an alien 
 ist I claim that the jewels adorning this crown are either of 
 synthetic manufacture or that they are composed of paste. 
 
 While there were many of Poe s old friends and former 
 associates who were loyal to his memory and who, on 
 numerous occasions, rallied to his defense, their kind re 
 collections and assertions of his good qualities availed little. 
 Their voices were drowned by the vehemence of Gris- 
 wold s denunciations. In the "Psychopathic Study" I have 
 
386 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 quoted many of these friends, but so forgotten are their 
 statements, and so scattered are they in the pages of 
 obsolete magazines, that only general reference can be 
 made to their statements. 
 
 Lambert A. Wilmer, in a notable book published in 1859, 
 now a bibliographical rarity, actively defended Poe. 
 
 OUR PRESS GANG ; Or, A Complete Exposition of the Cor 
 ruptions and Crimes of the American Newspapers. By 
 Lambert A. Wilmer (Ex-editor). Philadelphia: J. T. 
 Lloyd. London: Sampson Low, Son & Co. 1859. 
 
 This is the same Wilmer who was editor of the "Satur 
 day Visiter," of Baltimore, in which Poe won a prize with 
 his "Tales of the Folio Club." For many years afterward, 
 Poe and Wilmer were more or less friendly, and corres 
 ponded with each other at irregular intervals. It was the 
 "Quacks of Helicon," written by Wilmer, that Poe so 
 ardently defended, and in a review of which he strongly 
 upheld Wilmer s charges of literary corruption. * 
 
 While Wilmer s book was not written for the specific 
 purpose of rehabilitating Poe, it happens that it does 
 strongly corroborate many of Poe s contentions, and jus 
 tifies the stand Poe took toward many writers and much 
 that they wrote. If conditions were such as this book 
 asserts, it would have taken a flail longer and stronger 
 than the one wielded by Poe to have cleared this dese 
 crated temple. 
 
 In speaking of a newspaper attack on the memory of 
 Poe, Wilmer quotes: 
 
 Several years ago I published the following article in a Philadelphia 
 weekly paper: 
 
 Edgar A. Poe and his Calumniators. There is a spurious biog 
 raphy of Edgar A. Poe which has been extensively published in 
 newspapers and magazines. It is a hypocritical, canting document, ex 
 pressing commiseration for the follies and crimes of that poor out 
 cast ; the writer being evidently just such an one as the Pharisee who 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 387 
 
 thanked God that he was a better fellow than the publican. But we 
 can tell the slanderous and malicious miscreant who composed the 
 aforesaid biography, that Edgar Poe was not the man described by 
 this anonymous scribbler. Some circumstances mentioned by the 
 slanderous hypocrite we know to be false, and we have no doubt in the 
 world that nearly all of his statements, intended to throw odium and 
 discredit on the character of the deceased, are scandalous inventions. 
 We have much more to say on this subject, and we pledge ourselves 
 to show that the article we speak of is false and defamatory, when the 
 skulking author of it becomes magnanimous enough to take the 
 responsibility by fixing his name to his malignant publication. I do 
 not know that this vindication was copied by a single paper; whereas 
 the whole press of the country seemed desirous of giving circulation 
 and authenticity to the slanders. 
 
 Again, under the title "Defamation of the Dead," 
 Wilmer refers to the newspaper attacks on the memory of 
 Poe: 
 
 The late Edgar A. Poe has been represented by the American news 
 papers in general as a reckless libertine and a confirmed inebriate. I 
 do not recognize him by this description, though I was intimately 
 acquainted with the man, and had every opportunity to study his 
 character. I have been in company with him every day for many 
 months together ; and, within a period of twelve years, I did not see 
 him inebriated; no, not in a single instance. I do not believe that he 
 was evef habitually intemperate until he was made so by grief and 
 many bitter disappointments. And, with respect to the charge of 
 libertinism, I have similar testimony to offer. Of all men that I ever 
 knew, he was the most passionless; and I appeal to his writings for 
 confirmation of this report. Poets of ardent temperament, such as 
 Anacreon, Ovid, Byron, and Tom Moore, will display their constitu 
 tional peculiarity in their literary compositions ; but Edgar Poe never 
 wrote a line that gives expression to a libidinous thought. The female 
 creations of his fancy are all either statues or angels. His conversation, 
 at all times, was as chaste as that of a vestal, and his conduct, while I 
 knew him, was correspondingly blameless. 
 
 Poe, during his lifetime, was feared and hated by many newspaper 
 editors and other literary animalcules, some of whom, or their friends, 
 had been the subjects of his scorching critiques; and others disliked 
 him, naturally enough, because he was a man of superior intellect. 
 While he lived, these resentful gentlemen were discreetly silent, but 
 they nursed their wrath to keep it warm, and the first intelligence of 
 his death was the signal for a general onslaught. The primal slander 
 against the deceased bard was published in a leading journal of Phila 
 delphia, the literary editor of which [English] had formerly received 
 not only a critical rebuke, but something like personal chastisement 
 also, from the hands of the departed poet. 
 
 Since that time, by continued and well directed efforts, the news- 
 
388 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 papers of our country have succeeded in giving Poe a character as 
 black as Vulcan s stithy, and in this hideous drapery, woven by 
 demoniac malice, the unrivalled poet of America is now presented to 
 the world. 
 
 It was the article published in the "Edinburgh Review," 
 quoted by the editor of the "Ladies Repository" that 
 induced Mrs. Whitman to break her long silence. She 
 took up the gauge of battle by publishing her monograph 
 on Poe the first book entirely devoted to a study of his 
 morals and to the rehabilitation of his name. 
 
 EDGAR POE AND His CRITICS. By Sarah Helen Whitman. 
 New York: Rudd & Carleton, 130 Grand Street, 
 MDCCCLX. 
 
 In the preface Mrs. Whitman says: 
 
 Dr. Griswold s Memoir of Edgar Poe has been extensively read and 
 circulated; its perverted facts and baseless assumptions have been 
 adopted into every subsequent memoir and notice of the poet, and 
 have been translated into many languages. For ten years this great 
 wrong to the dead has passed unchallenged and unrebuked. 
 
 It has been assumed by a recent English critic that Edgar Poe had 
 no friends. As an index to a more equitable and intelligible theory of 
 the idiosyncrasies of his life, and as an earnest protest against the 
 spirit of Dr. Griswold s unjust memoir, these pages are submitted to 
 his more candid readers and critics by One of his Friends. 
 
 This confession was one not easy to make, for it was to 
 Mrs. Whitman that Poe was engaged to be married while 
 he was still a resident of Fordham ; and it was his reported 
 actions with reference to breaking the engagement, of 
 which Griswold made so foul a use in his attempt to 
 blacken the character of Poe. 
 
 Quoting from Griswold s Memoir: 
 
 He said to an acquaintance in New York, who congratulated him 
 upon the prospect of his union with a person of such genius and so 
 many virtues, it is a mistake: I am not going to be married. Why, 
 Mr. Poe, I understand that the banns have been published. I cannot 
 help what you have heard, my dear Madam, but mark me, I will 
 not marry her. He left town the same evening and next day was 
 reeling through the streets of the city which was the lady s home, and 
 in the evening that should have been the evening before the bridal, 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 389 
 
 in his drunkenness he committed such outrages as made it necessary 
 to summon the police. Here was no insanity leading to indulgence: he 
 went from New York with a determination thus to induce an ending 
 of the engagement; and he succeeded. 
 
 Even had this story been true, the use of so prominent a 
 woman s name to point a tale was not a chivalrous act. Asa 
 matter of fact the whole scene, so graphically painted, was 
 a fabrication, and the proof that it was not true was at 
 once offered, but Griswold never retracted it. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman did break her engagement with Poe be 
 cause she found he had not kept his promise of abstinence. 
 He was not rude in her presence nor did he exhibit any 
 abnormality except as she has described. It was she who 
 broke the engagement, in spite of Poe s protests and his 
 promises of reform. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman, in a letter to Gill, declared what already 
 had been offered in evidence, that : 
 
 No such scene as that described by Dr. Griswold ever took place in 
 my presence. No one, certainly no woman who had the slightest ac 
 quaintance with Edgar Poe, could have credited the story for an 
 instant. He was instinctively and essentially a gentleman, utterly 
 incapable, even in moments of excitement and delirium, of such an 
 outrage as Dr. Griswold has ascribed to him. 
 
 She dismissed the Griswold allegations very briefly : 
 
 It is not our purpose at present specially to review Dr. Griswold s 
 numerous misrepresentations, and misstatements. Some of the more 
 injurious of these anecdotes were disproved, during the life of Dr. 
 Griswold, in the New York Tribune, and other leading journals, with 
 out eliciting from him any public statement in explanation or apology. 
 Quite recently we have had, through the columns of the Home Jour 
 nal, the refutation of another calumnious story, which for ten years 
 has been going the rounds of the English and American periodicals. 
 
 We have authority for stating that many of the disgraceful anec 
 dotes, so industriously collected by Dr. Griswold, are utterly fabulous, 
 while others are perversions of the truth, more injurious in their 
 effects than unmitigated fiction. We propose simply to point out some 
 unformed critical estimates which have obtained currency among 
 readers who have had but a partial acquaintance with Mr. Poe s more 
 imaginative writings, and to record our own impressions of the char 
 acter and genius of the poet, as derived from personal observation and 
 from the testimony of those who knew him. 
 
390 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Mrs. Whitman was a woman of remarkable personality. 
 John Hay (himself a marked example of a sane genius with 
 depressive seizures) described the dominating influence she 
 exerted over him while he was at Brown University. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman, knowing her subject and dealing with 
 so many phases of it that were personally embarrassing, 
 treated the whole matter as only a woman of great refine 
 ment could. It is true that the picture she draws is colored 
 by an overweening tenderness ; but one cannot too harshly 
 criticise grief for a dead friend, and if tears of sorrow 
 blind the eyes and mental reservations prevent over-full 
 statements of matters essentially personal, can we wonder 
 if the outline occasionally is blurred? She does not refer to 
 her own close association with Poe, but describes, in a 
 manner purely impersonal, not so much her admiration of 
 Poe, the man, as her admiration for Poe, the man of letters 
 
 She describes, as only a woman can, what there was in 
 Poe that so strongly appealed to the women with whom he 
 associated. Apparently, the basis of that appeal was the 
 complete deference and the chivalrous attitude which, 
 even in thought, characterized Poe s treatment of women. 
 Never in the whole course of his life, either in what he 
 wrote or what he said, did he treat woman other than as 
 the angel embodiment of man. In Mrs. Whitman s sketch 
 is to be noted especially an absolute freedom from any 
 touch of jealousy as she couples Poe s name with that of 
 other women with which it had been associated. 
 
 There is a quiet drawing room in Street, New York, a sort 
 of fragrant and delicious clovernook in the heart of the noisy city 
 where hung some three years ago, the original painting from which this 
 engraving [referring to the portrait accompanying Poe s first volume 
 of collected works] is a copy. Happening to meet there at the time a 
 company of authors and poets, among whom were Mary Forest, Alice 
 and Phoebe Gary, the Stoddards, T. B. Aldrich and others, we heard 
 one of the party say, in speaking of the portrait, that its aspect was 
 that of a beautiful and desolate shrine from which the Genius had 
 departed. . . . Near this luminous but impassive face, with its sad 
 and soulless eyes, was a portrait of Poe s unrelenting biographist. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 391 
 
 In a recess opposite hung a picture of fascinating Mrs. , whose 
 
 genius both had so fervently admired, and for whose coveted praise 
 and friendship both had been competitors. Looking at the beautiful 
 portrait of this lady the face so full of enthusiasm, and dreamy 
 tropical sunshine remembering the eloquent words of her praise, as 
 expressed in the prodigal and passionate exaggerations of her verse, 
 one ceases to wonder at the rivalries and enmities enkindled in the 
 hearts of those who admired her genius and her grace, rivalries which 
 the grave itself could not cancel or appease. 
 
 Again she wrote : 
 
 A woman of fine genius, who at this time made his acquaintance, 
 says, in some recently published comments on his writings: It was in 
 the brilliant circles that assembled in the winter of 1845-6 at the 
 homes of Dr. Dewey, Miss Anna C. Lynch, Mr. Lawson, and others, 
 that we first met Edgar Poe. His manners were at these reunions re 
 fined and pleasing, and his style and scope of conversation that of a 
 gentleman and a scholar. Whatever may have been his previous career, 
 there was nothing in his manner nor in his appearance to indicate 
 excesses. He delighted in the society of superior women and had an 
 exquisite perception of all the graces of manner, and shades of expres 
 sion. He was an admiring listener, and an unobtrusive observer. We 
 all recollect the interest felt at the time in everything emanating from 
 his pen the relief it was from the dullness of ordinary writers the 
 certainty of something fresh and suggestive. His critiques were read 
 with avidity; not that he convinced the judgment, but that people 
 felt their ability and their courage. Right or wrong he was terribly in 
 earnest. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman dissented from the frequently expressed 
 view that Poe s own personality was infused into that of 
 the characters which he often so vividly depicted in his 
 weird tales and poems, but she did believe that his ab 
 normal mentality was directly responsible for the character 
 of his creative work. 
 
 His proud intellectual assumption of the supremacy of the individual 
 soul was but an expression of his imperious longings for immortality 
 and its recoil from the haunting phantasms of death and annihila 
 tion; while the theme of all his more imaginative writings is a love 
 that survives the dissolution of the mortal body and oversweeps the 
 grave. His mental and temperamental idiosyncracies fitted him to 
 come readily into rapport with psychal and spiritual influences. Many 
 of his strange narratives had a degree of truth in them which he was 
 unwilling to avow. In one of this class he makes the narrator say, "I 
 cannot even now regard these experiences as a dream, yet it is difficult 
 for us now to say how otherwise they should be termed. Let us suppose 
 only that the soul of man, today, is on the brink of stupendous psychal 
 
392 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 discoveries. . . . He often spoke of the imageries and incidents of his 
 inner life as more vivid and veritable than those of his outer exper 
 ience. We find in some pencilled notes appended to a manuscript copy 
 of one of his later poems Ligeia the words all that I have here 
 expressed were actually present to me. Remember the mental condi 
 tion which gave rise to Ligeia recall the passage of which I spoke, 
 and observe the coincidence ! With all the fine alchemy of his subtle 
 intellect he sought to analyze the character and the conditions of this 
 introverted life. I regard these visions/ he says, even as they arise, 
 with an awe which in some measure moderates or tranquil izes the 
 ecstasy I so regard them through a conviction that this ecstasy, in 
 itself, is of a character supernal to the human nature is a glimpse of 
 the spirit s outer world. . . . His mind indeed was a Haunted 
 Palace, echoing to the footfalls of angels and demons. No man, 
 he says, has recorded, no man has dared to record, the wonders of 
 his inner life. Is there then, no significance in this supernatural 
 soliciting? Is there no evidence of a wise purpose, an epochal fitness, 
 in the appearance, at this precise era, of a mind so rarely gifted, and 
 accessible from peculiarities of psychal and physical organization to 
 the subtle vibrations of an ethereal medium conveying but feeble 
 impressions to the senses of ordinary persons? 
 
 The peculiar character of his intellect seemed without a prototype 
 in literature. He had more than De Quincey s power of analysis, with 
 a constructive unity and completeness of which the great English 
 essayist has given no indication. His pre-eminence in constructive and 
 analytical skill was beginning to be universally admitted, and the 
 fame and prestige of his genius were rapidly increasing. ... A 
 recent and not too lenient critic tells us that it was his sensitiveness 
 to artistic imperfections, rather than any malignity of feeling, that 
 made his criticisms so severe, and procured him a host of enemies 
 among persons towards whom he entertained no personal ill-will. 
 
 Mrs. Whitman s final estimate is characteristic of the 
 woman : 
 
 We confess to a half faith in the old superstition of the significance 
 of anagrams when we find, in the transposed letters of Edgar Poe s 
 name, the words, a God-peer: words which, taken in connection with 
 his daring speculations, seem to have in them a mocking and malign 
 import which is not man s nor angel s. 
 
 The book is filled with personal reminiscences and is 
 illustrated by many anecdotes showing Poe s lovable nature 
 and the tender care he gave his wife. It barely touches on 
 matters controversial, nor is there more than a sympa 
 thetic reference to his sins of commission. While she does 
 not deny that Poe had occasional periods of intoxication, 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 393 
 
 she draws a picture of his sufferings following these out 
 breaks that make us, who know the compulsory nature of 
 these seizures, more keenly realize the bitter sorrow that 
 followed and how fully he expiated them. 
 
 Poe s private letters to his friends offer abundant evidence that he 
 was not insensible to the keenest pangs of remorse. Again and again 
 did he say to the Demon that tracked his path Anathema Maran- 
 atha but again and again did it return to torture and subdue. He saw 
 the handwriting on the wall but had no power to avert the impending 
 doom. 
 
 Apparently the writings of Poe made a strong appeal to 
 the psychical beliefs that are said to have dominated 
 Mrs. Whitman. She was a student of the occult and 
 strongly believed in spirit manifestations. 
 
 No subject of recent years has excited more interest 
 among psychologists and men of science than has this 
 question of a "sixth" sense. 
 
 Although eminent names recently have been added to 
 those who acknowledge definite belief in spiritualistic phe 
 nomena, no answer can be made that may be considered 
 final; nor has any proof been adduced that this "sixth 
 sense," which I believe does exist, is more of a phenomenon 
 than the other five, except that only certain highly or 
 ganized "sensitives," or mediums, possess it and for this 
 reason develop auto-hypnosis. 
 
 Mrs. J. K. Barney, who was an intimate friend of Mrs. 
 Whitman, and who was invited to meet Poe during one of 
 his visits, gives this remarkable account of an incident that 
 is worth recording : 
 
 On one of his visits to Providence, Mrs. Whitman invited a number 
 of literary people to her home that they might have the opportunity 
 of seeing Poe and listening to his wonderful converse. The guests were 
 assembled all distinguished people discussing books and the like. 
 Poe and Mrs. Whitman sat across the room from each other. They 
 were theorizing on the poetic principle. After a time the other voices 
 ceased. All were drawn toward Poe, whose eyes were gleaming and 
 whose utterance was most eloquent. His eyes were fixed on Mrs. Whit 
 man. After another time Poe stopped talking, keeping his eyes on 
 
394 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Helen. Of a sudden the company perceived that Poe and Helen were 
 greatly agitated. Simultaneously both rose from their chairs and 
 walked toward the center of the room. Meeting he held her in his 
 arms, kissed her; they stood for a moment, then he led her to her seat. 
 There Was a dead silence through all this strange proceeding. 
 
 While Poe did not so intend, it was a marvelous exhi 
 bition of the mesmeric power he unconsciously exerted 
 over the "sensitives" whom he so strongly influenced. 
 
 Although Poe had many defenders, as a rule all that 
 was written about him, because of the obscurity of the 
 journals in which publication was made, was more or less 
 ephemeral and difficult to collect. 
 
 The memoir by Griswold, published and republished in 
 "Poe s Works," for long remained the standard and au 
 thentic declaration of the facts of Poe s life. Mrs. Whit 
 man s was the first defense issued in book form, and it is 
 an appreciation rather than a biography. 
 
 For these reasons, those who first attempted the rehabil 
 itation of Poe found it a difficult matter to overcome the 
 statements so confidently made, and were more or less at 
 a loss to make an authoritative answer. 
 
 The first serious attempt to controvert Gr is wold s state 
 ments and to rehabilitate Poe s character, was the biog 
 raphy by Gill, published in 1877. 
 
 THE LIFE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE. By William Fearing Gill. 
 Illustrated. New York: W. J. Widdleton. 1877. 
 
 Gill is not an artist, and must not be blamed because the 
 outline of his delineation has not the fidelity of a Hogarth 
 or the strength of Rembrandt. At least, he did the best he 
 knew and he was the first biographer, after nearly thirty 
 years of "consent," to attempt to gather the data and 
 clearly to present the facts on which a biography of Poe 
 should rest. That he was carried away by enthusiasm and 
 a love for his subject, was a temperamental fault and, in 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 395 
 
 the circumstances, excusable. While his life of Poe cannot 
 be accepted either as critical or unbiased, few biographies 
 may be so judged; and, when they are thus written, they 
 lose much of their charm, if not their value, as guides for 
 our judgment 
 
 Although Hannay in his effort to rehabilitate Poe met 
 with adverse criticism, and his statements, as against 
 those of Griswold and Briggs, received slight credence, 
 he continued a faithful, if unadvised, defender of the 
 poet. Unable to deny certain allegations, and not in pos 
 session of facts that would controvert them, he regarded 
 these acts as the result of a temporary mental disturbance 
 rather than the consequence of a vicious life. 
 
 Another Englishman, John H. Ingram, wrote many 
 papers dealing with Poe and his traducers, and he prefixed 
 a memoir to an edition of Poe s works that attempted to 
 disprove many of Griswold s statements. In 1880 he pub 
 lished an amplification of his former studies : 
 
 EDGAR ALLAN POE: His Life, Letters and Opinions. By 
 John H. Ingram. (Quotation) With Portraits of Poe and 
 his Mother. (In two volumes) London: John Hogg, 
 Paternoster Row. 1880. 
 
 This work remains a valuable contribution to the life of 
 Poe because in it a critical study was attempted and, for 
 the first time, many of Griswold s allegations were ques 
 tioned and certain of them were refuted. In his chapter on 
 the "Biographies of Edgar Allan Poe," Ingram sharply 
 criticised Didier, another Poe memorialist, for "forgetting 
 in the hurry of publication, to acknowledge the chief 
 source of his much fresh and interesting information. 
 Ingram s memory proved to be equally treacherous in that 
 he made no mention of Gill s "Life," although he discussed 
 many of the same questions that Gill formerly had argued. 
 
3% POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 In March 1850 was published, in the Southern Literary Messenger, 
 what Griswold styles an Eulogium on Poe, but what really was a 
 still more dastardly attack on the dead man than the unsavory Lud- 
 wig article. It had evidently been written and printed in hot haste, 
 and was so disgraceful and cowardly that the editorial proprietor of 
 the magazine, Mr. John R. Thompson, deemed it necessary to append 
 a short printed note, to the effect that had it not been inserted during 
 his absence, and not been seen by him till too late to stop it, it should 
 not have appeared in the Messenger. Who wrote this article? It is 
 generally ascribed to Mr. J. M. Daniel; yet, strange to say, it not only 
 uses lengthy passages of Ludwig s sketch without inverted commas, 
 or other signs of quotation, but, when Griswold s long Memoir of 
 Poe appeared in the International Magazine, he also made use of long 
 extracts from the Eulogium without acknowledgment. Certainly 
 he does refer to it as his authority for one of the blackest crimes he 
 charges Poe with, and which he himself not unaptly styles unfit for 
 any register but that of hell. Was not this miscalled defender 
 Griswold himself or some one acting under his inspiration? 
 
 The few delinquencies of Poe that Ingram accepted as 
 true were explained in a manner that does credit to In- 
 gram s ingenuity although they are not convincing answers. 
 This extreme partisanship was unfortunate in that it did 
 not aid rehabilitating Poe s reputation. To abuse Griswold 
 and to ignore the delinquencies with which Poe was 
 charged were not a sufficient answer to certain other 
 serious accusations that had been made. Too much was 
 known of Poe s eccentricities and of his alcoholic habits 
 for them either to have been ignored or to have been 
 passed over with a simple denial. Concessions and explan 
 ations given by former biographers were judged by Ingram 
 to have been unwisely made. 
 
 The best known of these was the essay of Baudelaire, and it is chiefly 
 remarkable as the attempt, by a man of genius, to explain Poe s char 
 acter as described by Griswold, by an ingenious theory of his own. Of 
 course he failed in that, however valuable his essay otherwise may be 
 and truly is. Next in importance to the French critic s characterization 
 of Poe, is that of James Hannay. It is a charming and appreciative 
 sketch, but having no biographical details other than Griswold s to 
 go by, and being as instinctively attracted to Poe as Baudelaire, 
 Hannay also started a theory as ingenious and as unsatisfactory as 
 his to account for the poet s presumed misdeeds. 
 
 Baudelaire s belief that alcohol and opium were the 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 397 
 
 basis of Poe s power of imagination and that from these he 
 obtained his inspiration was rejected. Nor did he agree 
 that temporary mental states, suggested by Hannay and 
 known to have afflicted so many men of genius with re 
 curring states of mental depression, was a satisfactory 
 explanation. He regarded Poe as a maligned and misjudged 
 author, and failed to recognize the nervous diathesis as 
 the basis for certain of his vagaries. 
 
 From a study of these fragmentary and biased biog 
 raphies it became evident that a new method of approach 
 must be found in order to gain an intelligent understand 
 ing of Poe s life and character. The thing most necessary 
 was a sifting of true statements from false as they related 
 to Poe s neurosis, and a re-presentation of Poe facts as dis 
 tinguished from the Poe myth. As frequently happens, 
 when the necessity arises a man can be found capable of 
 accomplishing the required task. 
 
 This work was assigned by Chalres Dudley Warner, 
 editor of the "American Men of Letters" series, to George 
 E. Woodberry, at that time a young and unknown writer. 
 Accordingly there was published : 
 
 AMERICAN MEN OF LETTERS : Edgar Allan Poe. By George 
 E. Woodberry. Boston, Houghton, Mifflin and Com 
 pany. The Riverside Press. Cambridge. 1885. 
 
 In this publication Woodberry made a dispassionate and 
 careful study of all the known facts of Poe s life, and an 
 intelligent effort to elucidate the many obscure points that 
 had been controversial, or that were unknown. Much new 
 information was furnished, and Woodberry believed that 
 he discovered passages in Poe s life which further research 
 may, or may not, uphold. 
 
 In the preface Woodberry discussed the difficulties 
 under which he labored by reason of the many conflicting 
 
398 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 statements and the diverse opinions still held, and he gave 
 the data on which he relied for his expressed estimate. 
 
 The statements of fact in these sources are extremely conflicting, 
 doubtful, and contested; and in view of this, as well as of the spirit of 
 rancor excited in any discussion of Poe s character, the author has 
 made this, so far as was possible, a documentary biography, has 
 verified all facts positively stated at first hand, and has felt obliged to 
 assign the authority followed, in any questionable assertions, in foot 
 notes. . . . Notwithstanding the amount of printed matter regarding 
 Poe, his life has not been exhaustively treated. The larger portion of 
 the following pages consists of wholly new information, or of old state 
 ments so radically corrected as to become new. 
 
 Woodberry referred to this as a "Documentary Life," 
 as it was founded on contemporary evidence usually of a 
 documentary nature. He does not overstate its value as a 
 study. Nothing better has been offered and while, in my 
 judgment, it is deficient because of a failure to understand 
 and exhibit the underlying neurosis on which many of 
 Poe s erratic acts were based, at least these were not mag 
 nified. Possibly it was not to be expected that Woodberry 
 either could fully comprehend, or could scientifically dem 
 onstrate the underlying compulsions which were the basis 
 of these actions. 
 
 Woodberry later revised and amplified this documen 
 tary statement, converting it into a biography in which he 
 furnished a compendious study of Poe s writings, and in 
 which he delineated his own conception of Poe s person 
 ality. 
 
 THE LIFE OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, Personal and Literary: 
 With his chief Correspondence with Men of Letters. By 
 George E. Woodberry. (Two Volumes.) Boston and 
 New York : Houghton, Mifflin and Company. The River 
 side Press. Cambridge, 1909. 
 
 This was an unfortunate attempt of Woodberry to ex 
 tend his documentary study of Poe into a biography that 
 should exhibit a sympathetic understanding of the morbid 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 399 
 
 and diseased personality, inherent in Poe, which so fre 
 quently influenced and which occasionally dominated his 
 life. 
 
 Because of his former study of Poe, possibly also by 
 reason of his college association with the younger Gris- 
 wold, Woodberry was given access to all Poe material that 
 was still in possession of the Griswold family, and he was 
 employed by them to edit certain Poe correspondence. In 
 this way he had personal knowledge of all the manuscripts 
 remaining in Griswold s possession, and he is our authority 
 as to their contents. His references to these papers are only 
 incidental and not such as fully to elucidate them. Occa 
 sionally only enlightening statements are found such as, 
 when referring to the Poe letters Griswold prefixed to his 
 "Memoir," he states in his Notes : "Both varied materially 
 from the printed text." While he could not have specified 
 those things destroyed by Griswold provided there was 
 such destruction so accurate a transcriber should have 
 given us the details, rather than the general statement : 
 "However garbled the letters." Apparently nothing that 
 was found unfavorably influenced Woodberry s high esti 
 mate of Griswold. Nowhere does he criticize Griswold s 
 action in publishing, as a preface to Poe s works, the 
 derogatory "Memoir," even though his own researches 
 contradicted so many of its statements ; nor does he hold 
 Griswold blamable because of his assumption and reten 
 tion of all of Poe s literary possessions. On the other hand 
 it is to be assumed that personal study of these letters, and 
 of other Poe material, unfavorably influenced his concep 
 tion of Poe s character, and that, unconsciously, there 
 developed an antipathetic mental attitude that is most 
 evident in his life of Poe. This accounts for Woodberry s 
 statement with reference to this investigation: "Though 
 contact may have bred prejudice, I had none at the outset, 
 so far as I can remember." 
 
400 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 The documentary biography, as a source of Poe reference, 
 has been overshadowed by this more recent and greatly 
 amplified "Literary Biography," with which Woodberry s 
 name is now so definitely associated. This is regrettable 
 because, while the first study made no pretense of being 
 other than a compilation, and a special research into the 
 facts of Poe s life, and attempted no personal estimate, the 
 latter work specialized not only on all Poe wrote, but at 
 tempted a character study which would elucidate the 
 personal equation a thing for which Woodberry was in 
 no way temperamentally fitted. He wrote in his introduc 
 tion: "In the former biography I excluded much, and sup 
 pressed much, of what I thought the world would willingly 
 let die; but this proved a fruitless attempt to assist ob 
 livion, and I have in the present work, at least noticed all 
 that has been said or alleged on the subject." While this 
 biography does possess much of both literary and bio 
 graphical interest, it is deficient in certain qualities which 
 I believe to be necessary for the successful delineation of 
 Poe s puzzling and ill-understood personality. 
 
 Woodberry further explained his reason for writing this 
 second biography: "I have aimed to make this a literary 
 biography ; as such it has two special interests, in that it is 
 a life led outside New England, and that it embodies much 
 contemporaneous literary history not involved in any 
 life of our great writers. I have aimed also to present in the 
 text the facts of Poe s career as they lay in my own mind ; 
 in the Notes I have allowed others to speak freely, for 
 praise or dispraise, in order that all may have a fair field 
 where there is so great a controversy." Nothing that Poe 
 wrote and nothing in Poe s career had attracted Wood- 
 berry. "My attention had never been drawn to Poe, nor 
 my interest specially excited by his works," is his explan 
 atory statement of the personal attitude he bore to Poe. 
 Nor, after his documentary biography, did his interest 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 401 
 
 grow; neither did he continue his investigations, except 
 incidentally. "Through these years information naturally 
 came to me, also, from other sources, [this is a probable 
 reference to his editorship of the Poe MSS.] though I have 
 never engaged in personal investigation since writing the 
 former biography." 
 
 While, beyond question, this literary biography possessed 
 many admirable features, it failed because in his 4 Creation" 
 there was a malformation of the most important of the 
 vital organs. Like Frankenstein who attempted to create 
 a man perfect in symmetry, marvelously articulated with 
 every muscle, nerve and organ properly placed, and 
 with a mind so keen in its perceptions, and endowed 
 with such intelligence that it was able to circumvent, and, 
 in time, to overwhelm its creator, so does Woodberry re 
 construct a Poe who possesses a brain that functioned 
 normally with a mental capacity unequalled by any of 
 his contemporaries ; yet somewhere there was a fatal flaw, 
 for none of the generous impulses and humanitarian qual 
 ities animated it. Like the pallid, blotched, ill-fitting skin 
 of Frankenstein s "Daemon," and the livid-lipped mouth 
 with its shining teeth, which rendered it so abhorrent a 
 monster, so does this Poe construction fail in recalling to 
 us a human possessing amiable traits and loving consider 
 ation for those around him. It may be asked, as it was in 
 the discussion of Griswold s "Memoir," could Woodberry 
 find "no cheeriness in the boy no casual acts of kindness 
 no adhesion to old friendships no sympathy with the 
 poor and unhappy?" The picture drawn of Poe haunting 
 the spot where his mother-love lay buried is laughed to 
 scorn; his devotion to his wife, to his mother, and his in 
 defatigable efforts to provide a home for them, while men 
 tioned in the Notes are principally discussed with reference 
 to his derelictions; his friendship for his associates, as well 
 as their loyal defense of him after his death, are referred 
 
402 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 to but not fully quoted in Woodberry s Notes. The de 
 lineation is that of a cold, misanthropic, dissipated, and 
 immoral individual influenced by no human passion, 
 warmed by none of the genial qualities necessary for 
 friendly intercourse, swayed by none of the finer impulses 
 that differentiate us from the lower creations an intellec 
 tual monster. In his reconstruction, the organ Woodberry 
 omitted was a "heart." With such an omission no life-like 
 delineation can be successfully made. Poe, the Man, is 
 ignored. It is only Poe, the Writer, who is described. Al 
 though admiration is expressed for Poe s literary capacity, 
 and the things he wrote received due praise, Woodberry 
 exhibits no love for his subject, nor any understanding of 
 the world in which Poe lived. As was suggested, had Poe 
 not "led a life outside New England," Woodberry would 
 have been far better fitted for the task. His sympathetic 
 treatment of Hawthorne required no effort of the imagina 
 tion, nor did it call for personal tributes because, in 
 herently, these qualities were a part of the subject. But the 
 task Woodberry successfully accomplished in tranfiguring 
 the frigid personality and "transcendental emotionality" 
 of Emerson into the semblance of a jovial human being, 
 makes it certain that, had Poe remained in Boston, and 
 had he become acclimated to the ozone of its literary atmo 
 sphere, his name, so far as his reputation is concerned, 
 would have received more sympathetic consideration at 
 the hands of Woodberry. As this biography stands, no 
 glossing love, nor personal admiration, translates this con 
 struction into a vital representation. No responsive chord 
 was touched by reason of the physical agony that Poe suf 
 fered, or because of the mental torture that, by heredity, 
 was a part of him. Had Woodberry reversed his creation, 
 had he drawn his conclusions from the Notes rather than 
 from the text, it would have been a more lovable delinea 
 tion. Certainly his work is valuable for the facts it con- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 403 
 
 tains. When the standard biography of Poe is written, at 
 least Woodberry s researches will constitute valuable 
 building material, and he will realize his ambition : "What 
 ever shall be the fortune of this work, I am amply re 
 warded by the conviction that I have, at least, made the 
 way easier for that ideal biographer who, when he comes, 
 shall be perfect in good-sense, good-will, and discretion." 
 
 Another feature of this book that deserves criticism are 
 the illustrations intended for the elucidation of the text. In 
 conception and in execution they typify the grotesque and 
 repulsive features which certain artists adopt when they 
 attempt to portray Poe characters. They are strongly 
 reminiscent of the "quagmire phosphorescence" through 
 which certain commentators have visioned some of Poe s 
 finest work, and which they have denominated "Germanic 
 Horrors/ Poe s own explanation of these horrors has never 
 received the consideration which is its due: "If in many 
 of my productions terror has been the thesis, I maintain 
 that terror is not of Germany, but of the soul that I 
 have deduced this terror only from its legitimate sources, 
 and urged it only to its legitimate results" 
 
 Such grotesque conceptions as Berenice, Ligeia, the 
 skeletonized Eleonora, and Ulalume give no pleasure to 
 the reader and they do not fairly illustrate the text. Nor 
 does it seem right to resurrect the horror of a dead romance 
 by reproducing the face of Poe s fiancee, except as an 
 added demonstration of his irresponsible mental state. 
 
 The last biography that will be discussed, and that one 
 which should be consulted by those desiring a personal 
 view of the Man, is that of Harrison. Because of his sym 
 pathetic treatment it is not, in all ways, reliable. 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE: By James A. 
 Harrison, of the University of Virginia. (Two Volumes.) 
 New York, Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. Publishers. 
 
404 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 In the first volume Harrison gave all of the known facts 
 of Poe s life so far as definite knowledge allowed. He did 
 not enter into controversial subjects further than to intelli 
 gibly relate all that it is necessary for us to know, or 
 that is really known. He does not discuss those doubtful life 
 incidents suggested by Woodberry that have not yet been 
 definitely settled. He wisely eliminated Poe s letters; these 
 he reserved for the second volume. This omission was 
 not in all ways wise, for it occasionally happens that full 
 reproduction of the text of these letters would have forced 
 upon him a reconstruction of certain phases of Poe s life. 
 Like Ingram he failed to take into consideration the mor 
 bid and depressive states freely referred to by Poe himself. 
 
 The tender personal consideration, and the evident 
 sympathy so apparent in Harrison s delineation of Poe, 
 should make this a standard Life for those who appreciate 
 Poe s work. It appeals to those who desire to look beneath 
 his intellectual mask and to find the human and lovable 
 qualities of the man. 
 
 A feature of this biography which makes it of value to 
 the collector is the bibliography. Because of the many 
 changes both in titles and substance, references to the 
 early contributions of Poe are often puzzling. It is true 
 that in the later volumes of "Graham s" and in the 
 "Broadway Journal", as well as in the collections pub 
 lished in 1845, Poe s poems and stories were given their 
 final revision. While these should be regarded as definitive, 
 their gradual evolution, as exhibited in Harrison s "Vir 
 ginia Poe", is of interest to all students of Poe s method 
 of literary composition. 
 
 For this assemblage of bibliographical items, Harrison 
 went to the original sources. His conclusions as to their ear 
 lier publications, as a whole, seem to be accurate. Although 
 by reason of careless compilation there are a few errors and, 
 at times, his assignment of particular criticisms and even 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 405 
 
 of more pretentious contributions, must be questioned. 
 While, in the original two-volume life, only dates of publi 
 cation are given, he later used these as a supplement to his 
 " Virginia Poe," a very complete republication of all that Poe 
 wrote. In these volumes he made an elaborate study of the 
 many emendations through which Poe s works were 
 evolved into the standard and now accepted form. These 
 are the result of Poe s matured literary judgment, except in 
 those criticisms edited by Griswold that related to himself 
 or to his personal friends, such as Briggs and English; or 
 where his heart was touched, as was the case with Mrs. 
 Osgood and with Mrs. Hewitt. Possibly in the latter case, 
 as in some others, it was a matter of pocket rather than of 
 heart. By all reports, the quid pro quo was not lacking in 
 Griswold s estimates. Harrison s index, although elaborate 
 and made with evident care, is most irritating in that it fails 
 to function. There are no cross references, and Poe s writings 
 in their many reproductions have been republished under 
 so many titles, that, in the use of this index, very accurate 
 knowledge is required ; so accurate that, if possessed, one 
 hardly requires an index. This is the more unfortunate be 
 cause Harrison s work is by no means systematized, and 
 the same subject is discussed under many phases. In this 
 particular, both the text and the index compare unfavor 
 ably with the carefully considered and intelligently framed 
 work of Woodberry. On the other hand, Woodberry s 
 bibliography is worthless. He has made no investigation 
 into the original sources of Poe s writings, and has been 
 content to rest on Griswold s four- volume edition, together 
 with a faulty adoption of Harrison s bibliography. 
 
 In the early 70 s there was a Poe revival, partly caused 
 by the many American and English biographies, but 
 mainly due to Poe s increasing literary renown. There 
 were many still living a few, unfortunately, the posses- 
 
406 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 sors of senile memories who insisted on recalling Poe as 
 they remembered him. They had entertained an "angel 
 unawares" and they believed this to be a good reason for 
 recalling, thirty years later, all the facts, and occasionally 
 reenforcing these with imaginary reconstructions. 
 
 The most flagrant offender was the physician who cared 
 for Poe at the time of his death, although he had many prolix 
 confreres ; the remarkable thing was that none of these re 
 membered any thing to Poe s discredit with one noticeable 
 exception. Time had erased all that was based on personal 
 bitterness due to critical severity or to literary jealousy. 
 
 Among others, Richard Henry Stoddard published his 
 "Personal Recollections." This was later inserted as the 
 preface of a collected edition of Poe s works. It is, in the 
 main, unexceptional in tone, and it avoids all reiteration 
 of the charges made by Griswold, adopting the attitude of 
 benevolently ignoring all disagreeable comments. However 
 it was impossible for Stoddard to forget a certain early 
 experience his one association with Poe that he re 
 called in its Jekyll and Hyde aspect. Evidently Stoddard 
 took pride in the connection he once established with Poe, 
 even if it was that relation which the door-mat bears to 
 the foot with which it comes in contact. Such repulsive de 
 tails have no more right to be inserted into Poe s works 
 than had the Griswold Memoir. Stoddard dwells on the 
 resemblance Poe s poems bear to Byron and asserts that 
 Byron strongly influenced Poe s early poetry. This asser 
 tion, which I believe is not justified by facts, deserves a 
 fuller investigation than has been given. It is a matter 
 assumed rather than proved by any full discussion. 
 
 While, in my opinion, Byron will rank higher as a uni 
 versal poet than will Poe, and while he exhibits a mastery 
 of melodious phrases equal to the best of Poe s poems 
 with a far wider latitude of thought, and a greater grasp of 
 rhythm and themes, no similarity of construction or method 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 407 
 
 of composition has been alleged. Many poets excell Poe in 
 the felicity of rhyme. Scott with his hippity-hop, and Pope 
 with his sonorous verbiage, in some respects can be regarded, 
 if not the superiors, at least as equal masters in their parti 
 cular styles. Byron s poem^exhibit a spontaneity and a vari 
 ety of subject matter that Poe never possessed, nor could 
 Poe approach him in verbal imagery, except in his own nar 
 row domain. The frequent references certain writers make 
 to "the cloak of Byron" Poe is assumed to have worn are 
 without justification. If there be any evidence of this deri 
 vation of Poe s early or later poems, no proofs have been 
 furnished. If there ever was an "inspired" poet it was Poe. 
 These published reminiscences were indicative of the pride 
 America was beginning to take in the name of Poe, and of 
 her desire publicly to honor Poe s memory. The culmination 
 of this movement was the public monument erected over 
 the remains of Poe at Baltimore in 1875. Later other evi 
 dences of the appreciation in which Poe was held were 
 made manifest. Probably the greatest honor conferred was 
 the Actor s Monument sculptured by Richard H. Park, 
 for this was the first honor of a national, and not sectional, 
 character. 
 
 Boston, with its New England clientele, never bowed 
 the knee. To them it seemed incomprehensible that one 
 could have arisen who did not belong to their local cult, 
 strangely ignoring the fact that in spite of their ostra 
 cism Poe really was Boston born. Woodberry had reason 
 to congratulate himself on his liberality of spirit in recog 
 nizing a "literary life led outside New England." 
 
 While many other writers have attempted to delineate 
 Poe, and while they have recognized that, even had Poe 
 exhibited faults, they were not uncommon in the lives of 
 other great writers, and especially that, in the case of Poe, 
 he had fully expiated them, none have taken a more just 
 or a more kindly view than was that of Edmund Clarence 
 
408 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Stedman. This literary estimate was first published as an 
 essay on "Poets of America," in "Scribner s Magazine," 
 and was later reprinted. 
 
 EDGAR ALLAN POE: By Edmund Clarence Stedman. Pri 
 vately printed. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 1909. 
 
 This copy is one of a limited edition printed by the Torch 
 Press. The beauty of its typography, the excellence of the 
 paper, and the immaculate press work, almost justify the 
 modern custom of limiting and numbering such issues. 
 
 The picture of Poe, which serves as an introduction, is 
 indicative of a face matured by thought and sobered by 
 the struggles and the unhappy contact with that abnormal 
 phase of life which was the ill-fortune of Poe. As such I 
 have selected it as an ideal representation of the man, 
 neither grotesquely caricatured nor unduly idealized. 
 
 Stedman s biography is a just presentation of Poe. 
 While no attempt is made to unduly glorify him, or in any 
 way to apotheosize him, and while his abnormal character 
 istics are not altogether ignored or for that matter fully 
 comprehended it is a human document that should pass to 
 posterity as a fair estimate of Poe, and such as should have 
 originally been prefixed to his works. Necessarily this esti 
 mate is literary rather than personal, and the following 
 extract is representative of Stedman s literary acumen, as 
 well as of his critical method. 
 
 I shall add but little here to all that has been written about 
 Ulalume. It is so strange, so unlike anything that preceded it, so 
 vague and yet so full of meaning, that of itself it might establish a new 
 method. To me it seems an improvisation, such as a violinist might 
 play upon the instrument which had become his one thing of worth 
 after the death of a companion had left him alone with his own soul. 
 
 Even Stedman s synopsis and criticism of "Eureka", 
 that work which has proved such a stumbling-block to 
 Poe critics, shows excellent comprehension in that it does 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 409 
 
 not conceive this as a scientific statement but treats it as 
 a literary curiosity, although he gives credence to Poe s 
 realization of a failure in performance a conclusion with 
 which Poe certainly would not have acquiesced. 
 
 In writing Eureka he was unquestionably sincere, and forgot him 
 self more nearly than in any other act of his professional life. But here 
 his inexact learning betrayed him. What was begun as a conviction 
 grew to be so far beyond the data at his command, or so inconsistent 
 with them, that he finally saw that he had written little else than a 
 prose poem, and desired that it should be so regarded. 
 
 Among others who contributed these Poe recollections 
 was John Sartain, the artist. In his "Reminiscences of a 
 Very Old Man," published in 1900, Sartain recalled the facts 
 of his Poe association. Apparently he was one of the few 
 friends who actively assisted Poe during his last sickness 
 and he was familiar with the morbid nervous state that 
 preceded Poe s death. 
 
 It was to him that Poe came during one of these seiz 
 ures, when he believed that he was being pursued, and 
 that enemies had formed a plot against his life. 
 
 Mr. Sartain, I have come to you for refuge and protection; will 
 you let me stay with you? It is necessary for my safety that I lie con 
 cealed for a time. He said it would be difficult for me to believe what 
 he had to tell, or that such things were possible in this nineteenth 
 century. . . . He told me that he had been on his way to New York, 
 but he had heard some men who sat a few seats back of him plotting 
 how they should kill him and then throw him off from the platform of 
 the car. He said they spoke so low that it would have been impossible 
 for him to hear and understand the meaning of their words, had it not 
 been that his sense of hearing was so wonderfully acute. . . . From 
 his fear of assassination his mind gradually veered around to an idea 
 of self-destruction, and his words clearly indicated this tendency. . . . 
 After a long silence he said suddenly, If this mustache of mine was 
 removed I should not be so easily recognized; will you lend me a 
 razor, that I may shave it off? 
 
 He also related to Sartain his Moyamensing hallucina 
 tions and, in addition to those already detailed, he suffered 
 from other delusions characteristic of the alcoholic delirium 
 which unquestionably was the basis of his mental state. 
 
410 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 An attendant asked me if I would like to take a stroll about the 
 place. I might see something interesting and I agreed. In the course of 
 our rounds on the ramparts we saw a cauldron of burning spirits. He 
 asked me if I would not like to take a drink. I declined, but, had I 
 said yes, I should have been lifted over the brim and dipped into the 
 hot liquid, up to the lips like Tantalus. ... So at last as a means to 
 torture me and to wring my heart, they brought out my mother, 
 Mrs. Clemm, to blast my sight by seeing them first saw off her feet 
 to the ankles, then her legs to the knees, her thighs at the hips. 
 
 On the second morning he appeared to have become so much like 
 his old self that I trusted him to go out alone. After an hour or two he 
 returned, and then told me that he had come to the conclusion thet 
 what I said was true, and that the whole thing was a delusion. He said 
 his mind began to clear as he laid on the grass. While he lay thus the 
 words he had heard kept running in his thoughts, but he tried in vain 
 to connect them with the speaker, and so the light gradually broke in 
 on his dazed mind and he saw that he had come out of a dream. 
 
 Woodberry, without justification, has aspersed Sartain s 
 memory of these events. While Sartain s statements are 
 recalled with undue precision, the nature of Poe s delusions 
 and hallucinations were such as give evidence of their 
 truth. The suddenness of so serious an attack following the 
 brief period of intoxication makes it most probable that 
 the congested state of Poe s brain was primarily respon 
 sible, although the character of his mental symptoms are 
 pathognomonic of delirium tremens. Insanity is not so 
 precipitate either in its onset or in its recovery. Sartain 
 also bears testimony to the small amount of intoxicant 
 required to produce a mental disturbance. 
 
 Sartain, as an artist, could speak with authority as to 
 Poe s facial characteristics, and his pronouncement bears 
 out the judgment of those other associates and friends of 
 Poe, previously quoted. 
 
 Poe s face was handsome. Although his forehead when seen in 
 profile showed a receding line from the brow up, viewed from the front 
 it presented a broad and noble expanse, very large at and above the 
 temples. His lips were thin and very delicately modelled. 
 
 While the interview described in the following quota 
 tion is not definitely fixed as to time, it probably occurred 
 during Poe s life-time, and is evidence that, even as be- 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 411 
 
 tween Griswold and English, relations were not always 
 harmonious. 
 
 Speaking of Poe recalls to me an amusing scene I witnessed in my 
 office between two of the literary fraternity, Rufus W. Griswold and 
 the well-known author of Ben Bolt [Thomas Dunn English.] The latter 
 was chatting delightfully with me when in walked Griswold. I knew of 
 course that they must be acquainted, and yet noticing that they acted 
 like strangers I apologized for neglecting to introduce them and for 
 assuming that they knew each other. Oh yes, said one grimly, 
 we know one another. So I saw there was bad blood between them. 
 A cheerless talk ensued for a time, when a name was spoken by chance 
 that had a magical effect. It was Poe, and they fraternized at once, 
 giving it to him right and left, agreeing that he was a most unjust 
 critic and a bad fellow in every way. The fact is Poe made himself 
 enemies all around by the cutting severity of his criticisms. 
 
 Since Woodberry s exhaustive study, little can be added 
 to the known facts of Poe s life. The controversial matters 
 necessarily give wide range for speculation, but it is not 
 probable that much of material importance will be dis 
 covered. I regret that I have not been able to consult the 
 data that have been gathered by Mary E. Phillips, whose 
 Life of Poe now is being published. Her study of letters 
 and records, hitherto unavailable for publication in their 
 entirety, may clear some of the illy understood facts of 
 Poe s inheritance and of his early life, although other 
 biographers have had access to these documents. 
 
 Ancestral details have been lacking; all biographers 
 having been satisfied to mention the eminent General Poe, 
 and respectfully refer to the legend of Admiral MacBride. 
 Nothing definite is known of the ancestry of Mrs. Poe. 
 Apparently she contributed her full share to the personal 
 characteristics and mental qualities of her son. As far as 
 the father is concerned, the little we know about him 
 does not justify our tracing any of the son s genius, or those 
 good qualities we know Edgar Poe possessed, to the pa 
 ternal parent. Yet, for some reason the paternal branch 
 of the family has been widely and fantastically exploited. 
 
 Misled by an excellently worded title-page Poe, him- 
 
412 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 self, could not have excelled it I was induced to order a 
 book that gave every promise of containing valuable in 
 formation. It was entitled: 
 
 THE ORIGIN AND EARLY HISTORY OF THE FAMILY OF POE 
 OR POE, With full Pedigrees of the Irish Branch of the 
 Family, and a Discussion of the true Ancestry of Edgar 
 Allan Poe, The American Poet. By Sir Edmond Thomas 
 Bewley M.A. LL.D. F.R.S.A.I. Author of "The Bewleys 
 of Cumberland," "The Family of Mulock," and Other 
 Works. Dublin. Printed for the Author by Ponsonby 
 and Gibbs, at the University Press. 1906. 
 
 Ponsonby and Gibbs deserve credit for the paper se 
 lected, and for the great beauty of their press work. As 
 befitting the offspring of an author who not only inherited, 
 but acquired, so many and such desirable titles, this 
 volume is impressive in appearance. It is quarto in size, 
 it is numbered, and it bears Bewley s signature, as well as 
 every other mark that a de luxe volume should possess. 
 It is a valuable contribution to bibliopoesy. However, in so 
 far as it throws light either on John Poe (who came from 
 Ireland, and for whom no befitting title or profession has 
 been found, but who probably was a day laborer, as his 
 children are known to have been) or on his progenitors, it is 
 valueless and a blank. Yet the search was diligent, and the 
 ground covered was wide. At least, by deduction, it allows 
 us to arrive at very positive conclusions concerning John 
 Poe s place of birth. Evidently Bewley took great pleasure 
 in delving deeply for the root of derivation. He carefully 
 nurtured this ancestral tree, which gave promise of such 
 rich fruiting, but in the end he failed to specify just which 
 branch bore the escutcheon, and from which the ancestors 
 of Edgar Poe traced their lineage. 
 
 There are three genealogical tables. The first, covering 
 five pages, is an account of the "First Two Generations of 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 413 
 
 the Irish Poes, and the Pedigrees of the Poes of Bellen of 
 the Co. Tipperary, and of Dromgooldtown, otherwise 
 Poe s Court, Co. Louth." This begins with one Anthony 
 Poe, who, with Alice Frost, preceding the years 1605-6, 
 begat a numerous family of Poes ; but, although traced to 
 a date as late as the year 1821, they are not brought into 
 any relationship with Edgar Poe. 
 
 The second table, consisting of eight pages, is a formid 
 able document. It is devoted to the "Pedigrees of the Poes 
 of Knock, otherwise Bettsborough, Donnybrook, Sols- 
 borough, Moyroe, Derrinvohill, Riverston, Curraghmore, 
 Hey wood, etc., etc." These Poes apparently did not com 
 mence until about 1650. Bewley traces them to 1902, but 
 in no way connects them with Edgar Poe. 
 
 The last pedigree Bewley traces, although covering only 
 five pages, is equally thorough, and apparently comes closer 
 to the subject in hand. In it, he traces the line of the t4 Poes 
 of Rosenharley, otherwise Harley Park, and of Kil- 
 kenney." While this pedigree does not contain a reference 
 to the American branch of the Poe family, it is certain, 
 judging from inherent characteristics of this family, that 
 it must have come directly from the Kilkenny branch, its 
 characteristics possibly intensified by inbreeding with the 
 Donnybrook strain. 
 
 In none of these tables, nor elsewhere in the book, is 
 information given as to Edgar Poe s ancestry. He is men 
 tioned in the title and in the preface, but there is only one 
 direct reference to him in the body of the book. This is 
 contained in a passage which asserts: "Edgar Allan Poe, 
 the famous American poet and writer, was undoubtedly 
 descended from John Poe, of Dring, who emigrated to 
 Pennsylvania about the year 1749 or 1750, with his wife, 
 and such of his children as were then born." So far as I can 
 discover, this is the only reference to Dring, and there is 
 nothing to^ indicate which of the three pedigreed families 
 
414 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 named has the right to be regarded as Edgar Poe s an 
 cestral group. This John Poe, who was an immigrant, 
 apparently paid small heed to the tree from which he 
 sprang. At best the bough he brought with him was only 
 a shillalah; had it been of "the seed of Elach," it would 
 have availed but little. It is certain that this particular 
 branch had not blossomed for many a year, and that John 
 Poe never boasted of his lineage. He had never heard of 
 the De La Poers, nor did he ever sign himself Poe, and, so 
 far as we know, he made no claim to noble ancestry. He 
 was dependent upon his own exertions, and, if related to 
 Admiral MacBride, he did not presume on this relationship. 
 
 While this completes the description of all books that 
 are properly a part of this study, and that may be con 
 sidered either as having been written by Poe or as of 
 special interest in elucidating Poe legends, a few other 
 publications must be mentioned because they have been 
 so positively ascribed to Poe as to have aroused curiosity, 
 even while they have failed to establish conviction. 
 
 In the year 1821, when Poe was 12 years old, there was 
 printed in Baltimore, by Matchett (evidently the same 
 Matchett who, in 1829, published Poe s Al Aaraaf, Tam 
 erlane and Other Poems), a collection of prose and verse, 
 entitled "Miscellaneous Selections," edited by Elizabeth 
 Chase. It has been alleged that several of these poems 
 were written by Poe because of the fact that they were 
 signed "Edgar." Poe is known to have written poems at a 
 most immature age, and it has been asserted that Allan 
 at one time contemplated printing them. To associate 
 these poems with Edgar Poe was an inspiration of some 
 booksellers cataloguer. No possible relation between this 
 book and Poe, other than the name, has been established. 
 Baltimore at this time was somewhat populous, and 
 possibly contained other Edgars. Whether or not it was 
 
ir 
 
 itmi 
 
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 a, 2 =r^ 
 
 5 
 
416 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Edgar Poe who wrote these poems the item has proved a 
 boon to book-auctioneers. It is possibly unique, and it has 
 been sold and resold so frequently that its history reminds 
 one of the story of Daniel Boone and his coon-skin. 
 Whether it be possible to trace, in a boy of ten or twelve, 
 the germ of later accomplishment, I cannot say. A repro 
 duction may aid others to solve this question. 
 
 Although Poe was necessarily in his nonage, not yet 
 having reached the age of ten, it is not right to attribute 
 such poems to him, nor that he should be held responsible 
 for their authorship. 
 
 Another book, persistently advertised as having been 
 written by Poe, is a satire by an anonymous author sign 
 ing himself "Lavante." It would not require more serious 
 consideration than has been given other alleged Poe com 
 positions had not Harrison given it semi-recognition by 
 mentioning it as a possible Poe production and approv 
 ingly quoting this critical passage: "The fact of Poe s 
 authorship was pretty clearly shown a few years ago by an 
 enterprising gentleman, hiding himself behind the nom de 
 plume of Geoffrey Quarles, who unearthed the original 
 Philadelphia edition, in some out of the way place, and 
 carefully edited a reprint." 
 
 This item is entitled : 
 
 THE POETS AND POETRY OF AMERICA. A Satire by "La- 
 vante," reprinted from the original, Published in Phil 
 adelphia in 1847. With an introductory argument by 
 Geoffrey Quarles, to show that it was written by Edgar 
 Allan Poe. New York: Benjamin & Bell. 1887. 
 
 It is strange that any one, after reading the introductory 
 stanzas, and understanding the personal relations that for 
 years had existed between Poe and Griswold, by the wild 
 est flight of imagination could have attributed this 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 417 
 
 "satire" to Poe. Nothing, either in versification or rhyth 
 mical effect, reminds me of anything that Poe published, 
 and I am not willing to believe that it was done in one of 
 those periods when it is known that he was irresponsible. 
 A foot-note to this volume reproduces a note found in the 
 original : "It is in the invaluable collection of Griswold that 
 I have found the plot and the groundwork of the Tale." 
 This note would have been written only by some admirer 
 of Griswold. Assuredly Poe could not be so classed. 
 
 Judged by this standard, and knowing the estimation in 
 which Griswold was held, one naturally would assume that 
 it was either Griswold himself who wrote these verses, or 
 that it was the work of "Harry Franco," or some other 
 Griswold satellite. Various writers are discussed, but the 
 serio-comic conceptions of this mock-heroic poem bear no 
 relation to any existing work possibly excepting the 
 "Fable for Critics." It is not to be presumed that Lowell 
 would have written two such poems. 
 
 The following passages are selected as illustrative of 
 this poem: 
 
 Clime of the brave ! entire from sea to sea ! 
 Vain is thy boast that thou art blest and free ! 
 Oh servile slaves to easten rules and rhyme, 
 Almost from Milton s blank to Chaucer s chime ! 
 Thy own proud bards behold ! a motley band 
 To lead the music of their native land. 
 Immortal GRISWOLD thine the deathless name 
 Shall bear the palm of more than mortal fame. 
 For thine the lofty boast at once to save 
 The humble bard perchance from hapless grave, 
 Weave with his crown thy fadeless laurel bays, 
 And with thy nursling gain undying praise. 
 Yea, thine alone to search o er Delphian height 
 That which shall give to gods and men delight; 
 At once to snatch from each lone wandering muse 
 All which on earth could profit or amuse, 
 Then rise and soar o er loftier peaks away, 
 And bask in Phoebus pure effulgent ray ! 
 Blest be thy name ! nor grief thy pleasure mar, 
 Nor fade thy life but with the morning star ! 
 
418 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Awake satiric muse! awake in might 
 
 To strike for poesy s insulted right! 
 
 The night was up, when all serene and glad 
 
 Each tuneful was for the banquet clad, 
 
 While Griswold s self, like Jeffrey on his throne, 
 
 Was raised sublime, and to a god was blown. 
 
 No mortal sign to mar that awful face 
 
 Where still appear the hues of wrath or grace; 
 
 All care, in calm composure sunk to rest, 
 
 A gracious smile betrays him greatly blest, 
 
 While trembling bards in eager strife appear 
 
 That nod to gain, the end of hope and fear. 
 ***** 
 
 First comes great WILLIS trembling to his heels, 
 
 Invokes the god, and for his country feels. 
 ***** 
 
 Approaching next with incense in each hand, 
 Proud DOANE and DANA take their reverent stand ; 
 One famed for moral, one for ghostly song, 
 
 While one might pray to help the tune along. 
 ***** 
 
 There bend meek BURLEIGH. CLIO, and SIR PIKE. 
 All goosquill armed, all friends to goose alike; 
 Great masters of the pen, who ne er may flag 
 
 Till Pegasus his tail shall cease to wag ! 
 ***** 
 
 Then spoke the god. Some farther test I name, 
 The loftier name to win, and life to claim; 
 Who highest soars when Phoebus shines afar, 
 By light unhurt, himself a living star, 
 Ascends Parnassus and o er tops its head, 
 
 Shall gain the prize a life beyond the dead ! 
 ***** 
 
 Then swiftly sweep by distance dim and vague, 
 Almost unseen poor DANA. DOANE. and SPRAGUE. 
 Lost to thy sight and just beneath the moon, 
 
 Our day stars CLIO. HOFF. are at their noon. 
 ***** 
 
 Once I could bend or feign to bend the knee, 
 When conscience told twas order s just decree, 
 I could dissemble scorn, and strive to seem 
 As calm as love embracing in a dream ; 
 No change could drag resentment from its rest, 
 My brow was smooth, my heart was well possest, 
 What now is done, not prudence would recall, 
 If pain ensue What sooner might befall? 
 Should public hate upon my pen react, 
 No matter this I will not aught retract. 
 
 LAVANTE. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 419 
 
 While "Geoffrey Queries, "by several pages of close reas 
 oning and careful analysis, has selected Poe as the probable 
 author of these lines, it is difficult fully to comprehend 
 his reasons, although he clearly states the premise on which 
 he based them. This he summarizes: "Either Poe wrote 
 this satire, or somebody else still unknown, wrote it with 
 Poe s experience, Poe s doctrines, Poe s animus, and in Poe s 
 language." The selected passages make plain the "animus" 
 and the "language," and to a certain extent show "experi 
 ence," but there is nowhere evidence of Poe s "doctrines." 
 Poe did have some rather set opinions as to what constituted 
 poetry, and he gave striking proof that he was experi 
 enced in the use of language. This heroic meter, and the 
 long (it extends to nearly 1000 lines of such versification 
 as the extracts indicate) Pope-like, allegorical allusions, 
 are not characteristic of Poe. 
 
 "Quarles, "encouraged by the reception of the"Lavante" 
 reprint, brought forth a new study of Poe with the title 
 "Edgar Allan Poe. The Man: The Master: The Martyr." 
 As the basis of this study, he presented several sectional 
 portraits of Poe which he divided into halves, and sub 
 divided into quarters, in order to demonstrate a theory 
 of buttons. So far as the title is concerned, the work is mis 
 leading, for it makes no reference to Poe, either as Man, 
 Master, or Martyr, and, to this extent, it is more disap 
 pointing than was Bewley s genealogical study. Like its 
 prototype, "Sartor Resartus," it playfully deals with 
 appendages to our outer coverings, and with equal ob 
 scurity does "Quarles" apply his discovery. In some way 
 he connects up "buttons" with the dismembered portraits 
 of Poe. In the belief that I am not altogether responsible 
 for my inability to understand the existing relation on 
 which "Quarles" so originally and insistently dwells, and 
 that others may attempt to solve the conundrum, I briefly 
 quote some of his conclusions: 
 
420 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 The faces here presented are offered as charts rather than pictures, 
 the intent being to get at, if at all possible by rule of thumb guided by 
 this and that light of the eye, the sum of Poe s contradictory charac 
 teristics, of face and mind. One can pick out a line here and a twist 
 there from the various daguerreotypes, and construct a fairly 
 probable index of Poe s makeup, but the feature that bothered pure 
 intellect was the Button. The great button problem is not to be ig 
 nored in this field of scientific research. Some of these absolutely faith 
 ful because photographic portraits show us that Poe had this 
 among his peculiarities of genius, his coat buttons were on the left 
 side. This trait indicated, of course, that the gentle Poe inherited the 
 feminine temperament, as women never wear the buttons right. In 
 analyzing these portraits, as reproduced in book plates, it was puzzling 
 to be sure whether Poe parted his hair on the right side or the left. So 
 much in character depends on the turn of a hair. But for fear of inspir 
 ing fond mothers with a new and cruel intellectual fad I might remark 
 in passing that more men of uncommon abilities have their natural 
 parting on the right side than I have noticed among the lefts, in pro 
 portion to numbers. On the principle, doubtless, by which black sheep 
 are the distinguished minority of their, and often of our flock. Poe 
 had the brand of wig that any one could part anywhere and itself 
 everywhere, as witness these painful efforts to depict the hue, sheen, 
 style, corkscruity of each separate lock. . . . Here came the grand 
 solution of the differential button calculus. If in this portrait Poe s 
 hair is parted on the right side, and in that one on the left, he evi 
 dently did it for the gratification of his topheavy brain that bred and 
 fed on eerie fancies, strange monstrosities, grotesques and arabesques, 
 of the unbalanced mind that "laughs but smiles no more." This head 
 will reel at the sight of even a pencil drawing of Cork, with the bottle 
 a hundred miles away. Happily all around, including a biographer or 
 two, Poe had no more, at most, than half a head like this, the typical 
 poet-head of the common hydrocephalic species. 
 
 More than twenty pages are given to these and other 
 manifestations of his theory. 
 
 The second part of this volume contains a restatement 
 and an amplification of the proofs that Poe was "Lavante." 
 Probably the strongest argument that "Quarles" adduces 
 is an original and skillful rendition of the cryptogram con 
 tained in the final lines of Lavante. 
 
 POE S CRYPTOGRAMS 
 
 Remembering his love of mystery and genius for cryptographic 
 writing it appeared possible that if Poe had versified his lecture, he 
 might have hidden the authorship in the last couplet : 
 
 SHOULD PUBLIC HATE UPON MY PEN REACT. 
 NO MATTER THIS I WILL NOT AUGHT RETRACT. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 421 
 
 I find the four following sentences are contained in this couplet : 
 
 EDGAR ALLAN POE; 
 
 AMERICAN POETS AND POETRY, A SATIRE. 
 
 A SATIRE, EVERY WORD TRUE; EDGAR ALLAN POE. 
 
 A TRUE AND HONEST SATIRE. BY EDGAR ALLAN POE. 
 
 Take this for what it is worth. Curiously enough the titles of the 
 two Satires reviewed by Poe, The Quacks of Helicon and The 
 Vision of Rubeta,\can not be got out of this couplet. Neither can the 
 names of those poets in the satire who just possibly might be suspected 
 of its authorship, Griswold, Lowell, Holmes, Pike, Benjamin, Long 
 fellow, Dawes, Pinkney, Willis, Whittier, Clarke, Halleck, Tucker, 
 Hoffman, Parker. 
 
 Lastly the very first man to be satirized by any brother poet, and 
 the last one to be omitted from a general round-up, would have been 
 Edgar Allan Poe. The absence of his name it was that started me on 
 this quest. 
 
 Surely had Quarles" devoted his attention to decipher 
 ing the Bacon cryptograms, he would have ranked high 
 among the commentators. With equal facility and assur 
 ance he could have demonstrated that either Poe or Bacon 
 wrote the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 Another section of this book "Quarles" calls the "Phil- 
 soophy of Composition," and it serves as an introduction 
 to a composition of his own called, "The Organ, A Fantasie 
 in the Manner of Poes Raven suggested by an avowal of 
 his Method." It bears out the high promise that his pre 
 ceding analysis justifies us in expecting. 
 
 There is a fitting conclusion to this book, entitled 
 "His Monument," which, to the full, exhibits the artistic 
 capacity of "Quarles," first indicated by his study and 
 dissection of photographs. It measures the reverence that 
 such a critic might be expected to accord the name of Poe. 
 Surely, the whole fully justified the "Martyr" suggestion 
 in the title. 
 
 There is evidence that at least the spirit of "Quarles," is 
 still at large. Judging by circulars now being distributed 
 in an effort to prove that Poe wrote "English Notes, by 
 
422 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Quarles Quickens." Why "Quarles," or his imitators, wish 
 to shoulder this absurdity on Poe, and why publishers* so 
 confidently advertise this work as a Poe production, can 
 only be explained by the assumption that authority rests 
 on some such inspired investigator. Whether or not another 
 cryptogram has been found establishing the identity of Poe 
 as the writer, I havenot been informed. It is time that some 
 movement was started to prevent these profiteers from 
 fattening on the name of Poe. The circular states that 
 $15.00 will be demanded for this reprint of a "discovery." 
 In the words of Poe, "Don t you wish you could get it?" 
 The final item worthy of mention and typographically 
 it is worthy is a book issued by the Caxton Club of 
 Chicago. 
 
 SOME LETTERS OF EDGAR ALLAN POE TO E. H. N. PATTER 
 SON OF OQUAWKA, ILLINOIS. With comments by Eugene 
 Field. The Caxton Club. 1898. 
 
 While this is an issue by a club whose productions are 
 worthy of respect, and is edited by a man whom all love, 
 it is an unfortunate reminder of Poe because its contents 
 again force on us the memory of those abnormalities that 
 so seriously affected Poe during his last years. 
 
 Reference has been made to the fact that Poe, "in his 
 latter evil days," was obsessed with the idea of founding 
 a journal "for the personal expression of individual opin 
 ions," and that "The Stylus" had been selected as a name. 
 
 *NoxE During the last few months numerous circulars have been received 
 advising me of the publication of a newly discovered work by Poe. It is called 
 English Notes, Intended for very Extensive Circulation: By Quarles Quickens. 
 For some reason this has been very largely advertised by the publishers, and 
 occasionally, friends have added to the liberal supply of circulars already in my 
 possession. I could ignore the publishers but I must acknowledge the courtesy of 
 my friends. For this reason I take this unique, and possibly original, method of 
 making my acknowledgments. I would warn them, further, not to afflict me, during 
 the approaching holidays, with the consummation of this discovery. I further 
 advise them to avoid this item as they would a clock-work package. It may 
 prove a Chelsea, but it appears to me that its tick resembles far more that of an 
 Ingersoll. 
 
POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 423 
 
 It is evident that this decision of Poe must have been 
 widely advertised, for a young man named Patterson, 
 living in Oquawka, Illinois, entered into correspondence 
 with him, and proposed to finance the projected journal. 
 Ordinarily judged, it would seem that Poe, at this time at 
 the zenith of his literary achievement, would not have been 
 willing to cooperate in the establishment and conduct of 
 an essentially literary and critical magazine in a remote 
 and far distant village that was difficult of access and that 
 possessed the mirth-compelling name of Oquawka. It 
 consisted of "two warehouses, one store, one grocery, two 
 taverns, and several dwelling houses." In spite of this 
 isolation and these poverty-begotten surroundings, Poe 
 accepted this offer, and business arrangements were made. 
 
 That Poe saw nothing ridiculous either in the location 
 or the name is somewhat surprising. It is possible that such 
 a name does not impress all alike. I suppose there are many 
 excellent people living in Oshkosh, and I know a worthy 
 and eminently respectable family in Kalamazoo. I remem 
 ber, too, once upon a time, passing through Keokuk and 
 observing with amazement that this name was publicly 
 announced by a sign of blazing letters. And I am certain 
 that somewhere Podunk has a real existence. 
 
 One can only regret that Field should have exploited 
 this incident in a manner that reflects on Poe s mental 
 state, or that tends to cast ridicule on him, and that, in 
 this, the Caxton Club should have abetted him. 
 
 While a few other books dealing with special phases of 
 Poe s life have been published, their contents do not jus 
 tify a full review. No new facts have been added to those 
 assembled in Woodberry s life of Poe, nor is it probable 
 that any new discoveries will be made ; rather, it is pos 
 sible that a critical biographer will omit certain of the 
 doubtful passages relating to Poe s early life which Wood- 
 berry claims to have cleared up. 
 
424 POE: A BIBLIOGRAPHIC STUDY 
 
 Special magazine articles dealing with psychological 
 problems based on Poe s morbid heredity, or containing 
 assumptions as to Poe s use of alcohol and drugs, with 
 deductions as to their effect on Poe s life and the things 
 he wrote, are of frequent appearance. As a rule they are 
 the result of misinformation or they are contributed by 
 those who possess no special knowledge of either normal 
 or morbid mental processes. At best this knowledge is 
 limited; in venturing any opinion it should be given with 
 the full understanding of the difficulties that confront us 
 in the study even of normal psychology. 
 
 The ill understood facts of brain anatomy and the in 
 comprehensible phenomenon of brain functioning by which 
 perceptions of external objects are produced because of 
 afferent stimuli are subjects that, in spite of the many 
 hypothesis advanced, remain undetermined. The more 
 recondite study of brain cells in relation to memory and 
 to that quality they possess which enables them to initiate 
 and formulate mental processes, is still more unexplain- 
 able and mysterious. Secretion of thought remains our 
 most interesting problem. For these reasons I have made 
 no attempt to explain the unknowable. This study is 
 based entirely on a long experience with that special form 
 of neurosis which obsessed Poe and which is a part of the 
 empirical knowledge possessed by all psychiatrists. 
 
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