∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman wrote Ingram on February 20, 1874:
I had promised to furnish something for a near magazine to be called the American Metropolitan (of which only two numbers were issued) Poe who was engaged to write the literary notices for the periodical wished me to send the Lines to Arcturus (written in October) & had himself carefully copied them for this purpose. After the rupture of our brief engagement ... with held them ... (the poem did not appear in the Metropolitan) ... the February number which I think was not issued till middle of March, when the publisher failed & the Magazine was discontinued.(1)
And again on April 2 she wrote:
Only two numbers of the American Metropolitan were published. Poe was engaged to write the literary notices. I cannot remember that he wrote anything for them. I had the numbers once, but have not seen them for years.(2)
The prospectus of the Metropolitan is printed on the back cover of the first issue, January, 1849. Among “the names of some of those from wham we have received’ contributions, or are encouraged to expect assistance ...” is Edgar A. Poe. Nothing by Poe, however, appeared in the magazine. The first number contained no book notices” “we had prepared notices of many new books, which we regret are unavoidably crowded out.”(3) In the February number there are in the Editorial column seven brief notices, but there is nothing to suggest Poe. His name is not in the list of contributors.(4)
The editors of this short-lived journal, N. C. Brooks and Dr. Snodgrass, were friends of Poe. One consequently would expect that Poe would have been a fairly regular contributor in 1838-39 while he [page 695:] was unemployed. On September 4, 1838, he wrote Brooks:
I duly received your favor with the $10.(1) Touching the review, I am forced to decline it just now. I should be most unwilling not to execute such a task well, and this I could not do at so short notice, at least now ... If you can delay the review until ... the second number I would be most happy to do my best. But this is impossible ... Suppose you send me proofs of my articles, it might be as well — that is, if you have time. I look forward anxiously for the first number ... After the 15th, I shall be more at leisure, and will be happy to do you any literary service in my power. You have but to hint. (2)
However, Poe contributed no reviews.
* THE PHOENIX. [[list]]
It has been suggested that this long and rambling notice may be Poe's. That it is not his a few sentences will make clear.
We have given to the admiring eyes of the public, the entire title-page of this most original production — this rara avis, the Phoenix. Ere this its merits would have been most loudly sung, and noticed with that reverence which beseems its literary worth; but the introduction to the volume having inspired us with some hopes that another descendant from the same illustrious stock would have shed new light to illumine the footsteps of purblind American scholars, now wandering in darkness, and in unblessed ignorance of the curious and rare stores of knowledge to be found in the pages of Publius Syrus, and in the log-book of Hanno, (so long mislaid, and now handed to the regards of posterity, by the learned compiler of this volume.) we have postponed, until now its notice. No such production, however, having greeted our longing vision, we are per force compelled to demi-satiate our literary appetites with the choice morceaux spread before us in the Phoenix ... We will therefore now ui d the a romantic pile of the Phoenix ... this hoary array of venerable antiquity (AM. MUS., I, 379).
Brooks I believe to be the author.
In volume II the table of contents assigns to the Senior and the Junior editor all of the critical notices but two, “Mrs. Phelps’ Familiar Lectures“ (March, 1839; AM. MUS., II, 260-63) and Dwight's Translation of Goethe and Schiller (June, 1839, AM. MUS., II, 495-500). The latter is signed W. H. C.; the former is clearly not Poe's. To this volume Poe contributed [page 696:]
JANUARY, 1839.
* 1. LITERARY SMALL TALK. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
FEBRUARY, 1839.
* 2. LITERARY SMALL TALK. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
With the June, 1839, number the magazine failed.
In August, 1846, Poe wrote to Cooke:
When your book appears I propose to review it fully in Colton's ‘American Review’. If you ever, write to him, please suggest to him that I wish to do so.(1)
No such review ever appeared in Colton's magazine. Poe contributed to the Review poems and tales, but, only one critical piece:
AUGUST, 1845.
* 3. THE AMERICAN DRAMA. [[list]]
The introduction is elaborated. from the Evening Mirror “Does the Drama of the Day Deserve Support.” (“... we shall be pardoned for quoting from the ‘Democratic Review’ some passages (of our own) .” (AWR, II, 121; H, XIII, 45). This he quotes exactly from“Marginalia“s H, XVI, 1.5, 9 to L.16, 10, in H, XIII, 1.18, 45, to L.27, 46. The section on Willis’ Tortesa, is almost verbatim from the July, 1839, Literary Examiner review. The section on Longfellow's Spanish Student may be the review Poe wrote for Graham in 1843, which Graham never published.
The Broadway Journal of March 29, 1845, has an Editor's note:
A Mistake: The announcement, in several papers, that Edgar A. Poe is to become editor of ‘The Aristidean’ (the new Democratic five-dollar monthly) is a mistake. ‘The Aristidean’ will continue to be edited, and no doubt well edited, by T. D. English (BJ, I, 207).
Thomas Dunn English established the Aristidean in 1845; the first number appeared in March, the second in April, and the remaining four in September, October, November, and December. In the preliminary pages [[a page appears to be omitted at this point, although the surviving pages are numbered contiguously and in order, there is clearly material missing.]] [page 697:]
[[MARCH, 1845.
* 4. GEORGE JONES’ ANCIENT AMERICA. [[list]]
...
APRIL, 1845.
* 5. LONGFELLOW’S POEMS. [[list]]
...]]
The references to Poe in this review of Longfellow are of interest enough to warrant quoting:
We should as soon expect to see our old friend. SATAN, presiding at a temperance meeting, as to see a veritable poem — of his own — composed by a man whose head was flattened at the temples, like that of Professor LONGFELLOW. Holding these views, we confess that we were not a little surprised to hear Mr. POE, in a late lecture on the POETRY OF AMERICA, claim for the professor a pre-eminence over all the poets of this country on the score of the ‘loftiest poetical quality — imagination.’ There is no doubt in our minds, that an opinion so crude as this, must arise from a want of leisure or of inclination to compare the works of the writer in question with the sources from which they were stolen. A defensive letter written by an unfortunate wight who called himself ‘OUTIS,’ seems to have stirred the critic to make the proper examination, and we will make an even wager of a round of avoirdupois of nothing against LONGFELLOW’S originality, that the rash opinion would not be given again ... as the subject has derived great interest of late through a discussion carried on in the pages of ‘The Broadway Journal,’ we propose to turn over these volumes (the collected poems), in a cursory manner, and make a few observations, in the style of the marginal note, upon each one of the poems in each (A, 131) ... Mr. POE, in his late exposé, has given some very decisive instances of what he too modesty calls imitations on the part of Mr. LONGFELLOW from himself (Mr. Poe). Here is one, however, which he has overlooked ... In a poem called ‘The Sleeper,’ by E. A. P. and which we first saw a great many years ago in the ’Southern Literary Messenger,’ we have a distinct recollection of these lines ... ‘The Beleaguered City’ was published in the ’Southern Literary Messenger’ just about six weeks after the appearance in BROOKS’ ‘Museum’ (a five-dollar Baltimore Monthly) of Mr. POE’S ‘Haunted Palace,’ and is a palpable imitation of the latter in matter and manner. Mr. LONGFELLOW’S title is, indeed, merely a paraphrase of Mr. POE’S (A, 135) ... In part, also, it is taken from ‘Politian, a fragmentary drama, by EDGAR A. POE,’ published in the second volume of the SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER. No acknowledgement, however, is made in the latter instance. The imitation is one of the most impudent ever known ... But the palpability of the plagiarism can be fully understood only by those who read and compare the two poems (A, 144-41) ... In the ‘New York Mirror,’ Mr. POE concluded a notice of ‘The Waif’ (in the following words ... It is possible, however, that Mr. POE’S allusions were not to Mr. LONGFELLOW (as being omitted from Longfellow's anthology), but to himself; and, if so, who shall venture to blame him? He might have thought it no more than justice on the part of LONGFELLOW, to give a place in ‘The Waif’ to that ‘Haunted Palace,’ for example, of which he has shown so flattering an admiration as to purloin everything that was, worth purloining about it. It is indeed, for that whereas, Mr. LONGFELLOW has stolen so much from Mr. POE, that me have alluded so much to the exposé of the latter; for it appeared to us, our course was but just. The latter, driven to it by a silly letter of Mr. LONGFELLOW’ S friends, has exposed the knavery of the Professor, and any one who reads the ‘Broadway Journal,’ will acknowledge he has done it well (A, 141-42).
SEPTEMBER, 1845.
* 6. OUR BOOK-SHELVES. [[list]]
This article is made up almost entirely of condensations, paraphrases and quotations from earlier Poe reviews. First is a discussion of Undine. There is nothing here which is not in the Burton's September, 1839, review. A few examples will suffice. [page 698:]
Burton's:
We cannot say whether the novelty of its conception, or the loftiness of its ideality, or its intense pathos, or its vigorous simplicity, or that high artistical talent with which all are combined, is the particular to be chiefly admired (BGM, V, 170; H, I, 38).
Aristidean:
It is indeed difficult to say whether we are chiefly to admire in it the novelty of its conception, the chastity and loftiness of its imagination, the depth of its pathos, its perfect simplicity, of the artistic ability with which all these high qualities are combined into a well-balanced whole (A, 234).
Burton's:
In contrast between the artless, thoughtless, and careless character of Undine before possessing a soul, and her serious, enwrapped, and anxious, yet happy condition after possessing it — a condition which with all its multitudinous cares and disquietudes, she still feels to be preferable to her original fate — M. Fouqué has beautifully painted the difference between the heart unused to love, and the heart which has received its inspiration (BGM, V, 172; H, X, 36) ;
Aristidean:
By way of showing the difference between the heart unexperienced in love, and that which has received its inspiration, he imagines first a being without a soul, and afterwards endows her with one. In the former condition the being is artless, thoughtless, careless — in the secondary, she is serious, anxious, enwrapt. — yet with all its disquietudes, the secondary condition is seen to be preferable (A, 234).
Next follows a discussion of Hunt's Imagination and Fancy, takes just as closely from the April 19 Poe review in the Journal. Note a few of the parallels:
the Journal:
The delicate taste and fine fancy of Leigh Hunt are, at the present day, as warmly admitted, as many years ago they were clamorously denied ... No man living can put a truly good book of ordinary literature, in a better light then he ... An instinct of the fitting — a profound sentiment of the true, the graceful, the musical, the beautiful in every shape — enable him to construct critical principles which are thoroughly consistent with Nature, and which thus serve admirably as a substructure for Art ... In a word the forte of the author of Rimini is taste — while his foible is analysis (BJ, I, 252).
the Aristideans: [page 699:]
The delicate taste, fine fancy, and warm sensibility of Hunt, are now as readily admitted as a few years ago they were vociferously denied ... He has, in especial, a happy facility in putting a good book in a clear light ... By sheer instinct of the beautiful in all its modifications, he is enabled to construct critical principles consistent with Nature and serving well as a substructure of Art ... In a word his forte is fancy — his foible analysis (A, 235).
The discussion of Hazlitt's Table-Talk is in the same way condensed from the Journal notice of May 3, and so on through. Among the very brief discussions near the end is one of Poe's tales, stating that unfortunately the collection is not representative.
OCTOBER, 1845.
* 9. POE’S TALES. [[list]]
After an introduction on imitation, subserviency to English criticism, and Poe's English reputation, the review proceeds to a brief discussion of each tale. One finds:
In our last number we found fault with this, as a reproduction of the ‘Tell-tale Heart.’ On further examination, ere think ourselves in error, somewhat. It is rather an amplification of one of its phases. The dénóument (sic) is a perfect printed tableau (A, 317).
In the September “Our Book-shelf”:
The former, indeed is but the original of ‘The Black Cat,’ wherein Mr. POE has merely reproduced himself (A, 230).
There is nothing in the tone of this trick which is not explained by the Longfellow article. One finds further:
‘The Haunted Palace‘, from which we stated in our late review of his poems, LONGFELLOW had stolen, all, that was worth stealing, of his ‘BELEAGUERED CITY,’ and which is here introduced with effect, was originally sent to O’SULLIIAN, of the ‘Democratic Rovisw,’ and by him rejected, because ‘he found it impossible to comprehend it (A, 318).
The reviewer recounts the old story of Bentley's copying “The Fall of the House of Usher” without credit and also the story of the Poe Tuckerman squabble. There is no reason to doubt the evidence of the references. [page 700:]
* 8. OUR BOOK-SHELF. [[list]]
We have expressed our opinion fully in the last number, on the powers of HAZLITT (A, 320).
There is here no use of Journal material in reviewing; for these books were being reviewed currently in the Journal. Discussing Simms’ new book this reviewer says:
Mr. POE places his the very first of American novelists, and though we do not admit this, we give him a prominent place in the foremost rank (A, 320).
The criticisms of Mathews’ new book have the same view. That in the Journal concludes:“The design is not sufficiently well made out” (BJ, II, 178) ; in the Aristidean: “The main design — the under-current of meaning is obscurely made out” (A, 321). Again there is nothing to dispute the evidence pointing to Poe.
NOVEMBER, 1845.
* 9. AMERICAN POETRY. [[list]]
I have not been able to see this number of the magazine. According to Mabbott this review is signed in the index “E. A. P.”(1)
NOVEMBER, 1841.
* 10. GRISWOLD’S AMERICAN POETRY. (SIGNED) EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
After a long search Jacob E. Spannuth discovered a file of this paper to which Poe contributed a series of letters, addressed to the editor, Eli Bowen, and perhaps a few random paragraphs. In the Spannuth and Mabbott edition. of these articles evidence is offered for their authenticity. I have nothing to add.
MAY 18, 1844.
* 11. DOINGS OF GOTHAM. LETTER I. NEW YORK, MAY 14, 1844. (Signed) P. [[list]]
MAY 25, 1844.
* 12. DOINGS OF GOTHAM. LETTER II. NEW YORK, MAY 21, 1844. (Signed) P. [[list]]
MAY 1, 1844.
* 13. DOINGS OF GOTHAM. LETTER III. NEW YORK. MAY 27, 1844. (Signed) P. [[list]] [page 701:]
JUNE 8, 1844.
* 14. DOINGS OF GOTHAM. LETTER IV. NEW YORK, JUNE 4, 1844. (Signed) P. [[list]]
JUNE 15, 1844.
* 15. DOINGS OF GOTHAM. LETTER V. NEW YORK, JUNE, 12, 1844. (Signed) P. [[list]]
JUNE 29, 1844.
* 16. DOINGS OF GOTHAM. LETTER VI. NEW YORK, JUNE 18, 1844. (Signed) P. [[list]]
JULY 6, 1844.
* 17. DOINGS OF GOTHAM. LETTER VII. NEW YORK, JUNE 25, 1844. (Signed) P. [[list]]
JULY 31, 1844..
? 18. LITERARY THEFT. [[list]]
NOVEMBER 23, 1844.
(?) 19. PUFFING. [[list]]
NOVEMBER 30, 1844.
(?) 20. PUFFING. [[list]]
DECEMBER, 1844.
* 21. BYRON AND MISS CHAWORTH. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
Poe's name appears as a prospective contributor in the salutatory of the Gentleman's Magazine, Cincinnati, June, 1848, but Miss A. Boardman of the Ohio State Library tells me nothing of Poe's appeared in the three numbers issued.(1)
This magazine I have been unable to see. The Ohio State Librarian, Paul A. T. Noon, made an especial investigation of the magazine and reported the magazine contains no reviews by Poe. There are some unsigned book reviews, presumable written by the editors, which are in style totally unlike any of Poe 's writings that we have ever seen. It is not probable that they would have published anything written by Poe without credit, as they seemed especially anxious to secure articles by well-known writers.(2)
Poe wrote Godey in the summer of 1846:
I regret that you published my Reply in ‘The Times’. I should have found no difficulty in getting it printed here, in a respectable paper, and gratis. However — as I have the game in my own hands, I shall not stop to complain about trifles. [page 702:]
I am rather ashamed that, knowing me to b e as poor as I am, you should have thought it advisable to make the demand on me of the $10. I confess that I thought better of you — but let it go — it is the way of the world.
The man, or men, who told you that there. was any thing wrong in the tone of my reply, were either my enemies, or asses. When you see them, tell them so from me. I have never written an article upon which I more confidently depend of literary reputation than that Reply. Its merit lay in being precisely adapted to its purpose. In this city I have had, upon it, the favorable judgments of the best men. All the error about it was yours. You should have done as I requested — published it in the ‘Book’. It is of no use to conceive a plan if you have to depend upon another for its execution. Please distribute 20 or 30 copies of the Reply in Phil. and send me the balance through Harnden.
What paper, or papers, have copied E's attack? I have put this matter in the hands of a competent attorney, and you shall see the result. Your charge, $10, will of course be brought before the court, as an item, when I speak of damages.(1)
This letter reveals something of the nature of the relationship between Poe and “Papa” Godey. Godey apparently asked Simms to placate Poe; on July 30 Simms wrote:
It is some years since I counselled Mr. Goday to obtain the contributions of your pen. He will tell you this. I hear that you reproach him. But how can you expect a magazine proprietor to encourage contributions which embroil him with all his neighbours. These broils do you no good — vex your temper, destroy your peace of mind, and hurt your reputation. You have abundant resources upon which to draw even were there no Grub Street in Gotham. Change your tactics & begin a new series of Papers with your publisher.(2)
The two letters refer to the beginning of the English-Poe feud. In the“Literati” series Poe had a sketch of English to which that gentleman replied with an attack on Poe.
Poe was one of Godey's most faithful contributors. All of his articles are signed. From November, 1845, to April, 1846, Poe contributed to each issue a review under the heading Literary Criticism; he seems to have had a definite arrangement with Godey. The editor of the Knickerbocker wrote in January, 1857:
Mr. L. A. Godey, publisher of ‘The Lady's Book,’ Philadelphia, writes us to say that he is not to be counted in among those in Philadelphia to whom the late Edgar A. Poe proved faithless in his business and [page 703:] literary intercourse. His conduct towards Mr. Godey was in all respects honorable and unblameworthy. The remark which elicits the note of Mr. Godey was copied as a quotation into our pages from the N. A. Review.(1)
Poe's contributions begin in January, 1834, with “The Visionary“.
It was much later, however, before he contributed any critical work.
AUGUST, 1845.
* 22. MARGINAL NOTES. —— No. 1. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
A SEQUEL TO THE ‘MARGINALIA’ OF THE ‘DEMOCRATIC REVIEW’.
SEPTEMBER, 1845.
* 23. MARGINAL NOTES. —— NO. II. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
A SEQUEL TO THE ‘MARGINALIA’ OF THE DEMOCRATIC REVIEW’.
NOVEMBER, 1845.
* 24. BIG ABEL AND THE LITTLE MANHATTAN. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
DECEMBER, 1845.
* 25. LITERARY CRITICISM. BY EDGAR A. POE. THE POETICAL WRITINGS OF ELIZABETH OAKES SMITH. [[list]]
JANUARY, 1846.
* 26. LITERARY CRITICISM. BY EDGAR A. POE. THE WIGWAM AND THE CABIN. BY WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS. [[list]]
FEBRUARY, 1846.
* 27. LITERARY CRITICISM. BY EDGAR A. POE. THE SONGS OF OUR LAND, AND OTHER POEMS. BY MARY E. HEWITT. [[list]]
MARCH, 1846.
* 28. LITERARY CRITICISM. BY EDGAR A. POE. A WREATH OF WILD FLOWERS. BY FRANCES SARGENT OSGOOD. [[list]]
APRIL, 1846.
* 29. LITERARY CRITICISM. BY EDGAR A. POE. COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. [[list]]
MAY, 1646.
* 30. THE LITERATI OF NEW YORK CITY. SOME HONEST OPINIONS AT RANDOM RESPECTING THEIR AUTHORIAL MERITS, WITH OCCASIONAL WORDS OF PERSONALITY. BY EDGAR A. POE.(2) [[list]]
JUNE, 1846.
*31. THE LITERATI OF NEW YORK CITY. — NO. II. SOME HONEST (etc.). BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]] [page 704:]
JULY, 1846.
* 32. THE LITERATI OF NEW YORK CITY. — NO.III (etc.). BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
AUGUST, 1846.
* 33. THE LITERATI OF NEW YORK CITY. — NO. IV. (etc.). BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
SEPTEMBER, 1846.
* 34. THE LITERATI OF NEW YORK CITY. — NO. V. (etc.). BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
OCTOBER, 1846.
* 35. THE LITERATI OF NEW YORK CITY. — NO. VI. (etc.). BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
NOVEMBER, 1847.
* 36. TALE-WRITING — NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
On May 4, 1845, Poe wrote Thomas, giving him a message for their mutual friend Dow, then editor of the Madisonian:
I wonder how he would like me to write hin a series of letters! — say one a week — giving him. the literary gossip of New-York — or something of more general character. I would furnish him such a series for whatever he could afford to give me.(1)
Nothing of Poe's, however, appeared in the paper.
[[Hull accidentally omits the reprint of “Autography” which has been restored below, and for which the remaining item numbers are corrected by implication.
NOVEMBER 6, 1841.
* 37. A CHAPTER IN AUTOGRAPHY. (B). [[reprint]] [[list]]
...]]
MARCH 11, 1843.
* OUR MAGAZINE LITERATURE. [[list]]
The item is attributed to Poe by W. M. Griswold in Passages from Correspondence of Rufus W. Griswold (p.118), but on what ground he does no state. In both style and substance the article is not unlike Poe's work. Besides, L. G. Clarke, editor of the Knickerbocker, apparently understood the article to be Poe's since he refers to it in the Knickerbocker of Apri1, 1843, as the work of an “authorling ... of a small volume of ... trash ... fallen dead-born from the press before the first fifty copies printed are exhausted in a third edition.” But such evidence as we have is insufficient to warrant the unconditional ascription of the article to Poe.(2)
So writes Killis Campbell. On the ground solely of internal evidence it seems to me impossible that the review could be Poe's.
But, alas: its honest, worthy, and hard-working originator, editor, and publisher (White), is no more — he has paid the final debt of nature, and a host of friends will bemoan his loss ... Thousands of articles are written, prompted by nothing but a petty ambition, and, when published to the world, do a great deal more injury than good. Instead of instructing the youthful mind, they ‘please with a rattle, tickle with a straw‘ — instead of instilling a [page 705:] sound morality, they inculcate a neglect of everything that is valuable — instead of making the poor contented with their condition, they descant upon the luxury of fashion and wealth, causing a thousand hearts bitterly to ache for an imaginary want (NW, 302).
In an editorial note of March 4, 1843, the editor says White “has been called to pay the last debt of nature” (NW, VI, 274).
The reviewer accuses Sargent of writing nine-tenths of his magazine:
to avoid the inconvenience of paying for good articles by good writers. While at school, Mr. Sargent wrote astonishingly well for a youth, but these productions have not been improved upon in his manhood ... Sargent's Magazine is a perfect literary humbug ... (NW, VI, 303).
In “Literati”, Godey's, August, 1846, Poe spoke kindly of Sartain's [[Sargent's]] Magazine, saying it failed because it tried to establish a medium between the $3 and the $5 journals — spoke well of Sargent's writing:
In a word he is one of the most prominent members of a very extensive American family — the men of industry, talent, and tact (H, XV, 93).
In the New World:
The only redeeming quality which we (mind, we don‘t say the public) can find this gentleman, is in the fact that he is the brother of the late Willis G. Clark, who was one of the most gifted of our poets, and an exceedingly pleasant prose-writer (NW, VI, 303) ;
in “Literati”, Godey's, September, 1846:
Mr. Clark is known principally as the twin brother of the late Willis Gaylord Clark, the poet, of Philadelphia, with whom he has often been confounded from similarity both of person and of name (H, XV, 114).
Aside from this similarity, the two discussions of Clark differ so markedly in approach, demonstration, and effect, that it is very convincing that the first is not Poe's. The article is signed “L.”
In a biography of Poe written for the Baltimore Saturday Visiter in 1843, Snodgrass wrote: [page 706:]
About this period was commenced ‘The New York Quarterly Review’ by Professors Anthon and Henry, with Dr. Hawks. Receiving a flattering invitation from its proprietors, Mr. P. was induced to abandon ‘The Messenger’ (in which he had no pecuniary interest) and remove to New York. Dr. Hawks says: ‘I wish you to fall in with your broadaxe amidst this miserable literary trash which surround's us. I believe you have the will, and I know well you have the ability.(1)
Poe seems actually to have gone to New York in the spring of 1837 with some such prospect; but for some reason it did not work out. He has in the Review only one article.
OCTOBER, 1837.
* 37. [[38.]] STEPHENS’ ARABIA PETRAEA. [[list]]
OCTOBER 22, 1849.
* 38. [[39.]] CRITIQUE ON WILLIAM ROSS WALLACE. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
This, a reprint of a section of the Messenger, September, 1849,“Marginalia” appeared in the “Supplement“.
Poe wrote Mrs. Hale on May 31, 1844:
I hasten to reply to your kind and very satisfactory letter, and to say that, if you will be so good as to keep open for me the ten pages of which you speak. I will forward you, in 2 or 3 days, an article which will about occupy that space, and which I will endeavour to adapt to the character of The Opal. The price you mention — 50 cents per page — will be amply sufficient; and I am exceedingly anxious to be ranked in your list of contributors.(2)
This article seems to have been
* 39. [[40.]] A CHAPTER OF SUGGESTIONS. [[list]]
which appeared in the Opal for 1845.
In the June number the editor, E. Burke Fisher, announced: “Seba Smith, ... is engaged as a regular contributor; so also Edgar A. Poe, Esq.” (LE, I, 160). American Book-Prices Current describes a letter from Fisher to Poe of June 10 as “Soliciting contributions from Poe for his [page 707:] magazine.”(1) An extant letter of July 9 from Fisher to Poe I quote entire:
My dear Sirs
Your favor of the 5th inst. came duly to hand and contents noted. I am truly obliged by the receipt of your criticism and find it admirable — scarcely severe enough but still Willis is a kind of national pet, and we must regard his faults as we do those of a spoiled stripling, in the hope that he will amend. ... I regret that you did not sooner receive the Examiner. I ordered and thought it was sent to you, but the clerk neglected to send it —— I now repair the omission. It is hardly fair to judge by what it is. I was going uphill, and had a thousand things to worry and retard me, and I am fair1y afloat, and with your friendly cooperation, as well as others I shall be enabled to make the Examiner all I could wish. With you to assist me in the department of reviews, that portion of the Magazine shall become what the Messenger was before you quitted. By the way, the Messenger degenerates. It is stocked to twaddleism with lemonade stories and vile rhymes with here and there a valuable paper — You rate the terms of compensation too low, but in my experimental stage I cannot do otherwise than accept the favor — for so I deem it — of obliging myself to pay $3 per page — I will in part requite it, by being punctual in remitting as currently due.
In regard t o the sponsorship of articles, I am, as before, satisfied that whatever censura the articles create, shall rest upon my shoulders. An author's ‘bark is worse than his bite,’ and even if he maintains himself in the our position assailed (sic), there is always some other weak point to which you may shift the question. I am anxious to bring down upon the Examiner some of their bite, provided that the grounds we take be tenable. We will, therefore, if you so please, sail on without a flag, or, at least, under the black one, until you may wish to join the regular navy, when, I, of course, shall rest satisfied to abide by any suggestion you may feel it advisable to make as my guides in the premesis (sic) That, you may know how much manuscript makes a page of the Ex, I mention that the article sent forms between four find five pages if not more. It may possible run to six. I care not hoax long you make your regular series — say 10 pages per month. The subject demands room. Is there any chance of your ever visiting our smoky city? We are not without some points, although limited in number, and I should be well pleased to have you spending short or a long time with me, just as you might please. I am a bachelor, with a household in the shape of mother and sisters, and your wife might pass her time very agreeably. I make the offer in a spirit of selfishness, for I long to have some chat on matters more to my taste than discussions relative to the value of pig iron, and the probabilities of a dull demand for manufactured articles — You understand me.
But I must close, for your time is valuable, and I have a thousand things deman (ding) attention.
Truly your, friend
E. Burke Fisher.(2)
The article the receipt of which this letter acknowledges is
JULY, 1839.
* 40. [[41.]] TORTESA. BY N. P. WILLIS. [[list]]
Except for the omission of one paragraph, the addition of four, and five alterations of word and phrase, this review is reproduced exactly [page 708:] in the August, 1845, American Review article,“American Drama.” The series which Poe is planning and which Fisher confidently expects to bring down upon his struggling paper fame, is one on the American novel. The first installment appeared the following month.
AUGUST, 1839.
* 41. [[42.]] EDITOR’S TABLE. AMERICAN NOVEL-WRITING. [[list]]
Of this article Poe wrote to Snodgrass in 1841 in reference to the August Graham's review of Wilmer's Quacks of Helicon:
I have introduced in this sermon some portion of a Review formerly written by me for the ‘Pittsburgh Examiner, a monthly journal which died in the first throes of its existence. It was edited by E. Burke Fisher Esquire — than whom a greater scamp never walked. He wrote: to me offering $4 per page for criticisms, promising to put then in as contributions — not editorially. The first thing I saw was one, of my articles under the editorial head, so altered that I hardly recognized it, and interlarded with all manner of bad English and ridiculous opinions of his own. I believe, however, that the number in which it appeared, being the last kick of the maga:, was never circulated.(1)
A great deal of the former article is reproduced in the Graham's review: H, X, 1.21, 185, to 1.26, 188, from LE, pp. 317-18; 1., 1.27, 188 to 1.2, 190, from LE, p. 319; X, 1.3, 190, to 1.27, 191, from LE, p.318.
The August number was not the last kick of the magazine; there were two more, one dated September and one December. But Poe contributed no more. Fisher seems not to have paid Poe “as currently due”; for there is a Fisher to Poe letter of November 17, 1839,” apologising for returning a draft unpaid, in consequence of absence from his office.”(2)
Poe backed Lowell enthusiastically in his new magazine project; but only in the third and last number of the journal did he have anything of a critical sort,
MARCH, 1843.
* 42. [[43.]] NOTES UPON ENGLISH VERSE. [[list]] [page 709:]
MAY 1, 1841.
* 43. [[44.]] BARNABY RUDGE. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
OCTOBER 1850.
* 44. [[45.]] THE POETIC PRINCIPLE. FROM THE UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT OF EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
This article seems to have been taken from the manuscript of a lecture.
APRIL, 1849.
* 45. [[46.]] MRS. ANNA S. LEWIS. [[list]]
Poe wrote Mrs. Clemm in September, 1849: “Did Mrs. L. get the Western Quarterly Review?”(1) Killis Campbell declares that a review of Mrs. Lewis by Poe appeared in the Apri1, 1849 number of the Review.(2) I have been unable to see it.
AUGUST 31, 1850.
* 46. [[47.]] THE POETIC PRINCIPLE. [[list]]
Heartman and Canny point out this article and print the introductory note:
‘From the advance sheets of the new volume by Mr. Poe, in the press of Mr. Redfield, are present the following admirable essay ... This concluding volume of Poe's works is entitled ‘The Literati‘, and will be published in about three weeks.”(3)
I have been unable to see a file of this paper.
September 21, 1836.
October 7, 10, and 12, 1836.
* 47. [[48.]] AUTOGRAPHY. [[list]]
This, according; to Heartman and Canny, is reprinted from the Messenger “Autographies“.(4) I have been unable to see a file of this paper. [page 710:]
UNITED STATES MAGAZINE AND DEMOCRATIC REVIEW.
Poe contributed occasionally poems and tales to this magazine; but of criticism nothing except:
NOVEMBER, 1844.
* 48. [[49.]] MARGINALIA. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
DECEMBER, 1844.
* 49. [[50.]] MARGINALIA. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
APRIL, 1846.
* 50. [[51.]] MARGINALIA. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
JULY, 1846.
* 51. [[52.]] MARGINALIA. BY EDGAR A. POE. [[list]]
AUGUST, 1848.
* 52. [[53.]] THE LITERATI OF NEW-YORK. S. ANNA LEWIS. [[list]]
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 694:]
1. Mrs. Whitman-Ingram, Providence, February 20, 1874. Ingram Col. UVL.
2. Mrs. Whitman-Ingram, Providence, April 2, 1874. Ingram Col. UVL.
3. American Metropolitan, I, 48.
4. See back cover of the Metropolitan for February, 1849.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 695:]
1. Pay apparently for “Ligeia”, which was published in the first number of the magazine.
2. Poe-Brooks, Philadelphia, September 4, 1838. H, XVII, 44-5.
[The following footnote appears at the bottom of page 696:]
1. Poe-Cooke, New York, August 9, 1846. Woodberry, G. E., “Poe in New York”, Century, 1894, p. 862.
[The following footnote appears at the bottom of page 700:]
1. See Mabbott, T. O., “Walt Whitman and the Aristidean,” American Mercury, II, 265-7.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 701:]
1. Mabbott, T. O., “Notes on Poe, Literary Review, May 27, 1922. Clipping in the papers of C. Alphonso Smith, in the Poe Collection, UVL.
2. Noon-Clemons, March 20, 1911.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 702:]
1. Poe-Godey, New York, July 16, 1846. Gr. MSS. Phot. in UVL.
2. Simms-Poe, New York, July 30, 1846. Gr. MSS. Phot. in UVL.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 703:]
1. In extracts from Davidson's article on Poe in Russell's Magazine, Ingram Collection, UVL.
2. This article was reprinted in the June number: “Reprint From the May Number. The Literati of New York City. — No, 1 (etc.),[[”]] GLB, XXXII, 289-96. On the preceding page is en editor's note: “We have been forced to reprint No. 1 of Poe's Literary Opinions. The demand for the May number we could not supply by some hundreds of copies. It will be found in this number (GLB, XXXII, 288).
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 704:]
[The following footnote appears at the bottom of page 706:]
1. J. E. S(nodgrass),“American Biography. Edgar Allan Poe”, Baltimore Saturday Visiter, July 29, 1843. Clipping in Ingram Collection. [[Note: the material in the Saturday Vister article is taken from the longer biographical sketch of Poe in Philadelphia Saturday Museum, originally published in the issue of February 28, 1843, and reprinted on March 4, 1843. — JAS]]
2. Poe-Mrs. Hale, New York, May 31, 1844. Printed in the New York Times, January 28, 1917. Typescript in UVL.
[The following footnote appears at the bottom of page 707:]
[[1. American Book Prices Current, II, (1896), p. 457.]]
[[1. Hull has a footnote number, but provides no actual note. The letter was first printed in full by Heartman and Canny, Bibliography of the First Printing of the Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, 1943, pp. 220-221, from transcripts made by T. O. Mabbott prior to 16-17 December 1929, from access provided by the owner at that time. Without the footnote, it is not clear where Hull obtained his text. — JAS.]]
[The following footnote appear at the bottom of page 708:]
1. Poe-Snodgrass, Philadelphia, July 12, 1841. Ostrom, op. cit., p. 32.
2. American Book-Prices Current, II (1896), p.457.
[The following footnotes appear at the bottom of page 709:]
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[S:0 - CCWEAP, 1941] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Articles - A Canon of the Critical Works of EAP (W. D. Hull) (Part VI)