Text: John C. Miller, ed., “Entry 090: John H. Ingram to Sarah Helen Whitman, Apr. 7 and Apr. 8, 1874,” Poe's Helen Remembers (1979), pp. 269-270 (This material is protected by copyright)

[page 269, continued:]

90. John H. Ingram to Sarah Helen Whitman

My dear Friend,

Your letter dated 26th March is just to hand, and has pained me for two reasons. First, to hear of your suffering, the effect, apparently, of the unusual severity and long duration of this terrible winter, and, secondly, because one of my letters seems to have miscarried.

As regards your health, I do most sincerely & fervently trust that the arrival of Spring (although the winds here are still very inclement) is restoring you. I shall look out anxiously for each fresh letter from you — that is to say, more anxiously than of heretofore.

I cannot understand about my letters. Between the 29th of Jany. & 1st of this month I sent two letters apparently, & the first you do not seem to have received. Unfortunately, I do not retain dates of all my letters & cannot say precisely when the missing one was sent, nor can I [be] sure whether it contained any enclosures, or matters of importance. I fancy it was sent away about the last week in Feby. or first in March, and was, I think, a very long one & thicker than usual. I am speaking from memory only. If the notelet from Miss Blackwell was not in that of the 1st Instant, it was in the missing letter. I hope it will come to hand, but fear after this long time it is lost — the first, I think, that we have yet lost.

I have received a letter from Mr. Harris re. some books he is kindly going to lend me, including the 1831 edition of Poe. I will try & write to him next mail day. I am awfully busy. I think I have informed you of the contents of Mrs. Houghton's letters — she has written me again but nothing of consequence save a note from Dr. Hopkins & one from Dr. Henry saying (the former) that Dunn English was a scoundrel & (the latter) that Poe was not connected with New York Review. I hope Davidson sent you the International. He tells me Professor Liavitt was pleased with it & told him that it had been very favourably noticed. I mean my sketch of Edgar Poe therein. However, it has aroused Mr. Stoddard apparently. You will have received, I trust, before this the review of his book in the Civil Service Review &, doubtless, have seen the review in New York Nation of 25 March?(1) Do not be annoyed at this latter, to the editor of which I have sent the Civil Service Review [page 270:] critique for his gratification, & by next post day shall forward him my answer. I hope he will print it but, for fear he does not, I shall take the precaution to forward copies to New York. As you will see, the Nation has fearfully misquoted me, but placed themselves entirely in my hands by the nature of their attack — by trying to remove the slanders of Griswold & by styling me a hater of Americans!

By next mail I hope to send you copies of prospectus I am printing, of short extracts from each review, referring to the vindication only. I notice that with scarcely any exception all our reviewers speak of Poe as “the greatest literary genius of America” and this from all kinds of papers — even religious. I hope you got the London Athenaeum I sent you — Oh! I see you have seen it. Entre nous, I fancy ’twas by Moy Thomas.

Mr. Harris's letter reached me quite safely. Mr. Gosse's paper on the poems was rubbish — he is a very young man, I fancy, & has been rather severely handled as a versifier in some quarters. He has invited me to visit him but I have not had time yet.

I wonder these kind of reviews move you to anything but pity for the ignorance, or envy, of their authors. To try & abolish Poe by a review is about equal to Mrs. Partington's attempt to stem the Atlantic with her broom.

I enclose you a reprint of the C[ivil] S[ervice] Review. If you know any friend in New York who will republish it in any paper, I shall be glad. The Flute Ode will appear in C[ivil] S[ervice] Review on Saturday & you shall have copies; reprint it if you can as from the London Civil Service Review.

I seldom see Scribner's although published in London. I only know Bothwell by reviews. Ditto of Under the Microscope. ’Tis, I believe, a very trenchant attack upon certain reviewers, although an American compiler classed it among new scientific works! No time for another iota. Ever your faithful friend,

P.S. Don’t trouble about the letter missing. I have muddled some way — somehow. If you get a letter of any date prior to 1 April that is probably the only letter. In great haste,

 

1. R. H. Stoddard, Poems by Edgar Allan Poe, Complete, with an Original Memoir (New York: Widdleton, 1875). The review, which immediately follows, is unsigned, but the single page from an unidentified magazine found in Mrs. Whitman's papers has “Extracted from The Civil Service Review, 3 April 1875,” written across the top of the left-hand column.