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135. John H. Ingram to Sarah Helen Whitman
19 Jany. 1876
My dear Mrs. Whitman,
I find there are several queries in yours of the 4th instant, & I hasten to answer same.
You did not enclose the letter of Mrs. Oakes Smith as stated & as, I dare say, you have since discovered. What makes you say about her not thinking ill of Poe? She always writes as if a great admirer of him: her most unpleasant allusions were those purporting to be an extract from a letter of yours — by the way, you never denied the authorship of that letter.
I have not been able to call on Mr. Dodge again — his portrait does not resemble Mrs. Lewis's.
I had corrected much of my sketch for Mr. Widdleton, as I thought I had told you, but the revised copy did not arrive in time for the Memorial Volume, but will, I believe, preface the collected edition. I don’t know what copy Mr. Widdleton printed from — not from any I sent him.
The “Reminiscences,” in revised copy, were greatly revised, but it proves how difficult it is for me to make myself comprehended — even [page 388:] to you — when I find you deeming that I feared to offend Mrs. Nichols by leaving out parts! Mrs. Nichols is very kind, and did not attempt to impose any conditions, but, whilst I would not knowingly hurt anyone's feelings by inserting matter they wished omitted, I certainly wouldn’t insert matter to please anyone, which I deemed better omitted.
As for Poe's friends in the South, they express great pleasure with the sketch as it stands.
My impression of Dr. Moran's reminiscences is that they are pure imaginations as regards conversations, &c.
The facsimile was omitted from the letter press in error — not meaning to have Poe's letter to Pabodie facsimiled beyond the autograph, & intending to give the extract from your letter as a specimen of Poe's handwriting, the letters were sent to Blacks, & so, not having them at hand, I forgot the extract when writing out the “Memoir,” and did not care to omit the facsimile when I found out the omission, when the whole “Memoir” was printed.
Mrs. Shelton has not written, but merely replied to a friend of mine to such questions as he chose to ask. She speaks in the highest terms of Poe, in every respect, but has refrained from answering before because of the impertinent busybodies who have bothered her.
I have not heard from Mrs. Hale. Mrs. Clemm's letters shall all be carefully returned to you, together with all other papers belonging to you in my possession, as soon as you advise me as to your wishes for their disposal.
Gill published your letters in the Daily Graphic in November, most likely the early half.(1) Your name was not mentioned, but I knew the letters because you had given me extracts from them, but I was not to publish them. I find this letter thus introduced, as “the following letter by Poe to a woman he loved is taken from advance sheets of Mr. W. F. Gill's article on ‘New Facts,’ &c ... to be published in Laurel Leaves.” I see it speaks of it as one letter only & includes the extract you permitted me to publish in the “Memoir,” about Poe vindicating himself. It is to be hoped that if you have not given the original to Mr. Gill you have not lent it.
I have written to M. Mallarmé about Le Corbeau.
Goodbye. I shall be anxious to hear your directions as to the disposal of such material as I have of yours, and until I get your reply shall not part with anything relating to Poe, or let anyone know of my relinquishing the life.
Ever faithfully yours,
John H. Ingram
P.S. Many thanks for the beautiful “Old Mirror.”
I presume that you are aware that the Daily Graphic is an organ of [page 389:] Stoddard's, or rather, for the publication of his writings? I suppose Mr. Gill did not tell you that he had offered to write a life of Poe for Mr. Widdleton, and that his refusal to accept it caused Gill to make a claim to my “Memoir,” & consequently delayed Widdleton accepting it sooner &, apparently, taking that of Stoddard's instead. All this is displayed in the correspondence which Mr. Widdleton, in a fit of penitence apparently, has now sent me.
I think I may safely wager you $100 that before another year is out you will receive proof of Gill's collusion with the Stoddard clique. I hope he will answer the “Disclaimer” — it has been sent to most of the chief editors of the chief papers in the United States.(2)
J.H.I.
1. See p. 377, n. 2, and p. 384, n. 2.
2. Gill's “Reply” appeared in February 1876. It is reprinted on pages 396-99.
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Notes:
EDGAR ALLAN POE.
A DISCLAIMER.
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From the “ATHENÆUM” of 15th January, 1876.
The “MEMORIAL VOLUME” of Edgar Poe's Poems, recently alluded to in the Athenaum, has now appeared in New York. It includes my vindicatory sketch of the poet, but introduced by the unwarrantable remark that “a considerable portion of Mr. Ingram's Memoir is gathered from material previously used by Mr. W. Gill in his lecture, ‘The Romance of Edgar A. Poe,’ written in September, 1873.” That I have never received a single item of information from Mr. Gill respecting Edgar Poe, or made use of anything written by him on the same subject, and that the publisher of the “Memorial Volume” knew this the following extracts will clearly prove. Last August, Mr. Widdleton, publisher of the above book, wrote to me with reference to the proposed republication in America of my sketch, — “Mr. Gill, of Boston, asks us not to use your memoir, as it covers material taken from his paper on Poe in ‘Lotos Leaves.’” In reply, I not only most emphatically denied ever having made use. of any information derived from Mr. Gill, but also pointed out that my sketch was published in October, 1874,* whereas “Lotos Leaves” did not appear until January, 1875. Mr. Widdleton, in acknowledgment, admitted that Mr. Gill was “evidently strangely at fault,” and yet he now publishes, without previously referring to me, the above statement respecting an alleged work of September, 1873, the utter unreliability of which I can prove from Mr. Gill's own letters to me. Early in 1874, hearing that Mr. Gill was collecting material for a lecture on Poe, I wrote and asked him whether he had any reliable information about the poet, if so, whether he was willing to dispose of copies of the same to ice, and whether he had any intention of writing the poet's memoir. “I do intend to write the life of Poe,” he replied, unless you should much prefer to buy out my material, which I Would sell if your preference was for that. As I have not written any minor articles, I cannot send any portions of my materials.” Responding that I was willing to purchase any reliable information about Poe other than that I already possessed, and requesting further particulars, Mr. Gill answered, but without naming any price for his collection, “Much of my material is of a peculiarly personal nature in the form of notes taken down when conversing with Mr. G. R. Graham and others, and before. I could transmit it I should be obliged to put it carefully into shape before it could be understood by another. With all willingness to forward any material possible, I cannot, as yet, find opportunity for the necessary preliminary of arranging material.” These letters from Mr. Gill are dated 6th June, and 27th August, 1874, respectively; they contained requests for copies of what I had written about Poe, requests which I complied with, and, in consequence, had the pleasure of seeing my discoveries partially reproduced, even to the extent of an uncorrected error, but without any acknowledgment, “Lotos Leaves.”
This is my case: let Mr. Gill now state where his aptly styled “Romance of Edgar A. Poe” was published, and what portion of it he claims to have been reproduced in my Memoir of Edgar Poe, a work which several friends in England and America know to be the result of twelve years research.
JOHN H. INGRAM.
London.
* Prefixed to the first volume of the complete Edition of the Works of Edgar Allan Poe Edinburgh : A. & C. Black.
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[S:0 - PHR, 1979] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Bookshelf - Poe's Helen Remembers (J. C. Miller) (Entry 135)