[page 316:]

[1841] EARLY JANUARY? PHILADELPHIA. Poe makes “a most advantageous arrangement” with J. R. Pollock, a periodical agent and publisher at 205 Chestnut Street, who agrees to handle “the business department” of the Penn Magazine. He has printed a new supply of Penn prospectuses dated 1 January, which promise the initial number on 1 March (Poe to Thomas Wyatt, 1 April; Heartman and Canny, pp. 62-65).

[1841] CA. 1 JANUARY. Poe writes Nathan C. Brooks in Baltimore, inquiring about a new magazine to be established in that city (Poe to Snodgrass, 17 January).

[1841] 2 JANUARY. William Burke Wood, manager of the Walnut Street Theatre, sends Poe a brief note. He apologizes for his failure to see or write Poe “before the end of the past week”; he begs his “further patience for a few days” (PHi).

[1841] 6 JANUARY. Poe writes the banker Nicholas Biddle at his residence in the city, 215 Spruce Street, discussing the Penn Magazine: “My cousins in Augusta, [Georgia,] who had led me to hope that they would aid me materially, have been unable to do so, and could not even obtain me a few subscribers in that place. On the other hand I have received a great many names from villages, in the South and West, of whose existence even I was not aware. ... The kind manner in which you received me when I called upon you at Andalusia — upon so very equivocal an errand — has emboldened me to ask of you a still greater favor than the one you then granted. ... The favor I would ask is that you would lend me the influence of your name in a brief article for my opening number.” Poe explains this request:

[1841] 9 JANUARY. The Saturday Evening Post reprints Poe's “To Ianthe in Heaven,” giving it the title “To One Beloved” (Mabbott [1969], 1:214-15).

[1841] 17 JANUARY. Poe replies to a letter from Joseph Evans Snodgrass in Baltimore: “You wish to know my prospects with the ‘Penn’. They are glorious — notwithstanding the world of difficulties under which I labored and labor. My illness (from which I have now entirely recovered) has been, for various reasons, a benefit to my scheme, rather than a disadvantage; and, upon the whole, if I do not eminently succeed in this enterprize, the fault will be altogether mine own. Still, I am using every exertion to ensure success, and, among other maneuvres, I have cut down the bridges behind me.” Poe thanks Snodgrass for offering to contribute; he has an abundance of poetry, but will welcome “any prose article.” He especially wants an article on the need for an international copyright law or on “the Laws of Libel in regard to Literary Criticism.” The Baltimore lawyer David Hoffman has promised to aid the Penn; perhaps Snodgrass can persuade him to prepare an article on one of these topics. Any contribution for the opening number should be on hand soon: “I am about to put the first sheet to press immediately; and the others will follow in rapid succession.” Tomorrow Poe will see George R. Graham and inquire about the essay Snodgrass submitted in the premium contest conducted by the Gentleman's Magazine last year; he suspects that “to prevent detection, Burton may have destroyed it.” Poe requests details about “a new Magazine to be established in Baltimore by a Virginian & a practical printer”; he inquired of Nathan C. Brooks “about a fortnight ago,” but has received no reply to his letter (L, 1:151-53).

[1841] 22 JANUARY. Poe writes the playwright and lawyer Robert T. Conrad, using stationery bearing the Penn prospectus: “As a man of the world you will at once understand that what I most need for my work in its commencement (since I am comparatively a stranger in Philadelphia) is caste. I need the countenance of those who stand well not less in the social than in the literary world. I, certainly, have no claim whatever upon your attention, and have scarcely the honor of your personal acquaintance — but if I could obtain the influence of your name in an article (however brief) for my opening number, I feel that it would assist me beyond measure.” Poe hopes to publish articles on “the International Copy-Right Law, and The Laws of Libel in their relation to Literary Criticism”; he doubts that anyone is more qualified than Conrad to discuss these subjects. He is “rash, however, in making any suggestions”; he will be “only too much delighted” to receive “an article upon any question whatever.” The first number of the Penn “will be put to press on the first of February” (L, 1:153-55). [page 318:]

[1841] 25 JANUARY. Judge Joseph Hopkinson replies to Poe's letter soliciting contributions for the Penn:

[1841] 4 FEBRUARY. A financial crisis disrupts the operations of the Philadelphia banks. In the morning the United States Bank suspends specie payments; by night most of the city's other banks have “suspended paying notes, of a higher denomination than five dollars.” The Southern banks, “beginning at Baltimore,” follow the example of the Philadelphia banks and suspend payments (Saturday Evening Post, 13 February).

[On 20 February the Post reported: “The suspension of the Banks still continues, and, as a consequence, the financial world is considerably embarrassed. Money is difficult to obtain, even at a high premium.”]

[1841] AFTER 4 FEBRUARY. Because of the bank suspensions Poe is forced to postpone the Penn. He accepts an offer from George R. Graham to conduct the book review department of Graham's Magazine, at a salary of $800 a year (Poe's 1 April letters to Snodgrass and Thomas Wyatt; Sartain, p. 200).

[1841] 20 FEBRUARY. In the Saturday Evening Post Graham comments:

[1841] 22 FEBRUARY. Edward L. Carey writes Charles West Thomson that the Gift for 1842 “is now in the hands of the printer” (Heartman and Canny, p. 68).

[This edition of Carey & Hart's annual contained Poe's tale “Eleonora.”]

[1841] EARLY MARCH. Poe's tale “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is set in type for the April Graham's by Barrett & Thrasher, Printers, No. 33 Carter's Alley. The manuscript, afterwards thrown “into the waste-basket,” is rescued by a young apprentice printer, W. J. Johnston, who preserves it (Thomas [1978], pp. 822-24).

[1841] CA. 1 MARCH. WASHINGTON. Frederick William Thomas arrives in the capital for the inauguration of the victorious Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison. Thomas renews his acquaintance with Jesse E. Dow, whom he met in Philadelphia last May (Thomas to Poe, 7 March).

[1841] 4 MARCH. Harrison is inaugurated as President. John Tyler of Virginia, his running mate, becomes Vice-President.

[1841] 7 MARCH. Thomas writes Poe: “I have been in Washington this week past. Dow, whom I see frequently, told me that you had given up the idea of the Penn and was [sic] engaged with Graham. I regret that you have been prevented from carrying out that glorious enterprise at present, but you’ll do it yet.” Thomas wishes “to write for some periodical a novel in numbers, say two or three chapters per month, as Marryat and Boz write their novels.” He asks Poe whether this serial would be appropriate for Graham's Magazine: “Write me ... if Mr. Graham likes the proposition[,] what he would give — all about it. Of course a continuous story is worth more per page than a mere sketch, as it would create a desire in the reader to see the conclusion of it and consequently make him the purchaser of the subsequent numbers of the Magazine.” Thomas hopes, “in a month or so,” to take Poe “by the hand”; he sends his respects to Poe's “mother and lady” (W, 17:81-82). [page 320:]

[1841] 10 MARCH. CINCINNATI. William Davis Gallagher, editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, writes Poe:

A copy of Gallagher's anthology Selections from the Poetical Literature of the West, just issued “by an enterprising Western publisher,” accompanies this letter: “I trust you may find in it something to your liking” (MB-G).

[1841] 12 MARCH. JACKSON, TENNESSEE. John Tomlin writes Poe, expressing disappointment that the Penn Magazine has been “indefinitely postponed.” He offers his assistance in any future project Poe may undertake (W, 17:82-83; L, 2:584).

[1841] 22 MARCH. CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. James Russell Lowell writes Charles J. Peterson, who performs many editorial duties on Graham's Magazine. Lowell is annoyed that his “Callirhöe” has been published in the March number without his consent. This poem was submitted as an entry in the premium contest conducted by the Gentleman's Magazine last year; William E. Burton should have returned it (Peterson's 29 March reply).

[1841] 25 MARCH. PHILADELPHIA. Poe signs a receipt: “Recd ... of Geo. R. Graham Sixty dollars” (PP-G).

[1841] BEFORE 26 MARCH. Graham's for April carries an announcement on its inside front cover:

This number contains “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” as well as Poe's reviews of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel Night and Morning and R. M. Walsh's translation Sketches of Conspicuous Living Characters of France. Observing that one of Walsh's sketches deals with a cipher, Poe rejects the notion that its solution required “extraordinary penetration.” In this case both the cipher and its key were in French and addressed to Frenchmen: “The difficulty of decyphering may well be supposed much greater had the key been in a foreign tongue; yet any one who will take the trouble may address us a note in the same manner as here proposed, and the key-phrase may be either in French, Italian, Spanish, German, Latin, or Greek (or in any of the dialects of these languages), and we pledge ourselves for the solution of the riddle. The experiment may afford our readers some amusement — let them try it.”

[1841] 26 MARCH. The Daily Chronicle notices the April Graham's. “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” is one of “its most interesting articles.”

[1841] 27 MARCH. The Pennsylvanian notices Graham's: “We observe that Mr E. A. Poe is now associated with Mr Graham in the editorial management of the work, and besides having contributed a tale of powerful interest, the traces of his able pen will attract much attention in the critical department, which contains several reviews of late publications written with remarkable vigor and discrimination.”

[1841] 27 MARCH. NEW YORK. Horace Greeley's New-Yorker reviews Graham's: “the article entitled ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ is of deep but repulsive interest; ... the Literary Notices are much more able and carefully prepared than usual.”

[1841] 29 MARCH. PHILADELPHIA. Peterson replies to Lowell's 22 March letter:

[1841] 31 MARCH. GERMANTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA. The Germantown Telegraph notices Graham's: “Among the number, there is a powerful article from Mr. POE, one of our very best writers, who is permanently connected with this magazine. The Reviews which are from the pen of Mr. P., are of an able, spirited and independent order — such as all reviews ought to be.” [page 322:]

[1841] 1 APRIL. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to an 8 March letter from Snodgrass. He is grateful for permission to give Graham the essay Snodgrass submitted in the Burton's premium contest. It will appear in the June Graham's: “In order to understand this apparent delay, you must be informed that we go to press at a singularly early period. The May number is now within two days of being ready for delivery to the mails.” Poe thanks Snodgrass for “the kind interest” he has shown in regard to the malicious rumors spread by Burton: “My situation is embarrassing. It is impossible, as you say, to notice a buffoon and a felon, as one gentleman would notice another.” Burton's assertions that Poe is a drunkard are totally false:

In a postscript Poe states that the Penn Magazine “would have appeared under glorious auspices, and with capital at command, in March, as advertised, but for the unexpected bank suspensions. ... The Penn project will unquestionably be resumed hereafter” (L, 1:155-58).

[1841] 1 APRIL. Poe replies to his friend Thomas Wyatt, now in New Brunswick, New Jersey, whose letter he received “yesterday morning.” Complying with Wyatt's request, Poe called on the lithographer Peter S. Duval later in the day: “He says that it will be impossible to execute the alterations mentioned in Prof. Millington's letter, without ruining the drawing — and that the cost of them, even if executed, would exceed that of a new drawing. ... In truth the drawing by Mr Pinkerton is shockingly botched and ‘touched up’ — so that it would be useless to attempt doing anything farther with it. Mr D. refuses to put his name to it — so you may imagine how bad it is — for Mr D. has put his name to some of the most execrable things.” Were Poe in Wyatt's place, he would refuse to pay E. J. Pinkerton “and get the design executed by some competent artist.” He invites Wyatt to visit his family when passing through Philadelphia: “We are still at the old place.” Rosalie Poe, his sister, has recently spent a week with them. Her foster brother John Mackenzie accompanied her up from Richmond and left her in Philadelphia “while he went to Boston.” The Penn Magazine has been deferred, but not abandoned: [page 323:]

[1841] 1 APRIL. Poe replies to Thomas’ 7 March letter. Graham would not serialize Thomas’ proposed novel in his magazine. Poe solicits his friend's opinion of “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (Thomas’ 11 May reply).

[1841] 3 APRIL. The Saturday Evening Post quotes favorable notices of the April Graham's by the New York Weekly Dispatch, which stated that Poe's association with the magazine was “an acquisition to its interest Mr. G. may well be proud of,” and by the Providence, Rhode Island, Patriot, which described Poe's “Rue Morgue” as “a well written and highly interesting article ... one of that author's best efforts.”

[1841] 3 APRIL. Poe signs a receipt: “Recd ... of Geo. R. Graham Fifty four dollars” (PP-G).

[1841] 4 APRIL. WASHINGTON. President Harrison dies, having been in office only one month. The Vice-President John Tyler succeeds him on 6 April.

[1841] 15 APRIL. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes John Tomlin in Jackson, Tennessee (Tomlin's 30 April reply).

[1841] BEFORE 21 APRIL. Graham's for May contains Poe's tale “A Descent into the Maelstrom,” as well as his reviews of Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop and Master Humphrey's Clock, Charles Sprague's Writings, and John N. McJilton's poem The Sovereignty of Mind.

The inside front cover carries an announcement: “Writers who send articles to this Magazine for publication, must state distinctly at the time of sending them, whether they expect pay. We cannot allow compensation unless by special contract before publication. This rule will hereafter be rigidly enforced.”

[1841] 21 APRIL. STONINGTON, CONNECTICUT. A reader signing himself “S. D. L.” writes “the Editor of Graham's Magazine,” quoting Poe's offer to solve ciphers made in the April number. He submits two ciphers, the first having a key-phrase in English, and the second, one in Latin: “As I did [page 324:] not see (by the number for May,) that any of your correspondents had availed himself of your offer, I take the liberty to send the enclosed, on which, if you should think it worth your while, you can exercise your ingenuity” (W, 14:124-25).

[1841] AFTER 21? APRIL. NEW YORK. Mordecai M. Noah's Evening Star notices Graham's: “Edgar A. Poe, Esq. has furnished a narrative entitled ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom,’ which appears to be equal in interest with the powerful article from his pen in the last number, ‘The Murder[s] in the Rue Morgue’ ” (quoted in the Saturday Evening Post, 1 May).

[1841] 24 APRIL. PHILADELPHIA. Poe signs a receipt: “Recd ... of Geo. R. Graham Forty dollars” (PP-G).

[1841] 28 APRIL. The Daily Chronicle notices Graham's: “The ‘Descent into the Maelstroom’ [sic] by Edgar A. Poe, Esq., is unworthy of the pen of one whose talents allow him a wider and more ample range.”

[1841] 30 APRIL. JACKSON, TENNESSEE. Tomlin acknowledges a 15 April letter from Poe, “received on yesterday.” He hopes that his tale “The Devil's Visit to St Dunstan,” submitted for the Penn Magazine, can be published in Graham's. Having been appointed the postmaster of Jackson on 24 February by President Van Buren, Tomlin wonders how he will fare under the new administration: “If John Tyler Esq, President of the United States, removes me from office for being a loco-foco, I will certainly be opposed to him — and the measure” (MB-G).

[1841] 1 MAY. PHILADELPHIA. Charles West Thomson writes Poe about Graham's:

[1841] 1 MAY. In the Saturday Evening Post Poe reviews Dickens’ novel Barnaby Rudge, now being published serially. He correctly predicts that the subsequent installments will reveal “that Barnaby, the idiot, is the murderer's own son.” Poe praises Dickens’ “creation of the hero Barnaby Rudge, and the commingling with his character, as accessory, that of the human-looking raven.” [page 325:]

[1841] 3 MAY. Poe writes Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in Cambridge, Massachusetts: “Mr Geo: R. Graham, proprietor of ‘Graham's Magazine’, a monthly journal published in this city, and edited by myself, desires me to beg of you the honor of your contribution to its pages. ... I should be overjoyed if we could get from you an article each month — either poetry or prose — length and subject à discretion. In respect to terms we would gladly offer you carte blanche — and the periods of payment should also be made to suit yourself.” Poe is forwarding the April and May numbers in order that Longfellow “may form some judgment of the character of the work.” If he decides to contribute, “it would be an important object with us to have something, as soon as convenient, for the July number, which commences a new volume, and with part of which we are already going to press.” Poe expresses his “fervent admiration” for Longellow's writings (L, 1:158-59).

[1841] BEFORE 8 MAY. Poe meets Rufus W. Griswold, a young editor and journalist.

[In his 1850 “Memoir,” p. v, Griswold recalled: “My acquaintance with Mr. POE commenced in the spring of 1841. He called at my hotel, and not finding me at home, left two letters of introduction. The next morning I visited him, and we had a long conversation about literature and literary men, pertinent to the subject of a book, ‘The Poets and Poetry of America,’ which I was then preparing for the press.” No doubt Poe hoped to have his poems featured in the new anthology; Griswold, in turn, would have realized that a favorable review by Poe in Graham's would enhance the book's chances of success.]

[1841] BEFORE 8 MAY. Poe writes Griswold: “Will you be kind enough to lend me the No. of the Family Magazine of which we spoke — if you have received it?” He also hopes to borrow John L. Stephens’ Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan or some other “new book of interest” (L, 1:159-60).

[1841] 8 MAY. BOSTON. Griswold begins an editorial engagement on the Boston Notion, a weekly newspaper of folio size published by George Roberts (Griswold [1898], pp. 65-66).

[1841] 11 MAY. WASHINGTON. Thomas replies to Poe's 1 April letter. He encloses an article for Graham's, requesting payment as soon as possible: “A gentleman of address, if not of character ... did me the honor to borrow feloniously my coat with an hundred and ten dollars in it — This has shortened my finances.” Thomas thinks that he may move to New Orleans, where he would practice law. “Speaking of law reminds me of your tale [page 326:] ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ and your wish to know how I like it in ‘my capacity of a lawyer’ — I must speak frankly, and without flattery[.] I think it the most ingenious thing of the kind on record — It is managed with a tact, ability and subtlety that is wonderful — I do not know what in the devil to make of your intellectuals.” Yesterday Thomas read Poe's critique of Barnaby Rudge in the Saturday Evening Post, but he will not comment on it because he has not yet read Dickens’ novel. “Poe don’t forget that Henry Clay said that at the extra session of Congress he meant to bring up the copy right law — Are you not going to give an editorial on the subject — Do prick the Senator's memory and I will have the article copied here — I think when Congress meets that your humble servant will lecture on the subject.” Thomas reprimands Poe for not keeping his promise to review Howard Pinckney: “By the bye you are a shabby fellow — Do you think by love! that I thought you ... to get over ‘Howard Pinckney’ with out ‘abusing it’ — No sir, and be it known to you that I consider this no good reason in the eye of friendship why you should not notice it — Better be damned &c — Dont you know that to be before the public is the thing — Poe I dont like that — and that's flat.” Their mutual friend Jesse E. Dow, a Democratic appointee under the Van Buren administration, has been removed from his clerkship in the Post Office Department: “I am more than sorry for it — It is though what he ought to have expected .... Dow has a wife and three children, with soon [to] have a fourth, and yet he bears up like a man .... He boards next door to me. I see him daily. We walk often together and I do not think we have ever taken a walk without speaking of you” (MB-G).

[1841] 19 MAY. CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. Longfellow replies to Poe's 3 May letter:

[1841] 20 MAY. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe again, complaining that he has not received payment for his article: “I have been disappointed in receiving a remittance from St. Louis from an editor for whom I have been writing and I feel constrained to request, my dear friend, that you would jog Mr. Graham's memory. Don’t fail me — for my pocket is at a low ebb.” Thomas [page 327:] fears that “with the failure of the banks and the death of General Harrison, ... it will be some time before publishing resumes its former busy existence. Dam[n] Locofocoism there was some little money to be made by books before that — but nowadays!” Dow is now “getting along well as an agent for post-masters — or rather for those who wish to make contracts with the post office department. He seems cheerful and has quit drinking even hard cider. The Locofocos here seem to think or wish to think that President Tyler will go with them — or at least be half and half.” Thomas suggests that Poe come to Washington and apply for a clerkship:

[1841] BEFORE 22 MAY. PHILADELPHIA. Graham's for June contains Poe's sketch “The Island of the Fay,” written to accompany the frontispiece, a steel engraving by John Sartain with the same title. Poe reviews Macaulay's Essays, T. S. Arthur's tale Insubordination, Pliny Earle's Marathon, and Other Poems, William Davis Gallagher's Selections from the Poetical Literature of the West, and Joseph Holt Ingraham's novel The Quadroone.

[1841] 22 MAY. BOSTON. Griswold notices Graham's in the Boston Notion, condemning Poe's favorable review of Earle's poetry: “we never saw anything more ineffably senseless and bombastic, than these verses so lauded by the editor of Graham's Magazine — the same editor who pronounced Charles Sprague's Shakspeare Ode ‘a specimen of commonplace,” and Curiosity a ‘tolerable occasional poem’!” (Cohen, pp. 98-99).

[1841] 22 MAY. PHILADELPHIA. The Saturday Chronicle publishes Poe's poem “The Sleeper” (Mabbott [1969], 1:183).

[1841] 28 MAY. WASHINGTON. Thomas replies to Poe: “Yours of the 26 enclosing a draft upon F[ranck] Taylor, periodical agent of this place, drawn in my favour by Mr Graham for twenty dollars, I received yesterday.” He went “forthwith to Mr Taylor's book store and presented the draft,” but Taylor declined to honor it because “he had not that amount ... due Mr Graham.” Thomas again reminds Poe that he urgently needs money. He appreciates his friend's good opinion of his article: “I don’t know why it is, [page 328:] but frankly I like your approval of my little efforts better than any other critic's whatsoever — firstly because you are a critic — and secondly because you are outright downright and upright in your criticism.” Turning to the June Graham's, Thomas endorses Poe's unfavorable verdict on Gallagher's anthology: “I am glad you ‘rapped Gallagher over the knuckles[’] — He deserved it ... He is between you and me as morbid an egotist and as envious a fellow as you will find in the sea's compass.” In “The Island of the Fay” Poe has “struck a new vein” (MB-G).

[1841] 29 MAY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes Griswold in Boston, forwarding a number of his poems for possible inclusion in The Poets and Poetry of America: “I should be proud to see one or two of them in your book.” The poem entitled “The Haunted Palace” is the one Poe discussed with Griswold “in reference to Prof. Longfellow's plagiarism.” It was first published in the Baltimore American Museum. Poe afterwards incorporated it in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” which appeared in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine in September 1839: “Here it was, I suppose, that Prof. Longfellow saw it; for, about 6 weeks afterwards, there appeared in the South. Lit. Mess: a poem by him called ‘The Beleaguered City’ .... The identity in title is striking; for by the Haunted Palace I mean to imply a mind haunted by phantoms — a disordered brain — and by the Beleaguered City Prof. L. means just the same. But the whole tournure of the poem is based upon mine .... Its allegorical conduct, the style of its versification & expression — all are mine.” As Poe understands that Griswold intends “to preface each set of poems by some biographical notice,” he is enclosing a “memo” outlining “the particulars” of his life (L, 1:160-61; facsimile of memo in Robertson, 2:284-85).

[1841] AFTER 29 MAY? BOSTON. Griswold writes Poe, requesting assistance in obtaining biographical sketches of the Maryland poet Edward Coote Pinkney and the Kentucky poetess Amelia Welby for his anthology (Thomas to Griswold, 8 June).

[1841] EARLY JUNE? PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes Griswold that Thomas can provide suitable sketches. He then informs Thomas of Griswold's request (Thomas to Griswold, 8 June).

[1841] 8 JUNE. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Griswold in Boston:

[1841] 12 JUNE. PHILADELPHIA. The Saturday Evening Post reprints Poe's poem “The Coliseum” (Mabbott [1969], 1:227).

[1841] 14 JUNE. WASHINGTON. Thomas replies to two recent letters from Poe. Because he has been suffering from a fever “these four days past,” he was not able to return the proof sheets of his article until yesterday. He simply added several lines to replace the sheet which was lost: “To require me to furnish that lost copy would be like requiring me without the aid of astronomy or telescope to discuss the lost Pleiad.” Graham's order on the periodical agent Thomas R. Hampton was paid, “at least the last ten dollars of it,” only four days ago. Thomas would be very willing to join Poe in establishing a magazine: “Let me hear from you again on the subject — I have friends throughout the broad west, [who] would be glad to advance my literary interest in the west — and who have a high regard for your literary reputation.” He answers Poe's questions:

[1841] 21 JUNE. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes Washington Irving in Tarrytown, New York: “Mr George R. Graham of this city, and myself, design to establish a Monthly Magazine, upon certain conditions, one of which is the procuring your assistance in the enterprise. Will you pardon me for saying a few words upon the subject?” The foremost authors of Europe now contribute to magazines: “In this country, unhappily, we have not any journal of the class, which either can afford to offer pecuniary inducement to the highest talent, or which would be, in all respects, a fitting vehicle for its thoughts.” The magazine Poe envisions to remedy this deficiency will be “an octavo of 96 pages,” with paper “of excellent quality” and “clear and bold” type: “The printing will be done upon a hand press, in the best manner. There will be a broad margin. We shall have no engravings, except occasional wood-cuts (by Adams) when demanded in obvious [page 330:] illustration of the text; and, when so required, they will be worked in with the type — not upon separate pages, as in ‘Arcturus.” ... The price will be $5.” In the new journal Poe and Graham intend to publish “contributions from the most distinguished pens (of America) exclusively,” admitting few articles from other sources:

[Poe's letters to Cooper, Kennedy, Longfellow, and Halleck are basically identical with his letter to Irving, revealing only minor variations. The letters sent to Paulding, Bryant, and Willis have not been located.]

[1841] 21 JUNE. Poe writes Kennedy in Baltimore, adding several sentences not found in the other letters:

[1841] CA. 21 JUNE. Poe writes Cooper in Cooperstown, New York (Thomas [1978], pp. 234-37).

[1841] 22 JUNE. Poe writes Longfellow in Cambridge, Massachusetts: “Your letter of the 19th May was received. I regret to find my anticipations confirmed, and that you cannot make it convenient to accept Mr Graham's proposition. Will you now pardon me for making another?” He solicits Longfellow's contributions, adding an inducement not offered in the other letters: [page 332:] “Should illustrations be desired by you, these will be engraved at our expense, from designs at your own, superintended by yourself.” Observing that Longfellow spoke of “present engagements” in last month's letter, Poe points out: “The proposed journal will not be commenced until the 1st January 1842” (L, 1:166-68).

[1841] 24 JUNE. Poe writes Halleck in New York (L, 1:168-70).

[1841] 24 JUNE. TARRYTOWN, NEW YORK. Irving replies to Poe (cited on Poe's 21 June letter).

[1841] AFTER 24 JUNE. NEW YORK. Halleck replies to Poe. However eminent the magazine's contributors may be, it is on Poe's “own fine taste, sound judgment, and great general ability for the task, that the public will place the firmest reliance” (fragment quoted in the Philadelphia Saturday Museum, 4 March 1843).

[1841] 26 JUNE. BALTIMORE. In the Saturday Visiter the editor John Beauchamp Jones comments: “F. W. Thomas, Esq., the author of several popular novels, and a fine poet withal, has recently received an appointment in the Treasury Department. We are glad to find that this administration is inclined to reward literary as well as political talent; for in our opinion a literary man may confer as much honor on his native country as a politician — the united strength of both form national character.”

[1841] 26 JUNE. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes Thomas:

[1841] JULY. Graham's contains “A Few Words on Secret Writing,” in which Poe solves the two ciphers submitted by “S. D. L.” in his 21 April letter. Poe [page 333:] reviews Hugh A. Pue's Grammar of the English Language, Seba Smith's Powhatan, and the other books noticed in this issue (except The Works of Lord Bolingbroke) .

[1841] 1 JULY. WASHINGTON. Thomas replies to Poe's 26 June letter:

Thomas encloses a cipher composed by his friend Dr. Charles S. Frailey, a clerk in the General Land Office: “If you decypher it then you are a magician — for he has used as I think much art in making it” (W, 17:92-93).

[1841] 2 JULY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe signs a receipt: “Recd ... of Geo R Graham Fifty Five doll[ar]s” (PP-G).

[1841] 4 JULY. Poe replies to Thomas:

Poe deciphers Frailey's cryptograph, pointing out that it exceeds the limits of his challenge “because it cannot be readily decyphered by the person to whom it is addressed, and who possesses the key. In proof of this, I will publish it in the Mag: with a reward to any one who shall read it with the key, and I am pretty sure that no one will be found to do it. ... will you be kind enough to get from his own hand an acknowledgment of my [page 334:] solution, adding your own acknowledgment, in such form that I may append both to the cipher by way of note. I wish to do this because I am seriously accused of humbug in this matter — a thing I despise. People will not believe I really decipher the puzzles” (L, 1:171-74; Moldenhauer [1973], p. 51).

[1841] 6 JULY. WASHINGTON. In the morning Thomas receives Poe's letter and forwards his solution to Frailey.

[1841] 6 JULY. Frailey writes Thomas:

[1841] 6 JULY. Thomas forwards Frailey's letter of acknowledgment to Poe, adding his own statement:

[1841] 7 JULY. Thomas writes Poe again. Since Congress is in session, he may not be able to see Kennedy for several days. He will, however, see President Tyler on Friday, having been invited to dine with him by “his son” [presumably Robert Tyler]. Thomas stresses that he lacks “address” with the administration, and that there are “thousands of applicants”; but he feels certain of Poe's eventual success in obtaining a clerkship. “I know very few of the ‘bigbugs’ here, having kept myself to myself, but I think I have skill enough to commit your merits to those, who, though not women, will be more skilful advocates of your claims” (W, 17:94-95). [page 335:]

[1841] 7 JULY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes William Landor, a contributor to Graham's: “I duly received both your notes, and, daily, since the reception of the first, have been intending to reply. The cause of my not having done so is my failure to obtain certain definite information from the printer to whom I had allusion, and who still keeps me in momentary expectation of an answer. I merely write these few words now, lest you should think my silence proceeds from discourtesy.” In a postscript Poe mentions that he wrote all the reviews in the July Graham's, except that on Bolingbroke: “There are passages in that critique which I am sure are stolen, although I cannot put my hand upon the original. Your acquaintance with Bolingbroke's commentators is more extensive than my own. Can you aid me in tracing the theft?” (L, 1:174).

[“William Landor” was actually the pseudonym of the wealthy Philadelphian Horace Binney Wallace.]

[1841] 10 JULY. The Saturday Evening Post carries an advertisement for the “New Volume” of Graham's, which commences with the July number. “We print now per month an edition of 17,000 Copies.”

[1841] 12 JULY. Poe replies to a 10 July letter from Joseph Evans Snodgrass in Baltimore:

[1841] 13 JULY. In the Daily Chronicle Charles W. Alexander discusses Poe's article on “Secret Writing” in the July Graham's:

[1841] 19 JULY. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe. He has gone twice to ask Kennedy to aid Poe, but as yet he has not succeeded in seeing him because the House of Representatives is in session. “President Tyler is opposed to removals in office here — Twelve Locofocos were turned out on Saturday late, and it is said the President has reinstated all but 5 — But this is a mere rumor.” Thomas reports his attendance at the dinner mentioned in his 7 July letter: “I enjoyed myself much at the Presidents [sic], but as it was a formal dinner party I had not an opportunity of speaking to him especially of you — These public men are occupied so much that it is difficult to see them” (MB-G).

[1841] AFTER 19 JULY. Thomas writes Poe again. He has met with Kennedy, who expressed a willingness to aid Poe (Thomas to Poe, 30 August).

[1841] 24 JULY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe signs a receipt: “Recd ... of Geo R Graham One hundred & five ... $105 to November 17th” (PP-G).

[1841] 28 JULY. HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY. The body of Miss Mary Rogers, a salesgirl in a Manhattan cigar store, is found in the Hudson River. She has been brutally murdered by persons unknown. [page 337:]

[This famous unsolved crime provided the basis for Poe's novelette “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt.” See Walsh, passim, and Mabbott (1978), 3:715-22.]

[1841] 31 JULY. PHILADELPHIA. The Saturday Evening Post reprints Poe's “Ballad” from the Southern Literary Messenger for January 1837. The heading wrongfully describes the poem as “Written for the Saturday Evening Post” (cf. Poe to L. J. Cist, 18 September).

[1841] AUGUST. Graham's contains Poe's tale “The Colloquy of Monos and Una,” as well as his reviews of Lambert A. Wilmer's verse satire The Quacks of Helicon, Washington Irving's Biography and Poetical Remains of the late Margaret Miller Davidson, John L. Stephens’ Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan, and several other works. In a second installment of “Secret Writing;’ Poe prints Charles S. Frailey's cipher and the 6 July acknowledgments of his solution from Frailey and Thomas. He offers a year's subscription to Graham's and the Saturday Evening Post to any reader who solves it: “We have no expectation that it will be read; and, therefore, should the month pass without an answer forthcoming, we will furnish the key to the cipher, and again offer a year's subscription to the Magazine, to any person who shall solve it with the key.”

[1841] 7 AUGUST. The Saturday Evening Post reports that the proprietor of Graham's spent $1,300 on “embellishments” for the August number: “The embellishments consist of the ‘Penitent Son,’ one of Sartain's exquisite Mezzotinto's [sic] on steel. A Lace pattern with a boquett [sic] of flowers, handsomely colored: — A plate of elegantly colored Fashions for the month, compiled from the late arrivals from London and Paris, consisting of four figures, a Gentleman and three Ladies, and two pages of music.”

[This report does much to explain why Poe felt “more & more disgusted” with his position (26 June letter to Thomas).]

[1841] 10 AUGUST. BALTIMORE. A correspondent who signs himself “Timotheus Whackemwell” writes Poe, enclosing two ciphers (W, 14:138).

[1841] 11 AUGUST. PHILADELPHIA. Believing that the handwriting of “Whackemwell” is that of John N. McJilton, Poe addresses a reply to this Baltimore author:

[1841] 13 AUGUST. BALTIMORE. Mcjilton returns Poe's letter with a brief comment written on the bottom: “This is certainly intended for some one else, I know nothing of the matter whatever, nor should I be able to tell how the thing happened, but having seen the piece headed secret writing pubd in Graham's mag. noticed somewhere, I suppose some wag has addressed you anonymously whom you have mistaken for me” (W, 17:100).

[1841] 13 AUGUST. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes Lea & Blanchard. He wishes to publish a new edition of his prose tales, which would include the eight stories he has completed since this firm issued his Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. The proposed collection would consist of thirty-three tales and “would occupy two thick novel volumes.” Poe is anxious that Lea & Blanchard continue to be his publishers: “I should be glad to accept the terms which you allowed me before — that is — you receive all profits, and allow me twenty copies for distribution to friends” (L, 1:178).

[1841] 14 AUGUST. Poe writes Horatio Hastings Weld, editor of the Brother Jonathan, a New York weekly. He solicits Weld's autograph for inclusion in his “Autography” articles, soon to be published in Graham's Magazine: “The design is three-fold: first, to give the Autograph signature — that is, a fac-simile in woodcut — of each of our most distinguished literati; second, to maintain that the character is, to a certain extent, indicated by the chirography; and thirdly, to embody, under each Autograph, some literary gossip about the individual, with a brief comment on his writings. ... We are still in want of the Autographs of Sprague, Hoffman, Dawes, Bancroft, Emerson, Whittier, R. A. Locke, and Stephens, the traveller.” If Weld has one of these autographs, and will permit an engraving to be taken from it, Poe “will endeavor to reciprocate the obligation” (L, 1:179-80).

[1841] 16 AUGUST. Lea & Blanchard reply to Poe's 13 August letter: “In answer we very much regret to say that the state of affairs is such as to give little encouragement to new undertakings. As yet we have not got through the edition of the other work & up to this time it has not returned to us the expense of its publication. We assure you that we regret this on your account as well as our own, as it would give us great pleasure to promote your views in relation to publication” (W, 17:101-02; Ostrom [1981], p. 202). [page 339:]

[1841] 18 AUGUST. NEW YORK. Rufus W. Griswold writes his Philadelphia publishers Carey & Hart: “I have resigned the conduct of the papers with which I have been connected in Boston, to superintend in person the stereotyping of ‘The Poets and Poetry of America.’ ... I shall be in Philadelphia next week” (NNPM).

[1841] 21 AUGUST. WASHINGTON. The Index, a new Democratic paper edited by Poe's friend Jesse E. Dow, commences publication.

[1841] AFTER 25? AUGUST. PHILADELPHIA. Griswold visits the office of Graham's and leaves a note for Poe, requesting him to furnish a biographical sketch of Thomas for The Poets and Poetry of America (Poe to Thomas, 1 September).

[1841] 30 AUGUST. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe, explaining that he has not corresponded because of illness. Previously, he wrote that he contacted John P. Kennedy, who offered to assist Poe in obtaining a government position. “Sure I have conversed with the President's sons about you — they think the president will be able and willing to give you a situation, but they say, and I felt the truth of the remark before it was made, that at the present crisis when everything is ‘hurlyburly’ it would be of no avail to apply to him. He is much perplexed, as you may suppose amidst the conflicting parties, the anticipated cabinet break up, etc.” Thomas promises to see President Tyler when the crisis has passed and to write Poe describing the interview. The articles on cryptography have caused “quite a talk” in Washington; Hampton, the bookseller, had a heavy demand for the August number of Graham's. Thomas asks a favor: “Poe, I have a song that has been set to a very pretty tune, by a gentleman here. I would like to have it published, and will give it to any music publisher who would undertake it. ... Will you make some inquiry with regard to the publishing it” (W, 17:102-03).

[1841] SEPTEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Graham's contains Poe's “Never Bet Your Head: A Moral Tale,” his revised poem “To Helen,” and his reviews of Frederick Marryat's novel Joseph Rushhrook and Thomas Campbell's Life of Petrarch.

[1841] CA. 1 SEPTEMBER. Carey & Hart issue the Gift for 1842, which contains Poe's tale “Eleonora.”

[1841] 1 SEPTEMBER. Poe writes Thomas: “Griswold left a note for me at the office, the other day, requesting me to furnish him with some memoranda of your life [for The Poets and Poetry of America]; and it will, of course, give [page 340:] me great pleasure to do so; but ... I find that neither myself, nor Mrs Clemm, upon whom I mainly depend for information, can give all the necessary points with sufficient precision.” Poe needs more details as soon as possible, because Griswold's anthology is already in press: “When & where were you born? With whom did you study law? What was (exactly) the cause of your lameness? How did you first become known to the literary world? Who were your most intimate associates in Baltimore? When did you remove to Cincinnati? With what papers have you been occasionally connected — if with any?” Poe inquires about Jesse E. Dow and his newspaper. He himself will probably remain with Graham, even if he starts the Penn Magazine in January; he has had “some excellent offers respecting the ‘Penn’ and it is more than probable that it will go on.” The success of Graham's Magazine is astonishing: “we shall print 20,000 copies shortly” (L, 1:180-81).

[1841] 3 SEPTEMBER. WASHINGTON. Thomas replies to Poe, forwarding a long account of his career (W, 17:95-100).

[1841] 4 SEPTEMBER. BOSTON. The Boston Notion reprints “Eleonora” on its front page. On another page the Notion reviews the Gift, praising this story: “Poe's contribution is written with much power, and in that gentleman's peculiar style” (Pollin [1970b], p. 26).

[1841] 4 SEPTEMBER. NEW YORK. The oversize weekly Brother Jonathan reprints “Never Bet Your Head” from Graham's. Poe's tale appears in the 7 September issue of the weekly's quarto edition, Jonathan's Miscellany (Heartman and Canny, pp. 168, 215-16).

[1841] 9 SEPTEMBER. PONTOTOC, MISSISSIPPI. Richard Bolton, a reader of Graham's, writes Poe, enclosing the solution to the Frailey cipher published in the August number (Bolton to Poe, 4 November).

[1841] 11 SEPTEMBER. BALTIMORE. John Beauchamp Jones reviews the September Graham's in the Saturday Visiter: “If one half the dollars laid out for engravings were only expended on authors of genius, these flashy things would live longer, be more profitable to the publishers, and do more credit to the country.”

[In the Saturday Evening Post for 28 August, Graham had boasted that the number's “leading embellishment” was “a magnificent steel line engraving, entitled ‘Cottage Fireside,’ ” which “cost the proprietor of the Magazine over four hundred dollars.”] [page 341:]

[1841] 15 SEPTEMBER. BOSTON. Roberts’ Semi-Monthly Magazine reprints Poe's “Eleonora” (Pollin [1970b], p. 26).

[1841] 18 SEPTEMBER. NEW YORK. The Weekly Tribune reprints “Eleonora.” The tale appears in the Daily Tribune on 20 September (Heartman and Canny, p. 228).

[1841] 18 SEPTEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to a 30 August letter from Lewis J. Cist of Cincinnati, who complained that his poem “Bachelor Philosophy,” submitted for the Penn Magazine, has been published in the Saturday Evening Post under the caption “written for The Post.” Although Poe has been “guilty of a sad neglect,” he is innocent of “any intentional disrespect or discourtesy.” When he joined Graham's Magazine, he delivered Cist's poem and other manuscripts submitted for the Penn into the custody of Charles J. Peterson, “the then editor of that journal” whose duties included “revising MSS for press and attending to the general arrangement of the matter.” Poe intended to obtain permission from the Penn contributors to publish their articles in Graham's, and his impression was that he had secured Cist's consent. “Mr. Peterson, however, (who has a third interest in the ‘Saturday Evening Post’ and superintends the ‘getting up’ of that paper also) has taken the unwarrantable liberty, it seems, of using the poem to suit his own views — leaving out of question my positive understanding and intention on the subject.” In extenuation Poe cites “the confusion attendant upon the joint issue of a paper and Magazine,” adding that his duties on Graham's have nothing to do with the disposition of manuscripts: “I merely write the Reviews, with a tale monthly, and read the last proofs.” Peterson, in using Cist's poem for the Post, is guilty of “a falsehood wilfully perpetrated — of a kind which he is in the habit of perpetrating.” Recently Poe gave his poem “A Ballad” to Peterson for “republication” in the Post, with the understanding that it was to appear under the caption “From the Southern Literary Messenger.” Peterson published it under the same caption as Cist's “Bachelor Philosophy” (L, 1:181-82; Moldenhauer [1973], p. 52).

[1841] 19 SEPTEMBER. Poe replies to a 6 September letter from Snodgrass, who discussed “Never Bet Your Head” in this month's Graham's: “You are mistaken about ‘The Dial’. I have no quarrel in the world with that illustrious journal, nor it with me. I am not aware that it ever mentioned my name, or alluded to me either directly or indirectly. My slaps at it were only in ‘a general way.’ The tale in question is a mere Extravaganza levelled at no one in particular, but hitting right & left at things in [page 342:] general.” Poe thanks Snodgrass for inquiring after the 21 June letter he directed to John P. Kennedy at Baltimore. “It is not impossible that Graham will join me in The ‘Penn.’ He has money. By the way, is it impossible to start a first-class Mag: in Baltimore? Is there no publisher or gentleman of moderate capital who would join me in the scheme?” (L, 1:183-84).

[1841] 20 SEPTEMBER. Poe replies to Thomas’ 30 August letter, offering to publish his song in Graham's. Poe inquires whether Thomas can provide the signatures of Joseph Rodman Drake and George D. Prentice for his forthcoming “Autography” series (Thomas’ reply).

[1841] 22 SEPTEMBER. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe:

Thomas discusses the political climate of Washington; he regrets “the break up in the cabinet,” especially the resignation of his patron Thomas Ewing, the Secretary of the Treasury. On the other hand, he is heartened by his growing intimacy with the Tylers: “I think that the President and family have a kind feeling towards me, and I shall put my trust there. ... I have just received an invitation to dinner there to day.” Thomas and his friend Robert Tyler, the President's oldest son, frequently speak of Poe (MB-G).

[1841] 24 SEPTEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to Thomas. He has arranged for the music publisher George Willig, 171 Chestnut Street, to issue Thomas’ song: “He says he cannot afford to give anything for it beyond a [page 343:] few copies — but will promise to get it up handsomely. I suppose you had better send it through me.” Poe still needs the autographs of Drake, Prentice, and Amelia Welby: “If you can get them soon I would be greatly obliged. Our design includes only literary people” (L, 2:696).

[1841] BEFORE 25 SEPTEMBER. Graham's for October contains Poe's revised poem “Israfel” and the third installment of his “Secret Writing,” which reveals the solution and the key to the Frailey cipher. A footnote appears on the first page of the review section: “Owing to the temporary absence of Mr. Poe, the reviews in this number are from another hand. That department is exclusively under the control of Mr. Poe. C. J. Peterson, his coadjutor, has the charge of the other departments of the work.”

[1841] 25 SEPTEMBER. Poe signs a receipt: “Recd ... of Geo R Graham Thirty Three Doll[ar]s and fifty Cents on acct of editing Magazine” (TxU-HRCL).

[1841] 25 SEPTEMBER. WASHINGTON. Jesse E. Dow reviews the October Graham's in the Index, commenting that “its main editor, Edgar A. Poe, Esq., a Richmond boy by adoption, is the severest critic, the best writer, and the most unassuming little fellow in the United States.”

[1841] 27 SEPTEMBER. WASHINGTON. Thomas replies to Poe's 24 September letter, apparently forwarding his song (cited on Poe's letter).

[1841] 9 OCTOBER. BOSTON. The Boston Notion reviews the October Graham's, describing Poe's poem [“Israfel”] as praiseworthy (Pollin [1970b], p. 26).

[1841] 13 OCTOBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe signs a receipt: “Recd ... of Geo. R. Graham Sixty Dollars and Ninety Cents on acct of editing Magazine” (TxU-HRCL).

[1841] 14 OCTOBER. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe: “Did you receive the MS: music I sent you the other day — What says Willig of it — How does your lady and mother like the tune? ... Dow is well — He has gone to housekeeping — does better out of office he says than in — He edits the ‘Index’ .... Do you know Judge [Abel Parker] Upshur the new secretary of the Navy? He could be of service to you in your views here — Let me know if you do” (MB-G).

[1841] BEFORE 19 OCTOBER. PHILADELPHIA. The November Graham's is ready for circulation. It contains the first installment of Poe's “A Chapter on Autography,” as well as his reviews of William Harrison Ainsworth's novel Guy Fawkes, [page 344:] Isaac D’Israeli's Amenities of Literature, Edward Bulwer-Lytton's Critical and Miscellaneous Writings, Charles Dickens’ Pic-Nic Papers, W. F. Napier's History of the War in the Peninsula, and Samuel Warren's novel Ten Thousand a Year. In noticing the Gift for 1842, Poe describes his own “Eleonora” as a tale “which is not ended so well as it might be — a good subject spoiled by hurry in the handling.”

[1841] BEFORE 19 OCTOBER. George R. Graham sends his November number to Park Benjamin, editor of the New World (implied by Benjamin's 19 October letter).

[1841] 19 OCTOBER. NEW YORK. Benjamin writes Graham, proposing to reprint “Autography”:

Benjamin is glad to hear of Graham's success. “I thank Mr Poe heartily for his just notice” (MB-G).

[1841] 23 OCTOBER. The New World contains Benjamin's review:

[1841] 26 OCTOBER. PHILADELPHIA. Charles J. Peterson writes James Russell Lowell in Boston, forwarding Graham's for November. Lowell will find Poe's “Autography” of interest. Next month's installment will feature “sixty more signatures”; some of the subjects will be very minor writers; “and the public will be not a little like the wonderers at flies in amber, as Pope has it — they’ll ‘wonder how the d—d things got there.’ ” Lowell's autograph will appear in this December installment: “However you must [page 345:] keep your temper & not scout for the company you are in .... I send you the sheet on which it will appear enclosed in your Nov. number. I hope the notice appended to your name will please you. It is by Poe. He lost your Scrip or your name would have figured in Novr” (MH-H).

[1841] 27 OCTOBER. Poe replies to Thomas’ 14 October letter: “I received your last some days ago, and have delayed answering it, in hope that I might say your song was out, and that I might give you my opinion and Virginia's about its merits.” Yesterday Poe called on the music publisher George Willig, who promised that the song would be ready by next Monday: “As soon as it is done, he will forward some copies (he did not say how many) to your address at Washington.” Although Poe is not personally acquainted with Judge Upshur, he has a high opinion of the new Secretary of the Navy: “He is not only the most graceful speaker I ever heard, but one of the most graceful & luminous writers. His head is a model for statuary.” Poe answers Thomas’ query in his 22 September letter: “Speaking of heads — my own has been examined by several phrenologists — all of whom spoke of me in a species of extravaganza which I should be ashamed to repeat.” Thomas’ name was omitted from the November installment of “Autography” because of “the length of the comment upon it. It heads the list in the December no; which is already finished.” Poe is glad to learn of Dow's prosperity: “I wonder he never sends me an ‘Index’.” When Graham combined Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and the Casket last December, “the joint list of both Mags. was 5000. In January we print 25000. Such a thing was never heard of before. Ah, if we could only get up the ‘Penn’! I have made a definite engagement with Graham for 1842 — but nothing to interfere with my own scheme, should I be able by any good luck, to go into it. Graham holds out a hope of his joining me in July. Is there no one among your friends at Washington — no one having both brains & funds who would engage in such an enterprise?” (L, 1:184-85).

[1841] 29 OCTOBER. The Public Ledger publishes “Three Thursdays in One Week,” an unsigned article which is a source for Poe's story “A Succession of Sundays” (see 27 NOVEMBER).

[1841] 29 OCTOBER. Robert Morris reviews the November Graham's in the Pennsylvania Inquirer: “The most singular, and at the same time, the most interesting article in the work, is the chapter on autographs, which present[s] ‘fac similes’ of the signatures of about one half of the best authors of our country, with a brief critical notice of the style of each — the other half to be given in December. We predict, therefore, that the November and December numbers of this Miscellany, will be carefully treasured up by many of its readers.” [page 346:]

[1841] 29 OCTOBER. JACKSON, TENNESSEE. John Tomlin writes Poe:

[Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd was a British jurist, playwright, and poet; his “Sonnet,” transcribed by Tomlin, appeared in the January 1842 Graham's. Tomlin submitted other “contributions” to Graham's taken from personal letters he had received. See his 1 and 12 December 1841 letters to Poe.]

[1841] BEFORE 30 OCTOBER. NEW YORK. The Evening Mail notices the November Graham's: “Among the articles which interested us most was the article on autography, by E. A. Poe. We wish we had the cuts, so that we might transfer it.”

[1841] 30 OCTOBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Saturday Evening Post reviews Graham's: “A most capital chapter on Autography, by Edgar A. Poe, graces the number. The article contains forty-two signatures of our best American writers, engraved expressly for the Magazine; and we understand, that the publisher intends to complete, in the next number, the en[t]erprize, by adding over sixty more, which will embrace the signature of every writer in America, at all known. This will be the most finished collection ever issued.” The Post quotes favorable notices of the current number by the Evening Mail and other papers.

[1841] NOVEMBER. LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. The Lady's Pearl reprints Poe's “Israfel” from the October Graham's (Heartman and Canny, pp. 217-18).

[1841] 2 NOVEMBER. WASHINGTON. Dow reviews the November Graham's in the Index:

[1841] 4 NOVEMBER. PONTOTOC, MISSISSIPPI. Richard Bolton writes Poe:

Bolton transcribes his solution, adding extensive notes to indicate how he arrived at it. He identifies two words incorrectly translated in Poe's solution, as published in the October Graham's (Thomas [1978], pp. 279-81).

[1841] 6 NOVEMBER. NEW YORK. Park Benjamin's New World reprints Poe's “Autography” from the November Graham's.

[1841] 6 NOVEMBER. WASHINGTON. The author and jurist Henry Marie Brackenridge writes Thomas. Brackenridge has written a new biography of his father, the novelist Hugh Henry Brackenridge. He intends to publish it in a well-known periodical “as a precursor” to a new edition of his father's Modern Chivalry “now about to be put to press.” Some ten days ago he gave the biography to his friend Walter Colton, editor of the Philadelphia North American; he has since decided that Graham's Magazine would be a more suitable journal for it. Brackenridge asks Thomas to send his letter to Poe, who can then obtain the biography for his consideration: “Mr. Colton on seeing this letter will hand over the MSS. to Mr. E. A. Poe, the editor of the Magazine, unless the publication shall have been announced in the N. American” (MB-G) [page 348:]

[1841] 6 NOVEMBER. Thomas forwards Brackenridge's letter to Poe, writing on the bottom:

[1841] 10 NOVEMBER. Thomas replies to a letter from Poe declining Brackenridge's manuscript: “Thanks for your punctuality and promptness — I read the Judge what you said (of course leaving out what Graham said about its ‘heaviness’) at which he seemed much pleased.” Since Brackenridge wishes to submit the biography to the Southern Literary Messenger, Poe should return it to him as soon as possible. “I am sorry that your lady likes not the music to which my song is married .... Well — I like ‘Virginia's’ frankness, my dear friend, as I have always liked yours .... You, my dear Poe, have a very high reputation here among the literatti [sic], and more than once in ‘dining out’ I have discussed you and made conversational capital out of you” (MB-G).

[1841] 10 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes the popular poetess Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney in Hartford, Connecticut: “Since my connexion, as editor, with ‘Graham's Magazine’, of this city, I have been sadly disappointed to find that you deem us unworthy your correspondence. ... Is there no mode of tempting you to send us an occasional contribution? Mr Graham desires me to say that he would be very especially obliged if you could furnish ... a poem, however brief, for the January number. His compensation ... will be at least as liberal as that of any publisher in America” (L, 1:186).

[1841] 13 NOVEMBER. GLEN MARY, NEW YORK. Nathaniel P. Willis replies to Poe:

[1841] 13 NOVEMBER. BALTIMORE. The Saturday Visiter announces that John Beauchamp Jones retired from its editorship on 8 November. The Visiter is now edited by Joseph Evans Snodgrass, who has been “favorably known as one of the editors of the AMERICAN MUSEUM” and “as a contributor to the SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER, and many other leading magazines.”

[1841] 13 NOVEMBER. LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. The Literary Souvenir reprints Poe's “Eleonora” (Heartman and Canny, p. 222).

[1841] 16 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to a 13 November letter from Mrs. Sigourney in Hartford, thanking her for agreeing to contribute to the January Graham's: “We are forced to go to press at a very early period ... so that it would be desirable we should have your article in hand by the 1rst December. We shall look for it with much anxiety, as we are using every exertion to prepare a number of more than ordinary attraction. ... We shall have papers from Longfellow, Benjamin, Willis, Fay, Herbert, Mrs Stephens, Mrs Embury, Dr Reynell Coates, and (what will surprise you) from Sergeant Talfourd, author of ‘Ion’ — besides others of nearly equal celebrity.” Poe and Graham hope that Mrs. Sigourney will consent to become a regular contributor: “Is it not possible that we can make an arrangement with yourself for an article each month? It would give us the greatest pleasure to do so” (L, 1:186-87).

[1841] 18 NOVEMBER. Poe replies to Richard Bolton's 4 November letter: “I hasten to exonerate myself from ... the suspicion, no doubt long since entertained by yourself, that I wished to deny you the honors of victory — and a participation in its spoils.” Bolton's solution of the Frailey cipher is given “an unqualified acknowledgment” in the December Graham's, which has been ready for ten days. His letter of 9 September arrived too late for his solution to be acknowledged in the November issue: “We print 25000 copies. Of course much time is required to prepare them. Our last ‘form’ necessarily goes to press a full month in advance of the day of issue. It often happens, moreover, that the last form in order is not the last in press. Our first form is usually held back until the last moment on account of the ‘plate article.’ Upon this hint you will easily see the possibility of your [page 350:] letter not having come to hand in season for acknowledgment in the November number.” Poe admits that Bolton's solution “astonished” him: “I make no question that it even astonished yourself — and well it might — for from among at least 100,000 readers — a great number of whom, to my certain knowledge busied themselves in the investigation — you and I are the only persons who have succeeded” (L, 1:187-89).

[1841] 23 NOVEMBER. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe:

[1841] 26 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to Thomas:

[1841] 26 NOVEMBER. Charles J. Peterson writes James Russell Lowell in Boston, discussing the December installment of “Autography”:

[1841] BEFORE 27 NOVEMBER. Graham's for December contains the second installment of “A Chapter on Autography,” as well as Poe's reviews of the Poetical Remains of the late Lucretia Maria Davidson, The Seaman's Friend by Richard Henry Dana, Jr., and William Gilmore Simms's novel Confession. In the fourth and final installment of “Secret Writing,” Poe prints a letter on cryptography he received from W. B. Tyler, a reader who has composed an especially complicated cipher. He acknowledges Bolton's solution of the Frailey cipher.

The issue contains an announcement that “the graceful pens of two lady-editors,’ Mrs. Emma C. Embury and Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, will be added to the magazine's “editorial list,” which already includes Graham, Peterson, and Poe.

[The women were never more than nominal editors. See 5 FEBRUARY 1842.]

[1841] 27 NOVEMBER. BALTIMORE. In the Saturday Visiter Snodgrass notices the December Graham's, criticizing its engravings and poetry:

[1841] 27 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Saturday Evening Post contains Poe's tale “A Succession of Sundays,” subsequently entitled “Three Sundays in a Week:”

[1841] 30 NOVEMBER. GLEN MARY, NEW YORK. Willis replies to a second letter from Poe: “You cannot have received my letter written in answer to yours some time since (say a month ago) in which I stated that I was under contract to Mr. Godey to write for no other periodical in Philadelphia than the Lady's Book, for one year — 1842. I said also that if he were willing, I should be very happy to send you poetry, (he bargaining for prose, ) but that without his consent I could do nothing. ... I am very sorry to refuse anything to a writer whom I so much admire as yourself, & to a Magazine as good as Graham's” (W, 17:104; cf. Willis’ 13 November letter).

[1841] DECEMBER? NEW YORK? Thomas Holley Chivers writes Poe, objecting to the notice of him given in “Autography” (Poe's reply, 6 July 1842).

[In the December installment Poe had described this Georgian as “one of the best and one of the worst poets in America. ... Even his worst nonsense (and some of it is horrible) has an indefinite charm of sentiment and melody.”]

[1841] 1 DECEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe signs a promissory note for $104, payable “Ninety days after date” to John W. Albright, a tailor, 16 South Third Street (TxU-HRCL).

[1841] 1 DECEMBER. JACKSON, TENNESSEE. John Tomlin writes Poe, discussing a letter he received from Charles Dickens:

[Dickens’ 23 February 1841 letter to Tomlin was published in the February 1842 Graham's. When noticing the number in the Saturday Visiter on 5 February, Snodgrass expressed a hope “that Mr. Graham will not obtrude [page 354:] any more such common-place private letters upon his readers, to gratify the vanity of a contributor, who cannot feel that he is as good as Boz.”]

[1841] 12 DECEMBER. Tomlin writes Poe again, enclosing a twenty-line poem headed “To John Tomlin, Esq.” He explains that the poem was sent to him anonymously “a few days since,” accompanied by a request that he should have it published in Graham's. “You will not Mr. Poe for one moment believe that it was my Vanity that caused the producing of the Eulogy — nor will you believe that your warm-hearted friend, with all of his Southern chivalry, can, or will ever act in derogation of the high name of man” (MB-G).

[1841] BEFORE 18 DECEMBER. BOSTON. Edwin P. Whipple attacks Poe in an unsigned article in the Daily Times:

[1841] 18 DECEMBER. Whipple's attack is reprinted in the Boston Notion, a weekly issued from the same office as the Daily Times, both papers being published by George Roberts.

[1841] 20 DECEMBER. Whipple writes Rufus W. Griswold in Philadelphia: “I perceive that Poe did you justice in the Chapter on Autography, published in Graham's Magazine, although he was unjust to others. If you see the Notion, you will perceive a rather savage article on his impertinence. You are no particular friend of his, I believe, and therefore it can hardly shock you. How he cuts up [Henry T.] Tuckerman! That set my pen in motion. He does not mention Sprague, Holmes, Sargent, and many other ‘good poets and true,’ but finds space for Johnny M’Jilton, Dr. Snodgrass, Pliny Earle, and other lights of the age” (Gerber, pp. 110-11).

[1841] 25 DECEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Saturday Evening Post reviews the first number of the Lady's World of Fashion, a saccharine monthly begun by Charles J. Peterson.

[1841] LATE DECEMBER. In the Spirit of the Times John S. Du Solle defends Poe against Whipple's unsigned attack in the Boston Daily Times (see 10 JANUARY 1842).

[1841] 1841. LONDON. John Cunningham, Crown-Court, Fleet-Street, reprints Poe's novel, altering its title to Arthur Gordon Pym: Or, Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Famine (Pollin [1981], pp. 3, 43-44).