Text: Dwight R. Thomas and David K. Jackson, “Chapter 06 [Part 02],” The Poe Log (1987), pp. 355-390

[page 355, continued:]

[1842] EARLY 1842? PHILADELPHIA. Poe becomes acquainted with the young Kentucky poet William Ross Wallace, who is a frequent visitor at the offices of Graham's Magazine, southwest corner of Chestnut and Third Streets (Poe in the Columbia Spy, 1 June 1844).

[1842] EARLY 1842? Poe becomes acquainted with the young journalist and satirist George Lippard, recently employed on Du Solle's daily paper, the Spirit of the Times, whose offices at the northwest corner of Chestnut and Third are directly across from those of Graham's (Thomas [1978], pp. 325, 835-38). [page 356:]

[1842] JANUARY. Graham's contains “An Appendix of Autographs,” which concludes the “Autography” series with nineteen additional signatures, as well as Poe's reviews of Henry Cockton's novel Stanley Thorn, Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, the Critical and Miscellaneous Essays of “Christopher North” (John Wilson), and Mrs. Sigourney's Pocahontas, and Other Poems. The review section is prefaced by a cogent “Exordium,” in which Poe defines his concept of literary criticism.

[1842] JANUARY. NEW ORLEANS. Daniel K. Whitaker's Southern Quarterly Review discusses the American magazines, recalling the early days of the Southern Literary Messenger: “Edgar A. Poe, Esq., a gentleman of brilliant but eccentric powers, and the author of some works of fiction, composed in a very original vein of thought, was for a short time its editor, and it throve under his auspices.”

[1842] 1 JANUARY. BALTIMORE. In the Saturday Visiter Snodgrass finds that the January Graham's represents a significant improvement over the December number: “We enjoyed a rich treat reading the poetry of Talfourd, Longfellow, ‘Amelia’ [Welby] and others, the other night — and we made a hearty supper with Poe's devil-may-care criticisms.”

[1842] 1 JANUARY. NEW YORK. The New-York Mirror reports: “The November and December numbers of ‘Graham's Magazine’ contain engraved facsimiles of the signatures of the most distinguished American authors, with very sprightly comments by Mr. E. A. Poe; and we understand they have excited a great deal of interest. The collecting of autographs has been a great rage among people of fashion for some years past in England .... The fondness for these trifles seems to be extending to this country.”

[1842] 10 JANUARY. PHILADELPHIA. In the Spirit of the Times Du Solle replies to the Boston Daily Times:

[1842] 10 JANUARY PONTOTOC, MISSISSIPPI. Richard Bolton replies to Poe's “very complimentary letter” of 18 November:

[1842] 13 JANUARY. WASHINGTON. Frederick William Thomas writes Poe:

[1842] CA. 20 JANUARY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe's wife Virginia begins to cough up blood while singing. She is seriously ill (Poe to Thomas, 3 February).

[The pulmonary hemorrhaging marked the onset of tuberculosis or “consumption,” the then incurable disease which eventually claimed Virginia's life five years later, on 30 January 1847. A neighbor of the Poe family left this reminiscence in 1852:

The hemorrhages were recurrent and progressive. In his 4 January 1848 letter to George W. Eveleth, Poe stated that Virginia's prolonged illness, with its “horrible never-ending oscillation between hope & despair,” led him to seek solace in excessive drinking.]

[1842] 22 JANUARY. BOSTON. Charles Dickens arrives for a tour of the United States.

[The best-known author in the English-speaking world was accorded a tumultuous welcome in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other cities. For the reactions of the Philadelphia literati to his visit, see Thomas (1978), pp. 308, 318-52.]

[1842] FEBRUARY. PHILADELPHIA. Graham's contains Poe's “Harper's Ferry” (an unsigned sketch accompanying the frontispiece) and his signed essay “A Few Words About Brainard,” in which he examines an overrated American [page 359:] poet from the preceding generation, John G. C. Brainard. Poe contributes long reviews of Dickens’ Barnaby Rudge and Cornelius Mathews’ Wakondah. Giving a detailed synopsis of Dickens’ novel, he recalls that he correctly predicted its denouement in the Saturday Evening Post of 1 May 1841, after having read only its first few pages. He condemns Mathews’ epic poem as “trash”: “its faults, more numerous than the leaves of Vallombrosa, are of that rampant class which, if any schoolboy could be found so uninformed as to commit them, any schoolboy should be remorselessly flogged for committing.”

[1842] 3 FEBRUARY. Poe replies to Thomas’ 13 January letter: “I am sure you will pardon me for my seeming neglect in not replying to your last when you learn what has been the cause of the delay. My dear little wife has been dangerously ill. About a fortnight since, in singing, she ruptured a blood-vessel, and it was only on yesterday that the physicians gave me any hope of her recovery. You might imagine the agony I have suffered, for you know how devotedly I love her.” Poe's relationship with Graham has begun to deteriorate: “On the morning subsequent to the accident I called upon him, and, being entirely out of his debt, asked an advance of two months salary — when he not only flatly but discourteously refused. Now that man knows that I have rendered him the most important services .... If, instead of a paltry salary, Graham had given me a tenth of his Magazine, I should feel myself a rich man to-day.” Although the “Autography” articles have “had a great run” and “done wonders for the Journal,” Poe fears that they have harmed his reputation as a critic: “I was weak enough to permit Graham to modify my opinions (or at least their expression) in many of the notices. In the case of Conrad, for example; he insisted upon praise and worried me into speaking well of such ninnies as Holden, Peterson, Spear, &c., &c.” Still intending to begin his own magazine, Poe inquires whether President Tyler's eldest son would aid the project: “You are personally acquainted with Robert Tyler, author of ‘Ahasuerus.’ In this poem there are many evidences of power, and, what is better, of nobility of thought & feeling. In reading it, an idea struck me — ‘Might it not, I thought, ‘be possible that he would, or rather might be induced to feel some interest in my contemplated scheme ...  ?’ The Magazine might be made to play even an important part in the politics of the day, like Blackwood; and in this view might be worthy his consideration. Could you contrive to suggest the matter to him?” (L, 1:191-93).

[1842] 5 FEBRUARY. BALTIMORE. Snodgrass reviews the February Graham's in the Saturday Visiter:

[1842] 8 FEBRUARY. PHILADELPHIA. Charles J. Peterson writes James Russell Lowell in Boston, praising his contribution in the February Graham's: “Rosaline is a fine poem. Poe, Griswold, all of us say so. In the March no. in a review of Longfellow, Poe, after doing justice to you, says of Rosaline ‘that no American poem equals it in the higher elements of song.’ ... Poe wishes to be remembered to you” (MH-H).

[1842] 17 FEBRUARY. Peterson replies to a letter from Lowell in Boston:

[1842] 26 FEBRUARY. WASHINGTON. Thomas replies to Poe's 3 February letter, explaining that he “delayed writing so long” in the hope that he could offer suggestions about the magazine project: “Mr. Robert Tyler would assist you with his pen all he could, but I suppose he could not assist you in any other way, unless government patronage in the way of printing blanks &c could be given to you. Anything that I could do for you you know will be done. Robert Tyler expressed himself highly gratified with your favorable opinion of his poem which I mentioned to him. He observed that he valued your opinion more than any other critic's in the country — to which I subscribed.” Thomas agrees that in “Autography” Poe lowered his standards: “I must confess that I was more than surprised at the eulogistic notices which you took of certain writers — but I attributed it to a monomania partiality. I am glad to see that you still retain the unbiassed possession of your mental faculties. But, Poe, for the sake of that high independence of character which you possess you should not have let Graham influence you into such notices. There, that in complete imitation of your frankness.” Thomas deeply regrets Virginia's illness: “Though I have no wife, yet I have sisters, and have experienced the tenderness of woman's nature. I can therefore, in part, sympathise with you” (W, 17:105-06; L, 2:591). [page 361:]

[1842] 28 FEBRUARY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe signs a receipt: “Received of Mr G. R. Graham Fifty eights [sic] Dollars, in full for salary as Editor, up to this date” (TxU-HRCL).

[1842] MARCH. Graham's contains Poe's revised poem “To One Departed;” formerly entitled “To Mary,” as well as his preliminary notice of Longfellow's Ballads and Other Poems and his reviews of Harry Lorrequer's novel Charles O’Malley, Roswell Park's Pantology, and The Critical and Miscellaneous Writings of Henry Lord Brougham.

[1842] 5 MARCH. The Saturday Evening Post notices the March Graham's: “The publisher now issues over forty thousand copies monthly, which is the strongest evidence of merit, — and he purposes opening the new volume in July next with fifty thousand copies, which will be made the regular and standing edition, being as many as any steel line engraving will yield impressions.”

[1842] 5 MARCH. In the evening Charles Dickens arrives in Philadelphia, taking lodgings at the United States Hotel, Chestnut Street above Fourth (Dickens, 3:100).

[1842] 6 MARCH OR BEFORE. Poe writes Dickens, requesting an interview. With [page 362:] the letter he sends his Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque as well as his two reviews of Barnaby Rudge, in the Saturday Evening Post of 1 May 1841 and Graham's for February 1842 (Dickens’ reply).

[1842] 6 MARCH. Dickens writes Poe:

[In the Graham's review of Barnaby Rudge, Poe had compared the novelist and philosopher William Godwin with Dickens: “ ‘Caleb Williams’ is a far less noble work than ‘The Old Curiosity-Shop;’ but Mr. Dickens could no more have constructed the one than Mr. Godwin could have dreamed of the other.”]

[1842] 7? MARCH. Poe has “two long interviews” with Dickens, presumably at the United States Hotel. They discuss the state of American poetry; Poe reads Emerson's poem “To the Humble Bee.” Dickens promises to seek an English publisher for the Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Apparently, Poe brings an invitation from George R. Graham; Dickens agrees to write for Graham's, if he contributes to any American magazine (Poe to Lowell, 2 July 1844; see also Moss [1978], pp. 10-12, and Thomas [1978], pp. 341-44).

[1842] 9 MARCH. In the morning Dickens leaves Philadelphia for Washington (Public Ledger, 10 March).

[1842] 13 MARCH. Poe writes Thomas in Washington, inquiring whether his friend had an opportunity to meet Dickens there (Thomas’ 21 May reply).

[1842] 13 MARCH. Poe replies to a 14 February letter from the Baltimore author John N. McJilton, who submitted to Graham's Esther Wetherald's translation of a tale in French: “My silence, for so long an interval, will have assured you that the article is accepted with pleasure. Mr Graham, however, desires me to say that it will be out of his power to pay more than 2$ per printed page for translations. Should these terms meet the views of Miss Wetherald, we should be glad to receive from her, each month, an [page 363:] article similar to the one sent, and not exceeding three or four pages in length.” Poe wonders why he does not occasionally hear from McJilton, as in “the olden time” (L, 1:194).

[1842] 31 MARCH. Poe signs a receipt: “Received of Mr G. R. Graham Fifty eight dollars in full for salary, up to this date” (TxU-HRCL).

[1842] APRIL. Graham's contains Poe's tale “Life in Death,” subsequently entitled “The Oval Portrait,” as well as his detailed criticism of Longfellow's Ballads and Other Poems, his reviews of Ideals and Other Poems by “Algernon” and of Patrick S. Casserly's Translation of Jacob's Greek Reader, and his preliminary notice of Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales.

[1842] 1 APRIL. Charles J. Peterson writes Lowell in Boston, urging him to read Poe's article on Longfellow in the April Graham's: “It is, in my opinion, the most masterly critique, as a whole, I ever saw from an American pen” (MH-H).

[1842] CA. 1 APRIL. Poe resigns from the staff of Graham's (Poe to Thomas, 29 May, and to Daniel Bryan, 6 July).

[1842] 2 APRIL. BALTIMORE. In the Saturday Visiter Snodgrass observes that the April Graham's reveals “a decided improvement” over previous numbers: “We allude to the insertion of reviews. We speak of this class of writings, as distinct from mere critical notices. We think they add greatly to the value of the work, — being useful, at the same time, in no slight degree. We are, furthermore, very sure the editor, Mr. Poe, is gratified by the change he has been permitted to make in this respect. He is fond of reviewing, and, though, at times, provokingly hypercritical, is an excellent reviewer.”

[1842] 18 APRIL. PHILADELPHIA. The publishers Carey & Hart write Rufus W. Griswold in New York: “We have at last published the ‘Poets & Poetry of America’ & a handsome Book it is” (MB-G).

[The anthology contained Poe's “The Coliseum,” “The Haunted Palace,” and “The Sleeper.” The three poems were preceded by a brief and somewhat inaccurate biographical sketch.]

[1842] 19 APRIL. Graham writes Griswold in New York, offering him the position vacated by Poe:

[1842] 23 APRIL. Graham's Saturday Evening Post reviews The Poets and Poetry of America:

[1842] BEFORE 30 APRIL. Graham's for May contains Poe's tale “The Mask of the Red Death,” as well as his long criticism of Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales and his briefer reviews of Charles Fenno Hoffman's The Vigil of Faith, and Other Poems and William Gilmore Simms's novel Beauchampe.

[1842] 30 APRIL. The Saturday Evening Post notices the May Graham's: “It is doubtful, if engravings of equal beauty ever adorned an American work, — and as the publisher expended over two thousand dollars on the engravings of the May number alone, some idea may be formed of their excellency, and of the patronage of a work that can amply afford it.”

[1842] 30 APRIL. BALTIMORE. In the Saturday Visiter Snodgrass reprints “The Mask of the Red Death” from Graham's. He finds that Poe's tale “exhibits his love of the mysterious and his artistical ability — tho’ not so much as his stories generally.”

[1842] MAY. NEW YORK. Arcturus, edited by Cornelius Mathews and Evert A. Duyckinck, contains an unsigned essay on “Criticism in America”:

[1842] MAY. COLUMBIA, TENNESSEE. In the Guardian John Tomlin favorably reviews Lambert A. Wilmer's satire on American poets, The Quacks of Helicon. [page 365:] Observing that the nation's poetry is inferior to that produced by Europeans, Tomlin points out that in fiction Americans “can now compete, and successfully too, with the Bulwers of England, and De Kocks of France. J. Fenimore Cooper is Bulwer's equal — and Edgar A. Poe in ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue,’ has exhibited powers of mind, equal to any living writer.”

[1842] 3 MAY. PHILADELPHIA. Graham replies to a letter from Griswold in New York, who has accepted the editorial position on Graham's left vacant by Poe's departure: “I am glad that you agree to our proposal, and we shall be ready to give you the ‘right hand of fellowship,’ as soon as ‘orders are taken.’ Mr. P[eterson] is right. The salary to be $1,000 per annum” (MB-G).

[1842] 13 MAY. ALEXANDRIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Daniel Bryan writes Poe, forwarding his “Crowning of the May Queen” and other poems for possible publication in Graham's: “Although I have not the happiness to be personally acquainted with you, yet my intimate acquaintance with your lamented Brother [Henry Poe], the occasional correspondence which has taken place between us, and the favourable sentiments which you have expressed towards my poetical pretensions, embolden me to regard you in a very different light from that of a stranger. — Hence I write to you with freedom and frankness, and I desire you to deal with me in the same spirit. — If you believe my verses to be unsuitable to your Journal, I beg you to return them to me” (MB-G).

[1842] 14 MAY. PHILADELPHIA. Graham's Saturday Evening Post carries an announcement: “Mr. R. W. Griswold, a gentleman of acknowledged taste and ability, has become associated with us, as one of the Editors of the Saturday Evening Post and Graham's Magazine.”

[1842] 18 MAY. The Public Ledger reports: “E. A. Poe, Esq, has retired from the editorship of Graham's Magazine, and has been succeeded by Rev. R. W. Griswold.”

[1842] 21 MAY. WASHINGTON. In the Index Jesse E. Dow comments: “Edgar A. Poe, Esq., has resigned the charge of Graham's Magazine. We regret this exceedingly. We trust the Penn Magazine will now be started by Mr. Poe.”

[1842] 21 MAY. Thomas replies to Poe's 13 March letter. Although Robert Tyler, the President's son, could not provide any financial assistance to Poe's proposed magazine, he may be able to assist the project indirectly:

Thomas answers Poe's question: “Yes, I saw Dickens, but only at the dinner which a few of us gave him here — I liked him very much though.” Thomas inquires whether there is any truth in the report that Poe has “parted company” with Graham (W, 17:108-10).

[At the beginning of his administration President Tyler opposed the then prevalent “spoils system,” whereby the party victorious in an election rewarded its followers with government appointments; but by early 1842, after his break with the Whigs, he himself adopted this policy to build a political base for his candidacy in the 1844 Presidential election. The installation of Tyler supporters in the Philadelphia Custom House had been temporarily thwarted by the Collector of Customs, Jonathan Roberts, a loyal Whig who refused to remove the incumbents. The vacancies Thomas mentioned to Poe were not to occur for “two or three months” because President Tyler was waiting until the adjournment of the Whig-dominated Congress before replacing Roberts with a new Collector who would make the changes. Poe probably knew of the situation before Thomas wrote him, since it was fully described in the Philadelphia newspapers. See Thomas (1978), pp. 366-67, 371, 373-75, 388-89.]

[1842] 25 MAY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to Thomas: “What you say respecting a situation in the Custom House here gives me new life. Nothing could more precisely meet my views. Could I obtain such an appointment, I would be enabled thoroughly to carry out all my ambitious projects. It would relieve me of all care as regards a mere subsistence, and thus allow me time for thought, which, in fact, is action. ... If the salary will barely enable me to live I shall be content. Will you say as much for me to Mr [Robert] Tyler, and express to him my sincere gratitude for the interest he takes in my welfare?” Poe answers Thomas’ question:

The Poe family has moved from “the old place”; if Thomas should visit Philadelphia, he can find their new address by inquiring at the office of Graham's (L, 1:197-99; Moldenhauer [1973], p. 54).

[1842] 25 MAY. Poe signs a promissory note for $32.85, payable to Swain, Abell, and Simmons, publishers of the Public Ledger, “for value received” (Phillips, 1:742; Ostrom [1981], p. 206).

[1842] 31 MAY. Charles J. Peterson writes James Russell Lowell in Boston: “I suppose you know Poe has left us. He's a splendid fellow, but ‘unstable as water.’ In his place we have taken Griswold, who is an indefatigable fellow & knows more about the literary men of this country than they do themselves” (MH-H).

[1842] JUNE. Graham's contains Peterson's favorable review of Griswold's Poets and Poetry of America, which stresses that Lowell should have been accorded “a [page 368:] more liberal notice” (attribution implied by Peterson to Lowell, 25 April, MH — H).

[Harrison mistakenly reprinted this review and that of Bulwer-Lytton's novel Zanoni as Poe's (W, 11:115-26). See also Poe to Snodgrass, 4 June.]

[1842] JUNE? ALBANY, NEW YORK. The Poet's Magazine reviews Griswold's anthology, criticizing the “undue prominence” given to various poetasters: “We have neither time or space to specify, but who ever thought before Mr. Griswold informed them of the fact, that Edgar A. Poe was entitled to a place among the Poets of America? Who ever dreamed that the cynical critic, the hunter up of small things, journeyman editor of periodicals, and Apollo's man of all work, was a favourite of the Muses, or wrote Poetry? It is certainly a ‘grotesque’ discovery, and, we conjecture, had not Mr. P. taken particular pains to impress the fact upon Mr. Griswold's mind, the world would have remained in happy ignorance of his (Mr. P's) poetical abilities” (Mabbott [1949], pp. 122-23).

[1842] EARLY JUNE. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to a letter from the civil engineer and inventor James Herron, a Virginian now living in Washington:

[1842] 4 JUNE. NEW YORK. In the New World Park Benjamin comments: “EDGAR A. POE — We regard this gentleman as one of the best writers of the English language now living. His style is singularly pure and idiomatic. He never condescends to affectations, but writes with a nervous clearness, that inspires the reader with a perpetual confidence in his powers. Mr. Poe has left Mr. Graham's Magazine; but in whatever sphere he moves, he will surely be distinguished.”

[1842] 4 JUNE. LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. The Literary Souvenir reprints Poe's “The Mask of the Red Death” from the May Graham's (Heartman and Canny, p. 222). [page 369:]

[1842] 4 JUNE. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes George Roberts, publisher of the Boston Notion, describing a long tale he has just completed, “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt — a Sequel to the Murders in the Rue Morgue”:

Because of “the nature of the subject,” the tale will “excite attention.” It would occupy twenty-five pages of Graham's, and “at the usual price” it would be worth $100 to Poe: “For reasons, however, which I need not specify, I am desirous of having this tale printed in Boston, and, if you like it, I will say $50. Will you please write me upon this point? — by return of mail, if possible” (L, 1:199-200).

[1842] 4 JUNE. Poe writes Joseph Evans Snodgrass in Baltimore, offering him “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt” for the Saturday Visiter: “Of course I could not afford to make you an absolute present of it — but if you are willing to take it, I will say $40.” Poe is glad that Snodgrass has become the sole proprietor of the Visiter: “I have to thank your partiality for many flattering notices of myself. How is it, nevertheless, that a Magazine of the highest class has never yet succeeded in Baltimore? I have often thought, of late, how much better it would have been had you joined me in a Magazine project in the Monumental City, rather than engage with the ‘Visiter’ — a journal which has never yet been able to recover from the mauvais odeur imparted to it by [John Hill] Hewitt. ... Have you seen Griswold's Book of Poetry? It is a most outrageous humbug, and I sincerely wish you would ‘use it up’.” Poe composes a notice of his withdrawal from Graham's, which he asks Snodgrass to publish in the Visiter:

[1842] BEFORE 7 JUNE. Poe writes Charles Dickens at New York, reminding him of a “mission ... already entrusted ... by word of mouth” (Dickens to Poe, 27 November).

[Dickens left for England on 7 June; the “mission” he accepted was to find a London publisher for a collection of Poe's tales.]

[1842] 11 JUNE. MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT. Thomas Holley Chivers writes Poe, enclosing his “Invocation to Spring” and several other poems for possible publication in Graham's (Poe's reply, 6 July).

[1842] 17 JUNE. WASHINGTON. The Independent publishes a letter from “FLASH,” a correspondent in Philadelphia who denies that “genius” was required to produce The Poets and Poetry of America: “I am willing to admit that Mr. Griswold has shown a proper discrimination in his selections, and that his biographical notices are satisfactory — that the binder and printer have done their duty; but beyond this, I do not see that Mr. Griswold has much to boast of. Mr. Griswold is a lively and elegant writer of prose and poetry, and a very fair and impartial critic, though the sponsor, as editor of Graham's Magazine, of the malignant, unjust, and disgraceful attacks on the literary character of its former editor, Mr. Poe.”

[1842] 23 JUNE. In the Index Dow comments on the change in the editorial staff of Graham's: “We would give more for Edgar A. Poe's toe nail, than we would for Rueful Grizzle's soul, unless we wanted a milk-strainer. Them's our sentiments.”

[1842] BEFORE 24 JUNE? PHILADELPHIA. Poe prepares the title page and a table of contents for a new edition of his stories, Phantasy-Pieces. The three-volume collection is to contain the twenty-five stories in his Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, as well as the thirteen he has since written (facsimiles in Quinn, pp. 338-39, and Mabbott [1978], 2:474 ff.).

[The collection never appeared. On the title page Poe subsequently changed the projected volumes from “Three” to “Two”; from the table of contents he crossed out his two latest tales, “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt;” both of which were still unpublished.]

[1842] CA. 24 JUNE. NEW YORK. Poe visits New York in an unsuccessful attempt to secure employment and to find a publisher for Phantasy-Pieces. He [page 371:] begins drinking while in the company of the young poet William Ross Wallace, who insists on mint juleps. In an intoxicated state he visits J. and H. G. Langley, publishers of the Democratic Review, and Robert Hamilton, editor of William W. Snowden's Ladies’ Companion (Poe's statement to Thomas on 17 September; Poe to the Langleys, 18 July, and to Hamilton, 3 October).

[1842] 24 JUNE. Poe scribbles a curt letter to Thomas in Washington:

[This letter has not been previously published; the badly faded manuscript was purchased by the Philadelphia Free Library in 1976 (PP-G). See also Poe to Thomas, 27 August 1842.]

[1842] 25 JUNE. Poe's letter is postmarked.

[1842] AFTER 25 JUNE? JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY. Mary Starr, now Mrs. Jenning, receives a visit from Poe:

[1842] 27 JUNE. ALEXANDRIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Daniel Bryan writes Poe: [page 372:]

[1842] 30 JUNE. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes James Herron in Washington:

[1842] JULY. Graham's contains an announcement on its last page:

The outside back cover carries this notice: “The circulation of this Magazine has increased over Seventeen Thousand during the last six months, and the publisher issues, of the July number, and will continue to issue, until the close of the present volume, OVER FIFTY THOUSAND COPIES! — a circulation never attained before by any European or American periodical — the best evidence that can be offered of merit.”

[1842] JULY. Griswold commissions Poe to prepare a review of The Poets and Poetry of America, promising to pay him his “usual” fee for the criticism, and to arrange for its publication “in some reputable work” (Poe to Thomas, 12 September; cf. Griswold to J. T. Fields, 12 August and 7 September).

[1842] 6 JULY. WASHINGTON. The Index carries a valedictory by Poe's friend Jesse E. Dow, who is resigning the editorship because of ill health.

[1842] 6 JULY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to Daniel Bryan's 27 June letter. He [page 373:] has not received the “verses” Bryan sent him on 13 May: “My connexion with ‘Graham's Magazine’ ceased with the May number, which was completed by the 1rst of April ... Can it be possible that the present editors have thought it proper to open letters addressed to myself, because addressed to myself as ‘Editor of Graham's Magazine’? I know not how to escape from this conclusion.” Although Poe has “no quarrel” with either Graham or Griswold, he holds neither man “in especial respect.” Therefore it might be best if Bryan were to write them himself, requesting the return of his manuscripts. Poe is now making “earnest although secret exertions” to resume his project of the Penn Magazine:

Poe had “nearly 1000 subscribers with which to have started the ‘Penn’ ”; from his original list perhaps “3 or 4 hundred” will still support the magazine. Between now and 1 January 1843, when he plans to issue the first number, he must enlist additional subscribers: “If, therefore, you can aid me in Alexandria, with even a single name, I shall feel deeply indebted to your friendship” (L, 1:204-07).

[1842] 6 JULY. Poe writes Thomas Holley Chivers in Middletown, Connecticut, apologizing for not replying to his last three letters: “A world of perplexing business has led me to postpone, from day to day, a duty which it is always a pleasure to perform.” In the first letter Chivers had spoken of the notice he received in the December 1841 installment of “Autography.” Poe wishes to modify this evaluation of Chivers’ merits: “The paper had scarcely gone to press before I saw and acknowledged to myself the injustice I had done you — an injustice which it is my full purpose to repair at the first opportunity. What I said of your grammatical errors arose from some imperfect recollections of one or two poems sent to the first volume of the S. L. Messenger. But in more important respects I now deeply feel that I have wronged you by a hasty opinion. You will not suppose me insincere in saying that I look upon some of your late pieces as the finest I have ever read.” When Chivers wrote his most recent letter, dated 11 June, [page 374:] he was unaware of Poe's resignation from Graham's: “What disposition shall I make of the ‘Invocation to Spring’? The other pieces are in the hands of my successor, Mr Griswold.” Poe now intends to resume the Penn Magazine project: “As I have no money myself, it will be absolutely necessary that I procure a partner who has some pecuniary means. I mention this to you — for it is not impossible that you yourself may have both the will & the ability to join me” (L, 2:697-98).

[1842] 7 JULY. Poe writes his first cousin Elizabeth Rebecca Herring, now the widow of Andrew Turner Tutt, in Woodville, Rappahannock County, Virginia: “My dear little wife grew much better from the very first day after taking the Jew's Beer. It seemed to have the most instantaneous and miraculous effect. ... About ten days ago, however, I was obliged to go on to New York on business ... she began to fret ... because she did not hear from me twice a day” (L, 1:209).

[1842] 9 JULY. LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS. The Literary Souvenir reprints Poe's tale “Eleonora” (Heartman and Canny, p. 222).

[1842] 11 JULY. ALEXANDRIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Bryan replies to Poe's 6 July letter, promising to enlist subscribers for the Penn Magazine: “We stand in need of a literary journal of the character which you propose to give to yours; a character based on principles uninfluenced by selfish monopolising cliques, and stamped with the impress of justice and truth, regardless of sectional partialities and the indiscriminate puffery and exclusiveness of a combination of self-constituted critics. ... I am convinced that you occupy a very favourable position as an editor in the estimation of the public; and when you get your journal fully established, I believe that its independence and the spirit and genius which you will be able to infuse into its columns will insure it success.” Bryan is unable to understand why Poe failed to receive his 13 May letter and the accompanying poems, since he addressed these items simply to “Edgar A Poe, Esq. Philada.,” not in care of Graham's Magazine: “If, therefore, they were taken from the P.O. and opened by any other person, without your authority, the person opening them, was guilty of an act of baseness, for which he deserves to have his ears cut off, or a brand of infamy stamped on his front” (MB-G).

[1842] 12 JULY. NEW YORK. Chivers replies to Poe's 6 July letter: “I am now on my way to the South, and had not time to answer your letter from Middletown, as I received it only a few moments before I started. My brother has written me a letter informing me that the division of my father's estate will take place on the first of August, and I must hasten to my plantation to receive my portion,” Chivers thanks Poe for his “polite [page 375:] remarks” in regard to “Autography”: “I had always spoken so highly of your talents as a poet, and the best critic in this Country, that, when my friends saw it [Poe's notice of Chivers], believing you were what I represented you to be, they came almost to the conclusion that they were not only mistaken, but that I was a bad writer, and a fit subject for the Insane Hospital.” If the editor of Graham's likes Chivers’ poem “Invocation to Spring,” Poe has permission to give it to him. “In regard to the ‘Penn Magazine,’ all I can say at present is, that I will do all I can to aid you in the procurement of subscribers for it” (Chivers [1957], pp. 14-15).

[1842] 18 JULY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes the New York publishers J. and H. G. Langley:

[1842] AFTER 18 JULY. NEW YORK. The Langleys return “The Landscape Garden” to Poe. He then sells the story to Robert Hamilton, editor of Snowden's Ladies’ Companion (Poe to Hamilton, 3 October).

[1842] 26 JULY. ALEXANDRIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Bryan writes Poe again, inquiring whether he located the poems forwarded on 13 May: “I don’t care much about the loss of the M.S. as I have the rough originals, and am not sure, any how, that they merit preservation. — But the violation of your sealed packages and the detention of their contents wd. be a very different matter. I venture to hope, however, that I shall hear from you that the parties to whom suspicion pointed as being guilty of the presumed offence are innocent thereof.” Bryan has seen a report in the Philadelphia Evening Journal that a new edition of Griswold's Poets and Poetry of America is being issued:

[1842] AFTER 26 JULY. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to Bryan's letters of 11 and 26 July. He has finally received Bryan's 13 May letter: someone on the staff of Graham's obtained it from the post office and opened it. The letter then passed into the possession of Griswold, who apparently read it, but did not bother to forward it. Poe suggests that Bryan contact either Thomas or Dow about publishing his criticism of Griswold's poem in the June Graham's, “Sights from My Window — Alice” (Bryan's 4 August reply).

[1842] 30 JULY. NEW YORK. The New-York Mirror reports: “Edgar A. Poe, whose capabilities as an analytical critic are so generally acknowledged, is about to have a new field for their display in his proposed ‘Penn Magazine.’ ”

[1842] 30 JULY. BALTIMORE. Joseph Evans Snodgrass reviews the August Graham's in the Saturday Visiter: “A decided change in the tone of book notices. They are more laudatory than when Mr. Poe presided over the critical department.”

[1842] 4 AUGUST. ALEXANDRIA, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Bryan replies to a letter from Poe:

In a postscript Bryan acknowledges Poe's advice: “I will take into consideration yr suggestion with regard to the publication of the critique through Mr Dow or Mr Thomas. Not having any personal or epistolary acquaintance with either of them, I feel some hesitation about the introduction of the subject to them” (MB-G).

[1842] BEFORE 12 AUGUST. PHILADELPHIA. Poe delivers his review of The Poets and Poetry of America to Griswold, receiving from him the promised “compensation” (Poe to Thomas, 12 September). [page 377:]

[1842] 12 AUGUST. Griswold writes his friend James T. Fields in Boston: “I have sent to-day the article by Poe, about my book, to Bradbury & Soden for their magazine [the Boston Miscellany], with a request that if it be not acceptable, they will return it to you. I thought likely the name of Poe — gratuitously furnished — might be of some consequence, though I care not a fig about the publication of the criticism, as the author and myself not being on the best terms, it is not decidedly as favorable as it might have been. Will you see to it, though” (MH-H).

[Poe's criticism was judiciously favorable, but Griswold had expected pure laudation. He seems to have regarded reviews as advertisements or favors, rather than impartial evaluations. On 10 July, for example, he had written Fields, the junior partner in Ticknor & Company, discussing this firm's new edition of Tennyson's poetry: “Did you see what a puff I gave Tennyson in the Sat. Eve. Post? ... I puff your books, you know, without any regard to their quality” (CSmH).]

[1842] 17 AUGUST. In the Spirit of the Times John S. Du Solle reports: “We understand that Edgar A. Poe, Esq., has made all his arrangements and will positively bring out the first number of the ‘Penn Magazine’ on 1st January. It will assume a high tone, and take a bold stand among our literary periodicals. God knows! something of the kind is needed.”

[1842] 19 AUGUST. Du Solle's Times carries a second report: “NOT SO. — The Eastern and Southern papers all state Edgar A. Poe is about to start a Penny Magazine. It is the ‘Penn’ Magazine, gentlemen — $5 per annum.”

[1842] 27 AUGUST. Poe writes Frederick William Thomas in Washington: “How happens it that I have received not a line from you for these four months? ... I wrote a few words to you, about two months since, from New York, at the importunate demand of W. Wallace, in which you were requested to use your influence, &c. He overlooked me while I wrote, & therefore I could not speak of private matters. I presume you gave the point as much consideration as it demanded, & no more.” Poe is anxious to learn of Thomas’ activities: “Since I heard from you I have had a reiteration of the promise, about the Custom-House appointment, from Rob Tyler. A friend of mine, Mr. Jas. Herron, having heard from me casually, that I had some hope of an appointment, called upon R. T., who assured him that I should certainly have it & desired him so to inform me. I have, also, paid my respects to Gen. J. W. Tyson, the leader of the T. party in the city, who seems especially well disposed — but, notwithstanding all this, I have my doubts. A few days will end them. If I do not get the office, I am just where I started. Nothing more can be done to secure it than has been [page 378:] already done.” Virginia Poe is still ill: “I have scarcely a faint hope of her recovery” (L, 1:209-10).

[During the summer the Philadelphia papers carried reports of impending removals and appointments in the Custom House, which were expected to occur as soon as Thomas S. Smith, a lawyer and politician active in the city's Tyler organization, became the new Collector. See Thomas (1978), pp. 415, 428.]

[1842] 2 SEPTEMBER. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe, describing his continuing efforts to secure an appointment for his friend. Mr. Beard, who will visit Philadelphia in a few days, wishes to make Poe's acquaintance (Poe's 12 September reply).

[1842] 7 SEPTEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Griswold replies to a letter from James T. Fields in Boston: “Perhaps Poe's article will not affect the book at all, but I am rather pleased that it is to appear, lest Poe should think I had prevented its publication” (Griswold [1898], pp. 120-21).

[1842] 10 SEPTEMBER. In the Spirit of the Times Du Solle reports: “It seems that there is a little backwater somewhere in relation to the Collectorship of this [page 379:] Port. T. S. Smith has not gotten his commission yet, or had not yesterday morning, and per consequence the expectants of office under him (and so far, we perceive by the list, he has had only 1124 applicants for about 30 berths,) are in a state of most inextricable confusion.”

[1842] 10 SEPTEMBER. WASHINGTON. Walter Forward, the Secretary of the Treasury, writes Jonathan Roberts, Collector of the Port of Philadelphia: “I am directed by the President to inform you that he has appointed Thomas S. Smith to be Collector of the Customs for the District of Philadelphia, in your place” (printed in the Philadelphia United States Gazette, 14 September).

[1842] BEFORE 12 SEPTEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Poe family moves to a small row house on Coates Street, in the Fairmount district (McElroy's Philadelphia Directory for 1843; Phillips, 1:747-49).

[1842] 12 SEPTEMBER. Poe replies to Thomas’ 2 September letter. He has not seen Mr. Beard, who may have had difficulty in locating his residence: “since you were here I have moved out in the neighborhood of Fairmount.” Poe thanks Thomas for his “kind offices in the matter of the appointment” to the Custom House: “So far, nothing has been done here in the way of reform. Thos. S. Smith is to have the Collectorship, but it appears has not yet received his commission — a fact which occasions much surprise among the quid-nuncs.” Graham has made Poe “a good offer” to return to his magazine:

[Griswold had asked Poe to prepare a sketch of Thomas; later he decided to relegate Thomas to the appendix reserved for lesser poets, who were not accorded biographical notices or extensive quotation. In this letter Poe overemphasized the severity of his review in order to assure Thomas that he disapproved of Griswold's decision.]

[1842] 13 SEPTEMBER. The Spirit of the Times reports: “So Mr. Smith is Collector of the Port at last. ... The applications for office under him yesterday were innumerable.”

[1842] 15 SEPTEMBER. The United States Gazette reports: “Thos. S. Smith, Esq., the recently appointed Collector, took possession of his office on Monday last [12 September], and on the same day removed eleven of the Measurers and Inspectors.”

[1842] 15 SEPTEMBER. NEW YORK. Chivers writes Poe, forwarding the names of four subscribers to the Penn Magazine (Poe's 27 September reply).

[1842] 16? SEPTEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Thomas arrives from Washington for a brief visit, taking lodgings in John Sturdivant's Congress Hall Hotel, Chestnut and Third Streets.

[1842] 17 SEPTEMBER. SATURDAY. Thomas visits the Poe residence on Coates Street:

[1842] 17 SEPTEMBER. Poe and Thomas visit the city. Poe describes his plans for the Penn Magazine. Thomas discusses Poe's prospects of obtaining a position in the Custom House, assuring him that Robert Tyler wishes to see him appointed. Poe promises to meet Thomas at his hotel tomorrow morning (Poe's letters to Thomas, 21 September 1842 and 8 September 1844).

[1842] 18 SEPTEMBER. Thomas sees John S. Du Solle, editor of the Spirit of the Times.

[1842] 19 SEPTEMBER. Du Solle's Times reports: “Mr. Thomas[,] the gifted author of ‘Clinton Bradshaw, was in town yesterday, and left last evening for Washington, where he has an official situation.”

[1842] 21 SEPTEMBER. Poe writes Thomas in Washington:

[1842] 24 SEPTEMBER. The Saturday Evening Post notices the publication of the Gift for 1843, observing that it contains a contribution by Poe [“The Pit and the Pendulum”].

[1842] 26 SEPTEMBER. NEW YORK. Chivers writes Poe: “Just before I started to the South, I gave Mr Hunt a poem entitled ‘The Mighty Dead,’ which I directed him to give to Israel Post, to be directed to you. I have just seen Post, and he informs me that the Package was never handed to him. I am very uneasy to know what disposition he [Hunt] made of the poem, as I am fearful that he has caused you to pay the postage on it .... I do wish that if you received the poem that you will let me know immediately whether or not you were so imposed upon” (Chivers [1957], p. 16). [page 382:]

[1842] 27 SEPTEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes Chivers in New York: “Through some accident, I did not receive your letter of the 15th inst: until this morning, and now hasten to reply.” The “four names” Chivers forwarded for the Penn Magazine will aid the project “most materially in this early stage.” As yet Poe has not even prepared a new prospectus; he does not wish to announce the “positive resumption of the original scheme” until the middle of October:

[1842] OCTOBER. Graham's Magazine contains Poe's scathing evaluation of a Baltimore poetaster, “The Poetry of Rufus Dawes — A Retrospective Criticism.”

[1842] OCTOBER. NEW YORK. Snowden's Ladies’ Companion contains Poe's story “The Landscape Garden.”

[1842] 1 OCTOBER. Horace Greeley's Daily Tribune reviews the October Graham's, describing Poe's criticism of Dawes as “true in the main but supercilious and rather commonplace” (Griswold [1898], pp. 117-18).

[1842] 1 OCTOBER. BALTIMORE. Snodgrass notices Graham's in the Saturday Visiter: “Edgar A. Poe completely ‘uses up’ Rufus Dawes in a review. Dawes, in poetry, is pretty much of a humbug, it must be confessed.”

[1842] 3 OCTOBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes Robert Hamilton, editor of the Ladies’ Companion:

Apparently alluding to his drinking bout in New York in late June, Poe assures Hamilton: “I am as straight as judges — somewhat more straight indeed than some of our Phil: dignitaries — and, what is more, I intend to keep straight” (TxU-HRCL; Moldenhauer [1973], pp. 55-56).

[1842] 5 OCTOBER. Poe replies to a 21 September letter from John Tomlin in Jackson, Tennessee, who had inquired about the Penn Magazine. Poe is determined to begin publication on 1 January 1843: “I am to receive an office in the Custom House in this city .... With this to fall back upon as a certain resource until the Magazine is fairly afloat, all must go well. ... Every new name, in the beginning of the enterprise, is worth five afterwards. My list of subscribers is getting to be quite respectable, although, as yet, I have positively taken no overt steps to procure names” (L, 1:216-17).

[1842] 5 OCTOBER. Lambert A. Wilmer replies to two letters from Tomlin: “I believe the tightness of the times and the uncertain state of the currency have prevented Poe's Magazine enterprise and my own, — at least for the present.” Wilmer has never seen Tomlin's review of The Quacks of Helicon, which appeared in the Columbia, Tennessee, Guardian for May: “The copy you sent fell into the hands of Poe, who lost or mislaid it before I could set eyes on it. I was vexed at this circumstance, as I intended to have the article copied into some of our city papers” (published by Tomlin in Holden's Dollar Magazine, November 1848).

[1842] AFTER 11 OCTOBER. Poe has three interviews with Thomas S. Smith, the new Collector of Customs.

[In his 19 November letter to Thomas, Poe recalled:

A municipal election was held in Philadelphia on 11 October. During October and November the city's newspapers carried frequent reports of the removals and appointments in the Custom House.]

[1842] BEFORE 21 OCTOBER. BOSTON. The Boston Miscellany for November contains Poe's review of The Poets and Poetry of America. Although Poe expresses disagreement with some of Griswold's critical judgments and with his partiality for New England writers, he describes this anthology as “the most important addition which our literature has for many years received. ... Mr. Griswold ... has entitled himself to the thanks of his countrymen, while showing himself a man of taste, talent, and tact.”

[1842] 21 OCTOBER. NEW YORK. Henry J. Raymond writes Griswold in Philadelphia: “The Boston Miscellany, I see, has a good puff of your Poets by Poe” (Griswold [1898], p. 125).

[1842] NOVEMBER. Snowden's Ladies’ Companion contains the first installment of Poe's long tale “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt.”

[1842] 9 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Pennsylvanian reports the publication of Dickens’ American Notes for General Circulation, an account of his tour of the United States earlier this year: “There was quite an excitement about town yesterday in reference to the new word by ‘Boz.’ The news boys did a smashing business in selling what it pleased them to call ‘Dickinson's Works on Amerikey,’ and Zieber, at the corner of Third and Dock streets, disposed of fifteen hundred extras of the ‘New World,’ containing this literary novelty, in the course of an hour.”

[1842] 11 NOVEMBER. Charles J. Peterson replies to a letter from John Tomlin in Jackson, Tennessee:

[1842] 14 NOVEMBER. WASHINGTON. Thomas writes Poe, giving him “new hope” of a Custom House appointment (Poe's 19 November reply).

[1842] 16 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe writes James Russell Lowell in Boston:

[1842] 17 NOVEMBER. The National Forum reports: “The following removals and appointments have been made in the Custom House. Removals — Peter B. Curry, Henry Schell, Robert Neal, J. Hullings, and Urban R. Titterville. Appointments — George Guthrie, Jesse Waln, Sandy Harris, and — Pogue” (cf. Poe to Thomas, 19 November).

[1842] 17 NOVEMBER. LONDON. Charles Dickens writes the prominent publisher Edward Moxon, concerning a possible English edition of Poe's fiction: “Pray write me such a reply as I can send to the author of the volumes [Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque] and to get absolution for my conscience in this matter” (Dickens, 3:375).

[1842] 18 NOVEMBER. NEW YORK. The influential Daily Tribune reports the solution of the Mary Rogers mystery: the pretty “cigar girl” was not murdered, but had died during an illegal abortion (Walsh, pp. 55-56; Mabbott [1978], 3:719-20).

[1842] 19 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Spirit of the Times, the Daily Chronicle, and the Public Ledger announce the solution of the Mary Rogers case, basing their reports on the account in yesterday's Tribune. The North American simply reprints this account:

[These reports would have been unsettling to Poe, who believed that he had indicated Mary's murderer in “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt,” then being serialized in Snowden's Ladies’ Companion. Although the Tribune's account soon proved without foundation, Poe revised “Marie Rogêt” to accommodate the possibility of a bungled abortion before including it in the 1845 edition of his Tales (Walsh, pp. 69-73). On 4 January 1848 he wrote George W. Eveleth that Mary's death had resulted “from an attempt at abortion.”]

[1842] 19 NOVEMBER. Presumably disturbed by the new development in the Mary Rogers case, Poe calls on Thomas S. Smith in search of an occupation other than literature.

[1842] 19 NOVEMBER. Poe writes Thomas in Washington:

Poe describes three previous interviews in which Smith treated him “most shamefully”; but he has not been insulted so much as Thomas’ friend Robert Tyler, who requested his appointment. “It seems to me that the only way to serve me now, is to lay the matter once again before Mr T. and, if possible, through him, to procure a few lines from the President directing Mr Smith to give me the place” (L, 2:699-701).

[1842] 19 NOVEMBER. BOSTON. Lowell writes Poe: “Your letter [of 16 November] has given me great pleasure in two ways; — first, as it assures me of the friendship and approbation of almost the only fearless American critic, and second (to be Irish) since it contains your acquiescence to a request which I had already many times mentally preferred to you. Had you not written you would soon have heard from me.” Lowell gives Poe “carte blanche “ to contribute either prose or verse to the Pioneer, with a single exception: “namely I do not wish an article like that of yours on Dawes, who, although I think with you that he is a bad poet, has yet I doubt not tender feelings as a man which I should be chary of wounding. I think that I shall be hardest pushed for good stories (imaginative ones) & if you are inspired to anything of the kind I should be glad to get it.” Although the magazine is already in press, “anything sent ‘right away’ will be in season for the first number.” Lowell offers Poe “$10 for every article at first” (W, 17:120-21).

[1842] 19 NOVEMBER. NEW YORK. The Morning Courier publishes a letter from Justice Gilbert Merritt of Hudson County, New Jersey, who denies the report that Mary Rogers had died during an abortion: “I noticed a statement in the Tribune of this morning [18 November], relative to a confession said to have been made before me by the late Mrs. Loss, which is entirely incorrect, as no such examination took place, nor could it, from the deranged state of Mrs. Loss’ mind” (Walsh, p. 56).

[1842] 21 NOVEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Spirit of the Times reports that the article published in Friday's New York Daily Tribune has proven to be a hoax: “On Saturday last [19 November] an examination was held before a magistrate. The sons of Mrs. Loss, and a number of other persons were examined on oath, but nothing was elicited tending in the least to throw any light on the death of Mary C. Rogers.”

[1842] BEFORE 27 NOVEMBER. LONDON. Edward Moxon replies to Dickens’ 17 November letter: he is unable to publish Poe's tales (Dickens to Poe).

[1842] 27 NOVEMBER. Dickens writes Poe: [page 388:]

[1842] DECEMBER. NEW YORK. Snowden's Ladies’ Companion contains the second installment of Poe's “Mystery of Marie Rogêt.”

[1842] EARLY DECEMBER? PHILADELPHIA. Poe submits his story “The Tell-Tale Heart” to the Boston Miscellany (Lowell to Poe, 17 December).

[1842] 7 DECEMBER. AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. Chivers writes Poe: he has returned to his home state to receive his share of his father's estate. He gives his reactions to the death of his daughter, Allegra Florence Chivers, on 18 October: “Now my hope is dead — the beautiful saintly winged dove which soared so high from the earth — luring my impatient soul to wander, delighted, from prospect to prospect — has been wounded in her midway flight to heaven by the keen icy arrows of Death! ... She was sick only two days — sick when I was not near to render her assistence! My God! there is a darkness gathering round [my] soul of the deepest sorrow, which the light of no future joy can ever illumine! ... My little daughter of three years old — my blue eyed child — is gone!” (Chivers [1957], pp. 1921).

[1842] 10 DECEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. The Saturday Museum, a weekly newspaper edited and published by Poe's friend Thomas C. Clarke, issues its first number.

[1842] BEFORE 12 DECEMBER. BOSTON. Henry T. Tuckerman, the new editor of the Boston Miscellany, rejects “The Tell-Tale Heart,” having the publishers Bradbury & Soden write the author: “if Mr Poe would condescend to furnish more quiet articles he would be a most desirable correspondent.” Lowell obtains Poe's story for the Pioneer (Lowell to Poe, 17 December, and Poe's reply, 25 December).

[1842] 12 DECEMBER. Lowell writes Charles J. Peterson. He is due money for a [page 389:] contribution to Graham's Magazine; he requests that $10 of this sum be given to Poe as payment for “The Tell-Tale Heart” (Peterson's reply; Poe to Lowell, 4 February 1843).

[1842] 15 DECEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Peterson replies to Lowell: “As soon as your poem is in print I will pay Poe and take the receipt as you wish” (MH-H).

[1842] 17 DECEMBER. BOSTON. Lowell writes Poe: “Your story of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ will appear in my first number. Mr. Tuckerman (perhaps your chapter on Autographs is to blame) would not print it in the Miscellany, & I was very glad to get it for myself. It may argue presumptuousness in me to dissent from his verdict. I should be glad to hear from you soon. You must send me another article, as my second number will soon go to press” (W, 17:125).

[1842] 25 DECEMBER. PHILADELPHIA. Poe replies to Lowell, enclosing his poem “Lenore” for the second number of the Pioneer. He thanks Lowell for reversing Tuckerman's judgment: “Touching the ‘Miscellany’ — had I known of Mr T's accession, I should not have ventured to send an article. Should he, at any time, accept an effusion of mine, I should ask myself what twattle I had been perpetrating, so flat as to come within the scope of his approbation.” Poe quotes a letter he received from the publishers which reflects Tuckerman's opinion of his story: “All I have to say is that if Mr T. persists in his quietude, he will put a quietus to the Magazine of which Mess. Bradbury & Soden have been so stupid as to give him control” (L, 1:220).

[1842] 27 DECEMBER. Poe writes Lowell again, proposing a minor revision in the fourth stanza of “Lenore” (L, 1:221).

[1842] 1842. John S. Detwiler, the son of Poe's next-door neighbor Benjamin Detwiler, recalls: “This property [Poe's residence in the Fairmount district] was owned in those days by a Mr. Michael Bouvier ... who seemed to be [a] very warm friend of Mr. Poe, because both his wife and himself used to visit Mr. Poe and Mrs. Clem[m] .... Poe often visited the Wissahickon because he was a great lover of nature and fond of roving about the country .... Mr. Bouvier was a mahogany and marble merchant at 2d and Walnut streets” (Detwiler to E. C. Jellett, undated letter in Joseph Jackson Collection, PHi; cf. Phillips, 1:748-49).

[The Wissahiccon was a stream on the outskirts of Philadelphia which Poe described in his sketch “Morning on the Wissahiccon” (later entitled “The Elk”).] [page 390:]

[1842] CA. 1842. George R. Graham recalls:

[1842] CA. 1842. BALTIMORE. William Whitelock, a businessman, receives a presentation copy of The Conchologist's First Book from Professor Thomas Wyatt, who inscribes it “From the author.” Whitelock recalls: