Edgar Allan Poe — “To the River —— [Po]”

Reading copy:

• “To the River —— [Po]” — reading copy

Manuscripts and Authorized Printings:

• Text-01 — “[In an Album. — To the River ——]” — about 1828 — [There are no known draft manuscripts or scratch notes reflecting the original effort of composition.]
• Text-02 — “In an Album. — To the River ——” — about 1828 — “Wilmer” manuscript — (Mabbott text A) (Poe to Lambert A. Wilmer in 1828; Bishop John Fletcher Hurst, sold at auction March 20, 1905, item 3481; Oliver Barrett, of Chicago; William Self (purchased through John F. Fleming), sold at auction by Christie's December 4, 2009, item 154, $362,500; Dr. Rodney Swantko, purchased from the Wm. Self auction); Swantko's library was sold by Sotheby's (NY) on June 25, 2024 (item 27), where this manuscript sold to a private collector for $180,000 ($216,000 with buyer's premium).
• Text-03 — “To the River ——” — 1829
  • Text-03a — “To the River ——” — 1829 — (Speculated new fair copy manuscript in anticipation of publication of ATMP, or possibly changes made on proof pages during the printing process. This material has not survived, but is presumably reflected in Text-03b.)
  • Text-03b — “To the River ——” — 1829 — ATMP — (Mabbott text B)
• Text-04 — “To the River ——” — before August 1839
  • Text-04a — “To the River ——” — before August 1839 — (Text-04b was presumably set from a copy of Text-03b, with changes so minor that they were presumably made in proof during the publication process, since Poe was actively an editor of the magazine at the time. This form has not survived, but is presumably reflected in Text-04b.)
  • Text-04b — “To the River ——” — August 1839 — Burton's — (Mabbott text C)
• Text-05 — “To the River ——” — February 1843 — Saturday Museum — (Mabbott text D) — [Poe sent two copies of this article to J. R. Lowell, one on October 19, 1843 and a second on May 28, 1844. In both cases, he appears to have done so for the purpose of providing Lowell with some biographical material to use for his article on Poe for Graham's Magazine. There is no indication that any of the poems in these copies had modifications made by Poe.]
  • Text-05a — “To the River ——” — before February 1843 — [Speculated copy of Text-03b with changes marked by Poe in anticipation of publication in the Saturday Museum. This material has not survived, but the text is presumably reflected in Text-05b. Minor changes in punctuation made in Text-04b were not carried forward in this version, suggesting the use of the earlier form as the base text.]
  • Text-05b — “To the River [——]” — February 25, 1843 — Saturday Museum
  • Text-05c — “To the River ——” — March 4, 1843 — Saturday Museum — (reprinted from February 25, 1843)
• Text-06 — “To the River ——” — 1845
  • Text-06a — “To the River ——” — 1845 — manuscript changes in ATMP-EH in preparation for RAOP — (Mabbott text E)
  • Text-06b — “To the River ——” — September 6, 1845 — Broadway Journal — (Mabbott text F)
• Text-07 — “To the River ——” — before November 1845
  • Text-07a — “To the River ——” — before November 1845 — (Speculated copy of Text-06b, with a minor change marked by Poe in anticipation of the publication of RAOP.)
  • Text-07b — “To the River ——” — 1845 — RAOP — (Mabbott text G — This is Mabbott's copy-text) — [For Griswold's 1850 reprinting of this text, see the entry below, under reprints.]

Reprints:

• “To the River ——” — January 10, 1846 — Western Literary Messenger (Buffalo, NY), vol. 5, no. 23, p. 360, col. 2 (Reprinted from RAOP, as part of a review of the book) (This entry was provided by Ton Fafianie in an e-mail to the Poe Society of November 21, 2017)
• “To the River ——” — 1850 — WORKS — (Mabbott text H) — (Griswold merely reprints Text-07b, from the stereotype plates)
• “To the River ——” — 1875 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol 3: Poems and Essays, ed. J. H. Ingram, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black (3:84)

Scholarly and Noteworthy Reprints:

• “To the River ——” — 1894-1895 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 10: Poems, ed. E. C. Stedman and G. E. Woodberry, Chicago: Stone and Kimball (10:132, and p. 230)
• “To the River ——” — 1902 — The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 7: Poems, ed. J. A. Harrison, New York: T. Y. Crowell (10:42, and 10:166-167)
• “To the River ——” — 1911 — The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. J. H. Whitty, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. (pp. 130, and p. 278)
• “To the River ——” — 1917 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Killis Campbell, Boston: Ginn and Company (pp. 51-52, and p. 195)
• “To the River ——” — 1965 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Floyd Stovall, Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia (p. 43, and pp. 206-207)
• “To the River [Po]” — 1969 — The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 1: Poems, ed. T. O. Mabbott, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (1:133-135)
• “To the River ——” — 1984 — Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales, ed. Patrick F. Quinn (New York: Library of America) (p. 57) (reprints Text-07)

Instream Comparative and Study Texts:

• “To the River ——” — Study Text (ATMP-EH)

Miscellaneous Texts and Related Items:

• “A la rivière —” — dated 2009, but available in late 2008 — Poèmes d‘Edgar Allan Poe, Paris: Publibook (translation by Jean Hautepierre)

• Heartman, Charles F. and James R. Canny, A Bibliography of First Printings of the Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Hattiesburg, MS: The Book Farm, 1943.
• Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, “Poe's ‘To The River’,” Explicator, June 1945, vol. 3
• Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, “ ‘To The River’,” Explicator, April 1945, vol. 3 (a query)
• Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, ed., The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Vol 1 Poems), Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1969.