Edgar Allan Poe — “To One in Paradise”

Reading copy:

• “To One in Paradise” — reading copy

Manuscripts and Authorized Printings:

• Text-01 — “[Untitled]” — about 1833 — questionable manuscript, now lost but text recorded in 1852 — (Mabbott text A) (Although Mabbott interprets the letter from “G. D. B.” as simply misattributing an original manuscript by Poe as if by Tennyson, and in so doing accusing Poe of plagiarism, it is not at all clear what “G. D. B.” had in his possession, if anything at all. It is particularly odd that an early manuscript by Poe would use the word “on” instead of the slightly more poetic “upon,” as Poe gives in all of the clearly authentic texts that include this line. Although it was printed in the Spectator in an issue of January 1, 1853, the letter by “G. D. B.” is dated December 28, 1852. “G. D. B.” cites the title of Poe's poem, but gives no title for the supposed manuscript, and that text is thus presumed as having no title on the manuscript. It is unclear how an authentic Poe manuscript might have made it to England before 1852, particularly if we consider the letter writer's claim that he or she has had the poem for “some years,” but the possibility of a hoax cannot be entirely dismissed. The purpose of such a hoax is difficult to imagine unless the letter writer simply wanted to solicit a reply from Tennyson, which Tennyson did in a letter dated January 20, 1853, printed in the same periodical for January 22, 1853.)
• Text-02 — “[Untitled]” — January 1834 — in “The Visionary,” The Lady's Book — (Mabbott text B) (Copies of this very early issue of The Lady's Book were far more scarce than the later issues, better known to have had contributions by Poe. The first version of the tale, and thus the poem, was generally known only by the printing in the SLM more than a year later. Stedman and Woodbery list the 1834 printing in their variants of the poem. They give the year and month of publication, so clearly a copy had been discovered by that time. In 1902, however, J. A. Harrison was still only aware of the printing through the reference in the Stedman and Woodberry edition, as he lists the poem and variants, clearly from the Stedman and Woodberry edition, but does not list the printing under the variants for the tale.)
• Text-03 — “[Untitled]” — July 1835 — in “The Visionary,” Southern Literary Messenger — (Mabbott text C)
• Text-04 — “To Ianthe in Heaven” — July 1839 — Burton's — (Mabbott text D) (In a letter to P. P. Cooke, Poe mentions that he is sending copies of the July, August, and September 1839 issues of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, but in Cooke's reply it is clear that he is responding only to a number of the stories as printed in Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque, of which Poe had sent Cooke an inscribed copy. He does not mention either of the poems by Poe that appeared in this issue. There is no reason to suspect that any of these magazine copies contained manuscript revisions by Poe.)
• Text-05 — “[Untitled]” — 1840 — in “The Visionary,” Tales of the G & A — (Mabbott text E)
• Text-06 — “To Ianthe in Heaven” — 1840/1841 — American Melodies (This book is dated 1841, but copyrighted as 1840) — (Mabbott text F)
• Text-07 — “To One Beloved” — January 9, 1841 — Saturday Evening Post — (Mabbott text G)
• Text-08 — “[Untitled]” — about 1841 — abridged text with first and last stanzas only, “Herring” manuscript — (Mabbott text J) (Originially written in the album of Mary Esther Herring. On December 7, 1925, it was removed from the album and given by Annie S. Burch (1864-1934), M. E. Herring's neice, to Dr. Thomas Stephen Cullen (1868-1953). Mrs. Burch was married to Marion K. Burch (1847-1931). It has been beautifully bound in green leather, presumably by Dr. Cullen, who gave the item to the Enoch Pratt Free Library.)
• Text-09 — “To One in Paradise” — February 25, 1843 — Saturday Museum — (Mabbott text H) (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-09a — “To One in Paradise” — February 25, 1843
  • Text-09b — “To One in Paradise” — March 4, 1843  (reprinted from February 25, 1843)
• Text-10 — “To One Departed” — about 1844 — “Huntington” manuscript — (Mabbott text Z) (doubted by Mabbott)
• Text-11 — “To One in Paradise” — May 10, 1845 — Broadway Journal — (Mabbott text K)
• Text-12 — “[To One in Paradise]” — June 7, 1845 — in “The Assignation,” Broadway Journal — (Mabbott text L)
• Text-13 — “To One in Paradise” — 1845 — RAOP — (Mabbott text M) (for Griswold's 1850 reprinting of this text, see the entry below, under reprints. Griswold does adopt one minor change from RAOP-JLG.)
• Text-14 — “To One in Paradise” — 1845 — RAOP-JLG, with minor manuscript revisions — (Mabbott text N)  (This is Mabbott's copy-text)

Reprints:

• “To Ianthe in Heaven” — July 3, 1839 — Pennsylvania Inquirer  (reprinted as part of a review of  the July issue of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, p. 2, col. 2)
• “To One in Paradise” — November 26, 1845 — New-York Daily Tribune
• “To One in Paradise” — November 29, 1845 — New-York Weekly Tribune
• “To One in Paradise” — 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)
• “To One in Paradise” — November 10, 1849 — Home Journal (prints only the 3rd stanza)
• “To One in Paradise” — late 1849 — Poets and Poetry of America (10th edition, dated 1850) — (Mabbott text P)
• “[To One in Paradise]” — 1850 — in “The Assignation,” WORKS — Griswold reprints Text-12  (Mabbott text Q)
• “To One in Paradise” — 1850 — WORKS — (Mabbott text R)
• “To One in Paradise” — May 1850 — Boston Ladies’ Repository (Boston, MA) (prints only the 1st stanza)
• “To One in Paradise” — October 9, 1850 — Journal of Commerce (New York) (prints only the 1st stanza)
• “To One in Paradise” — October 11, 1850 — Boston Daily Evening Transcript (Boston, MA) (prints only the 1st stanza, reprinted from Journal of Commerce 
• “To One in Paradise” — October 15, 1850 — Rochester Democrat (Rochester, NY) (prints only the 1st stanza, reprinted from Journal of Commerce)
• “To One in Paradise” — October 19, 1850 — Examiner (Richmond, VA) (prints only the 1st stanza)
• “To One in Paradise” — November 9, 1850 — Christian Freeman Family Visitor (Concord, NH) (prints only the 1st stanza)  (reprinted from Journal of Commerce)
• “To One in Paradise” — December 7, 1850 — Pensacola Gazette (Pensacola, FL), vol. XVIII, no. 37, p. 1, col. 5 (acknowledged as “by the late Edgar A. Poe.”)
• “[To One in Paradise]” — February 5, 1853 — Literary World (New York, NY), vol. XII, no. 314, pp. 102-103 (prints Poe's poem along with the text of the poem offered by “G. D. B.” to the Spectator in his or her letter of December 28, 1852 as being from a manuscript by Tennyson. The unsigned editor, probably E. A. Duyckink, questions the claim of plagiarism but allows for the possibility as “not improbable” when taking into account “some of the literary habits of Poe as recorded by his biographer, Dr. Griswold.” At the time of publication, the editor had clearly not yet seen Tennyson's reply in which he states clearly that the poem is not his and suggests that both poems are probably by Poe.)
• “[To One in Paradise]” — March 1853 — Southern Literary Messenger (Richmond, VA), vol. XIX, no. 3, p. 184 (prints Poe's poem along with the text of the poem offered by “G. D. B.” to the Spectator in his or her letter of December 28, 1852 as being from a manuscript by Tennyson. The unsigned editor, probably John R. Thompson, strongly questions the claim of plagiarism, particularly doubting that the poem is by Tennyson. At the time of publication, the editor had presumably not yet seen Tennyson's reply in which he states clearly that the poem is not his and suggests that both poems are probably by Poe.)
• “To One in Paradise” — July 29, 1853 — Liverpool Mercury (Liverpool, Merseyside, England), vol. XLIII, whole no. 2,523, p. 600, (volume page 12), col. 1 (acknowledged as by “Edgar A. Poe.”)
• “To One in Paradise” — May 2, 1854 — The Banner (Melbourne, Victoria), vol. LXXIV p. 4
• “To One in Paradise” — February 9, 1860 — Star and Enterprise (Newville, PA), vol. 2, no. 9, p. 1, col. 3 (acknowledged as by “Edgar A. Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — 1861 — The Loves and Heroines of the Poets, ed. R. H. Stoddard, New York: Derby and Jackson (p. 452) (In the preface, the editor of this roughly chronologically arranged collection states that “My object in this volume is to present specimens of English love-poetry, especially that which is, or seems to be, addressed to particular women.” For Poe, the other poem presented is “To Helen [[Whitman]].”
• “To One in Paradise” — June 26, 1869 — Weekly Iberville South (Plaquemine, LA), vol. IV, no. 51, p. 2, col. 5 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — 1875 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol 3: Poems and Essays, ed. J. H. Ingram, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black (3:26)
• “To One in Paradise” — May 13, 1880 — Weekly Kansas Chief (Troy, Kansas), vol. XXIII, no. 48, p. 1, col. 4 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — May 22, 1880 — Marshall County News (Marysville, Kansas), vol. VIII, no. 35, p. 1, col. 5 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allan Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — September 16, 1880 — Winfield Courier (Winfield, Kansas), vol. 8, no. 38, p. 1, col. 3 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — September 29, 1895 — Chicago Tribune (New York, NY), vol. LIV, no. 272, p. 51, col. 5 (printed at the end of an article “A Microscope on Poe and His Works” by John Vance Cheney)
• “To One in Paradise” — September 28, 1898 — Ellsworth American (Ellsworth, ME), vol. XLIV, no. 39, p. 3, col. 3 (acknowledged as by “E. A. Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — October 2, 1898 — The Sentinel (Carlisle, PA), vol. XVII, no. 252, p. 4, col. 2 (acknowledged as by “E. A. Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — October 9, 1898 — The Gazette (York, PA), vol. XXIII, whole no. 3,608, p. 6, col. 5 (acknowledged as by “E. A. Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — April 7, 1901 — St. Louis Republic (St. Louis, Missouri), p. 46, col. 6 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allan Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — April 14, 1901 — Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, TN), vol. XXXII, no. 120, p. 18, col. 6 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allan Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — May 12, 1901 — Pittsburg Post (Pittsburgh, PA), p. 4, col. 6 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allan Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — February 14, 1902 — Richmond Dispatch (Richmond, VA), whole no. 15,862, p. 15, col. 7 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allan Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — January 22, 1903 — Richmond Dispatch (Richmond, VA), whole no. 16,146, p. 9, col. 2 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe”)
• “To One in Paradise” — October 30, 1914 — The Evening News (San Jose, CA) (p. 2) (this item is noted by George Monteiro, “Fugitive Reprints,” E. A. Poe Review, Fall 2010, p. 161.)
• “To One in Paradise” — November 21, 1915 — Philadelphia Inquirer (p. 2) (this item is noted by George Monteiro, “Fugitive Reprints,” E. A. Poe Review, Fall 2010, p. 161.)
• “To One in Paradise” — January 20, 1918 — New York Tribune (New York, NY), vol. LXXVII, whole no. 25,998, p. 38, col. 1 (printed along with an article about “The Birthday of Unhappy Edgar Allan Poe.”)

Scholarly and Noteworthy Reprints:

• “To One in Paradise” — 1894-1895 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 10: Poems, eds. E. C. Stedman and G. E. Woodberry (Chicago: Stone and Kimball), 10:79-80 and 10:189-191
• “To One in Paradise” — 1897 — The Raven, The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Poems and Tales, ed. William P. Trent (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company), pp. 25-26
• “To One in Paradise” — 1902 — The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 7: Poems, ed. J. A. Harrison (New York: T. Y. Crowell), 10:86 and 10:202-203
• “To One in Paradise” — 1911 — The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. J. H. Whitty (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.), p. 31 and pp. 220-222
• “To One Departed” — November 21, 1915 — J. H. Whitty, “New Poe Poems and Manuscripts Found,” New York Sun (In this article, Whitty prints the text of the “Huntington” manuscript, with the note: “One of the most interesting Poe manuscript discoveries made of late is a reconstructed version of his lines, The [[To]] One in Paradise, published in Godey's Lady's Book for January, 1834. A collector has the original manuscript, which is signed by Poe with his full name. Its history has not yet been fully traced.” The article was also printed, on the same date, in the Baltimore American)
• “To One in Paradise” — 1917 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Killis Campbell (Boston: Ginn and Company), pp. 77-78 and pp. 221-222
• “To One in Paradise” — 1965 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Floyd Stovall (Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia), p. 59 and pp. 239-242
• “To One in Paradise” — 1969 — The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 1: Poems, ed. T. O. Mabbott (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press), 1:211-216
• “To One in Paradise” — 1984 — Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales, ed. Patrick F. Quinn (New York: Library of America), pp. 69-70 (reprints the text from Stovall, 1965)
• “To One in Paradise” — 2015 — The Annotated Poe, ed. Kevin J. Hayes (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press), pp. 372-374

Instream Comparative and Study Texts:

• “To One in Paradise” — Study Text (RAOP-JLG)

Miscellaneous Texts and Related Items:

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

• Basler, Roy P., “Byronism in Poe's ‘To One in Paradise,” American Literature, May 1937, 9:232-236
• Caputi, Anthony, “The Refrain in Poe's Poetry,” American Literature, May 1953, 25:169-178
• 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, “Unrecorded Texts of Two of Poe's Poems,” American Notes & Queries, August 1948, 8:67-68
• Mabbott, Thomas Ollive, ed., The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Vol 1 Poems), Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1969.
• Rede, Kenneth, “New Poe Manuscript,” American Collector, December 1926, 3:100-102  (the manuscript of Text-08 is reproduced)