Edgar Allan Poe — “Hymn”

Reading copy:

• “Hymn” — reading copy

Manuscripts and Authorized Printings:

• Text-01 — “[Catholic Hymn]” (in “Morella”) — about 1832-1833 — unfinished “Simmons” manuscript of “Morella,” — (Mabbott text A — This is Mabbott's copy-text for this early version) (In his edition of Poe's Tales and Sketches [2:224], Mabbott dates the manuscript as about 1835 in the bibliography and 1834 or 1835 in the introductory text. In his edition of Poe's Poems [1:217], Mabbott dates the manuscript as about 1833. The Poe Log, p. 126, following J. H. Whitty [Poems, 1911, p. 214], assigns the date of 1832.)
• Text-02 — “[Catholic Hymn]” (in “Morella”) — 1835
  • Text-02a — “[Catholic Hymn]” (in “Morella”) — 1835 — no original manuscript of the complete form, or fragments, are known to exist (but this version is presumably recorded in Text-02b)
  • Text-02b — “[Catholic Hymn]” (in “Morella”) — April 1835 — Southern Literary Messenger — (Mabbott text B) — [Although these pages in the Duane copy of the Southern Literary Messenger show no sign of changes, the version of the tale published in TGA shows numerous modifications, which suggests an intermediary form. No differences appear, however, in the text of the poem.]
• Text-03 — “[Catholic Hymn]” (in “Morella”) — November 1839
  • Text-03a — “[Catholic Hymn]” (in “Morella”) — November 1839 — Burton's — (Mabbott text C) (The text in Burton's specifically states that it is extracted from TGA, noted as forthcoming.)
  • Text-03b — “[Catholic Hymn]” (in “Morella”) — late 1839 — TGA (1840) — (Mabbott text D) — [Although the imprint date is 1840, this book was available by early December 1839. Although it appeared after Text-03a, it presumably represents a slightly earlier form. In listing the order of texts for the tale, as opposed to the poem, Mabbott gives the TGA printing before the printing in Burton's, which makes more sense. This was the last time the poem would appear as part of the tale.) (In TGAPP, revised in 1842, the full poem has no changes, but is marked for deletion. Mabbott notes this as Text E, but removing the poem from the story can hardly be considered a new text.]
• Text-04 — “Catholic Hymn” — before August 16, 1845
  • Text-04a — “Catholic Hymn” — before August 16, 1845 — [This entry is a speculated new text in preparation for publication in the Broadway Journal. As a short poem, it is possible that Poe wrote out a full new manuscript, but as the changes are farily minor, it may be that he made the changes on proof copies of the text as it was being set for the Broadway Journal.]
  • Text-04b — “Catholic Hymn” — August 16, 1845 — Broadway Journal — (Mabbott text F) — [Poe had already printed “Morella,” without the poem, in Broadway Journal for June 21, 1845.]
  • Text-04c — “Catholic Hymn” — 1845 — RAOP — (Mabbott text G) — [This text is essentially a reprint of Text-04b. For Griswold's 1850 reprinting of this text, see the entry below, under reprints.]
• Text-05 — “Hymn” — 1845 — RAOP, with manuscript title change — (Mabbott text H) — (Griswold implements only the slight title change, otherwise retaining the stereotype plates of Text-04c)

Reprints:

• “Hymn” — 1850 — WORKS — Griswold reprints Text-04c, but with the title change in Text-05  (Mabbott text J)
• “Lines to the Virgin” — August 31, 1855 — Waterford News and General Weekly Advertiser (Waterford, Ireland), vol. 7, no. 361, p. 4, col. 1 (with the introductory note: “Written by the gifted and unfortunate Edgar A. Poe.”)
• “Hymn to the Virgin” — 1860 — Book of Raphael's Madonnas — ed. James P. Walker, New York: Leavitt and Allen, p. 22
• “Hymn” — 1875 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol 3: Poems and Essays, ed. J. H. Ingram, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black (3:22)
• “Hymn” — January 27, 1877 — Sickel and Sheaf (Oskaloosa, KS), vol. 4, no. 16, p. 7, col. 5 (acknowledging the author as “Edgar Allan Poe.” Part of an article called “Christmas Thoughts.”)
• “Hymn” — August 1, 1878 — The Opposition (Wilbur, NE), vol. IV, no. 36, p. 3, col. 3 (with Poe's name and noted as “published by request,” presumably by a reader of the newspaper. Because several reprints about this time make the same claim, it is likely that most of them are copying from each other.)
• “Hymn” — August 7, 1878 — Birminghan Iron Age (Birmingham, Alabama), vol. V, no. 23, p. 1, col. 6 (acknowledging the author as “Edgar Allan Poe.”)
• “Hymn” — August 17, 1878 — Clay County Dispatch (Clay Center, KS), vol. VI, no. 23, p. 7, col. 1 (with Poe's name and noted as “published by request,” presumably by a reader of the newspaper)
• “Hymn” — August 24, 1878 — Irving Blue Valley Gazette (Irving, KS), vol. V, no. 23, p. 4, col. 1 (with Poe's name and noted as “published by request,” presumably by a reader of the newspaper)
• “Hymn” — August 24, 1878 — Sickley and Sheaf (Oskaloosa, KS), vol. 6, no. 48, p. 3, col. 1 (with Poe's name and noted as “published by request,” presumably by a reader of the newspaper)
• “Hymn” — August 24, 1878 — Marshall County News (Marysville, KS), vol. VI, no. 48, p. 1, col. 3 (with Poe's name)
• “Hymn” — December 24, 1878 — Daily Bee (Sacramento, CA), vol. XLIV, whole no. 6,779, p. 3, col. 6 (acknowledging the author as “Edgar Allan Poe.” Part of an article called “Christmas Thoughts.”)
• “Hymn” — December 24, 1879 — Oakland Daily Evening Tribune (Oakland, CA), vol. XVI, no. 292, p. 3, col. 1 (printed as part of a short article on “Christmas Thoughts,” with the comments “The Virgin Mother has always been a favorite theme for [[the]] Poet's pen. There are few utterances of this kind more charming and tender than the following ‘Hymn’ by Edgar Allan Poe.”)
• “Hymn” — December 24, 1878 — Weekly Bee (Sacramento, CA), vol. II, no. 68, p. 3, col. 6 (acknowledging the author as “Edgar Allan Poe.” Part of an article called “Christmas Thoughts.”)
• “[Hymn]” — October 1, 1894 — Indian Advocate (Sacred Heart, OK), vol. VI, no. 4, p. 11, col. 3 (acknowledged as by “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe.” (The journal was stated as being “Devoted to the Interests of Indian Missions,” and has a decidedly Catholic tone to selections.)
• “[Hymn]” — May 23, 1895 — Catholic Union and Times (Buffalo, NY), vol. XXIV, no. 7, p. 3, col. 5 (without title but acknowledged as by “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe.” Part of long article with the title “Our Lady' Chaplet: Tributes of Honor and Veneration Woven by Poets Not of the Faith.”)
• “Hymn” — May 27, 1905 — Catholic Advance (Wichita, KS), vol. VI, no. 7, p. 3, col. 3 (with Poe's name as “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe.”)
• “Hymn” — September 5, 1907 — Muncie Morning Star (Muncie, IN), vol. XXX, no. 129, p. 4, col. 3 (with Poe's name as “Edgar Allan Poe.”)
• “Hymn” — September 5, 1907 — Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, IN), vol. V, no. 92, p. 6, across cols. 4-5 (with Poe's name as “Edgar Allan Poe.”)
• “Catholic Hymn” — 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:

• “Hymn” — 1894-1895 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 10: Poems, eds. E. C. Stedman and G. E. Woodberry, Chicago: Stone and Kimball (10:28, and p. 178)
• “Hymn” — 1902 — The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 7: Poems, ed. J. A. Harrison, New York: T. Y. Crowell (10:58, and 10:193-194)
• “Hymn” — 1911 — The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. J. H. Whitty, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. (p. 23, and pp. 214-215)
• “Hymn” — 1917 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Killis Campbell, Boston: Ginn and Company (pp. 78-79, and pp. 222-224)
• “Hymn” — 1965 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Floyd Stovall, Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia (p. 60, and pp. 242-243)
• “Hymn” — 1969 — The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 1: Poems, ed. T. O. Mabbott, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (1:216-218)
• “Hymn” — 1984 — Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales, ed. Patrick F. Quinn (New York: Library of America) (p. 70) (reprints the text from Works, 1850)

Instream Comparative and Study Texts:

• “Hymn” — Comparative Text (Burton's and Broadway Journal)
• “Hymn” — Study Text (RAOP-JLG)

Miscellaneous Texts and Related Items:

• “[Hymn]” — May 10, 1890 — Catholic Tribune (St. Joseph, Missouri), vol. XII, no. 11, p. 3, col. 3 (with Poe's name as “Edgar Allen [[Allan]] Poe.” The first four lines are quoted as a short filler item called “The Blessed Virgin: Tributes from Protestant Poets.”)
• “Hymne” — 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, ed., The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Vol 1 Poems), Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1969.