Text: John C. Miller, ed., “Entry 001: John H. Ingram to Sarah Helen Whitman, Dec. 20, 1873,” Poe's Helen Remembers (1979), pp. 1-3 (This material is protected by copyright)

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1. John H. Ingram to Sarah Helen Whitman

Dear Mrs. Whitman,

I am sending this in the forlorn hope that it may reach your hands safely and induce you to kindly aid me in my efforts to clear the memory of my favorite author, Edgar Poe, from the cruel slanders of the late Dr. Griswold. For many years past I have been collecting material for a new life of the poet, but here, in England, I work under great difficulties, the only American works of reference which I can see being those in the British Museum. Nearly all the newspapers which I require (that is, which are mentioned in Griswold's “Memoir”) are absent from the above library, and of the few there, such as the Tribune &c., I have not yet succeeded in doing much with in consequence of not having any certain dates or data to go by, &, hitherto, my literary & official duties have prevented me going through even one paper consecutively. A little while ago I was delighted to see your work Edgar Poe and His Critics in the Museum, as it strengthened & confirmed me in my desire to do my best in vindication of Poe.(1) I at once sent to Trübners for the book but was told that it had long been out of print. Allibone, in his Dictionary, I think, says you have written several things in defense of our mutual favorite: if so, they are not in our Museum.(2) I have just written a prelude to my more lengthy defense of Poe, for one of our monthlies, and as soon as it appears you shall have a copy & will then see what use I have made of my slender materials. Over leaf I will give you references to such papers as I cannot obtain, and which, for reasons stated, might prove useful in the vindication. If you can I feel assured you will aid me by pointing out their value for the purpose desired, and by letting me know how, & for how much, they may be procured & I will gladly remit the needful. I have written to an English acquaintance to find out your address if possible & he may call on you — ’Tis a Mr. T. Clarke. By the way, a Mr. T. C. Clarke (of Baltimore), stated to be a friend of Edgar Poe's, was said by the papers to be about to write a new life of the poet: can you say the result?(3) Do you know of anything of Poe's besides the writings contained in the four [4] vols. published under Griswold's supervision by Redfield & by Widdle[ton], New York?(4) I have just written to a “Rosalie Poe,” Hick's Landing, Virginia, said by the papers to be Poe's sister & only surviving relative. I don’t know whether the address was sufficient to find her. Amongst the chief things I hope for Poe's life is the correct dates of his birth, departure to & return from England, entering University at Charlottesville, publication of 1st edition of poems &c. Did this first collection contain [page 2:] anything not republished? Any particulars of his journey in Europe: did Poe ever reach Greece, visit Italy &c.? Date of his entry & departure from West Point? Can it be disproved that he was expelled therefrom? Can it be disproved that he deserted from the army? Can you point to a single anecdote of Griswold's which has been publicly refuted, or even denied in print? One only would be a help to my special pleading. Some I have disproved and have made others look very improbable, but your book is the only publication I have yet seen which declares Griswold's statements incorrect. What are those letters of John Neal & George Graham which Griswold alludes to? Can any copy of them be obtained? Bought or borrowed? In which papers, can you say, did they appear, and about what dates? I have seen Powell's “Memoir” in Poets of America, & the letter of Willis, but not a single fact, specially pointed out to be denied: can you furnish any or one?(5) New York Tribune, or Saturday Evening Post? The libel on Poe by Dr. Dunn English is said to have appeared in the New York Mirror on 23 June 1846.(6) Files of the papers are in British Museum, but that particular number is missing! Poe is said to have prepared a sketch of his own life for Brooks's Museum (of Baltimore?(7)). Do you know if it ever appeared? Griswold says the family of “S. D. Lewis” were good friends of Poe's — do you know anything of them? Do you know any particulars of poor Poe's death? Did you see the poem in New York Tribune, 13 Nov. [18]49, in response to Griswold's remark, “The poet hath no friends”? Have you seen a poem by “C. Gardette” called “The Fire Fiend”? Mrs. Macready published it in the London Star as by Poe, & stated that Mrs. Clemm gave it to her as Poe's: that is strange! I pronounced it a forgery at once, but it is sometimes reprinted here as Poe's, but I shall stop that, I trust, for the future.(8) Papers, which I cannot get in London, appeared on Poe in the following, according to Allibone. Do they contain anything of use to me? —

Democratic Review (J. Savage), XXVIII, pp. 66, 162

Boston Living Age, XXV, p. 77

New York Electric [Eclectic] Magazine, XV, p. 262

Wallace's Literary Criticisms —

Many others are mentioned, but I have either seen them or can do so.

In E. Poe & His Critics you alluded to Poe's portrait, and the engraving therefrom as being bad: cannot a photo be taken? I would willingly subscribe for a dozen copies. In same book you mention that many of the anecdotes retailed by Griswold were disproved in New York Tribune, and one more recently in the Home Journal: can you furnish me dates of the former publication, which I can see, & particulars of the latter, which I cannot? Pardon my long, rambling scrawl & forgive my intrusion, for the sake of the object. I have thrown my requests into a disconnected form, I fear, just as they have occurred to me. I might have asked more, probably, but shall be only too glad if [page 3:] you can answer one question satisfactorily. If you have any pamphlet, or paper, bearing on the subject, which you can spare, I shall be thankful & will forward you copies of everything I print on the subject of Poe. I will remit any pecuniary outlay at once. Don’t hesitate to name such. With heartiest sympathy in your noble exertions, I remain, believe me, my dear madam, ever admiringly yours,

P.S. What I should like most to be able to disprove is the story of Poe's expulsion from West Point, desertion from the army, and the borrowing the money from a lady, re. Dr. Francis, &c. — of the publishing a book of a certain Captain Brown, as his own original work, on conchology — see Griswold's “Memoir.” Do you know if the poems of E. C. Pinckney are now procurable?(9)

 

1. Edgar Poe and His Critics (New York: Rudd & Carleton, 1860; rpt. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1949).

2. Samuel Austin Allibone, A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors ... , 3 vols. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1872). See II, 1614-15, for his sketch of Poe's career.

3. Thomas Cottrell Clarke (d. 1874) was owner and editor of the Philadelphia Saturday Museum. In 1842 he had agreed to provide the money necessary to start Poe's long-dreamed-of magazine, the Stylus, but he later withdrew his offer.

4. The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Rufus W. Griswold, 4 vols. (New York: J. S. Redfield, 1850-56). Griswold's “Memoir” prefaced Vol. III, but was moved to Vol. I in 1853. Redfield sold his copyright on the edition to W. J. Widdleton ca. 1863, and after printing many editions, Widdleton resold it to A. C. Armstrong, who replaced Griswold's “Memoir” with Ingram's.

5. Thomas Powell (1809-1887) was born in London and came to the United States in 1849. He published Living Authors of England (New York: Appleton, 1849) and Living Authors of America, 1st ser. (New York: Stringer and Townsend, 1850). See pp. 108-34 for his article about Poe.

6. Thomas Dunn English (1819-1902) was a medical doctor, a lawyer, and an author. His most popular ballad was “Sweet Alice, Ben Bolt.” For brief accounts of his relationship and quarrels with Poe, see either Arthur Hobson Quinn, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography (New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1941), pp. 503-6, or James A. Harrison, ed., The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, 17 vols. (New York: T. Y. Crowell & Co., 1902), IV, 233-58.

7. Nathan Covington Brooks was editor and owner, with Dr. Joseph Evans Snodgrass, of the American Museum of Science, Literature, and the Arts in Baltimore. Poe contributed tales and articles to his magazine from its beginning in Sept. 1838 through its concluding issue in June 1839.

8. And stop it he did. He proved that Charles D. Gardette had admitted authorship of the hoax in his book The Fire Fiend and Other Poems (New York, 1866). Ingram took the whole subject to the cleaners in his edition of The Raven (London: George Redway, 1885). The verses had been published, deadpan, in the Southern Literary Messenger, 23 (July 1863), 397-98, as “The Fire Legend — a Nightmare. From an unpublished MS. of the Late Edgar A. Poe.”

9. Edward Coote Pinckney, Poems (Baltimore: Joseph Robinson, 1825).