Text: Arthur Hobson Quinn, “illustration - 16,” Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography (1941), p. 138b

Notes:

Quinn's statement that “This shows that we do not have all of “Al Aaraaf’ ” is somewhat controversial. T. O. Mabbott, in his definitive editon of Poe's Poems (1969) states, in reference to the present letter and Quinn's comment: “While Poe's syntax is not clear, surely the fourth part to which he refers is something not yet written. The reference to a third part may be explained by the fact that, in the poem as it stands, Part II is much longer than Part I; there are breaks at II, 156, and II, 174, either one of which may have marked the beginning of a new part. Hence I believe none of ‘Al Aaraaf’ is lost” (1:97). For a more recent attempt at disagreeing with Mabbott's conclusion, see Eric Martin, “ ‘Al Aaraaf,’ a Poem in Three Parts” (E. A. Poe Review, Spring 2009, 10:44-49).