The Flag of Our Union (Boston, MA)

The Flag of Our Union was a cheap, popular weekly newspaper, published every Saturday. Poe was somewhat embarrassed to have his work appear in its pages, but it was one of the few periodicals with pages open to Poe, and one of very few which would actually pay for submissions. Poe needed the money, and withstood the embarrassment as best he could. The cost of subscription was “Two Dollars Per Annum, Invariably in Advance.” Although the name of the newspaper, and the fact that it had published several of Poe's poems and tales, was known from several of Poe's letters as well as from contemporary notices printed in other newspapers, actual copies were so scarce that it was essentially unknown until a set was discovered in 1910 (see “Some New Poe Poems,” Baltimore Sun, October 16, 1910, p. 12, col. 7, although the date is incorrectly given as 1847 instead of 1849). The set discovered may be the one now in the Library of Congress, noted in the Heartman and Rede Census of 1932. (The article mentions that “Mr. George Parsons, of Washington, copied the poems for ‘The Virginia Poe’ and also furnished the notes appended.” Parsons, along with Stewart, had attended celebrations of Poe's centenary at the University of Virginia in January 1909, as noted in the Washington Post of January 18, 1909.)

Full Title: The Flag of Our Union: A Literary and Miscellanous Family Journal, containing News, Wit, Humor and Romance . . . Independent of Party or Sect

Issued: The Flag of Our Union: Vols. I-XXV (January 24, 1846 - January 1, 1871)

Editor(s): Maturin Murray Ballou (January 24, 1846 - 163); James R. Elliott (1863 - May 7, 1870); William Henry Thomes (1863 - January 1, 1871); Newton Talbot (1863 - January 1, 1871)

Publisher(s): Frederick Gleason (January 24, 1846 - November 18, 1854)  (sold his interest to M. M. Ballou); Maturin Murray Ballou (November 25, 1854 - 1863); James R. Elliott, William Henry Thomes and Newton Talbot (1863 - May 7, 1870) (Elliott left the venture); William Henry Thomes and Newton Talbot (May 14, 1870 - January 1, 1871)

Location: Boston, MA

For the early run of the periodical, the “Flag of Our Union” was a large-format newspaper, with each issue containing four pages. About 1854, it changed to a smaller format, with more pages.

There are very few copies of the Flag of Our Union for 1849, the only year in which Poe contributed to it:

• The Library of Congress (the only known full copy of 1849, with all of Poe's contributions)
• American Antiquarian Society (scattered issues)
• Private Collection (scattered issues with Poe contributions)
• Susan Jaffe Tane, one issue, vol. 4, no. 9, March 3, 1849 with the “Sargent” version of “A Valentine”