Edgar Allan Poe — “Enigma [Sarah Anna Lewis]”

Reading copy:

• “An Enigma [Sarah Anna Lewis]” — reading copy

Manuscripts and Authorized Printings:

• Text-01 — “Sonnet” — November 1847 — [There are no known draft manuscripts or scratch notes reflecting the original effort of composition.]
• Text-02 —An Engima” — November 1847
  • Text-02a — “Sonnet” — November 27, 1847 — This manuscript appears to be the one Poe sent to Mrs. Lewis in his letter of November 27, 1847. This manuscript clearly was in the possession of Rufus Wilmot Griswold, and used in preparing the posthumous edition of Poe's works. He probably obtained the manuscript from Mrs. Lewis, whose husband, S. D. Lewis, prepared the legal contract between Griswold and Mrs. Clemm. In an 1885 article in the New-York Tribune, Stoddard says that Griswold gave him the manuscript for this poem, from which he quotes a portion, and that he “immediately gave it away to a clergy man of Boston, after writing on its back another sonnet in praise of Poe.” (The sonnet still appears on the back of this manuscript, which futher identifies it, as does a note written by Griswold on the bottom of the page.) He does not identify the clergyman, but based on a letter Stoddard sent to Dr. John Samuel Hill Fogg (1826-1893), it was given by Stoddard to a “Mr. Radford” for a “Dr. Clinch,” presumably Joseph Hart Clinch (1806-1884), a Boston minister and published poet. This transfer of ownership would have been prior to Griswold's death in 1857. Dr. Fogg's extensive collection of manuscripts and other important documents was donated to the Maine Historical Society in 1906, following the death of his wife. Although born in Portland, Maine, Dr. Fogg lived and practiced in South Boston. Most likely, Fogg acquired the manucript from Dr. Clinch. In the Maine Historical Society, the manuscript is cataloged in the John S. H. Fogg Autograph Collection, Coll. 420, Box 31, Folder 10.)
  • Text-02b — “An Enigma” — 1850 — WORKS — (Mabbott text B — This is Mabbott's copy-text) (Griswold follows the text of Poe's manucript, but apparently assigns his own title, by which the poem has subsequently been known.)
• Text-03 — “Sonnet” — 1847-1848
  • Text-03a — “Sonnet” — before November 27, 1847 (a speculated manuscript that must have been created and sent to the editors of the Union Magazine for publication. It is referenced in Poe's letter to Mrs. Lewis of November 27, 1847 as having been sent “a day or two ago” This manuscript has not survived, but is presumably recorded in Text-03b.)
  • Text-03b — “Sonnet” — March 1848 — Union Magazine — (Mabbott text A) (the text was sent to the magazine about November 25-26, 1847)

Reprints:

• “Sonnet” — March 3, 1849 — Portland Transcript  (reprinted from Union Magazine)
• “An Enigma” — 1852 — Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Humour; and Poems, London: Henry Vizetelly (An undated edition appears about the same time, published by Charles H. Clark and Samuel Orchart Beeton, and their name appears as publisher for the second series), first series pp. 257. (with no woodcut illustration) (this poem was omitted in some later printings)
• “An Enigma” — Macon Daily Telegraph (Macon, GA), ns. no. 240, February 17, 1866, p. 1, col. 1 (printed with “A Valentine,” both by Poe but both without acknowledgement)
• “An Enigma” — Georgia Weekly Telegraph (Macon, GA), vol. I, no. 19, February 19, 1866, p. 1, col. 7 (printed with “A Valentine,” both by Poe and apparently sent in by a reader, with a note that mentions Poe as the author)
• “An Enigma” — 1875 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol 3: Poems and Essays, ed. J. H. Ingram, Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black (3:24)
• “[[An Engima]]” — Emporia Ledger (Emporia, KS), vol. XI, no. 44, November 3, 1881, p. 2, col. 4 (a brief introductory note acknowledges that the “following clever sonnet” is by Edgar A. Poe)
• “[Sonnet]” — November 16, 1879 — New York Times (New York, NY), vol. XXIX, no. 8793, p. 10, col. 2 (printed as part of a review of the E. L. Didier edition of Poe's Poems)
• “Acrostic” — Hendricks County Union (Danville, IN), vol. III, no. 43, November 24, 1881, p. 8, col. 6 (a brief introductory note acknowledges that the “following clever sonnet” is by Edgar A. Poe)
• “[[An Enigma]]” — South-Bend Saturday Tribune (South Bend, IN), vol. XXXI, no. 4827, December 29, 1888, p. 4, col. 2 (a brief introductory note acknowledges that the sonnet is by Edgar A. Poe)
• “[[An Enigma]]” — November 28, 1896 — Newcastle Weekly Chronicle (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England), whole no. 6,906, p. 11, col. 3 (printed without title as part of a note about sonnets, but acknowledged as by Edgar Allan Poe)
• “[[An Enigma]]” — September 21, 1898 — The Sketch (London, England), vol. XXIII, whole no. 295, p. 18 (printed without title as part of a note about sonnets, but acknowledged as by Edgar Allan Poe)
• “An Enigma” — February 26, 1899 — Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), vol. XCII, whole no. 11,015, p. 26, middle of col. 4 (printed with the title “An Enigma by Edgar A. Poe.”)
• “[[An Enigma]]” — June 3, 1911 — Chicago Daily Tribune (Chicago, IL), vol. LXX, no. 132, p. 11, col. 5 (printed as part of a review of the Whitty edition of Poe's poems)
• “An Enigma” — August 11, 1912 — New York Times (New York, NY), vol. LXI, whole no. 19,923, p. 54, col. 1 (printed in reply to an inquiry from a reader)
• “An Enigma” — March 5, 1915 — Clinch Valley News (Tazewell, VA), (no volume or issue number), p. 1, col. 4 (printed as part of a letter sent to the editors by Frank Monroe Beverly of Freeling, VA along with the text of Poe's November 27, 1847 letter to Mrs. Lewis.)
• “An Enigma” — January 20, 1918 — New York Tribune (New York, NY), vol. LXXVII, whole no. 25,998, p. 38, cols. 1-2 (printed along with an article about “The Birthday of Unhappy Edgar Allan Poe.”)

Scholarly and Noteworthy Reprints:

• “An Enigma” — 1894-1895 — The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 10: Poems, ed. E. C. Stedman and G. E. Woodberry, Chicago: Stone and Kimball (10:83, and p. 192)
• “An Enigma” — 1902 — The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 7: Poems, ed. J. A. Harrison, New York: T. Y. Crowell (10:110, and 10:215)
• “Sonnet” — 1911 — The Complete Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. J. H. Whitty, Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. (p. 69, and p. 237)  (A note at the bottom of p. 69 states: “The title in all other edition of Poe's poems is, ‘An Enigma.”)
• “An Enigma” — 1917 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Killis Campbell, Boston: Ginn and Company (p. 121, and pp. 276-277)
• “An Enigma” — 1965 — The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, ed. Floyd Stovall, Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia (p. 107, and pp. 274-275)
• “An Enigma” — 1969 — The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, vol. 1: Poems, ed. T. O. Mabbott, Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press (1:424-426)
• “An Enigma” — 1984 — Edgar Allan Poe: Poetry and Tales, ed. Patrick F. Quinn (New York: Library of America) (pp. 91-92) (reprints the text from Works, 1850)

Instream Comparative and Study Texts:

• None

Miscellaneous Texts and Related Items:

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

• Bandy, W. T., “Poe's ‘An Enigma’ (or ‘sonnet’), IV,” Explicator, December 1961, vol. 20, item 35
• 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.