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Fordham — May 17 —
My dear friend,
I have not been well enough, lately, to copy the lines “For Annie” but will copy them to-day[.] In regard to the other matter, depend upon me — as in all respects you may, with implicit confidence[.] Please make a memorandum as explicit as possible — so that I may know precisely what you wish
Believe me Yours ever,
Edgar A Poe.
Mrs Stella Anna Lewis
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Notes:
Mabbott (Poems, 1969, 1:455n) states that he considered the letter to be a forgery, largely based on the promise of a manuscript of ”For Annie,”. He also says that “it has no history prior to 1935,” although it was printed in full by Mary E. Phillips in 1926 (Poe the Man, 2:1404) and it was sold at auction in 1904. It may be that the promise of the manuscript was made but never fulfilled as Poe was busy preparing for his southern tour, which ended in his death in October of that year.
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[S:0 - MS, 18xx] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Works - Letters - Poe to S. A. Lewis (LTR314/RCL791)