Under the pseudonym Edgar A. Perry, an 18-year old Poe was ordered, along with the rest of his regiment, to Sullivan's Island near Charleston, South Carolina. After an eleven-day journey on a boat named Waltham, they arrived on November 18, 1827.
During his time on Sullivan's Island, Poe/Perry distinguished himself as an enlisted soldier. Six months after his arrival, Poe was promoted to "Artificer." Eight months after that, he was promoted to Sergeant Major, the highest rank a non-commissioned officer could make.
Sullivan's Island would later serve as the setting for "The Gold-Bug." Like many places which Poe made home, even for short periods of time, Charleston has come to truly embrace the writer. The town has named its public library for Poe and streets are named for "The Raven" and "The Gold-Bug."
But, the question is, considering how accomplished Poe was as a soldier, why did he not complete his enlisted term? Instead, he promised a high payment for another man ("Bully" Graves) to finish his term for him. When he tried to become a commissioned officer, why did he purposely get himself kicked out of West Point?
It was only about four months before he left for South Carolina that Poe gave a bundle of manuscripts to a Boston printer named Calvin F. S. Thomas. Thomas issued the first edition of Poe's poems ever published: the 40-page Tamerlane and Other Poems, credited only "by a Bostonian." It is estimated that only 50 copies were printed, and the book made no impact at all, critically or financially.
Showing posts with label Charleston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charleston. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
This shape was peculiar
Continuing the series of Poe works published in September issues, I realized I almost neglected one of the most interesting and spirited of Poe's tales. "The Oblong Box" was first published in the September 1844 issue of Godey's Lady's Book (and, part of a trend of concurrent publications, similar to "The Raven," it was also published in the August 28, 1844 issue of the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper).
"The Oblong Box" is a mixture of some of Poe's greatest story-telling elements. Set as a variation of the sea adventure tale, the story follows an unnamed narrator traveling by boat (the Independence) from Charleston, South Carolina to New York. On board, he bumps into his old friend Cornelius Wyatt, who is traveling with his wife and two sisters. The narrator is suspicious that his friend has rented three state-rooms, not to mention the cargo he brought aboard: an oblong box, ("this shape was peculiar," we are told) and a fairly large one at that — "about six feet in length by two and half in breadth." The box is made of pine and emits a slight odor. As a reader, you might already know what's in the box, but the narrator sure didn't.
Instead, he assumes (oddly) that the box housed a copy of The Last Supper that Wyatt recently acquired. He grows more suspicious, however, when he realizes how those three state-rooms are being used. One is for the two sisters, the other seems to be empty, and the third is for Wyatt, his wife, and the mysterious box. At night, however, Wyatt's wife leaves the room and spends the rest of the night in the empty room. After she leaves, the narrator hears the box being opened, followed by his friend's audible sobs. When the Independence is caught in a hurricane and breaks apart, Wyatt refuses to get in a lifeboat and leave the box behind. Instead, he goes down with the ship.
Some time later, the narrator meets the captain of the ship, who reveals what was in that box, why Wyatt refused to part with it, and why his "wife" left the state-room every night.
In addition to elements of the sea tale, the ending proves "The Oblong Box" is a horror story. The mystery behind the box, however, also implies it is a part of Poe's developing "ratiocination" method of tale-telling. More than all this, however, is the amazing symbolism in the story. Wyatt refuses to part with his precious cargo while aboard a ship named Independence, of all things. The voyage from South Carolina also echoes Poe's own trip from there via steamboat.
Oddly, Arthur Hobson Quinn notes that Poe offered the tale to Nathaniel Parker Willis, who suggested it be included in a new annual gift-book founded by Rufus Griswold. The Opal, which was edited first by Willis and later by Sarah Josepha Hale, was subtitled "A Pure Gift for the Holidays." Packed with religious or moral tales and poems for Christmas, "The Oblong Box" would have been an odd fit.
"The Oblong Box" is a mixture of some of Poe's greatest story-telling elements. Set as a variation of the sea adventure tale, the story follows an unnamed narrator traveling by boat (the Independence) from Charleston, South Carolina to New York. On board, he bumps into his old friend Cornelius Wyatt, who is traveling with his wife and two sisters. The narrator is suspicious that his friend has rented three state-rooms, not to mention the cargo he brought aboard: an oblong box, ("this shape was peculiar," we are told) and a fairly large one at that — "about six feet in length by two and half in breadth." The box is made of pine and emits a slight odor. As a reader, you might already know what's in the box, but the narrator sure didn't.
Instead, he assumes (oddly) that the box housed a copy of The Last Supper that Wyatt recently acquired. He grows more suspicious, however, when he realizes how those three state-rooms are being used. One is for the two sisters, the other seems to be empty, and the third is for Wyatt, his wife, and the mysterious box. At night, however, Wyatt's wife leaves the room and spends the rest of the night in the empty room. After she leaves, the narrator hears the box being opened, followed by his friend's audible sobs. When the Independence is caught in a hurricane and breaks apart, Wyatt refuses to get in a lifeboat and leave the box behind. Instead, he goes down with the ship.
Some time later, the narrator meets the captain of the ship, who reveals what was in that box, why Wyatt refused to part with it, and why his "wife" left the state-room every night.
In addition to elements of the sea tale, the ending proves "The Oblong Box" is a horror story. The mystery behind the box, however, also implies it is a part of Poe's developing "ratiocination" method of tale-telling. More than all this, however, is the amazing symbolism in the story. Wyatt refuses to part with his precious cargo while aboard a ship named Independence, of all things. The voyage from South Carolina also echoes Poe's own trip from there via steamboat.
Oddly, Arthur Hobson Quinn notes that Poe offered the tale to Nathaniel Parker Willis, who suggested it be included in a new annual gift-book founded by Rufus Griswold. The Opal, which was edited first by Willis and later by Sarah Josepha Hale, was subtitled "A Pure Gift for the Holidays." Packed with religious or moral tales and poems for Christmas, "The Oblong Box" would have been an odd fit.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Bitten by "The Gold-Bug," cont'd
It's hard for some to believe that the single most successful of Poe's prose works during his lifetime was not a horror story. In fact, the most-read story and the one which earned him the most money was an adventure tale called "The Gold-Bug." In the story, which is set in South Carolina, a seemingly mad loner named Legrand discovers a gold scarab which he believes is the key to buried treasure. Legrand breaks a secret cryptogram to discover gold coins and jewelry left years behind by the pirate Captain Kidd (upon seeing the treasure chest open, the narrator remarks: "As the rays of the lanterns fell within the pit, there flashed upwards a glow and a glare, from a confused heap of gold and of jewels that absolutely dazzled our eyes." A couple paragraphs later is an extensive description of all that they found.).
Audiences ate up "The Gold-Bug" when it was first published in 1843, bringing Poe's name into the homes of many more Americans than ever before. In fact, the story proved so popular that a stage production was adapted shortly after publication. This dramatic presentation of the story opened on August 8, 1843, at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia; this performance is the earliest adaptation of Poe's works into another medium. As one newspaper noted, the play was part of a "Farewell Benefit" for playwright Silas S. Steele, who was about to depart for England. The benefit started with a performance of Steele's drama Clandare and it would "conclude with an entire new piece, entitled THE GOLD BUG, Or, The Pirate's Treasure." The African servant Jupiter was performed by "Coal White" (a stage name, possibly a white man in black face).
The play, however, did not fare as well as the original story. John Du Solle of the Spirit of the Times noted: "Mr. Steele had a good house at his benefit on Tuesday night, and the performances were generally good. The Gold Bug, however, dragged, and was rather tedious. The frame work was well enough, but wanted filling up."
I can't imagine "The Gold-Bug" would easily translate into a stage play. One of the aspects of the story which makes it so novel is the secret message which Legrand decodes. A reader can play along and try to decipher the message himself; a 19th-century theatre isn't likely to replicate that experience. I haven't read any speculation as far as Poe's financial benefit from the play. I would speculate he earned nothing at all from it, other than some recognition. The original publication of "The Gold-Bug," however, earned him a hefty $100.
Audiences ate up "The Gold-Bug" when it was first published in 1843, bringing Poe's name into the homes of many more Americans than ever before. In fact, the story proved so popular that a stage production was adapted shortly after publication. This dramatic presentation of the story opened on August 8, 1843, at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia; this performance is the earliest adaptation of Poe's works into another medium. As one newspaper noted, the play was part of a "Farewell Benefit" for playwright Silas S. Steele, who was about to depart for England. The benefit started with a performance of Steele's drama Clandare and it would "conclude with an entire new piece, entitled THE GOLD BUG, Or, The Pirate's Treasure." The African servant Jupiter was performed by "Coal White" (a stage name, possibly a white man in black face).
The play, however, did not fare as well as the original story. John Du Solle of the Spirit of the Times noted: "Mr. Steele had a good house at his benefit on Tuesday night, and the performances were generally good. The Gold Bug, however, dragged, and was rather tedious. The frame work was well enough, but wanted filling up."
I can't imagine "The Gold-Bug" would easily translate into a stage play. One of the aspects of the story which makes it so novel is the secret message which Legrand decodes. A reader can play along and try to decipher the message himself; a 19th-century theatre isn't likely to replicate that experience. I haven't read any speculation as far as Poe's financial benefit from the play. I would speculate he earned nothing at all from it, other than some recognition. The original publication of "The Gold-Bug," however, earned him a hefty $100.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Bitten by "The Gold-Bug"
On June 21, 1843, the Dollar Newspaper in Philadelphia published the first part of one of Poe's most important stories. That same day, the Public Newspaper reported:
The high pay-out and the controversy surrounding it helped build interest in an already exciting story. "The Gold-Bug" became the most widely-read of Poe's prose work during the author's lifetime, even inspiring a stage adaptation in Philadelphia. A year after its publication, it was claimed that the story sold 300,000 copies. Poe noted that "it made a great noise."
I'll briefly emphasize this: the prose work which earned Poe his largest paycheck and garnered his largest reading audience was not a horror story.
"The Gold-Bug" is a gripping adventure tale about the search for buried pirate treasure (set, incidentally, at Sullivan's Island near Charleston, South Carolina, where Poe had served in the Army). Poe keeps us guessing, not only with a narrator who is suspected to be insane, but also through secret-writing — the clues that lead to the treasure which is eventually deciphered. The story is considered an off-shoot of Poe's true detective stories (i.e. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"). Scholar of cryptography Shawn James Rosenheim (in his worthwhile book The Cryptographic Imagination) calls the story "a stimulus to future cryptographers," including William Friedman, who later broke the code used by the Japanese in World War II. "America's foremost cryptologist," as he was called, credited his interest in secret writing to Edgar Poe and childhood readings of "The Gold-Bug."
"The Dollar Newspaper" for this week, this day published, contains the prize story of "THE GOLD BUG," written by Edgar A. Poe, Esq., which is pronounced, by every man of taste who has read it, a production of superior merit. For ourselves, we never read a fiction that in its plot runs more in the line of probability, and consequently never one that more closely revetted [sic] our attention from its opening to its close.Must have been a slow news day, and the idea that the story was "probable" is somewhat laughable. Actually, the fuss was about the writing contest which the Dollar Newspaper sponsored, specifically because of its unusually-high grand prize: a whopping $100. When it was awarded to Poe, it became (and remained) the single largest sum of money Poe would ever receive for any work he ever published. In fact, jealous writers and suspicious readers (not to mention competitor publishers) suggested the contest was rigged. Philadelphia's Daily Forum called "The Gold-Bug" an "abortion" and "unmitigated trash" worth no more than $15. Those lines drew a libel suit from Poe, though the suit was soon dropped and the editor apologized.
The high pay-out and the controversy surrounding it helped build interest in an already exciting story. "The Gold-Bug" became the most widely-read of Poe's prose work during the author's lifetime, even inspiring a stage adaptation in Philadelphia. A year after its publication, it was claimed that the story sold 300,000 copies. Poe noted that "it made a great noise."
I'll briefly emphasize this: the prose work which earned Poe his largest paycheck and garnered his largest reading audience was not a horror story."The Gold-Bug" is a gripping adventure tale about the search for buried pirate treasure (set, incidentally, at Sullivan's Island near Charleston, South Carolina, where Poe had served in the Army). Poe keeps us guessing, not only with a narrator who is suspected to be insane, but also through secret-writing — the clues that lead to the treasure which is eventually deciphered. The story is considered an off-shoot of Poe's true detective stories (i.e. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"). Scholar of cryptography Shawn James Rosenheim (in his worthwhile book The Cryptographic Imagination) calls the story "a stimulus to future cryptographers," including William Friedman, who later broke the code used by the Japanese in World War II. "America's foremost cryptologist," as he was called, credited his interest in secret writing to Edgar Poe and childhood readings of "The Gold-Bug."
*The illustration above is by F. O. C. Darley, 1843. It accompanied the first appearance of "The Gold-Bug."
Friday, May 1, 2009
Perry made an artificer
While stationed at Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, a soldier known as "Edgar A. Perry" was appointed an artificer on May 1, 1828. "Perry" was the assumed name of Edgar A. Poe, who had enlisted in the Army in Boston less than a year before. He changed his name likely to keep John Allan off his trail after splitting with the household shortly before. His new role as an artificer seems to have made him responsible for crafting bullets and other supplies. Typically, this role was held for people with prior experience with blaksmithing or carpentry. Poe was earning $10 a month for this role.
Rumors persist that Poe was a terrible soldier; this is quite untrue. Though Poe's time in the Army was relatively short (he would later pay another to finish out his enlistment), he did extremely well. Earlier in 1828, he was put in charge of his company's food supplies and endeared himself to the quartermaster. Being named as an artificer took less than 12 months and, within eight months after that, he was promoted to Sergeant Major — the highest grade a non-commissioned soldier could aspire to. He also served as a clerk and wrote lengthy monthly reports on the regiment. His rising through the ranks is, by all interpretations, extremely fast and suggests a hard-working soldier whose superiors liked him and in him saw much potential. One officer referred to him as "exemplary" and "highly worthy of confidence." In his short stint with the Army, Poe was stationed at Fort Independence in Boston, Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, and Fortress Monroe in Virginia.
For more on Poe's military pursuits, see an earlier post on Poe's Military Attempts (especially his time at West Point Military Academy). Or, better yet, seek out the book by the late William J. Hecker, Private Perry and Mister Poe.
Rumors persist that Poe was a terrible soldier; this is quite untrue. Though Poe's time in the Army was relatively short (he would later pay another to finish out his enlistment), he did extremely well. Earlier in 1828, he was put in charge of his company's food supplies and endeared himself to the quartermaster. Being named as an artificer took less than 12 months and, within eight months after that, he was promoted to Sergeant Major — the highest grade a non-commissioned soldier could aspire to. He also served as a clerk and wrote lengthy monthly reports on the regiment. His rising through the ranks is, by all interpretations, extremely fast and suggests a hard-working soldier whose superiors liked him and in him saw much potential. One officer referred to him as "exemplary" and "highly worthy of confidence." In his short stint with the Army, Poe was stationed at Fort Independence in Boston, Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, and Fortress Monroe in Virginia.
For more on Poe's military pursuits, see an earlier post on Poe's Military Attempts (especially his time at West Point Military Academy). Or, better yet, seek out the book by the late William J. Hecker, Private Perry and Mister Poe.
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