In Memoriam: Washington Irving

I almost missed an important anniversary today but, in fairness, the event in question happened ten years after Poe's death.

In fact, it's somewhat ironic that Washington Irving was laid to rest this day in 1859 in the now-famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in New York. By rights, Poe should have outlived him. Irving was the very first true American man of letters — the original, if you will. He was early enough that he even met George Washington himself (his namesake) while a young tyke. In fact, Irving's first major work, A History of New York by "Deidrich Knickerbocker," was published the same year that Poe was born. Poe, then, was really part of a second wave of American writers (Irving was old enough to be friends with Poe's foster-father). Irving remained active during Poe's career, of course, though Poe called him overrated and said he had gotten lazy as a writer after achieving so much fame.

And to say he achieved fame is an understatement. This was a man who befriended presidents and royalty alike. His funeral, three days after his death by heart attack on November 28, put an entire nation in mourning for the loss of its original literary son.

I don't have too much to say on the subject of Irving's funeral, partly because I couldn't say it any better than Brian Jay Jones did on his blog. Brian is the author of the best modern biography of Irving, appropriately titled Washigton Irving: An American Original, which I happen to consider the single most readable biography out there. Now that it's December, I'm sure people are thinking of good Christmas gifts — how about a book on the American writer who had the greatest influence on our "traditional" modern Christmas?

Autographs, cont'd

Continued from a very, very early post in Poe Calendar Blog history.

The October 29, 1841 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer reviewed Poe's recent chapter on "Autography" — an unusual work in which Poe analyzed the signatures of well-known literary figures and described the authors' personality based on them. The review called the chapter, "The most singular, and at the same time, the most interesting article" in Graham's Magazine that month. It also caused quite a stir, as some of the authors were not pleased by Poe's characterization.

Though Poe's attempts at "autography" date back to 1836, the review likely referred to a revival of the idea in the November 1841 issue of Graham's. If you're curious how they'd cause a stir, keep in mind that Poe is not a trained handwriting analyst. In fact, he's really just looking for an excuse to give his personal opinion on these people (and their writing, but not their handwriting). Here are a few entries from that issue:

The MS. of Mr. IRVING has little about it indicative of his genius. Certainly, no one could suspect from it any nice finish in the writer's compositions; nor is this nice finish to be found. The letters now before us vary remarkably in appearance; and those of late date are not nearly so well written as the more antique. Mr. Irving has travelled much, has seen many vicissitudes, and has been so thoroughly satiated with fame as to grow slovenly in the performance of his literary tasks. This slovenliness has affected his hand-writing. But even from his earlier MSS. there is little to be gleaned, except the ideas of simplicity and precision. It must be admitted, however, that this fact, in itself, is characteristic of the literary manner, which, however excellent, has no prominent or very remarkable features.

Mr. BRYANT'S MS. puts us entirely at fault. It is one of the most common-place clerk's hands which we ever encountered, and has no character about it beyond that of the day-book and ledger. He writes, in short, what mercantile men and professional penmen call a fair hand, but what artists would term an abominable one. Among its regular up and down strokes, waving lines and hair-lines, systematic taperings and flourishes, we look in vain for the force, polish, and decision of the poet. The picturesque, to be sure, is equally deficient in his chirography and in his poetical productions.

Mr. HALLECK'S hand is strikingly indicative of his genius. We see in it some force, more grace, and little of the picturesque. There is a great deal of freedom about it, and his MSS. seem to be written currente calamo, but without hurry. His flourishes, which are not many, look as if thoughtfully planned, and deliberately, yet firmly executed. His paper is very good, and of a blueish tint — his seal of red wax.

Mr. WILLIS, when writing carefully, would write a hand nearly resembling that of Mr. Halleck ; although no similarity is perceptible in the signatures. His usual chirography is dashing, free, and not ungraceful, but is sadly deficient in force and picturesqueness.

It has been the fate of this gentleman to be alternately condemned ad infinitum, and lauded ad nauseam — a fact which speaks much in his praise. We know of no American writer who has evinced greater versatility of talent ; that is to say, of high talent, often amounting to genius ; and we know of none who has more narrowly missed placing himself at the head of our letters.

The paper of Mr. Willis's epistles is always fine and glossy. At present, he employs a somewhat large seal, with a dove, or carrier-pigeon, at the top, the word "Glenmary" at bottom, and the initials "N. P. W." in the middle.

H. W. LONGFELLOW, (Professor of Moral Philosophy* at Harvard,) is entitled to the first place among the poets of America — certainly to the first place among those who have put themselves prominently forth as poets. His good qualities are all of the highest order, while his sins are chiefly those of affectation and imitation — an imitation sometimes verging upon downright theft.

His MS. is remarkably good, and is fairly exemplified in the signature. We see here plain indications of the force, vigor, and glowing richness of his literary style; the deliberate and steady finish of his compositions. The man who writes thus may not accomplish much, but what he does, will always be thoroughly done. The main beauty, or at least one great beauty of his poetry, is that of proportion ; another, is a freedom from extraneous embellishment. He oftener runs into affectation through his endeavors at simplicity than through any other cause. Now this rigid simplicity, and proportion are easily perceptible in the MS., which, altogether, is a very excellent one.

Mrs. HALE is well known for her masculine style of thought. This is clearly expressed in her chirography, which is far larger, heavier, and altogether bolder than that of her sex generally. It resembles in a great degree that of Professor Lieber, and is not easily deciphered.

Mr. COOPER'S MS. is very bad — unformed, with little of distinctive character about it, and varying greatly in different epistles. In most of those before us a steel pen has been employed, the lines are crooked, and the whole chirography has a constrained and school-boyish air. The paper is fine, and of a bluish tint. A wafer is always used. Without appearing ill-natured, we could scarcely draw any inferences from such a MS. Mr. Cooper has seen many vicissitudes, and it is probable that he has not always written thus. Whatever are his faults, his genius cannot be doubted.

Mrs. E. F. ELLET has published one or two books, exclusively of a volume of poems, but is chiefly known to the literary world by her numerous contributions to the Magazines. As a translator from the Italian, she has acquired an enviable reputation. Her hand, of which the signature above scarcely conveys a full idea, is clear, neat, forcible and legible; just such a hand as one would desire for copying MSS. of importance. We have observed that the writers of such epistles as those before us, are often known as translators, but seldom evince high originality or very eminent talent of any kind.

Poe was ultimately just taking part of the kind of literary gossip that was making the periodical industry thrive, be it in Philadelphia or New York, though the latter city really perfectly celebrity author gossip. For the rest of his "Chapters on Autography," visit the Poe Society of Baltimore.

*Actually, he was the Smith Professor of Modern Languages.

Poe's place in literary history

Poe's place in literary history is occasionally questioned. Should he be considered a master of American literature? Does he deserve a place in the canon? Is he really important? I might be biased so take my opinion with a grain of salt (this post will shift away from my more academic tone and may, in fact, turn into starry-eyed gushing over my favorite author). Here's my argument: even if you remove the quality of Poe's work from the equation, Poe is one of the most important writers in American history.

The real evidence for this comes on August 14, 1835. It was on that date that the Trustees of the Richmond Academy began selecting their new English teacher. The fact that it was not Poe should solidify Poe's role in American literary history. Excluding his military stints, Poe only applied for two jobs outside of literature. The first was the job with the Richmond Academy teaching English. The second was a job with the Customs House in Philadelphia in 1841, hoping that a connection to Robert Tyler (brother of President John Tyler) would secure his employment. Neither role worked out. That means that Poe never had a job outside of literature; for his 40 short years, he would have no source of income besides his pen.

This is significant because no other major American writers in the first half of the United States were able to sustain themselves in such a manner. Washington Irving had a couple government jobs and was, for a time, part owner in a mercantile business. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and others held full-time teaching positions (at Harvard, in the case of all three). Nathaniel Hawthorne attempted to make a living as a farmer for a time before taking government jobs at two different Customs Houses (one in Boston, another in Salem, Massachusetts). Ralph Waldo Emerson had his ministry for a time and, later, a public lecturing career (he was also supported by an inheritance from the family of his first wife). Margaret Fuller struggled as a teacher in Providence before become a full-time journalist (and, then, nearly all of her writing was not literature but nonfiction).

Poe's financial failure is obvious. Nevertheless, his attempt is nothing less than historical, if not extraordinary. The fact that he stood the test of time is minor (so did the other writers I mentioned above) but, coupled with his lack of any other job outside of literature, Poe should be considered a trailblazer.

Odds were stacked against him, of course. The country was young, its literature younger, and the economy was not established for professional authors. Poe's critical work emphasized that the quality of American literature needed to improve and, as such, he fought against the puffing system which inhibited proper growth. He also railed against the lack of copyright (suggesting authors may as well slit their throats), the culture of republishing without authors' permission, and the tastes of American audiences which, he believed, did not recognize quality over popularity. All of these factors needed to change before an American could make money solely as an author. Poe missed out on those ideal conditions and did not survive into the American Renaissance of the 1850s. Even with all that, when he died at age 40, he showed no signs of turning away from his desired path.

For the sake of full disclosure, Poe was also hampered by bad decisions. He married before he had an established income and, in doing so, inherited not only a young wife but also a mother-in-law who needed his financial support (though, to Maria Clemm's credit, she occasionally provided minor assistance through odd jobs and, of course, begging). He also didn't stay in one place for too long, constantly moving when he needed to escape overdue rent payments or in an optimistic pursuit of greater opportunities — all the money he spent on rent and moving expenses could have been saved to buy a house. Other than that, he was thrifty, particularly in his clothing choices, but his challenges are already numerous.

Yes, Poe was a financial failure in his pursuit of the life of a professional author. But that failure was unprecedented — and it deserves our praise. Thanks to the Trustees of the Richmond Academy for (inadvertently) making it possible.

* Longfellow should be considered America's first successful professional poet as of 1854, when he retired from his professorship. However, Longfellow was gifted a mansion at age 35 thanks to his father-in-law and had saved up enough money from teaching for about 17 years before he had the solid footing to become a professional poet. Credit is deserved there as well, certainly, but he did not have the same challenges as Poe.

The Beautiful Cigar Girl

A shocking discovery was made in Hoboken, New Jersey on July 28, 1841: the body of Miss Mary Cecilia Rogers was found floating in the Hudson River. Rogers, a cigar salesgirl in Manhattan, had only gone missing a couple days prior. The discovery of her body confirmed suspicions that she was murdered.

Known for her good looks, she was nicknamed "The Beautiful Cigar Girl." Her boss, John Anderson, had hired her specifically because of that "skill" and asked her to exchange "teasing glances" with his customers. Likely because of this, she had many admirers — including some who published poems about her. She also likely met literary figures like James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, and Fitz-Greene Halleck.

On July 25, 1841, Rogers informed Daniel Payne, her fiancé, that she was going away to visit family; she immediately fell off the radar. When her murdered body was found three days later, she made national headlines. Her fiancé killed himself (using poison) as the investigation went on. The case remains unsolved but speculation includes gang violence and a failed abortion (or, the genteel euphemism, "premature delivery").

Edgar A. Poe, who might have met Rogers at Anderson's cigar store, picked up the mystery too. Reviving his character C. Auguste Dupin, introduced in 1841's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," Poe fictionalized the Rogers case in "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt," published partly in 1842 and partly in 1843 Now set in Paris, the murder victim worked in a perfume shop and the armchair detective Dupin uses newspaper reports to solve the case. Well, even in fiction, the case is never solved concretely.

"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" is often critically panned and, ultimately, is the least well-done of Poe's three main detective tales (the third being the fantastic story "The Purloined Letter"). One 20th-century critic called "Marie Rogêt" a "tedious exercise in reasoning" only interesting to "a professional student of analytics." Of course, this was not Poe's first attempt at fictionalizing a real-life tragedy. Much earlier — 1835, to be exact — Poe published the beginnings of his only play, Politian. The play remains unfinished but is based on the so-called "Kentucky Tragedy."

*The image above is taken from the very interesting section on Rogers/Rogêt at the Poe Forward web site.

The Martha arrives in the United States

After 36 days at sea, an 11-year old Edgar A. Poe returned to the United States on July 21, 1820. The ship, named Martha, left Liverpool on June 16; it docked in New York City just over a month later and, as the local newspaper reported, passengers included "J & F Allan, E A Poe," and others. "J & F Allan," of course, are John and Frances Allan — Poe's foster-parents.

John Allan brought the family to England to expand his mercantile business in 1815, shortly after trade was re-opened after the War of 1812. Poe spent five of his most important formative years abroad. He visited Scotland (where his foster-father was born) and was educated in several London schools, including a boarding school at Stoke Newington run by Rev. John Bransby (an experience later fictionalized in "William Wilson"; the character in that story also has a schoolmaster named Bransby).

For the Allan family, the five years in England were not successful. Frances Allan's health continued to deteriorate (in fact, in 1819, a year before their return trip, John Allan reported "Frances begins to think she will never be able to cross the Atlantic"; she dies ten years later) and the Liverpool branch was not prospering.

Nevertheless, the experience overseas must have been influential on the young Poe. Though several other American writers spent time in Europe (especially Washington Irving — who dined with John Allan while overseas — as well as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Nathaniel Hawthorne and James Russell Lowell), each of them visited in their adult years; only Poe spent a major portion of his childhood there. Though he would never return to Europe, his first-hand experience with long sea voyages likely inspired his later fictional sea tales, most notably The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.

A Knickerbocker Birthday

Happy birthday to one of America's first men of letters, Washington Irving, who was born 226 years ago today on April 3, 1783. Other writers had existed before Irving and, truth be told, his writing lacks clear focus (sometimes comedy, sometimes sincere biography, sometimes pseudo-history full of inaccuracy and legend) and has not stood the test of time as amongst the most meritorious in the literary canon. Nonetheless, Irving was incredibly popular on both sides of the Atlantic — and, really, in the early 19th century, that's all that mattered. Just about every American writer contemporary to Irving and immediately following him owe him for some amount of inspiration — including Edgar A. Poe.

The first interaction between Irving and Poe was almost very early in Poe's life. In 1819, Irving was in London and making a major impact on the social scene. He dined with friends, certainly, but Irving was always looking to meet new people. One new person was a Scotland-born merchant who had recently moved all the way from Richmond, Virginia, to established a branch of his mercantile business. We can only imagine what John Allan and Washington Irving discussed — but it likely wasn't the 10-year old Edgar Poe, who was staying at a nearby boarding-school in Stoke-Newington at the time.

Years and years later, Poe was hoping to really get a foothold in the American literary scene. Like many young wannabes, Poe sought out the endorsement of Irving, by then known for his Sketch-book, a collection of short stories. In 1839, Poe sent him a couple stories of his own: "William Wilson" and "The Fall of the House of Usher." Both were a far-cry from the innocent, vaguely patriotic, tongue-in-cheek stories Irving wrote, like "Rip Van Winkle." Irving preferred "William Wilson," he wrote, but only offered faint praise overall. Poe got a kick out of it anyway, and proudly flaunted the letters and used quotes from Irving to promote Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque.

Poe would never get a better endorsement from Irving, and that's fine; By the 1840s, Poe was earning his own ground in American letters — especially as a critic. In that role, Poe wrote of Irving as being able to convey "a just idea of ... exquisite loveliness" and his Tales of a Traveler are "graceful and impressive narratives." Nevertheless, Poe thought Irving was riding on an old reputation that was slowly sullying. He is "much overrated," Poe wrote, "and a nice distinction might be drawn between his just and his surreptitious and adventitious reputation." Worse, he elsewhere wrote, Irving "has become so thoroughly satiated with fame as to grow slovenly in the performance of his literary tasks." The view wasn't solely Poe's — others began noticing that Irving's later writings weren't living up to the hype.

Overall, however, even Poe has to admit that Irving was an important influence. Parts of Poe's novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket were directly inspired by Irving's Astoria, for example. Most obviously, one can't read Poe's attempts at burlesque and other humor stories without thinking of Irving (try "The Devil in the Belfry"). So, I think even Poe would join me in wishing Washington Irving — overrated or not — a very happy birthday. If all goes according to plan, I'll be at Sunnyside and Sleepy Hollow Cemetery before the end of the day.

"Tales" by Edgar A. Poe announced

An advertisement in the March 22, 1845, issue of the New York-based Weekly News reported: "Wiley & Putnam have in press a volume of Poe's 'Tales by Edgar A. Poe'." Indeed, the work in question — with the very simple title Tales by Edgar A. Poe — was a long time coming. In early March, Wiley & Putnam agreed to issue the collection as the second volume in their "Library of American Books," purposely trying to capitalize on the recent success of Poe's poem "The Raven." The book was copyrighted on June 13 and released on June 25.

For Poe, this is a bit unusual. As a writer, Poe was generally writing exclusively for whatever magazine he was attached to — or, worse, stuck with freelancing. This meant that pay was low, as was circulation. Payments were often slow and Poe was, quite often, forced into drudgery writing just to make money (this has led many scholars to speculate as to which of Poe's works were meant to be taken seriously and which were merely an appeal for quick cash... amongst those on the latter list include "The Raven," "The Gold-Bug," and almost all of his horror tales). Copyright was also a major concern, as many magazines (likely due to their non-stop monthly or even weekly schedule) didn't bother copyrighting — Graham's Magazine is believed to be the first. Shorter works like Poe's were often pirated wholesale and reproduced — even legitimately as part of critical reviews in which massive quoting was the norm; beyond what today's "fair use" laws would allow. Some would say that Poe's focus on the magazine industry rather than the book industry was the sole catalyst for Poe's incessant financial woes; a writer like Washington Irving, for example, actually was capable of turning a profit by focusing on book publishing.

Truth be told, in Poe's lifetime, very few of his works were in book format, and even fewer were produced on a massive scale. Tales likely inspired a great sigh of relief from Poe — Wiley & Putnam even secured the copyright overseas and issued a British edition in July (cross-continental copyright was much more precarious than the magazine industry). The book was a success; by October 4, Poe was claiming 1500 copies sold in the U.S. Of course, Poe was not well-versed in the art of book publishing and did not secure a good deal with Wiley & Putnum; Tales did not make Poe any significant amount of money.

In case you're interested, the table of contents for Tales should really whet your appetite. Its contents were dictated by the influential-yet-forgotten Evert Augustus Duyckinck; Poe was not particularly pleased (noting an excessive focus on ratiocinative tales), but the list isn't so bad for a compact 12-tale book*: "The Gold-Bug," "The Black Cat," "Mesmeric Revelation," "Lionizing," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "A Descent into the Maelström," "The Colloquey of Monos and Una," "The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt," "The Purloined Letter," and "The Man of the Crowd."

*With the exception of "Lionizing," which is not worth the ink! It's also curious that "The Tell-Tale Heart" did not make the cut. Like Poe, I was also surprised by the lack of "Ligeia" and "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether."

Poe and the Polish?

After Poe was dismissed from West Point Academy, he was sort of unsure where to go next. By this point, he was not interested in returning to John Allan and was hoping to make his own fortune. Despite giving up on the Army and purposely getting kicked out of West Point, Poe still toyed with the idea of military success. On March 10, 1831, Poe wrote to Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, Superintendent of West Point, from New York: "I intend by the first opportunity to proceed to Paris with the view of obtaining , thro' the interest of the Marquis de La Fayette, an appointment (if possible) in the Polish Army." In his letter, Poe asked Thayer to attest to his good standing at the Academy or to contact any friends in Paris who could help him out. Poe claimed at this point to have "no longer any ties which can bind me to my native country -- no projects -- nor any friends."

There are so many stories to recount here!

For one, there is no sincere evidence that Poe ever went to Poland, though he did make occasional claims. Some fringe theorists in the studies of Poe claim it is absolutely true and, from his stint with the Polish Army, he became an international spy (some say he was partnered with Washington Irving) and his death 18 years later in 1849 was due to a government conspiracy. Think what you will.

What's more interesting to me is the connection to La Fayette. What made Poe think that this great American Revolutionary hero would give him the time of day?

The Marquis was in Richmond in October 1824 and a young Edgar Poe (age 15) was part of a volunteer company of Richmond boys known as the Junior Morgan Riflemen. It was this organization that rode in the procession for the celebrated La Fayette that led him to his hotel. Edgar, in uniform, was presented to La Fayette himself for inspection.

Two weeks earlier, in Baltimore, the Marquis asked about an old Baltimore friend. "I have not seen among these my friendly and patriotic commissary, Mr. David Poe, who resided in Baltimore when I was here." David Poe, Edgar's grandfather, was dead by this point, and La Fayette demanded he be shown the grave. There, he said, Ici repose un coeur noble ("Here rests a noble heart"). La Fayette did not ask about any others during that trip to Baltimore. Of all the people in that city, why would the great La Fayette single out David Poe?

During the American Revolution, from 1778-1779, David Poe was part of Captain John McClellan's Company of Baltimore troops. Appointed Assistant Deputy Quartermaster, he was authorized to purchase supplies for the colonial army. Seeing a need, David Poe used $40,000 of his own money to supply troops with items like boots. His self-sacrifice earned him a nickname, from the Marquis and others: "General Poe."

Edgar A. Poe often looked back with fondness that his grandfather had played a role in the Revolution. To some degree, his interest in joining the Army, attending West Point, and enlisting for the Polish cause may have been attempts at his own similar military glory.

Presidents Day and Literature

A special (belated) Presidents Day edition of the Poe Calendar...

Edgar A. Poe did not have many run-ins with presidents — as you might imagine — and, for the most part, his fiction writing veered far away from politics. Even in his critical work and his editorials he rarely ventured into politics and, when he did, it had more to do with publishing law than anything else. Still, there are a couple of opportunities to connect Poe with Presidents.

One example actually connects to a presidential candidate. In the relatively-obscure 1839 story "The Man That Was Used Up," Poe satirizes the warrior-turned-hero image common in the 19th century (and today). He took aim specifically at General Winfield Scott, a general during the War of 1812. Under President Andrew Jackson, Scott also helped oversee the removal of some 4,000 members of the Cherokee Nation — now known as the infamous "Trail of Tears." "Old Fuss and Feathers," as he was called, was considered a hero and an indomitable force, despite being captured at one point and also receiving various injuries throughout his storied military career. In Poe's story, the famous hero, A. B. C. Smith, turns out to have been so broken apart over the years that he is, quite literally, "used up" and in need of assembly. Years later, in 1852 (after Poe's death), Winfield Scott would be a candidate for president under the Whig Party.

Poe almost had a run-in with a sitting president, too. In the early 1840s, Poe's very good friend Frederick Thomas pointed out how many people were getting great appointments to political jobs under John Tyler's new administration. Thomas was a close friend of Robert Tyler, the new president's son. He arranged for a meeting between Poe and Tyler, hoping that Poe could be procured a customhouse job in Philadelphia. Poe took the opportunity to voice that, conveniently, he had been a supporter of Whig politics (a statement that can't be backed up with sincere evidence). However, in preparing to meet Tyler, Poe nervously turned to drink — and missed the meeting.

However, politics and literature aren't so disparate. Here is a quick list of literary figures in the 19th century who were granted political appointments by certain presidents. Just to name a few:

*James Fenimore Cooper — United States Consul to France (1826), appointed by John Quincy Adams
*Washington Irving — Secretary to the American Legation in London (1829), appointed by Andrew Jackson, later Minister to Spain (1842), appointed by John Tyler
*Nathaniel Hawthorne — United States Consul to Liverpool (1853), appointed by Franklin Pierce (also spent several years at the Boston and Salem Customhouse, appointed by Massachusetts Democrats)
*James Russell Lowell — Minister to the Court of Spain (1877), appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes, later promoted to Minister to England (1880)