Poe in his own time : a biographical chronicle of his life, drawn from recollections, interviews, and memoirs by family, friends, and associates

Responsibility
edited by Benjamin F. Fisher.
Imprint
Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, ©2010.
Physical description
1 online resource (xl, 312 pages) : illustrations.
Series
Writers in their own time (University of Iowa Press)

Online

Available online

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Description

Creators/Contributors

Contributor
Fisher, Benjamin Franklin.

Contents/Summary

Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-303) and index.
Contents
  • [Letter about Poe's West Point matriculation] : 1829 / John Allan
  • [Letter about Poe at West Point] : 1884 / Allan B. Magruder
  • [Letter about commencement of Poe's professional literary life] : 1835 / John P. Kennedy
  • [Letter about Poe's drinking and the Messenger] : 1835 / Thomas W. White
  • [Letter about mixed modes in Poe's early tales] : 1836 / John P. Kennedy
  • [Epistolary response with comment on humor] : 1836 / Edgar A. Poe
  • [Harper's rejection of "Tales of the Folio club"] : 1836 ; [Letter advising Poe to compose a novel] : 1836 / James Kirke Paulding
  • [Letters justifying Poe's critical practices' : 1836 / Lydia H. Sigourney
  • [Letters seeking political appointment] : 1841 / Edgar A. Poe
  • [Letter encouraging Poe's political desires] : 1841 / Frederick W. Thomas
  • [Additional comments on political aspirations] : 1841 / Edgar A. Poe
  • [Letter about Poe's political qualifications] : 1841
  • Frederick W. Thomas.
  • "Autographs" : 1842 / [Anonumous]
  • [Letter about Poe's possible custom house appointment] : 1842 / Frederick W. Thomas
  • [Letter about reasons for leaving Graham's] : 1842 / Edgar A. Poe
  • From The poets and poetry of America : 1842 / Rufus W. Griswold
  • From "Poets and poetry of Philadelphia ..." : 1843 / [Edgar A. Poe and Henry B. Hirst]
  • "Mr. Poe's lecture" : 1843 / George Lippard
  • "For the Delaware State Journal" : 1844 / Academicus
  • "Lecture by Mr. Poe" : 1844 / George Lippard
  • [Letter detailing life in New York City] : 1844 / Edgar A. Poe
  • [Early criticism of Poe's works] :1845 / Lawrence Labree
  • From "A Failure" : 1845 / Cornelia Wells Walter
  • From "Edgar A. Poe" in Boston Evening Transcript : 1845 / P.
  • "Quizzing the Bostonians" : 1845 / [Anonymous]
  • "Mr. Poe's poem" : 1845 / [Anonymous]
  • From Memories of many men and of some women : 1875 / M.B. Fields
  • From "Hints to authors" : 1848 / [Anonymous]
  • [Untitled headnote to reprint of "ulalume"] : 1849 / [Evert A. Duyckinck]
  • From "Mr. Poe's lecture" : 1849 / [Anonymous]
  • From "Edgar A. Poe" in Semi-weekly examiner : 1849 / John M. Daniel
  • [Note requesting assistance for Poe] : 1849 / Joseph P. Wilson
  • [Letter from Poe's attending physician] : 1849 / John J. Moran
  • "Death of Edgar Allan Poe" in New York daily tribune : 1849 / "Ludwig" [Rufus Wilmot Griswold]
  • From "Topics of the month" : 1849 / [C.F. Briggs]
  • "To the reader" : 1850 / Maria Clemm.
  • "Edgar A. Poe" : 1850 / James Russell Lowell
  • "Death of Edgar A. Poe" : 1850 / Nathaniel P. Willis
  • "Memoir of the author" : 1850 / Rufus Wilmot Griswold
  • "Edgar Allan Poe" in McMakin's model American courier : 1849 / Henry B. Hirst
  • From "Edgar Allan Poe" in Southern literary messenger : 1850 / John M. Daniel
  • "The late Edgar Allan Poe" in Southern literary messenger : 1849 / John R. Thompson
  • From "Editor's table" : 1850 / John R. Thompson
  • Editorial note to "Poe on Headley and Channing" : 1850 / [John R. Thompson]
  • "Estimates of Edgar A. Poe" in Home Journal : 1850 / Nathaniel P. Willis
  • From Athenaeum : 1852 / Anonymous
  • "Authors and books. Edgar Poe" (1854) / "Apollodorus" [George Gilfillan]
  • "Preface" to Works of the late Edgar A. Poe : 1856 / Rufus Wilmot Griswold
  • "Edgar Allan Poe : a letter to the editor of The train" : 1857 / William Moy Thomas
  • From "Edgar Allan Poe" in Edinburgh review : 1858 / Bryan W. Proctor
  • "Editorial etchings : 1858 / [Anonymous]
  • From "National Hawthorne" : 1860 / [Anonymous]
  • "Reminiscences of Edgar Poe" : 1863 / Mary Gove Nichols
  • From American art : 1864 / John Fankenstein
  • "Autobiographic notes. Edgar Allan Poe" : 1867 / Elizabeth Oakes Smith
  • "The facts of Poe's death and burial" : 1867 / Joseph E. Snodgrass
  • "Another view of Edgar A. Poe" : 1867 / Margaret E. Wilmer
  • From Edgar Allan Poe : 1891 / William Gowans
  • "Edgar Poe" in Temple bar : 1874 / John Henry Ingram
  • " A mad man of letters" : 1875 / Francis Gerry Fairfield
  • From "The poet not an epileptic" : 1875 / F.R.M.
  • From "Poe, critic, and hobby. A reply to Mr. Fairfield ..." : 1875 / Sarah Helen Whitman
  • From [Editorial notice of reply to Fairfield] : 1875 / [Anonymous]
  • From "Edgar Allan Poe, a letter ..." : 1875 / Francis Gerry Fairfield
  • "The personality of Poe" : 1877 / Charles Frederick Briggs.
Summary
An image of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) as a man of gloom and mystery continues to hold great popular appeal. Long recognized as one of the greats of American literature, he elicited either highly commendatory or absolutely hostile reactions from many who knew him, from others who claimed to comprehend him as person or as writer, and from still others who circulated as fact opinions intuited from his writings. Whether promoting him as angel or demon, 'a man of great and original genius' or 'extraordinarily wicked', the viewpoints in this dramatic collection of primary materials provide vigorous testimony to support the contradictory images of the man and the writer that have prevailed for a century and a half. Noted Poe scholar Benjamin Fisher includes a comprehensive introduction and a detailed chronology of Poe's sadly short life; each entry is introduced by a short headnote that places the selection in historical and cultural context, and explanatory notes provide information about people and places. From John Allan's letter to Secretary of War John Eaton about Poe's West Point life to John Frankenstein's hostile verse casting him as an alcoholic, from Rufus Griswold's first and second posthumous vilifications to James Russell Lowell's more sensible outline of his life and career, from scornful to commendable reviews to scathing attacks on his morals to recognition of his comic achievements, Fisher has gathered a lively array of materials that read like the most far-fetched of gothic tales. Poe himself was creative when he supplied information to others about his life and literary career, and the speculative content of many of the portrayals presented in this collection read as if their authors had set out to be equally creative. The sixty-nine recollections gathered in ""Poe in His Own Time"" form a dramatic, real-time biographical narrative designed to provide a multitude of perspectives on the famous author, sometimes in conflict with each other and sometimes in agreement but always arresting.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

Bibliographic information

Publication date
2010
Series
Writers in their own time
ISBN
9781587299322 (electronic bk.)
1587299321 (electronic bk.)
9781587298639
1587298635
Librarian view | Catkey: 12940015