INTRODUCTION. A VOLUME of letters interesting in connection with any author is of peculiar appeal in the case of Poe. His personality became infused into all his writings to such an extent, that no critique of the works has yet been able to ignore the man himself. Of no other American writer, perhaps, would so much be said. The publication of the present volume of correspondence, therefore, needs no explanation for its existence. It is intended to supplement the biography (Volume I.), since it furnishes most valuable direct light upon the inner life of the man. And it will also be found useful in the perusal of the works, the writing of which will often be explained by the letters. References by footnotes are frequently made, for the purpose of calling attention to interesting side facts. The limitations of space have made it impracticable to repeat in this volume letters found in the biography; but in every such case of omission, proper reference is made in its chronological position. The Appendix will be found to contain important letters recently discovered. All chapters except the last are confined to letters written by Poe and those written to him. The latter are scarcely less interesting than Poe's own letters, so freely to be copied; Dr. John S. Billings for permission to reprint the Duyckinck collection of letters from the Bulletin of the New York Public Library; Messrs. J. H. Ingram and W. Fearing Gill for the ready courtesy with which they consented to the republication of the rich epistolary material in their most valuable biographies; and the publishers of Scribner's Monthly, The New York Independent, The New York Herald, The Baltimore American, The Century Magazine, and The Richmond Standard for their hearty co-operation in this work. To Miss A. F. Poe the warmest acknowledgments are due for her unceasing interest, and for her invaluable loans. Dr. Wm. Hand Browne, Dr. B. B. Minor, Mr. F. R. Halsey, Mrs. W. Y. Dill, Messrs. W. A. Slade and J. P. Kennedy, of the Library of Congress, the Messrs. Appleton and Messrs. Harper, and the Chevalier E. R. Reynolds have also aided the editor in many ways, here gratefully acknowledged. To these names we would add with special appreciation those of Mr. C. L. Hutchinson (owner of the Patterson letters), of Gen. James Grant Wilson (for permission to reprint the Poe-Clemm letters in his Independent paper), of Col. T. W. Higginson, Dr. A. Crawford, and Mrs. W. M. Griswold, the latter of whom has permitted the letters bearing on Poe in "Passages from the Correspondence of Rufus Wilmot Griswold," to be reproduced here, and has also kindly given access to hitherto unpublished matter. JAMES A. HARRISON. From a daguerreotype in the possession of "Stella." PHILIP P. Cooke. 49 From engraving by Graham. HENRY W. LONGFELLOW 86 From engraving, by Smith, of portrait by Lawrence. Cousin of the poet. From the original in the posses- JAMES RUSSELL Lowell . 191 From photograph. NATHANIEL P. WILLIS 206 From engraving, by Smith, of portrait by Elliott. JOHN P. KENNEDY 224 From engraving by F. M. Whelpley. PAGE THOMAS DUNN ENGLISH 253 From photograph. L. A. GODEY . From engraving. E. A. DUYCKINCK From steel engraving. "STELLA" (Estelle Anna Lewis) From an engraving by Allard, after a photograph. LETTER FROM POE TO MRS. WHITMAN (Fac 257 273 286 simile). ELMIRA ROYSTER SHELTON 320 . 396 From the original daguerreotype in the possession of her Poe wrote to John Neal, editor of "The Yankee,” in the latter part of 1829. For Neal's account of this letter, see Appendix, p. 443. POE TO COLONEL S. THAYER. March 10, 1831. This letter and the subjoined 66 Letter to B" are the only epistolary record of Poe's West Point career. See Appendix, p. 449. Printed as a Preface to the Poems of 1831. See Appendix, p. 450. POE TO WILLIAM GWYNN. May 6, 1831. Upon May 6, 1831, Poe wrote to William Gwynn, an editor of Baltimore, that he hesitated to ask anything VOL. II. I |