This is the second half of a guest post written by Lisa Lideks, who runs the blog The World of Edgar Allan Poe.
An authority on Poe who is devoted to separating truth and fiction, Ms.
Lideks gives us the lowdown on some of his lesser-known years in
Gotham. Last we heard, he was living with his wife and mother-in-law/aunt in Greenwich Village and struggling to make ends meet as a writer. Did he succeed? Find out, below!
Maria Clemm |
Virginia Poe |
As for Poe himself, Gowans never saw
the poet intoxicated, or guilty of any other vice, and that he “was one of the
most courteous, gentlemanly, and intelligent companions I have met.” Gowans noted that “The characters drawn of
Poe by his various biographers and critics may with safety be pronounced an
excess of exaggeration, but this is not to be much wondered at, when it is
taken into consideration that these men were rivals either as poets or prose
writers, and it is well that such are generally as jealous of each other as are
the ladies who are handsome, or those who desire to be considered possessed of
the coveted quality.”
Gowans commented that during this
period Poe was completing “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym.” This would prove to be the most significant
achievement of Poe’s early New York stay.
Harper & Brothers took out a copyright on the novel in June of 1837,
but it was not published until a year later.
(This unexplained delay was probably related to the bleak financial
times.)
Another short glimpse of Poe in 1830s
New York comes from his attendance at the Booksellers Dinner held at the City
Hotel in March 1837, an event which drew many of the major literary figures of
the time. The newspapers of the time record him as offering a brief toast: “The Monthlies of Gotham—Their distinguished
Editors, and their vigorous Collaborateurs.”
Sometime in the early spring of 1837,
the Poe household moved to 113 ½ Carmine Street. St. John’s graveyard was nearby, and it is
said that Poe and his wife enjoyed walks through the tree-lined quiet of the
cemetery. During this period, Poe
published a review of John L. Stephens’ “Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia
Petraea, and the Holy Land” in the October “New York Review.” “American Monthly Magazine” carried “Von
Jung, the Mystic” in their June issue. “Siope—a Fable” appeared in the
“Baltimore Book” for 1838.
There is no record of Poe publishing anything
else during this time, although it is possible he did some sort of literary
hack work that appeared anonymously. It
is a mystery how he and his family survived.
There are practically no letters to or from him during this period, and
mentions of him in the contemporary correspondence of others are equally
lacking. As far as history records, during
Poe’s first New York stay he may as well have been on the dark side of the
moon.
There is a very curious footnote to his
year in the city. In June 1846, Thomas
Dunn English, with whom Poe was carrying on the noisiest of public feuds,
published a column where he made an offhand reference that “the ‘Tombs,’ of New
York, has probably a dim remembrance of [Poe’s] person.”
English did not elaborate on this
startling charge, and Poe made no known response to this allegation that he did
a stint in a New York prison. It has
been equally ignored by his biographers.
English generally had a strained relationship with the truth,
particularly where Poe was concerned, so it is quite possible that he simply
engaged in a bit of libelous exaggeration.
Is it possible, however, that during Poe’s first stay in New York City,
he was briefly imprisoned—perhaps for debt?
Could that help explain the lack of information during that part of his
history? No one knows.
In any case, it is sadly certain that
Poe’s early attempt to make his fortune in Gotham was a harrowing
experience. Sometime in the early part
of 1838, he gave up on the Big Apple and moved his little family to
Philadelphia. In July of that year, he
wrote to the Secretary of the Navy asking for some sort of government work. It is a letter of pure despair: “Could I obtain the most unimportant
Clerkship in your gift—any thing, by sea
or land—to relieve me from the miserable life of literary drudgery to which
I now, with a breaking heart, submit…I would never again repine at any
dispensation of God.”
Unfortunately, whether he lived in New
York, Philadelphia, Richmond, or Baltimore, Poe was always given many reasons
for repining.
Loved this post? Can't get enough of Poe in New York City? Why, it just so happens I'm leading a walking tour of Greenwich Village on January 19th to honor that very thing! If you're in NYC and interested in taking tour, please email me for tickets and info.
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