Jan 1846- July 1845 Godey’s Magazine. 11 articles by Edgar Allen Poe (inv 615)

Description: Jan 1846- July 1845 Godey’s Magazine. 11 articles by Edgar Allen Poe (inv 615)Godey's Lady's Book published a six-part series in May 1846 about the virtues, vices, and shortcomings of the "Literati of New York City." Written by Edgar Allan Poe, the series capitalizes on his longstanding associations with those Frank Luther Mott described as "magazinists," the corps of authors and editors whose professional affiliations were constantly in flux in the flurried antebellum periodical market. Writing what he termed "literary gossip," Poe's sketches blended his bracing literary criticism with intimate details about the personal habits, appearance, and relationships of nearly forty of New York City's best-known authors and editors. Positioning himself as both an "insider" and a detached critic, Poe's attempts to temper both extremes are often chaotic. 1845 - August (vol. XXXI, no. 1) Misc. - “Marginal Notes — No. I” (pp. 49-51) (first printing of this installment. This is the first of the installments to appear in Godey's, and the third of the full series. The sub-title reads, “A Sequel to the ‘Marginalia’ of the ‘Democratic Review’.” The list of contents given on the back cover of the original paper wrappers includes “Marginal Notes, No. I, by Edgar A. Poe.” Poe's name also appears in the list of contributors to the issue.) (signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.”) 1845 - November (vol. XXXI, no. 2) Criticism - Review of C. Mathews - Big Abel and the Little Manhattan (pp. 218-219) (signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.” The front cover of the original paper wrappers includes a note of “Criticisms, by E. A. Poe, ESQ.” The list of contents given on the back wrapper includes “Big Abel and the Little Manhattan, by Edgar A. Poe.” Oddly, Poe's name does not appear in the list of contributors to the issue.) 1845 - September (vol. XXXI, no. 3) Misc. - “Marginal Notes — No. II” (pp. 120-123) (miscellaneous, first printing of this installment. This is the second of the installments to appear in Godey's, and the fourth of the full series. As with the prior installment, the sub-title reads, “A Sequel to the ‘Marginalia’ of the ‘Democratic Review’.”) (signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.”) 1845 - December (vol. XXXI, no.4) Second half of the book Criticism - Review of E. Oakes Smith - The Poetical Writings (pp. 261-265) (The article is titled, “Literary Criticism,” and signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.”) 1846 - January (vol. XXXII, no.5) Criticism - Review of W. G. Simms - The Wigwam and the Cabin (pp. 41-42) (The article is titled, “Literary Criticism,” and signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.”) 1846 - February (vol. XXXII, no. 6) Criticism - Review of Mary Hewitt - The Songs of Our Land (pp. 90-91) (The article is titled, “Literary Criticism,” and signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.”) 1846 - March (vol. XXXII, no. 7) Criticism - Review of F. S. Osgood - Wreath of Wild Flowers from New England (pp. 134-139) (The article is titled, “Literary Criticism,” and signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.” 1846 - April (vol. XXXII, no. 8) Criticism - Review of W. C. Bryant - Complete Poetical Works (pp. 182-186) (review) (The article is titled, “Literary Criticism,” and signed as, “by Edgar A. Poe.”) 1846 - May (vol. XXXII, no. 9) Misc - “The Literati of New York City” (pp. 194-201) (miscellaneous, first printing of this installment) (The subtitle of this series is, “Some Honest Opinions at Random Respecting Their Authorial Merits, with Occasional Words of Personality.” It is signed, “By Edgar A. Poe.”) (The front cover of the original paper wrappers notes “Critical opinions of the New York Literati, by Edgar A. Poe.” The back wrapper notes: “Edgar A. Poe Contributes, The Literati of New York City.”) (This is the first of six installments of the series.) 1846 - June (vol. XXXII, no. 10) Misc - “The Literati of New York City — No. II” (pp. 266-272) (miscellaneous, first printing of this installment) (The front cover of the original paper wrappers notes “Critical opinions of the New York Literati, by Edgar A. Poe.” The back wrapper notes: “Edgar A. Poe Contributes, The Literati of New York City, No. II.”) (This is the second of six installments of the series.) no. 11 ) Misc - “The Literati of New York City — No. I” (pp. 289-296) (miscellaneous, reprint of the first installment of the series.) The prints and plates are discolored with soiling and foxing. No tissues. “The Literati of New York City” (pp. 194-201) (miscellaneous, first printing of this installment) (The subtitle of this series is, “Some Honest Opinions at Random Respecting Their Authorial Merits, with Occasional Words of Personality.” It is signed, “By Edgar A. Poe (This is the first of six installments of the series.) “The Literati of New York City — No. II” (pp. 266-272) (first printing of this installment) (This is the second of six installments of the series.) “The Literati of New York City — No. I” (pp. 289-296) (reprint of the first installment of the series.) Godey's Lady's Book was the kind of magazine for which Edgar A. Poe had only disdain, given its sentimental fiction and verse and prized for its hand-colored fashion plates and fine engravings, but it was also the most successful periodical of the day and paid its contributors liberal fees. New England luminaries as Emerson, Longfellow, and Hawthorne were published there. The magazine's scope was national and readership had reached a hundred thousand, a dazzling figure for an American magazine of the period, by the time Poe's series was launched. Godey puffed the series with the prediction that it would "raise some commotion in the literary emporium." NY anticipation ran high in the wake of a tumultuous two years Poe had just spent in the city, one newspaper speculating that "the uproar which attended Pope's Dunciad was nothing to the stormy confusion of the literary elements which will war and rage." And in fact the 38 personal sketches that ran through October turned out to be Godey's greatest sensation. In New York, Horace Greeley reported that every copy of the first "Literati" issue had been bought up. Unable to meet demand in the city and in Boston, the magazine had to reprint the first installment of the series in the same issue as the second. Poe himself took note of the "unexpected circulation of the series" with plans to expand it into a book on American letters in general, and so "make a hit and some profit, as well as proper fame." With the rise of the magazines, writing began the shift from a casual amateur activity to a business in which one could forge a professional career, or at least imagine one. Poe pursued magazine prospects as an editor and writer throughout his short life, but though his name was widely known and respected his financial return was meager. For the six-part series in Godey's he apparently received $5 a page, hardly munificent and far less than Willis's usual fees, but the total amount of $172 was one of his better sales as a writer. It was money for which, as usual, he had a desperate need. “Hired Pens Professional Writers in America's Golden Age of Print”, By RONALD WEBER, Ohio University Press. Poe's worked with Godey's Lady's Book, but he was unable to sustain steady employment, and amid the din of plagiarism charges and libel suits, his fortunes sank.Poe’s longest streak of pieces in the Lady’s Book continues into 1846 with columns entitled “Literary Criticism.” Appearing every month, from December 1845 through April 1846, the column reviews works of prominent writers of the era, and eventually morphs into The Literati. The five writers Poe reviews in this column include four poets—Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Mary B. Hewitt, Frances Sargent Osgood, and William Cullen Bryant—and one fiction writer— William Gilmore Simms. Three of the five writers Poe reviews are female. Partly this is due to the forum, a women’s magazine, and it is not unlikely that Hale, who believed in promoting women’s authorship, influenced Poe’s choices. Regardless, it shows that Poe was willing to view female poets and authors as equally capable as male poets and authors.Another editorial piece published in the Lady’s Book from 1846 shows how Hale and Poe worked together, supporting one another’s opinions and right to express them. In an editorial note from June 1846 entitled “The Authors and Mr. Poe,” Hale explains, “We have received several letters from New York, anonymous and from personal friends, requesting us to be careful what we allow Mr. Poe to say of the New York authors, many of whom are our personal friends” (Hale, Godey’s, June 1846). The Literati created controversy, with calls for censorship prompting this editorial statement. However, the Godey’s staff stood behind Poe, further elaborating in the editorial, “We are not to be intimidated by loss of friends, or turned from our purpose by honeyed words. Our course is onward” (Hale, Godey’s, June 1846). A publication with integrity, Godey’s refused to censor Poe, and instead chose freedom of speech as its guiding principle. Hale describes the circulation woes caused by the clamor for copies of the first Godey’s issue with The Literati, saying, “The May edition was exhausted before the first of May, and we have had orders for hundreds from Boston and New York which we could not supply” (Hale, Godey’s, June 1846). Clearly the controversy Poe stirred up drew attention, both to Poe and to Godey’s. In fact, Godey’s anticipated the excitement the series would produce, stating in the May issue, along with the first installment of The Literati, “We are much mistaken if the papers of Mr. P do not raise some commotion in the literary emporium” (Hale, Godey’s, May 1846). The Literati was a mutually beneficial endeavor. Poe got to vent his frustrations at the dominant literary scene, a goal that Godey’s editors supported as well, and Godey’s got more publicity out of the series than almost anything else the magazine published. In the years to come, Poe would publish a few more pieces in The Lady’s Book, including the final installments of The Literati and the famous The relationship between Hale and Poe that can be reconstructed through correspondence and publications represents a part of American literary history that is often forgotten. The anthologized icons of nineteenth-century American literary culture did not fit the common modes of the day, but were standouts in an era when mainstream literature was often mundane and unoriginal. Those remembered today are those who broke the rules and strove to make their own unique voices heard. However, this often could not be achieved without assistance. Those who succeed in the literary world rarely do it alone, but their support systems, which are often as fascinating as the authors themselves, are frequently forgotten. The relationship between Poe and Hale represents the way that often, those who do things differently, those with the ability to work alongside those unlike themselves, those who embrace the unexpected and unconventional, are the ones who make a lasting impression on literary culture. (The New Literati: Sarah Josepha Hale and Edgar Allan Poe in Nineteenth-Century Literary Culture Julia D. Falkowski) P

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