The Museum CollectionPoe Letter to Hiram Haines, April 24, 1840
Signature
Poe closes the letter by stating he plans to visit Petersburg in about a month, but there is no evidence that visit took place.
Letter
The text of the letter reads: "My Dear Sir,
Having been absent from the city for a fortnight I have only just received your kind letter of March 24th and hasten to thank you for the "Star", as well as for your offer of the fawn for Mrs P. She desires me to thank you with all her heart -- but, unhappily, I cannot point out a mode of conveyance. What can be done? Perhaps some opportunity may offer itself hereafter -- some friend from Petersburg may be about to pay us a visit. In the meantime accept our best acknowledgments, precisely as if the little fellow were already nibbling the grass before our windows in Philadelphia. I will immediately attend to what you say respecting exchanges. The "Star" has my very best wishes, and if you really intend to push it with energy, there cannot be a doubt of its full success. If you can mention anything in the world that I can do here to promote its interests and your own, it will give me a true pleasure. It is not impossible that I may pay you a visit in Petersburg, a month or two hence. Till then, believe me, most sincerely Your friend Edgar A Poe H. Haines Esqr Office Gentleman’s Magazine" 
Address
The address and post mark are visible on the back of the page.
Description: This is one of two surviving letters from Poe to magazine editor Hiram Haines.Hiram Haines (1802-1841) published a book of poetry, Mountain Birds and Blossoms, in 1825 and, with W.H. Davis, established the American Constellation in 1834, becoming the sole editor in 1837. In 1839, Haines edited Th' Time o' Day, and, in 1840, he launched the Virginia Star. He died the following year. The January 1836 issue of the Southern Literary Messenger quoted one of Haines's positive reviews of the magazine. The April 1836 issue of the Messenger commented that the Constellation had reprinted Poe's article "Autography." The following month, May 1836, Poe is said to have spent his honeymoon at Haines's coffee house, which is still standing in Petersburg, but the earliest surviving piece of correspondence between Poe and Haines is a letter dated August 19 of that year. Poe and Haines maintained a friendship after Poe moved from Virginia to New York and Pennsylvania. In the March 18, 1840 issue of Alexander's Weekly Messenger, Poe printed a positive notice of Haines's newly founded Virginia Star and called Haines "a gentleman of education and of unusually fine talents." On March 24, Haines wrote Poe, offering to send his wife a pet fawn, and the letter seen here is Poe's reply. Poe politely declines the gift because he cannot think of a convenient way to transport the fawn from Petersburg to Philadelphia. This is one of two letters from Poe to Haines the Poe Foundation owns. The Museum purchased the set for $600. Search CollectionCategories
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