The Museum Collection

Fragment of Edgar Allan Poe Letter

ID #:	1969.1
Creator:	Edgar Allan Poe
Date:	1836
Format:	Fragment of Letter
Dimensions:
Source:	Gift of Mrs. Rosewell Page
Collection:	Poe Foundation, Inc.
Publisher:
Place of Publication:
Publish Date:

Description:

This fragment was given to the Poe Museum in October 1969 by Mrs. Rosewell Page. It was once the property of her brother-in-law, Thomas Nelson Page (1853-1922).

From internal evidence the letter appears to have been sent from Richmond to an unknown correspondent in Baltimore. Poe writes of his editorial responsibility for "Vol. 2," which could only have been the Southern Literary Messenger, the second volume of which ran from December 1835 to November 1836. Poe also writes of the addressee's aquaintance with Poe's brother, W.H.L. Poe, who died in Baltimore in 1831.

One of the owners of this fragment, Thomas Nelson Page was an author and lawyer who served as U.S. Ambassador to Italy under President Woodrow Wilson. Page wrote eighteen books and is credited with popularizing the plantation tradition genre of Southern writing, which idealized the Antebellum South.