Poe obituary review Part IV: A Period to His Existence
(See Part I: First Responders, Part II: Ludwig's Turn, Part III: Of Brandy and Poetry)
This is my final post on the original obituaries of Edgar Allan Poe as we lead up to the bicentennial of his birth. Below is not the most famous of the obituaries, but it is the most informative:
New York Herald, Oct 9, 1849: “Our Baltimore Correspondence. Our city was yesterday shocked with the announcement of the death of Edgar A. Poe, Esq., who arrived in this city about a week since after a successful tour through Virginia, where he delivered a series of able lectures. On last Wednesday, election day, he was found near the Fourth ward polls laboring under an attack of mania a potu, and in a most shocking condition. Being recognized by some of our citizens he was placed in a carriage and conveyed to the Washington Hospital, where every attention has been bestowed on him. He lingered, however, until yesterday morning, when death put a period to his existence. He was a most eccentric genius, with many friends and many foes, but all, I feel satisfied, will view with regret the sad fate of the poet and critic.”
How is it that the Baltimore correspondent for this New York paper knows more than the Baltimore Sun writer whose article we looked at first?
The writer of this piece correctly identifies Poe's purpose in Richmond, where he was delivering lectures. Poe was attempting to raise funds for a magazine he had always hoped to launch.
This finally gives us some details about what happened to Poe in Baltimore. The day and location where he was discovered, for one, is provided. The fourth ward polls refers to Ryan's, an inn and tavern that was being used for state election day that October 3rd.
The fact that it was election day would figure prominently approximately ten years later in the first appearances of a theory of “cooping,” or mistreatment by political thugs. While I find the appeal of the cooping theory limited, I will throw some support to the coopers with this quote from a Poe story, set in the future but reflecting the chaos and fraud of elections in his era:
“Every man ‘voted,’ as they called it – that is to say meddled with public affairs – until, at length, it was discovered that what is everybody’s business is nobody’s, and that the ‘Republic’ (so the absurd thing was called) was without a government at all… that universal suffrage gave opportunity for fraudulent schemes, by means of which any desired number of votes might at any time be polled, without the possibility of prevention or even detection, by any party which should be merely villainous enough not to be ashamed of the fraud” (from Mellonta Tauta)
Now to Poe's condition, about which the Herald correspondent at least tries to be more specific than the other obituaries. Mania a potu was an oft-diagnosed and described delirium from drinking. Since this was overused at the time, more helpful and a bit less subjective is actually “shocking condition,” which starts to put more flesh on the bare bones tale of Poe's demise. Note that the way it's phrased “in a most shocking condition” is separate and in addition to the “mania a potu.”
The obituary even slows down enough to choreograph Poe being placed in a carriage by a few individuals who recognized him. This is right on the money. The man who recognized him at Ryan's was Joseph W. Walker, who wrote this note to another Joseph, Joseph Snodgrass, a local editor and familiar figure. Later, we'd get to see the text of this note:
Baltimore City, Oct 3d 1849
Dear Sir, -
There is a gentleman, rather the worse for wear, at Ryan’s 4th Ward polls, who goes under the cognomen of Edgar A. Poe, and who appears in great distress, & he says he is acquainted with you, and I assure you, he is in need of immediate assistance,
Yours, in haste,
Jos. W. Walker
Snodgrass ends up putting Poe alone in a carriage to the hospital, possibly because Poe had to be positioned lying down and nobody else could fit (the Poe death narrative is one that revolves on small, slow and strange details, which are explicated in full in The Poe Shadow and also in my two part essay “The Poe Death Dossier”, which is linked from www.matthewpearl.com/other.html)
The obituary also identifies the hospital and emphasizes a high level of care, which by all accounts seem true (not to say he was cared for the same way he would be in a modern hospital). The hospital went by several names, and the building is now replaced by condos. I have heard differing accounts on whether there is a plaque somewhere on the spot there or not—I couldn't find one (I believe the condos were under construction when I went).
As far as I know, nobody has found the name of this New York Herald correspondent in Baltimore. I'm not sure that anyone has ever really looked, although I tried a bit. The problem with certain research questions is that if there is no existing source to at least start you off, the answer to a small question might take literally years of dedicated research building up a foundation of information before that question is answerable. In this case, it would involve becoming an expert in the history of the defunct New York Herald. Finding that name could prove helpful to Poe scholarship, since one might be able to trace what else he or she knew.
Remember how Rufus Griswold in his “Ludwig” obituary assured us that few would grieve for Poe's death? This obituary, at least, counters that, commenting that all will view his death with regret.
The Poe obituaries form a first draft of his death narrative. Unfortunately, their vagueness and focus on moral judgments paved the way for more than a century and a half of confusion and misinformation.
I hope you enjoyed this series of posts on the original obituaries. Look for upcoming bicentennial-timed posts on whether Poe was an alcoholic, the myths about Poe, and some Dickens related posts timed for the US release of The Last Dickens in paperback. If you ever have ideas for a subject you'd like me to write a post about, please feel free to suggest!
This is my final post on the original obituaries of Edgar Allan Poe as we lead up to the bicentennial of his birth. Below is not the most famous of the obituaries, but it is the most informative:
New York Herald, Oct 9, 1849: “Our Baltimore Correspondence. Our city was yesterday shocked with the announcement of the death of Edgar A. Poe, Esq., who arrived in this city about a week since after a successful tour through Virginia, where he delivered a series of able lectures. On last Wednesday, election day, he was found near the Fourth ward polls laboring under an attack of mania a potu, and in a most shocking condition. Being recognized by some of our citizens he was placed in a carriage and conveyed to the Washington Hospital, where every attention has been bestowed on him. He lingered, however, until yesterday morning, when death put a period to his existence. He was a most eccentric genius, with many friends and many foes, but all, I feel satisfied, will view with regret the sad fate of the poet and critic.”
How is it that the Baltimore correspondent for this New York paper knows more than the Baltimore Sun writer whose article we looked at first?
The writer of this piece correctly identifies Poe's purpose in Richmond, where he was delivering lectures. Poe was attempting to raise funds for a magazine he had always hoped to launch.
This finally gives us some details about what happened to Poe in Baltimore. The day and location where he was discovered, for one, is provided. The fourth ward polls refers to Ryan's, an inn and tavern that was being used for state election day that October 3rd.
The fact that it was election day would figure prominently approximately ten years later in the first appearances of a theory of “cooping,” or mistreatment by political thugs. While I find the appeal of the cooping theory limited, I will throw some support to the coopers with this quote from a Poe story, set in the future but reflecting the chaos and fraud of elections in his era:
“Every man ‘voted,’ as they called it – that is to say meddled with public affairs – until, at length, it was discovered that what is everybody’s business is nobody’s, and that the ‘Republic’ (so the absurd thing was called) was without a government at all… that universal suffrage gave opportunity for fraudulent schemes, by means of which any desired number of votes might at any time be polled, without the possibility of prevention or even detection, by any party which should be merely villainous enough not to be ashamed of the fraud” (from Mellonta Tauta)
Now to Poe's condition, about which the Herald correspondent at least tries to be more specific than the other obituaries. Mania a potu was an oft-diagnosed and described delirium from drinking. Since this was overused at the time, more helpful and a bit less subjective is actually “shocking condition,” which starts to put more flesh on the bare bones tale of Poe's demise. Note that the way it's phrased “in a most shocking condition” is separate and in addition to the “mania a potu.”
The obituary even slows down enough to choreograph Poe being placed in a carriage by a few individuals who recognized him. This is right on the money. The man who recognized him at Ryan's was Joseph W. Walker, who wrote this note to another Joseph, Joseph Snodgrass, a local editor and familiar figure. Later, we'd get to see the text of this note:
Baltimore City, Oct 3d 1849
Dear Sir, -
There is a gentleman, rather the worse for wear, at Ryan’s 4th Ward polls, who goes under the cognomen of Edgar A. Poe, and who appears in great distress, & he says he is acquainted with you, and I assure you, he is in need of immediate assistance,
Yours, in haste,
Jos. W. Walker
Snodgrass ends up putting Poe alone in a carriage to the hospital, possibly because Poe had to be positioned lying down and nobody else could fit (the Poe death narrative is one that revolves on small, slow and strange details, which are explicated in full in The Poe Shadow and also in my two part essay “The Poe Death Dossier”, which is linked from www.matthewpearl.com/other.html)
The obituary also identifies the hospital and emphasizes a high level of care, which by all accounts seem true (not to say he was cared for the same way he would be in a modern hospital). The hospital went by several names, and the building is now replaced by condos. I have heard differing accounts on whether there is a plaque somewhere on the spot there or not—I couldn't find one (I believe the condos were under construction when I went).
As far as I know, nobody has found the name of this New York Herald correspondent in Baltimore. I'm not sure that anyone has ever really looked, although I tried a bit. The problem with certain research questions is that if there is no existing source to at least start you off, the answer to a small question might take literally years of dedicated research building up a foundation of information before that question is answerable. In this case, it would involve becoming an expert in the history of the defunct New York Herald. Finding that name could prove helpful to Poe scholarship, since one might be able to trace what else he or she knew.
Remember how Rufus Griswold in his “Ludwig” obituary assured us that few would grieve for Poe's death? This obituary, at least, counters that, commenting that all will view his death with regret.
The Poe obituaries form a first draft of his death narrative. Unfortunately, their vagueness and focus on moral judgments paved the way for more than a century and a half of confusion and misinformation.
I hope you enjoyed this series of posts on the original obituaries. Look for upcoming bicentennial-timed posts on whether Poe was an alcoholic, the myths about Poe, and some Dickens related posts timed for the US release of The Last Dickens in paperback. If you ever have ideas for a subject you'd like me to write a post about, please feel free to suggest!
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