The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-03-22
FROM PENSTHATWON FAME
LETTERS, HITHERTO USPUBLIsHED,
FROM AUTHORS WOW DE4D.

NuNbkihIh IOllFtNDIN hnu DlDliOpnlltN VII
md much to interest thom in an auction sale
Of unpublished letters, which will take place
next week At the auction rooms of Bangs d Co.,
81 Fifth avenue. These letters were written to
the late DR.. X. W. Griswoid. literary executor
OF Edgar Allan Poe, and compiler OF the volume
Poets OF America" Many OF tbs letters arc
replies to Dr. Griswold's letters In regard to
this work. These and the letters OF and about
Poe take ur the bulk OF n remarkable collcc-
tion. None OF the specimens Is an autograph
written for the purpose Of being an autograph.
All are appended to some writing on some SUBJ
ject. and many nre valuable and interesting
contributions to literature. Two manuscripts.
hitherto uni blished. by Poe are in tho collec-
ton, but they are too long for publication here.
How the collection came to DIR. Griswold Is told
briefly In one OF tho Mss, the original power OF
attorney from pUo's mother-in-law
whereas i, the undersigned Maria GLENN,
am the sole owner and lawful pOssessor OF the
writings and literary remains Of the late Edgar
A. Poe. . And, whereas. IL was the ex-
press wish and injunction of the author before
his death that DR.. Rufus w. Griswold should
compile and edit the same in case OF their pub
LEGATION = . . l have placed said writings in
the hands OF the said Dr. Rufus w. Griswold."
There are fourteen specimens of Poe's writings
in the collection TO be- sold, and they treat Of
many subjects. One OF them, an essay. would
hardly be recognized as by the author of The
Raven " from its style. Here Is an extract:
THE heat OF the sun falling upon the surface
Ia transmitted inward In virtue OF the conduct
Ing power Of the ground, and thus each summer
q thin layer OF elevated temperature moves In
ward, which heat accommodating at the centre,
has resulted in the igneous liquefaction OF our
nucleus, and which will result ultimately in the
melting of the elements, and in the passing
away Of the earth as n SCROLL"
Another. and a far more interesting specimen,
is q collection OF memoranda headed "Bulwer,"
and evidently intended as notes for q criticism
of Lord Lytton's works. on the back Of the
sheets are pen aud ink drawings Of crudely
~fanciful design. In IL criticism OF William Gil
more Simms, for whom personally Poe had a
great regard, he writes: There is in his
literary outputs a decided touch OF the shabby
%genteel," which was perhaps written in one Of
those periods of gloom and misanthropy which
darkened the poets life. since elsewhere he
praises Simms's works. On Emerson he passes
this judgments: Emerson owes nine-tenths Of
his position to his personal acquaintance with
Carlyle" There Is a prospectus for The Liv-
Ing Writers of America" In which Poe speaks
of THE Humanity Clique. to which belong
Emerson, Lowell. Hawthorne, Goodwin. Filter,
Mrs. Child, Whittier. a mixture OF Puritanism,
transcendentalism and credulity; :" and in an
other place, in speaking of magazines. he writes:
Tempted by high prices men of genius con-
tribute-good articles rejected instance my self,
Gold b.. Raven. Valid. Case" referring to his
story The Gold Bug" THE Raven" and the
most weird and Rruesome tale of hypnotism ever
told. The personal letters have a touch of
Viewed in tho after-light cast upon Pos's
wretched life. In May, 1872, he writes to his
friend +. w. Thomas. who was striving to get II
rn1 4. far lf,,, ~. l. ,,.,,, ~, , o,..a,
: q " u'", wv say respect
Ing a situation in the Custom House here gives
me new life. Nothing could more precisely meet
views Could nht,in srch n .nnoin,nont
l would be enabled thoroughly to carry out all
ambitious projects. 1t would relieve me OF
care as regards n mere subsistence. and TINS
allow me time for thought. which in fact is ac-
ton. l repeat that I would ask for nothing
u''No' Ut ue..'F nan " s'""''oh such u you
II the salary VIII barely enable me TO
A. r,,an y "a y
y. ~ : nt; :. 1pioe' W "'n ~ e'h-
cere gratitude Tor the interest he takes in my
In ,rn,ber,o,to- a,so 20 Thou,s uri,,o, ,-ou
=" ! 'ot'eF' "'so " ." written from
tho famous cottage at FGrdham. which a Poo
society is now striving to preserve intact. he
about nte miles out Of New YORK. For
the last seven or eight months | have been play
to be kindly Remembered. -. Thank God!
Richard. whom you know. Is himself again.
Tell Dow so hut he won't believe IT, =
you believed Robert Tyler really wished TO give
the post in the Custom House. This also
really think. and ! am confirmed in the opinion
that he could not ut all time do as he wished
N such matters by seeing Damn English at the
head of the Aurora a bullct-headed and ma
licious villain who has brought more oGium
upon. the Administration than any fellow (of
equal littlenessl.' &c.
Another letter deals with Poe's scheme for
starting n magazine, the profits OF which he es-
tiInated At $4,000 yearly. He writes of the
first numbers OF the magazine:
| have them prepared In every respect for
tho press, but alas | have no money nor that In
fuence that would be able to get a publisher"
In the collection of Poe's, writings ave also .
on The Raven" signed Miss Harriet
Ninslow," and an article headed For Ora
Magaztne: A Reviewer Reviewed, by
Walter &. Bowen" both unm istakably in Poe's
writing, and both undoubtedly of his author
ship. In tho "Polana," OF all the many specl-
mems the most interesting is a letter from Sell
son Poe, the poetic cousin, from which the
following is an extract.
THE history OF the last few days Of his life Is
known to no one SO well as to myself, and Is OF
touching ard melancholy interest rs well OF the
most admonitory import. | think | can demon
strate that he passed by Il single indulgence