The New York herald., 1922-05-28
CHRONICLE AND
COMMENT
By ARTHUR BARTLETT MAURICE.

A LMOST simultaneously with the
n publication in this country OF
the Byron letters, discussed in this
department of THE HERALD book sec
tion a few weeks ago, is the presen-
tation in a recent issue of the Bulle-
lin of the New York Public Library
Of certain extraordinary and hith.
erto generally unknown letters from
George w. Eveleth to Edgar Allan
Poe. After Poes death his papers
Iassed into the hands of his literary
executor, Rufus Wilmot Griswold,
who wrote Of the poet with an irri-
tation that was petty even if justi-
fed. Eventually Mrs. Griswold
presented most of the Poe collection
to the Boston Public LIBRARY and
the letters in this collection, with
few exceptions, were published by
Prof. Harrison in the seventeenth
volume of the Complete Works of
Ice" in 1902.
CIX years before the Harrison
~ edition appeared, however, there
had been sold at public auction by
the Griswold family series of let
ters TO Poe from George w. Eveleth,
a young and buihptious Maine man:
that is, young in Poe's lifetime, and
probably bumptious throughout his
cwn lifetime. The whereabouts of
these papers remained unknown
until the autumn of 1929 Then
Nr. Thomas Olive Mabbott,
Ssao has edited them for the Bulle-
fin, made a series of transcripts of
the letters and presented them to
the New York Public Library. Says
Mr. Mabbott: "Eveleth was the
first Poe specialist. Though he
never met Poe he occupies a unique
position among Poe's correspond
snts; he was an admirer, yet bold
to speak his mind, and for his opin-
ions Poe had no little respect" That,
as will be shown, was astonishing
Poe's letters to Eveleth were pre-
served by the latter, and later CON-
municated to Ingram, who printed
large portions in his biography but
without revealing the name of the
recipient. 1t was Eleveth's we'll de
served fate to remain comparatively
unknown. His name appears neither
in the index of the Harrison Life"
nor in the index of the abridged
Woodberry Life" both at the mo
ment before the writer of these par
s,graphs. The omission probably
implies a natural disgust on the
part Of the biographers.
TN Eveleth's first letter, written
i in 1S45-that was the banner
year of Poe's life, when he was able,
in the short lived Broadpdy Journal,
TO revise and reprint, generally il
more finished form, nearly every
thing that he had yet produced-he
recalls the dislike with which he
began to read Poe in GrGham's Mega
zine in 1912. He writes: 81 was
highly pleased with -. the
passionate stories of Mrs Stephens
and the merry. skipping, childlike
utterances of Mrs. Osgood. Yet ther,
we're some few productions which
met with that were not in much
favor with me at first; and they
were those of Mr. Poe, the editor of
the magazine during the first six
months that | took it. His criti
tisms, l thought. were sheer pedan-
:ries, and his tales very perplexities
very enigmas, which could not un-
ravel. His 'Masque of the Red Death
in particular, scanned a complete
mystery. / could find neither be-
ginning, middle nor end to it,
neither design nor meaning"
IN time Eveleth came to change
Il his opinion. Mr.. Poe became
his especial favorite. In the same
first letter he writes: II am pas
SiOnately fond of reading hio nro