no woman, who had the slightest acquaintance with Edgar Poe, could have credited the story for an instant. He was essentially, and instinctively a gentleman, utterly incapable, even in moments of excitement and delirium, of such an outrage as ascribed to him. No one acquainted with Edgar Poe could have given Dr. Griswold's scandalous anecdote a moments credence."
Through 1848 Poe lectured in several of the northern cities on "The Poetic Principles." While at Lowell he made the acquaintance of the Richmonds, Mrs. Richmond, the "Annie." of these later years. In January 1849, Poe was at Fordham, writing from ten to four every day.[1] "Marginalia," begun in The Democratic Review, of November, 1844, and continued in Graham's and Godey's, began afresh in The Messenger for April, running through the summer.
In June Poe left New York for Richmond, going with Mrs. Clemm to spend the night before the journey under the roof of their devoted friend, Mrs. S. D. Lewis. Prescience that this was to be their last farewell was borne in upon the three who in deepest sadness said goodby. Poe himself was greatly dejected—this perhaps the forerunner of the desperate condition in which he reached Philadelphia, where he found his friend, John Sartain, the publisher. This gentleman kept Poe with him, guarding him with the kindest care, soothing and quieting his distress, until he recovered sufficiently to continue the journey to Richmond. The melancholy story as told by Mr. Sartain shows the encroachment of the brain lesion as diagnosed by Mrs. Shew, the consequences most
- ↑ Letter from Mrs. Clemm to "Annie." Harrison's "Virginia Edition."
