Ljungquist Edits Newly Discovered Poe Letters

In 1843, when a farmer in Attleboro, Mass., decided to try his hand at the craft of poetry, he did what many aspiring writers do: he sought some pointers from experienced authors. Abijah M. Ide Jr. (right), just a teenager at the time, sat down and wrote to some of the literary giants of his day, including James Russell Lowell, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Edgar Allan Poe. They all replied, in letters filled with advice and encouragement.

Two remarkable letters written to Ide by Poe came to light in 2001 when they were sold at auction in Boston. Kent Ljungquist, professor of American literature at WPI and a Poe scholar, was given the chance to edit the letters, and he wrote about them, along with letters by Lowell and Longfellow, in a recent article in the journal Resources for American Literary Study.

The author of The Grand and the Fair: Poe's Landscape Aesthetics and Pictorial Techniques, Ljungquist notes that Poe, in an October 1843 letter he wrote hastily while in Philadelphia, shared with Ide a bit of his own philosophy about fame. "A literary reputation, it is true," Poe wrote, "is seldom worth much when attained...but in the struggle for its attainment is the true recompense."

In the second letter, after his 1845 move to New York City, Poe critiqued a poem of Ide's ("I think it a remarkably fine poem."), then advised him about the realities of the publishing world. "I may be in error," Poe cautioned, "but I do not believe you will be able to sell the poem anywhere. Its merits are far higher than those of many poems that are sold for high prices; but what is paid for is the name of the poet."

In fact, Ide went on to contribute poetry to a number of American magazines and to edit the Union Gazette and Democrat and the Taunton True Democrat. In 1849, just after Poe's death, the True Democrat published an anonymous tribute to the poet. In his recent essay, Ljungquist revealed for the first time that the poetic eulogy, filled with references to Poe's The Raven, was almost certainly penned by Ide.

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Last modified: Sep 13, 2004, 12:00 EDT