HAGERSTOWN, Md. — The Alice Virginia & David W. Fletcher Branch of the Washington County Library paid tribute to Edgar Allan Poe honoring the 177th anniversary of the iconic writer’sdeath. The tribute came in the form of a one-hour exhibit and seminar led by Eben Dennis, a representative of the Special Collections Department of Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.
On display at the exhibit
The exhibit featured photos of Poe, his Aunt Maria Clemm, and his wife Virginia Clemm Poe. Poe lived with Maria Clemm during his time in Baltimore and it is the place where he met and married his wife, Virginia Clemm. Also featured were several letters between Poe and Clemm, including the letter where he pleaded for the hand of Virginia in 1835. There was also the Valentine’s Day letter from Virginia to Poe, written in 1846. It is believed by scholars to be the only letter still in existence written by Virginia.
Personal effects on display included a fragment of Poe’s original coffin, which was broken off when his remains were exhumed in 1875 and moved from his original grave to a new burial site near the front of Westminster Burying Ground. He is now buried there alongside Virginia and Maria Clemm.
There was also a perfume bottle and miniature toy glass that had once belonged to Virginia.
But the most remarkable item on display was a lock of Poe and Virginia’s hair in a small glass display case. Dennis explained that it was common for a family member to cut a lock of hair from the deceased as a keepsake during the 1800s.
Legacy of Poe
The seminar itself, which took place on Oct. 9, focused on the time Poe spent living in Baltimore during the 1830s and 1840s. Poe was born in Boston on Jan. 19, 1809, and lived in several major cities on the East Coast, including New York, Philadelphia and Richmond, but it is his time in Baltimore that truly stood out during his lifetime. It was during this time that he married Virginia, the woman who had the greatest impact on his life and stories.
Dennis shared the story of how Poe made his way through college, his time in the Army and at West Point, the beginnings of his early writing career and his lifelong struggle with alcohol. He also shared first print editions of some of Poe’s famous works including “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” (1841) and “Fall of the House of Usher” (1839).
It was later, while living in New York, that he wrote his most iconic work, the haunting poem “The Raven,” published in 1845.
Baltimore’s impact
Although Dennis spent some time sharing the story of Poe’s life, the most time spent during the seminar was spent on Poe’s death and how Baltimore has come to claim the great as their own. Poe only lived in Baltimore for a short period of his life, but it had the greatest impact on his work and, of course, it is where he died and is interred. Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore in October of 1849 in a state of delirium. He was taken to the Washington Medical College on Oct. 3, where he faded in and out of consciousness before dying on Oct. 7, 1849.
The mystery surrounding Poe’s death is as fascinating as one of his stories. No Poe scholar, neither amateur nor professional, can agree on just how he died or what caused his demise in such a strange way. It is argued that he died of tuberculosis, the dreaded disease that claimed the lives of so many close to him, including Virginia in 1847.
Still others think he was the victim of a practice known as “cooping” in which a person is kidnapped off the streets, drugged and forced to vote for a specific political party. It was election time when Poe disappeared for three days and was found in clothes that did not belong to him in a disheveled state outside of a polling station.
The truth about the demise of one of American literature’s greatest writers may never be truly known, but the legacy that Poe has left behind will never be forgotten. His works carry the same aura of terror and madness that they did nearly 200 years ago. His poems still send an emotional charge through the reader. And his life, as tragic and foreboding as one of his characters, will continue to be talked about for generations to come.
For more information about the Edgar Allan Poe Collection at Enoch Pratt Free Library, visit prattlibrary.org/locations/central/special-collections/manuscripts-and-personal-papers.
For more information about other upcoming events at all the Washington County Free Library Branches, visit washcolibrary.org.
