Edgar Allan Poe to John R. Thompson — January 13, 1849

Edgar Allan Poe to John R. Thompson — January 13, 1849 Complete letter quotation as printed in Bruno’s Weekly, volume II, number 10, March 4, 1916, pages 527–528, in “The Poet’s Income,” which begins on page 526. The PDF preserves both full printed pages with unchanged image streams. This is a historical printed witness, not a manuscript facsimile. The original autograph is catalogued at The Huntington Library, HM 21874. The article’s introduction incorrectly gives January 18, but the letter’s printed dateline reads January 13, 1849. This 1916 printing includes the paragraphs omitted from the later Adventures in American Bookshops quotation, as well as the closing and postscript. It has textual variants, including “glacing,” “preparatory remarks,” “variety or critical” and “in respect to,” which are retained rather than silently replaced from a later edition. Line breaks, line-end hyphenation, quotation framing and typographic emphasis are simplified in the checked reading. The enclosed printed Marginalia is mentioned but is not part of the letter reproduction. The full source journal PDF is retained privately for provenance. New York, Jan. 13, ’49. My dear Sir: Accept my thanks for the two Messengers containing Miss Talley’s ‘Genius.’ I am glad to see that Griswold, although imperfectly, has done her justice in his late ‘Female Poets of America.’ Enclosed I send you the opening chapter of an article called ‘Marginalia,’ published, about three years ago, in ‘The Democratic Review.’ I send it that, by glacing it over, especially the preparatory remarks, you may perceive the general design, which I think well adapted to the purposes of such a Magazine as yours, affording great scope for variety or critical or other comment. I may add that ‘Marginalia,’ continued for five or six chapters, proved as popular as any papers written by me. My object in writing you now is to propose that I continue the papers in the “MESSENGER,” running them through the year, at the rate of 5 pages each month, commencing with the March number. You might afford me, as before, I presume, $2 per page. One great advantage will be that, at a hint from yourself, I can touch, briefly, any topic you might suggest; and there are many points affecting the interest of Southern letters, especially in respect to Northern neglect or misrepresentation of them, which stand sorely in need of touching. If you think well of my proposal, I will send you the two first numbers (10 pp.) immediately on receipt of a letter from you. You can pay me at your convenience, as the papers are published or otherwise. Please re-enclose me the printed papers, when you have done with them. Very truly yours, Edgar Allan Poe. Jno. R. Thompson, Esq. P. S.—I am about to bestir myself in the world of letters rather more busily than I have done for three or four years past, and a connection which I have established with 2 weekly papers may enable me, now & then, to serve you in respect to ‘The Messenger.’