A Chapter on Autography and An Appendix of Autographs — Poe, 1841–1842 — reading text

Mr. Wilmer. are unusually well written. His ‘‘ Corrected Proofs ” |— always the merit of a chastened style. But he is more favorably known by his poetry, in which the student of the British classics will find much for We have few better versifiers His chirography plainly indicates the cautious polish and terseness of his style, but the signature does not convey the print-like appearance of the MS. leads him into occasional bombast. Asa poet he has done better things than as a writer of prose. His MS., which has been strongly modified by cir- cumstances, gives no indication of his trne character, literary or moral. is a work which does him high credit, and which has been extensively circulated, although “ printed at odd times by himself, when he had nothing else to do.”’ His MS. resembles that of Mr. Joseph C. Neal in many respects, but is less open and less legible. His signature is altogether much better than his general chirography. Mr. McMaxrw is one of the editors of the ‘‘ Phila- | ability. His MS. is clear and graceful ; the signature delphia Saturday Courier,” and has given to the | affording avery good idea of it. The general hand, world several excellent specimens of his poetical ! in fact, is fully as good. Mrs. M. St. Leon Loup is one of the finest poets of this country; possessing, we think, more of the true divine afflatus than any of her female contempo- raries. She has, in especial, imagination of no com- mon order, and unlike many of her sex whom we could mention, is not Content to dwell in decencies forever. While she can, upon occasion, compose the ordinary —_ metrical sing-song with all the decorous proprieties which are in fashion, she yet ventures very frequent- ly into a more ethereal region. We refer our readers to a truly beautiful little poem entitled the “‘ Dream of the Lonely Isle,” and lately published in this Magazine. Mrs. Loud’s MS. is exceedingly clear, neat and forcible, with just sufficient effeminacy and no more. Feng Dr. Purny Earte, of Frankford, Pa., has not only | general science, but has become well known to the. distinguished himself by several works of medical and | literary world, of late, by a volume of very fine . Gree ; & ; ; ; : ; a Sa wy A 432 | — , | ia ? * gh 4 reg ‘ AY [Source scan page 31] AUTOGRAPH Y. 281 poems, the longest, but by no means the best, of which, was entitled “Marathon.” This latter is not greatly inferior to the “‘ Marco Bozzaris ” of Hal- leck; while some of the minor pieces equal any Ay American poems. His chirography is peculiarly neat and beautiful, giving indication of the elaborate finish which characterises his compositions. The ‘signature conveys the general hand. Dr. Jonn C. McCane, of Richmond, Virginia, has written much and generally well, in prose and poetry, for the periodicals of the day — for the “‘ Southern Lit- erary Messenger ” in especial, and other journals. Aro Joun Tomitn, Esq., Postmaster at Jackson, Ten- nessee, has contributed many excellent articles to the periodicals of the day — among others to the ‘‘ Gen- tleman’s” and to ‘‘Graham’s” Magazine, and to several of the Southern and Western journals. } and very illegible. 7 His MS. is in every respect a bad one — an ordinary clerk’s hand, meaning nothing. It has been strongly modified, however, by circumstances which would scarcely have permitted it to be otherwise than it is. His chirography resembles that of Mr. Paulding in being at the same time very petite, very beautiful, His MSS., in being equally well written throughout, evince the indefatigability of | his disposition. Davip Horrman, Esq., of Baltimore, has not only contributed much and well to monthly Magazines and Reviews, but has given to the world several val- uable publications in book form. His style is terse, §. D. Lanerree, has been long and favorably known to the public as editor of the ‘ Georgetown Metropolitan,” and, more lately, of the ‘‘ Democratic Review,” both of which journals he has conducted with distinguished success. As a critic he has proved Judge Conrap occupies, perhaps, the first place among our Philadelphia literati. He has distin- guished himself both as a prose writer and a poet — not to speak of his high legal reputation. He has been a frequent contributor to the periodicals of this city, and, we believe, to one at least of the Eastern Reviews. His first production which attracted gen- eral notice was a tragedy entitled ‘‘ Conrad, King of Naples.’? It was performed at the Arch Street The- atre, and elicited applause from the more judicious, This play was succeeded by ‘“ Jack Cade,” per- formed at the Walnut Street Theatre, and lately modified and reproduced under the title of ‘ Ayl- pungent and otherwise excellent, although disfigured by a half comic half serious pedantry. His MS. has about it nothing strongly indicative of character. himself just, bold and acute, while his prose composi- tions geherally, evince the man of talent and taste. His MS. is not remarkably good, being somewhat too scratchy and tapering. We include him, of course, in the editorial category. mere.”? In its new dress, this drama has been one of the most successful ever written by an American, not only attracting crowded houses, but extorting the good word of our best critics. In occasional poetry Judge Conrad has also done well. His lines “ On a Blind Boy Soliciting Charity ”’ have been highly ad- mired, and many of his other pieces evince ability of a high order. His political fame is scarcely a topic for these pages, and is, moreover, too much a matter of common observation to need comment from us. His MS. is neat, legible, and forcible, evincing combined caution and spirit in a very remarkable degree. x & F i I a q if 4 : > ede ¢ § > /3 4 1h oan) } re, 4 % 5 " . = ‘ [Source scan page 32] ow. AUTOGRAPH Y. The chirography of Ex-President ApAams (whose poem, “‘ The Wants of Man,” has, of late, attracted so much attention,) is remarkable for a certain stea- diness of purpose pervading the whole, and over- P. P. Cooke, Esq., of Winchester, Va., is well known, especially in the South, as the author of nu- merous excellent contributions to the ‘ Southern Literary Messenger.” He has written some of the finest poetry of which America can boast. A little piece of his, entitled ‘“‘ Florence Vane,” and con- tributed to the ‘‘ Gentleman’s Magazine” of this city, during our editorship of that journal, was re- J. 2, Adons. markable for the high ideality it evinced, and for the Prof. Tuomas R. Dew, of William and Mary Col. lege in Virginia, was one of the able contributors who aided to establish the “‘ Southern Literary Messenger” in the days of its débat. His MS. is precisely in keeping with his literary character. Both are heavy, coming even the constitutional tremulousness of the writer’s hand. Wavering in every letter, the entire MS. has yet a firm, regular, and decisive appearance. It is also very legible. great delicacy and melody of its rhythm. It was universally admired and copied, as well here as in England. We saw it not long ago, as original, in Bentley’s Miscellany.” Mr. Cooke has, we believe, nearly ready for press, a novel called ‘* Maurice Wer- terbern,”” whose success we predict with confidence. His MS. is clear, forcible, and legible, but disfigured by some little of that affectation which is scarcely a | blemish in his literary style. massive, unornamented and diffuse in the extreme. His epistles seemed to have been scrawled with the stump of a quill dipped in very thick ink, and one or two words extend sometimes throughout a line. The signature is more compact than the general MS. Mr. J. BEaucHAMP Jones has been, we believe, connected for many years past with the lighter lite- rature of Baltimore, and at present edits the “ Balti- more Saturday Visiter,” with much judgment and general ability. He is the author of a series of pa- | pers of high merit now in course of publication in the “ Visiter,” and entitled ‘‘ Wild Western Scenes.” His MS. is distinct, and might be termed a fine one ; but is somewhat too much in consonance with the ordinary clerk style to be either graceful or forcible. Mr. Cuar.es J. Peterson has for a long time been connected with the periodical literature of Phi- ladelphia, as one of the editors of ‘‘Graham’s Maga- zine” and of ‘The Saturday Evening Post.” His MS., when unhurried, is a very good one—clear, weighty, and picturesque ; but when carelessly writ- ten is nearly illegible, on account of a too slight variation of form in the short letters. Mr. Burton is better knownas a comedian than as a literary man; but he has written many short prose articles of merit, and his quondam editorship of the ‘‘ Gentleman’s Magazine ”’ would, at all events, enti-. tle him to a place in this collection. He has, more- over, published one or two books. An annual issued by Carey and Hart in 1840, consisted entirely of prose contributions from himself, with poetical ones from Charles West Thompson, Esq. In this work many of the tales were good. Mr. Burton’s MS. is scratchy and petite, betoken- ing indecision ‘and care or caution. The whole chirography resembles that of Mr. Tasistro very nearly. a ¥ £ j as ae £ ha Pos ; a | Pe 7 > Md f tay [Source scan page 33] AUTOGRAPHY. RicHarD Henry WILDE, Esq., of Georgia, has ac- quired much reputation as a poet, and especially as the author of a little piece entitled “ My Life is like the Summer Rose,” whose claim to originality has been made the subject of repeated and reiterated at- tack and defence. Upon the whole it is hardly worth quarrelling about. Far better verses are to be found in every second newspaper we take up. Mr. Wilde has also lately published, or is about to publish, a ‘ Life of Tasso, for which he has been long collect- ing material. His MS. has all the and elabo- rate tastelessness of Mr. Palfrey’s, to which alto- gether it bears a marked resemblance. The love of effect, however, is more perceptible in Mr. Wilde’s than even in Mr. Palfrey’s. | G.G. Foster, Esq., has acquired much reputation, especially in the South and West, by his poetical con- tributions to the literature of the day. All his arti- cles breathe the true spirit. At one period he edited a weekly paper in Alabama; more lately the “ Bul- letin” at St. Louis; and, at present, he conducts the ‘¢ Pennant,” in that city, with distinguished ability. Not long ago he issued the prospectus of a monthly magazine. Should he succeed in getting the journal under way, there can be no doubt of his success. His MS. is remarkably clear and graceful ; evino- ing a keen sense of the beautiful. It seems, how- ever, to be somewhat deficient in force ; and his let- ters are never so well written in their conclusion as in their commencement. We have before remarked that this peculiarity in MSS. is a sure indication of Jatigability of temper. Few men who write thus are free from a certain vacillation of purpose. The signature above is rather heavier than that from which it was copied. Lewis Cass, the Ex-Secretary of War, has dis- tinguished himself as one of the finest belles-lettres scholars of America. At one period he was avery regular contributor to the ‘‘ Southern Literary Mes- senger,” and, even lately, he has furnished that jour- nal with one or two very excellent papers. JAMES Brooks, Esq., enjoys rather a private than a public literary reputation ; but his talents are un- questionably great, and his productions have been numerous and excellent. As the author of many of the celebrated Jack Downing letters, and as the repu- As the authorship of the Jack Downing letters is even still considered by many a moot point, (al- though in fact there should be no question about it,) and as we have already given the signature of Mr. Seba Smith, and (just above) of Mr. Brooks, we now present our readers with a fac-simile signature of His MS. is clear, deliberate and statesmanlike ; resembling that of Edward Everett very closely. It is not often that we see a