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13 November 1841
Nathaniel Parker Willis to Edgar Allan Poe — 13 November 1841
Two-page handwritten letter from Willis to Poe concerning contributions to periodicals and Willis’s existing agreement with Godey.
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About this source
Writing from Glenmary on 13 November 1841, Nathaniel Parker Willis discusses contributing to periodicals and explains his existing agreement with Godey for 1842. His letter to Poe offers a glimpse of the commitments and negotiations behind magazine publishing. Both handwritten pages are shown here.
- Date
- 13 November 1841
- Reference collection
- Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin
- Collection reference
- Edgar Allan Poe collection, MS-03283, container 2.39
The manuscript dateline and the Harry Ransom Center finding aid identify the date as 13 November 1841. The letter is listed in collection MS-03283, container 2.39. The item-only PDF below contains the complete selected item and its corrected transcript. Separate PDFs derived from the existing archival reading edition/transcription, retaining its uncertainty flags. This reformatting does not establish facts beyond the source or resolve earlier source limitations.
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Image PDF - source pages only
All source-view pages separated from the existing combined reading edition without changing their page content.
PDF · 30.0 MB · 2 pages
Download ↓Item-only PDF — original scan and reviewed transcript
The complete item, cropped from the original pages, followed by a corrected, selectable transcript. Historical wording is retained. Unrelated articles and surrounding page material are excluded. Both manuscript leaves are included; later pencil annotations are excluded from the transcript.
PDF · 30.0 MB · 3 pages
Download ↓Poe — imagined reading
An imagined literary reading of the corrected transcript, generated with Scriptorium. This synthetic voice is not a historical recording of Poe or Willis. Both manuscript leaves are included; later pencil annotations are excluded from the transcript.
MP3 audio · 559.6 KB · 1:06
Download ↓Reviewed transcript
Corrected against the original scan, with the wording of this historical edition retained. Reviewed 24 September 2026. Both manuscript leaves are included; later pencil annotations are excluded from the transcript.
Text · 866 bytes
Download ↓Text PDF - full transcription
Complete available archival transcription typeset as selectable text, preserving existing uncertainty flags.
PDF · 24.0 KB · 1 pages
Download ↓Transcription — willis-to-poe-1841-text-only.pdf
Full text extracted from the record's prepared transcription PDF (willis-to-poe-1841-text-only.pdf) on 2026-10-27. Transcription of the handwritten original, image-compared during preparation; see the source PDF header for its stated limitations.
Text · 1.3 KB
Download ↓Willis to Poe — page 1, full-size scan
First handwritten page of Willis’s letter to Poe, dated 13 November 1841. Full-size scan.
JPEG image · 6.8 MB · Letter page 1
Download ↓Willis to Poe — page 1, reading copy
First handwritten page of Willis’s letter to Poe, dated 13 November 1841. Smaller reading copy.
JPEG image · 931.5 KB · Letter page 1
Download ↓Willis to Poe — page 2, full-size scan
Second handwritten page, continuing the same letter. Full-size scan.
JPEG image · 6.9 MB · Letter page 2
Download ↓Willis to Poe — page 2, reading copy
Second handwritten page, continuing the same letter. Smaller reading copy.
JPEG image · 891.9 KB · Letter page 2
Download ↓Reading text
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Reviewed transcript
Reading transcription · Review label: Known limitations
Glenmary Nov. 13, 1841.
Dear Sir
Your letter of the 10th finds me under an Engagement to your neighbor Mr. Godey to write for no other periodical in Philadelphia during the year 1842. In that year I am to write him an article a month. I see however by his literary notices that he is bon ami with Mr. Graham, and, with Mr. Godey’s “let-up” I am very happy to promise you the best I can do for your Magazine. My predilections I may say are very much with you — but my quill must eke out my short crops, & Mr. Godey’s very liberal engagement holds me.
As he wants only prose however, perhaps he will release me in rhyme.
Would you think it too much trouble to send me the No. of your Mag. containing my own autograph. I hear of it but have not seen it.
Yours very truly
N. P. Willis
Edgar A. Poe Esq.
Please make my respects acceptable to Mr. Graham.
Transcription — willis-to-poe-1841-text-only.pdf
Reading transcription · Review label: Known limitations
Nathaniel Parker Willis to Edgar Allan Poe — 13 November 1841
Full text from the existing archival transcription. Original uncertainty flags retained; line wrapping and typography reflowed. The
separate Image PDF contains all source-view pages from the earlier combined edition. This does not expand an excerpt into a
complete issue or volume.
Glenmary Nov. 13, 1841.
Dear Sir
Your letter of the 10th finds me under an Engagement to your neighbor Mr. Godey to write for
no other periodical in Philadelphia during the year 1842. In that year I am to write him an
article a month. I see however by his literary notices that he is bon ami with Mr. Graham, and,
with Mr. Godey’s “let-up” I am very happy to promise you the best I can do for your Magazine.
My predilections I may say are very much with you — but my quill must eke out my short
crops, & Mr. Godey’s very liberal engagement holds me.
As he wants only prose however, perhaps he will release me in rhyme.
Would you think it too much trouble to send me the No. of your Mag. containing my own
autograph. I hear of it but have not seen it.
Yours very truly
N. P. Willis
Edgar A. Poe Esq.
Please make my respects acceptable to Mr. Graham.
Crypt of Echoes | Text PDF | Source limitations and uncertainty flags retained 1
Citation & reuse
“Nathaniel Parker Willis to Edgar Allan Poe — 13 November 1841.” 13 November 1841. Crypt of Echoes evidence ID LED-2026-9c146fc6da1748f0bbc3e056abaad7ae. https://cryptofechoes.com/evidence/LED-2026-9c146fc6da1748f0bbc3e056abaad7ae. Accessed [date].
Catalogue citation: Nathaniel Parker Willis; Edgar Allan Poe. Nathaniel Parker Willis to Edgar Allan Poe — 13 November 1841. 13 November 1841. Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. Edgar Allan Poe collection, MS-03283, container 2.39. https://research.hrc.utexas.edu/fasearch/findingaid.cfm?eadid=00109.
Historical underlying material; original repository attribution retained. The digital surrogate is preserved without alteration.
Technical archive record ↓