In this week's Philadelphia City Paper, Edward Pettit makes a stirring argument that Edgar Allan Poe really belongs to Philadelphia - not Baltimore. Why? The bulk of his work was written in Philly. He brought his wife and mother to live in the city for several years. And there were business reasons, too:
Poe originally moved to the city because it was still one of the publishing centers of the country. Aspiring writers needed to be near the publishing houses that edited and printed the nation's books and magazines. Philadelphia was still the leader in magazine publishing, although soon it would be overtaken by New York City. "Poe's first engagement in Philadelphia [was] a part-time editorial job with Burton's Magazine," continues McKenna-Uff. "He parlayed that position into becoming editor for Graham's Magazine, one of the most successful magazines in the country. Between his reputation for writing imaginative fiction and withering reviews, his writings were sought after by many other periodicals around the nation." Poe's initial successes in the city diminished by 1844. Poe's irascibility and drinking problems, exacerbated by his wife's tuberculosis, began to alienate the editors whom Poe needed to court for work.
However, while living in Philadelphia, Poe wrote the bulk of his greatest work.
Laura Lippman, however, begs to differ:
What have you done for Poe lately, Philadelphia? We named our football team the Ravens. (Unfortunately, some illiterate named the snack bars in the stadium the "Craven.") We have a Poe room in our Central Library. We even have a housing project called the Poe Homes, no small tribute in Baltimore. And it is here, every Jan. 19, that the Poe Toaster comes to pay his respects. Granted, the memorial to Poe gets his birthday wrong, but it was the 19th century, before Google made fact-checking so much easier.
Look, Philly, Baltimore didn't back down when Virginia tried to make Poe its official poet, and we're not going to fold just because you say he belongs to you. What's next, a crab cake hoagie? FYI, the best crab cakes — those would be here — don't need no stinkin' bread. We've got the body. We've got two graves. Paraphrased the Raven: Nevermore pick this fight, Philadelphia, nevermore.
I gotta say, I hope this literary smackdown keeps going on with multiple parties involved. Be it resolved that Edgar Allan Poe belongs to every city that could possibly have some tenuous claim on him: go!
(Also, since it's the Books Quarterly, there are plenty of fiction and non-fiction reviews contributed by Cameron Hughes, Jen Miller, A.D. Amorsi and yours truly.)
Next: Who owns Chandler? USA vs. UK.
VG
Posted by: Victor Gischler | October 04, 2007 at 09:36 AM
I vote for who owns Gischler.
Posted by: Laura | October 04, 2007 at 11:25 AM
Yeah, yeah, but he had that wonderful cottage in the Bronx, too...New Yorkers have a stake in this...
Posted by: Rosemary Harris | October 04, 2007 at 12:08 PM
I heard Poe really loved NJ.
Posted by: Dave White | October 04, 2007 at 01:38 PM
Poe ran a wine bar in Wellington Leg until his subprime mortgage came due; then he moved to Philly.
Posted by: David Thayer | October 04, 2007 at 02:08 PM
To paraphrase another Philly icon, "Writers write." A statue at the art museum should seal the deal. At least until they move it.
Posted by: Christopher Cocca | October 04, 2007 at 02:28 PM
Poe courted a woman in Providence! Lovecraft wrote about it! Rhode Island, bring it on!!!
Posted by: toner_low | October 04, 2007 at 04:44 PM
Good Grief! Philadelphia has more history that you can shake a stick at!! They have the Revolutionary War. Now they want our Poe! I've already put the word out. We're going to circle the wagons around the Poe grave. Set up torches and post pickets.
Jeez! Who will they claim next? John Wilkes Booth?? Come to think of it....they can have him.
Jeff Jerome
Curator
Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum
Posted by: Jeff Jerome | October 04, 2007 at 08:25 PM
My shovel's in the car and I'm ready to head down I-95. Got me a body to resurrect!
Thanks for the shout-out, Sarah!
Posted by: Ed Pettit | October 04, 2007 at 08:31 PM
After watching the Phillies the past couple days, maybe the City of Brotherly Love has a legitimate claim, after all. They certainly seem to have wholeheartedly embraced the theme of "Nevermore." (Although they still have a lot of catching up to do in the gloom department with the weak and weary Orioles...)
Posted by: Dan | October 05, 2007 at 10:59 AM
And all this before Bouchercon '08? Baltimore fight back!
Posted by: Clea Simon | October 05, 2007 at 12:14 PM
We should get coffee at Cafe Edgar....IN NEW YORK
Posted by: Ed | October 05, 2007 at 04:48 PM
Is everybody fighting for their piece of the Poe..?
Posted by: Rosemary Harris | October 06, 2007 at 11:14 AM
Ooh, crab cake hoagie.
Posted by: Megan | October 08, 2007 at 12:07 PM
Poe truely belongs to Virginia! After all, it was here that he was born and here that his melancholy personality was formed. He attended the University of Virginia. His first job was with the Southern Literary Messenger, in Richmond Virginia. Many of his first poems were likely written there. And of course, the Poe Museum is in Richmond.
It's true, Philadelphia and Baltimore do have some tenuous claim to Poe, just as a mistress has some claim to her married lover. But in the end, the married man usually goes back to his wife, and Poe fans will always return to Virginia.
Thanks to the Poe Museum, for providing much of this information. You can check out the museum here: http://www.poemuseum.org
Posted by: Patrick Balester | October 15, 2007 at 09:58 PM