Page:The Raven; with literary and historical commentary.djvu/105

 Rh nothing further to be said, than to remain, very respectfully, the Reader's humble servant,

The author of this imposition was, according to the titlepage of the volume it appeared in, "Charles D. Gardette."

As another example of the ludicrously inane absurdities about Poe's Raven to which the American journals give publicity, may be cited the following communication, issued in the New Orleans Times, for July, 1870, and purporting to have been sent to the editor, from the Rev. J. Shaver, of Burlington, New Jersey, as an extract from a letter, dated Richmond, Sept. 29, 1849, written by Edgar Allan Poe to Mr. Daniels of Philadelphia. Some portions of the letter, it was alleged, could not be deciphered on account of its age and neglected condition:—

"Shortly before the death of our good friend, Samuel Fenwick, he sent to me from New York for publication a most beautiful and thrilling poem, which he called The Raven, wishing me, before printing it, to 'see if it had merit,' and to make any alterations that might appear necessary. So perfect was it in all its parts that the slightest improvement seemed to me impossible. But you know a person very often depreciates his own talents, and he even went so far as to suggest that in this instance, or in any future pieces he might contribute, I should revise and print them in my own name to insure their circulation.

"This proposal I rejected, of course, and one way or other delayed printing The Raven, until, as you know, it came out in The Review, and * * *. It was published when I was, unfortunately, intoxicated, and