[Edward William Johnston at Washington City to Thomas Willis White [at Richmond, Virginia], August 29, 1842. Container 9.7, Edgar Allan Poe Collection, The University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center. Note that in the original, Johnston's text frequently employs the old-fashioned "long s" -- i.e., when the letter "s" is doubled up in a word, the first "s" looks more like a lower case "f."]
Notes:
Johnston informs "My dear White" that he received White's letter and the enclosed $20 that morning. The money was probably for one of Edward's articles, either an anonymous piece or one signed "E.W.J."
Here is the main probability:
"Genealogy of Ideas," Southern Literary Messenger; Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts. Volume VIII, Number 9 (September 1842), pages 548-555. Richmond, Virginia: T. W. White. Link here. He may have had something to do with this article, too: "NAPOLEON, WELLINGTON, &C.," translated from a French feuilleton, pages 593-599.
And here is a later publication also signed "E.W.J.:"
"The Politics and History of the Dance," Southern Literary Messenger; Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts. Volume XII, Number 7 (July 1846), pages 401-409. Link here.
In the letter, Johnston notes that he will prepare a sequel, though he is also engaged in "[s]peech writing."
He intends to go to Philadelphia on the evening of August 31, 1842, spend "about a week there: "I shall employ my vacant hours finishing the 'Genealogy.'
He then offers his critique of other articles in the Number 9 (September 1842) issue, of which he presumably had a galley copy.
The College of William & Mary's professor Charles Minnigerode's "The Greek Dramatists" might make sense to Germans, but "to English people, such things are utterly unintelligible."
John Robert's play in five acts, "Riego; or, the Spanish Martyr" "is balderdash."
"Extracts from the Journal of an American Naval Officer," Johnston opines, "has merit."
Also acceptable, Philip St. George Cocke's "Scenes and Adventures in the Army."
As for Jane Tayloe Lomax's "Moonlight on the Grave," she is "more poetical in prose than in verse."
"The Critic," a sonnet attributed to Lord Byron was not so, but rather "perhaps" composed by Francis "Frank" Scott Key.
"You Scotch poet is much the best in the No."
"I always criticize, thanks or no thanks."
"In haste yours
Ed. W. Johnston"
Notes:
Johnston informs "My dear White" that he received White's letter and the enclosed $20 that morning. The money was probably for one of Edward's articles, either an anonymous piece or one signed "E.W.J."
Here is the main probability:
"Genealogy of Ideas," Southern Literary Messenger; Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts. Volume VIII, Number 9 (September 1842), pages 548-555. Richmond, Virginia: T. W. White. Link here. He may have had something to do with this article, too: "NAPOLEON, WELLINGTON, &C.," translated from a French feuilleton, pages 593-599.
And here is a later publication also signed "E.W.J.:"
"The Politics and History of the Dance," Southern Literary Messenger; Devoted to Every Department of Literature and the Fine Arts. Volume XII, Number 7 (July 1846), pages 401-409. Link here.
In the letter, Johnston notes that he will prepare a sequel, though he is also engaged in "[s]peech writing."
He intends to go to Philadelphia on the evening of August 31, 1842, spend "about a week there: "I shall employ my vacant hours finishing the 'Genealogy.'
He then offers his critique of other articles in the Number 9 (September 1842) issue, of which he presumably had a galley copy.
The College of William & Mary's professor Charles Minnigerode's "The Greek Dramatists" might make sense to Germans, but "to English people, such things are utterly unintelligible."
John Robert's play in five acts, "Riego; or, the Spanish Martyr" "is balderdash."
"Extracts from the Journal of an American Naval Officer," Johnston opines, "has merit."
Also acceptable, Philip St. George Cocke's "Scenes and Adventures in the Army."
As for Jane Tayloe Lomax's "Moonlight on the Grave," she is "more poetical in prose than in verse."
"The Critic," a sonnet attributed to Lord Byron was not so, but rather "perhaps" composed by Francis "Frank" Scott Key.
"You Scotch poet is much the best in the No."
"I always criticize, thanks or no thanks."
"In haste yours
Ed. W. Johnston"
[Many thanks to Natalie Zelt, American Studies -- who in June 2014 was Public Services Intern at the Harry Ransom Center -- for assisting in scanning and processing the original letter at that time.]
[Thomas Willis White (1788-1843), founding editor and publisher of The Southern Literary Messenger, which began publication in 1834.
Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
[Many thanks to William Myers, Mary Davy, Sally Young and Sue Davis for their ongoing research collaboration.]
[Thomas Willis White (1788-1843), founding editor and publisher of The Southern Literary Messenger, which began publication in 1834.
Edward William Johnston (1799-1867)
[Many thanks to William Myers, Mary Davy, Sally Young and Sue Davis for their ongoing research collaboration.]
$20 in 1842 = about $550 in early 2017.
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