Virginia Vignettes

They were mad because of things he wrote as editor of Richmond’s Southern Literary Messenger. Poe began work at the journal in 1835, increasing its circulation, publishing his own stories and poems, and developing important contacts with the northern literary establishment. Still, Poe became best known for his caustic literary criticism, such as a December 1835 review of Theodore S. Fay’s novel, Norman Leslie: “We do not mean to say that there is positively nothing in Mr. Fay’s novel to commend-but there is indeed very little.” And about Morris Mattson’s Paul Ulric he wrote, in February 1836: “When we called Norman Leslie the silliest book in the world we had certainly never seen Paul Ulric.” That Fay was a darling of the New York literary establishment helped provoke a long-running feud between Poe and Lewis Gaylord Clark, editor of New York City’s Knickerbocker Magazine and an ardent defender of northern literary sensibilities. Poe and Clark insulted one another in print for years, with Clark, in 1845, calling Poe “‘nothing if not critical,’ and even less than nothing at that.” When Poe’s life began to unravel, such writers did not jump at the chance to assist him.

Further Reading:

Benjamin F. Fisher, ed. Poe and His Times: The Artist in His Milieu, (1990)

This Vignette Provided By

Benjamin Franklin Fisher IV, professor of English at the University of Mississippi