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Edgar Allan Poe Letter Includes Apology for Drunken Behavior
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 10, 2009
Modified Mar 10, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 10, 2009
Modified Mar 10, 2009
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A letter from Edgar Allen Poe apologizing for his drunken behavior in New York City is being made public for the first time. In the letter, sent in 1842, Poe attempts to explain the reasons for his unspecified "queer" behavior to publishers J. and H.G. Langley: "Will you be so kind enough to put the best possible interpretation upon my behavior while in N-York? You must have conceived a queer idea of me - but the simple truth is that Wallace would insist upon the juleps, and I knew not what I was either doing or saying." The explanation comes amidst Poe's attempt to sell an article to the Langleys (they passed), and his pitch is prefaced by the confession that he's "desperately pushed for money." (Those juleps don't come cheap, even by 19th century standards.) Now The University of Virginia has acquired the letter, which until last week had been in private hands, and will include it in an exhibition celebrating the bicentennial of the author’s birth. (Poe attended U.Va. in 1826, where his beer pong skills are still legendary.) [Via Maud Newton.]
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drunk
edgar allan poe
julep
letter
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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