“If what I have written is to circulate at all,” Poe wrote in the preface to The Raven and Other Poems, “I am naturally anxious that it should circulate as I wrote it.” To truly read Poe's words as he wrote them, of course, one must view original manuscripts. These were on display in abundance at “Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul,” an exhibition on view at the Morgan Library from October 4, 2013, through January 26, 2014. The exhibit includes more than thirty manuscript poems, tales, and letters in Poe's hand, including many of his most important works.
This is not the first time the Morgan has honored Poe with an exhibition. “Poe: The Ardent Imagination,” held on the 150th anniversary of Poe's death in 1999, showed some fifty manuscript and printed items from the Morgan's own collection. “Terror of the Soul” puts many of the highlights...
