It is June 26, 2024, an already sweltering summer morning in New York City. But ensconced in the air conditioning within the lower-level auction room at the iconic Sotheby’s auction house, I’m feeling clammy and conflicted.
I am here to observe the auction of literary treasures from the Library of Dr. Rodney P. Swantko. In my role as director at Baltimore’s Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, my majority interest here is professional, specifically to report on the auction of four precious lots (out of forty-seven) of E. A. Poe items, including two original manuscripts, a set of first editions, and the Black Tulip herself, a copy of Tamerlane. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe the sale of the rarest of rare Poe pieces still in private hands.
My conflict this morning is born of heartbreak and terrible envy.
I had stopped in the day before to...
