A Visit to the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

While in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to attend my first ALA Midwinter Meeting, I visited the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. Situated on the northern edge of the city, the historic site is managed by the National Park Service.
 

Photo taken by the author of this blog.

On a bracingly cold but sunny Friday afternoon, I arrived at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site and discovered that it's comprised of two adjoining houses. The house on the left is where Poe lived, along with his wife Virginia, who was ill with tuberculosis, and his mother-in-law Maria, who managed the household and took care of her sick daughter and often melancholy son-in-law. The Poes lived at the North 7th Street residence, located just north of Spring Garden Street, in the early 1840s. At the time, it was a predominantly Quaker suburb.
 

The front view of the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia.
Photo taken by the author of this blog.

I entered the historic site through the house on the right. Inside the house on the right are a welcome area, gift shop, screening room, reading room, and a handful of exhibits that feature few actual artifacts. The National Park Service employee who was seated at a desk just inside the entrance was incredibly friendly and seemed really glad to see me. Right away, I got the impression that the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site doesn't get many visitors. After warmly greeting me, the Park Service employee darted back to his desk to answer a phone call and I began to walk around, browsing the exhibits.
 

Just inside the front entrance is the welcome center and gift shop - and a friendly Park Service employee.
Photo taken by the author of this blog.

As I mentioned earlier, there are few actual artifacts on display at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site. The exhibits are basically placards that explain the Poes' life in the residence and their life in Philadelphia at the time, and they also paint a biological portrait of Edgar Allan Poe as a man and as a struggling, often tormented writer. Much of what is on display are recent artistic interpretations of the likeness of Poe and assorted reproductions of photographs, pamphlets, and other materials. However, there is a rare 1843 printing of Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart," published in The Pioneer: A Literary and Critical Magazine, available for viewing. There were no restrictions on picture-taking.
 

The sort of exhibit you'll see at the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.
Photo taken by the author of this blog.

Shortly after I arrived, I and the two other visitors to the historic site were rounded up by the Park Service employee to watch a documentary about Poe in a small screening room. Produced many years ago, the documentary was brief and expertly narrated, giving wonderful insight into the creative, tortured genius responsible for such haunting poems as "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee" and classic short stories like "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Pit and the Pendulum." Speaking of "The Raven" - perhaps Poe's most famous poem - the large black bird loomed everywhere throughout the premises, including in a statue outside of the building and atop a book display in the gift shop.
 

Just one of the ravens - this one in the gift shop - you'll spot at the historic site.
Photo taken by the author of this blog.

After the documentary on Poe ended, I and the other visitors were allowed to roam freely in the adjacent house on the left, where Poe actually lived with his ailing wife Virginia and industrious mother-in-law Maria. The house is three stories tall and has a cellar (where the public restrooms and water fountain are located), and each story is accessible via a shockingly narrow and steep stairwell.
 

A typical room inside the former Poe residence, in a decaying state and absent of furnishings.
Photo taken by the author of this blog.

None of the rooms in the house contain any original furnishings or decorations, just small signs or rectangular brown plaques explaining the activities that could've taken place in these rooms. The rooms, which are in various states of decrepitude, aren't completely barren, however. There are nicknacks scattered throughout, perhaps placed there by Park Service workers or by playful visitors to the historic site. For instance, I don't think this orange orangutang stuffed animal, which I spotted on one of the shelves in the rooms, belonged to any of the Poes or says much in particular about what life was like in the residence.
 

Which of the Poes had a fondness for orangutangs?
Photo taken by the author of this blog.

The tours of the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site are "self-guided," and as I said earlier, there are no restrictions on picture-taking. It's completely free to visit the site, which is open to the public Friday through Sunday, from 9 a.m. to noon and then from 1 to 5 p.m. (It is closed for one hour so that the Park Service employee gets a break for lunch.) No reservations are required beforehand for either individuals or families, but if you plan on seeing the historic site as part of a large group - perhaps as a class or as part of an organization - then you will need to make a reservation, which you can do online.
 

Plenty of enticing souvenirs on sale inside the gift shop.
Photo taken by the author of this blog.

The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is a bit off the beaten path, especially if you're staying in the Center City area of Philadelphia, but it's totally worth a visit. It's easily accessible by bus or subway, but if you're new to Philadelphia and aren't feeling brave enough to tackle the public transit system, then take a cab to the historic site. I chose to walk there, which I don't recommend doing because some of the streets just south of the historic site are a bit sketchy and not really suitable for pedestrians. (Don't walk north along 6th Street!) Once there, you'll be welcomed by a National Park Service employee who is truly friendly and highly knowledgeable about Edgar Allan Poe and his peripatetic existence.
 

Photo taken by the author of this blog.

For more info on the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site, click on THIS LINK.

T.S. Eliot Gets the Comics Treatment

I've been a fan of comics since my childhood days of sitting cross-legged on the floor of the family den with copies of Marvel's Fantastic Four. (Do you remember the ads for the sea monkeys in the back?) The level of artistry and detail involved would captivate me for hours at a time. And who could resist a good story? 

Today, my admiration for the comics genre is just as strong. I've especially come to appreciate talent that is outside the mainstream. Take for instance Julian Peters, a comic book artist and illustrator who is based in Montreal, Canada.

In recent years, Julian Peters has been furiously adapting classic poems into comics. Among the many works that he has brought to life in comics form are "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats, "Annabel Lee" by Edgar Allan Poe, and "Le Bateau Ivre" and "Sensations" by Arthur Rimbaud.

One of his latest is a striking adaptation of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot. Wonderfully illustrated, the comic expertly illuminates in black and white the inner monologue of the pained subject of Eliot's 1915 poem. Peters' intricate shadowing technique, razor-sharp attention to detail, and obvious mastery of creating an illusion of depth only heighten the anguish and sense of foreboding that plague the titular Prufrock.

You can admire the artistry of Julian Peters' adaptation of "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" at THIS LINK. While you're at the artist's website, check out his other comics and illustrative work. You're quite likely to be blown away!

All above illustrations are from http://julianpeterscomics.com

Poe at the Morgan Library & Museum

In time for Halloween, the Morgan Library & Museum in New York is hosting an exhibit on a writer whose classic works still give modern-day readers the willies. 

An image of Poe on display at the Morgan Library & Museum.
From http://www.themorgan.org

Aptly titled "Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul," the exhibit features a plethora of items, including handwritten letters, poem and short story manuscripts, early printed editions, literary criticism printed in contemporary publications, daguerreotypes and other images of Poe, and even a fragment of Poe's original coffin. How's that for spooky?

Among the literary works on display are "Annabel Lee and The Bell in his own hand; one of the earliest printings of The Raven; the first printing of The Cask of Amontillado; and an unprecedented three copies of Tamerlane, Poe's earliest published work and one of the rarest books in American literature," according to the Morgan Library & Museum.

Also on view, says the Morgan on its website, are "lesser-known writings, including A Reviewer Reviewed - Poe's never-before-exhibited critique of his own work, written under a pseudonym - and the author's annotated copy of his last published book, Eureka, [that] provide a more complete picture of this complex writer."

There are nearly 100 items to see, all from the Morgan's holdings and the Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature at the New York Public Library. They will be on display through January 26, 2014, so even if you aren't in New York for Halloween, you'll still have a chance to check them out. Any hardcore fan of Poe would be seriously remiss if he or she didn't do so.

For more on the "Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the Soul" exhibit at the Morgan Library & Museum, go to THIS LINK and THIS LINK as well.

Travel Destinations for Book Lovers

It's incredible to think that in a week, it will be August already. The summer is going by so quickly! This means if you haven't gone on a summer vacation yet, then time's a-wastin'. If you're a book lover, you might seriously want to consider one of the "50 Places Every Literary Fan Should Visit," according to Flavorwire.
 

Edgar Allen Poe's Memorial Grave in Baltimore, Maryland.
Image via Flavorwire

There are so many literary landmarks worth checking out, both in the United States and abroad. In Dublin, Ireland, there are Oscar Wilde's childhood home and Jame Joyce's old stomping grounds. In England, there are Jane Austen's House and Museum (Hampshire), museums dedicated to Charles Dickens (London) and the Brontë sisters (West Yorkshire), and Monk's House (East Sussex), the cottage purchased by Virginia and Leonard Woolf. Of course there's Pere LaChaise, where Wilde, Marcel Proust, Colette, and other wordsmiths are buried, and Les Deux Magots, the cafe where Joyce, Simone de Beauvoir, Ernest Hemingway, and others conversed; both are in Paris, France.

Stateside, there are the Hemingway Birthplace and Museum (Oak Park, Illinois), the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library (Indianapolis, Indiana), F. Scott Fitzgerald's birthplace (St. Paul, Minnesota), the Emily Dickinson Museum (Amherst, Massachusetts), the Edward Gorey House (Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts), John Updike's home (Shillington, Pennsylvania), the Algonquin Hotel - formerly home of the infamous Algonquin Roundtable, where witticisms rolled off the tongues of Dorothy Parker and others (New York, NY), the Edgar Allen Poe Museum (Richmond, Virginia), and the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum (Atlanta, Georgia). If you're ever in Baltimore, Maryland, you should visit Poe's grave, which is at the southeast corner of Fayette and Greene Streets.

Believe it or not, this is just a small sampling of places for book lovers to visit. There are so many more literary hotspots to see in the United States, Europe, Canada, Russia, Africa, and South America. So break out your suitcases, travel planner, and credit card so that you can see one (or more) of the "50 Places Every Literary Fan Should Visit" before summer ends.

Only This Poe Cake, and Nothing More

 From http://bookriot.com/2012/11/19/eat-this-book-cakes

Poe as You've Never Experienced Him Before

I love traditional books. I really do. I'm such a devotee of the paper book that I can honestly say that owning an e-reader is not in my foreseeable future. But I have to admit...whenever I witness the highly interactive nature of digital stories, my mind gets completely blown. Like with iPoe.

Image via https://www.iphonelife.com

iPoe is a collection of four Edgar Allan Poe stories - "The Oval Portrait," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Masque of the Red Death," and "Annabel Lee" - that have been creatively reinterpreted for digital consumption via the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. The "illustrated & interactive" nature of this reinterpretation is positively stunning. Take a look:

With amazing illustrations by David Garcia Fores and a haunting soundtrack by Teo Grimalt, iPoe allows for a breathtakingly unique revisitation of Edgar Allan Poe's work for longtime fans. Plus, it's sure to attract a new, younger group of readers to his timeless tales. Extras include a biography of Poe and a collection of the illustrator's sketches. Text is available in English, Spanish, and French.

iPoe is from Spanish developer Play Creatividad and is available via the App Store.

James Earl Jones Reads Poe's Poem 'The Raven'

Does listening to revered actors of the stage and screen read from classic works ever get old?

James Earl Jones (photo: http://blogs.indiewire.com)

First, we had Christopher Walken reading Where the Wild Things Are, the beloved children's book by Maurice Sendak (RIP). Now we have James Earl Jones reading "The Raven." In his unmistakably deep and distinguished-sounding voice, the award-winning Jones reads the haunting narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe. You can listen in the YouTube video below.