Issue

  • Publication Details

    • Journal

      • Southern Literary Messenger

    • Issue

      • January 1837 (Vol. 3, No. 1)

    • Editor(s)

      • The owner of theMessenger, Thomas Willis White, dismissed his assistant, Edgar A. Poe on January 3, after Poe had written most of the reviews for the January issue and had provisionally arranged the contents. White was, however, still discussing with Poe on January 17 how much of his "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" could be included in the January issue (Poe Log 239). In assuming Poe’s duties, White was thus obliged to work directly with the printer to manage page layout and spacing--which may have contributed to the delay. The March issue of 1837 was the first to identify White officially as editor and proprietor.

        Approximate publication date: After January 26, 1837.1 The issue thus appeared over a month late.2

    • Works Cited

      • Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson.The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe, 1809-1849. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1987.
      • Minor, Benjamin Blake.The Southern Literary Messenger, 1834-1864. 1905. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2007.

  • Table of Contents (sequential)

    • "A Visit To My Native Village" by "the Author of Letters from the South, Dutchman’s Fireside, &c." [James Kirke Paulding] (pp. 1-5)
    • "Ballad" by E[dgar]. A. Poe (p. 5)
    • "Lines on the Death of Wolfe" by [William Maxwell] (p. 6)
    • "Angel Visits" by [William Maxwell] (p. 6)
    • "A Literary Man" by [Henry Edward Van Winkle] (pp. 6-9)
    • Glimpses into the Biography of a Nameless Traveller, Chap. I by [Henry Edward Van Winkle] (pp. 9-11)
    • "The Learned Languages, No. II" by M[atthew]. Carey (pp. 11-13)
    • Arthur Gordon Pym, No. I by E[dgar]. A. Poe (pp. 13-16)
    • "Our Portion" by "Nitor" (pp. 17-18)
    • "A Letter From the other side of the Atlantic" by Robert Walsh, Jr. (pp. 18-21)
    • "Niagra" by Eliza [Gookin Thorton] (pp. 21-22)
    • "The Indian Captive, As Related by a First Settler" by Horatio King (pp. 22-24)
    • "Moses Smiting the Rock" by N[athan]. C[ovington]. Brooks (p. 25)
    • "Study of the Law" by [Edgar S. Van Winkle] (pp. 25-31)
    • "Imitated From the Old Provençal" by [Conway Robinson] (p. 31)
    • "MSS. Of Th: Jefferson" by Thomas Jefferson [provided by William John Duane] (pp. 31-32)
    • "Sonnet. To Zante." by E[dgar]. A. Poe (p. 32)
    • "Philosophy of Antiquity, No. II" by [Conway Robinson] (pp. 32-34)
    • "The Lapse of Years" by F.S. (p. 34)
    • "Verbal Criticisms, &c" by [William Duane, Jr.] (pp. 34-35)
    • "Johann Peter Uz" by Mrs. E[lizabeth]. F[ries]. [Lummis] Ellet (pp. 35-37)
    • "Rights of Authors" by [William Scott] (pp. 37-39)
    • "Right of Instruction" by Judge Joseph Hopkinson (pp. 39-40)
    • "Walk with the Lord" by Mrs. L[ydia]. H[oward]. [Huntley] Sigourney (p. 40)
    • "Stanzas. On hearing the Church Bell" by Judge Henry Thompson (p. 40)
    • "Bryant," Review of William Cullen Bryant’s Poems by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 41-49)
    • "George Balcomb," Review of Judge [Nathaniel] Beverley Tucker’s George Balcomb by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 49-58)
    • "Astoria," Review of Washington Irving’s Astoria by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 59-68)
    • "South-Sea Expedition," Review of J. N. Reynold’s "Address" by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 68-72)
    • "Anthon’s Cicero," Review of Charles Anthon’s "Select Orations of Cicero" by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (p. 72)
    • "E. A. Poe’s resignation of Editorship" by [Edgar A. Poe] (p. 72)
    • "The Partisan Leader," Review of [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker’s] The Partisan Leader by [Abel Parker Upshur] (pp. 73-89)
    • "Bulwer’s New Play," Review of [Edward Bulwer Lytton’s] The Duchess de la Valliere by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (pp. 90-95)
    • "Loan to the Messenger, No. VI," [a reprinted selection of Grenville Mellen’s "Stanzas Presented to a Bride on the Morning of Her Marriage"] by J[ames]. F. O[tis]. (p. 95)
    • "Lines" by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 95)
    • "Enigma de J. J. Rousseau" by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 95)
    • "To Miss L. H. W." by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 96)
    • "To Fancy" by "Fergus" (p. 96)
    • "La Feuille Desechée" and "The Withered Leaf" (translated) by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 96)
    • "To the Patrons of the Southern Literary Messenger" by Thomas W[illis]. White (p. 96)

  • Table of Contents (Genre)

    • Non-fictional prose

      • Articles

        • "A Visit To My Native Village" by "the Author of Letters from the South, Dutchman’s Fireside, &c." [James Kirke Paulding] (p. 1-5)
        • "Angel Visits" by [William Maxwell] (p. 6)
        • "The Learned Languages, No. II" by M[atthew]. Carey (pp. 11-13)
        • "A Letter From the other side of the Atlantic" by Robert Walsh, Jr. (pp. 18-21)
        • "Study of the Law" by [Edgar S. Van Winkle] (pp. 25-31)
        • "Philosophy of Antiquity, No. II" by [Conway Robinson] (pp. 32-34)
        • "Verbal Criticisms, &c" by [William Duane, Jr.] (pp. 34-35)
        • "Johann Peter Uz" by Mrs. E[lizabeth]. F[ries]. [Lummis] Ellet (pp. 35-37)
        • "Rights of Authors" by [William Scott] (pp. 37-39)
        • "Right of Instruction" by Judge Joseph Hopkinson (pp. 39-40)

      • Editorial comments

        • "E. A. Poe’s resignation of Editorship" by [Edgar A. Poe] (p. 72)
        • "To the Patrons of the Southern Literary Messenger" by Thomas W[illis]. White (p. 96)

      • MSS.

        • "MSS. Of Th: Jefferson" by Thomas Jefferson [provided by William John Duane] (pp. 31-32)

      • Reviews

        • "Bryant," Review of William Cullen Bryant’s Poems by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 41-49)
        • "George Balcomb," Review of Judge [Nathaniel] Beverley Tucker’s George Balcomb by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 49-58)
        • "Astoria," Review of Washington Irving’s Astoria by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 59-68)
        • "South-Sea Expedition," Review of J. N. Reynold’s "Address" by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 68-72)
        • "Anthon’s Cicero," Review of Charles Anthon’s "Select Orations of Cicero" by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (p. 72)
        • "E. A. Poe’s resignation of Editorship" by [Edgar A. Poe] (p. 72)
        • "The Partisan Leader," Review of [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker’s] The Partisan Leader by [Abel Parker Upshur] (pp. 73-89)
        • "Bulwer’s New Play," Review of [Edward Bulwer Lytton’s] The Duchess de la Valliere by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (pp. 90-95)

    • Prose fiction

      • Original tales

        • "The Indian Captive, As Related by a First Settler" by Horatio King (pp. 22-24)

      • Original Serialized novels

        • "A Literary Man" by [Henry Edward Van Winkle] (pp. 6-9)
        • andGlimpses into the Biography of a Nameless Traveller, Chap. I by [Henry Edward Van Winkle] (pp. 9-11)
        • Arthur Gordon Pym, No. I by E[dgar]. A. Poe (pp. 13-16)

    • Poetry

      • Original

        • "Ballad" by E[dgar]. A. Poe (p. 5)
        • "Lines on the Death of Wolfe" by [William Maxwell] (p. 6)
        • "Our Portion" by "Nitor" (pp. 17-18)
        • "Niagra" by Eliza [Gookin Thorton] (pp. 21-22)
        • "Moses Smiting the Rock" by N[athan]. C[ovington]. Brooks (p. 25)
        • "Imitated From the Old Provençal" by [Conway Robinson] (p. 31)
        • "Sonnet. To Zante." by E[dgar]. A. Poe (p. 32)
        • "The Lapse of Years" by F.S. (p. 34)
        • "Walk with the Lord" by Mrs. L[ydia]. H[oward]. [Huntley] Sigourney (p. 40)
        • "Stanzas. On hearing the Church Bell" by Judge Henry Thompson (p. 40)
        • "Lines" by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 95)
        • "Enigma de J. J. Rousseau" by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 95)
        • "To Miss L. H. W." by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 96)
        • "To Fancy" by "Fergus" (p. 96)
        • "La Feuille Desechée" and "The Withered Leaf" (translated) by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 96)

      • Reprinted

        • "Loan to the Messenger, No. VI," [a reprinted selection of Grenville Mellen’s "Stanzas Presented to a Bride on the Morning of Her Marriage"] by J[ames]. F. O[tis]. (p. 95)

  • Cultural Threads

    • Classicism

      • "Study of the Law" by [Edgar S. Van Winkle] (pp. 25-31)
      • "Sonnet. To Zante." by E[dgar]. A. Poe (p. 32)
      • "Anthon’s Cicero," Review of Charles Anthon’s "Select Orations of Cicero" by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (p. 72)

    • Discovery and exploration

      • Arthur Gordon Pym, No. I by E[dgar]. A. Poe (pp. 13-16)
      • "Astoria," Review of Washington Irving’sAstoria by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 59-68)
      • "South-Sea Expedition," Review of J. N. Reynold’s "Address" by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 68-72)

    • Feminine beauty—Aesthetics

      • "Ballad" by E[dgar]. A. Poe (p. 5)
      • "Angel Visits" by [William Maxwell] (p. 6)
      • "Imitated From the Old Provençal" by [Conway Robinson] (p. 31)
      • "Loan to the Messenger, No. VI," [a reprinted selection of Grenville Mellen’s "Stanzas Presented to a Bride on the Morning of Her Marriage"] by J[ames]. F. O[tis]. (p. 95)
      • "Lines" by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 95)

    • Mortality in art

      • "A Visit To My Native Village" by "the Author ofLetters from the South,Dutchman’s Fireside, &c." [James Kirke Paulding] (pp. 1-5)
      • "Angel Visits" by [William Maxwell] (p. 6)
      • "Our Portion" by "Nitor" (pp. 17-18)
      • "The Lapse of Years" by F.S. (p. 34)
      • "Stanzas. On hearing the Church Bell" by Judge Henry Thompson (p. 40)
      • "La Feuille Desechée" and "The Withered Leaf" (translated) by [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker] (p. 96)

    • Nationalism—United States

      • Glimpses into the Biography of a Nameless Traveller, Chap. I by [Henry Edward Van Winkle] (pp. 9-11)
      • "MSS. Of Th: Jefferson" by Thomas Jefferson [provided by William John Duane] (pp. 31-32)
      • "George Balcomb," Review of Judge [Nathaniel] Beverley Tucker’sGeorge Balcomb by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 49-58)
      • "South-Sea Expedition," Review of J. N. Reynold’s "Address" by Mr. [Edgar A.] Poe (pp. 68-72)
      • "The Partisan Leader," Review of [Nathaniel Beverley Tucker’s]The Partisan Leader by [Abel Parker Upshur] (pp. 73-89)

  • Commentary

    • The January 1837 issue of theSouthern Literary Messenger is significant because it contains the first magazine installment of what would becomeThe Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, and it was the last issue which Poe had a hand in editing. In his letters, Thomas White claims to have dismissed Poe for irregular behavior (probably intoxication). However, White also faced a cash shortage in the aftermath of Andrew Jackson’s Specie Circular—a topic that James Kirke Paulding takes up in this issue’s "A Visit to My Native Village After an Absence of Thirty Years." The contents of the January 1837Messenger indeed reflect a range of antebellum issues. Scott’s "Rights of Authors" broaches the copyright issue that would a few years later obsess Poe. Nationalist pride figures in Thomas Jefferson’s letter affirming the superiority of American republican government to British monarchy. But we also see hints of sectional mistrust in Abel Parker Upshur’s review of Nathaniel Beverley Tucker’sThe Partisan Leader, an 1836 novel that prefigures a civil war between North and South. Poe’s "Pym" initiates a tale of adventure at sea but also resonates with his own review of J.N. Reynolds’s call for a US "South-Sea Expedition." Lauding the proposal by Reynolds, Poe underscores the potential scientific and commercial benefits to the nation. Elsewhere, Horatio King’s "The Indian Captive as Related by a First Settler" tells of a white boy captured in a border attack, preserved by a loyal Indian, and at last restored to his family. Other contents similarly appeal to sentimentalism or to religious piety.

  1. Poe Log:http://www.eapoe.org/papers/misc1921/tplgc04b.htm↩

  2. SLM usually strove to put out issues "on or very near the 20th of each month preceding the one for which it was dated" (Minor 62).↩

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