How appropriate that Poe would leave us with a mystery upon his death. One Halloween I visited the home he once occupied in Philadelphia, which left a strong impression on me--especially the cellar.
Aah. I'll have to add Poe to my Holy Crap Read This Before Death list. My stack of books on this list is already taller than me. Life's just too short to absorb *all* the Good Bits, isn't it.
The article kept saying this person "called" that person, who "called" somebody else. But the phone had not been invented yet. How did they communicate? Telegraph?
Oh ok. Thanks. So I guess that means everybody was nearby. I knew there had to be some sort of explanation. Communication was slow back before electricity and cars.
I think it would mean he was in Baltimore, they needed to call upon certain people. This could have been by telegraph if there was access, as you suggested, or by private messenger, (Hey, kid, go tell Mr or Dr So-n-So they are needed at X address). Messengers were used for certain classes of people like Drs or politicians or other civic workers especially in an urban environment.
There is an excellent, if complicated, historical novel, The Lighthouse at the End of the World, regarding the last days of Edgar Allan Poe, featuring Poe's detective, C. Auguste Dupin. Written by Stephen Marlowe.
If you check out the "Official Memoranda of Death..", the doctor (JJ Moran) who was treating Poe as he died.. didn't describe any physical injuries on Poe. The theory that Poe was beaten just hours before being taken to the hospital, doesn't have supporting evidence. Dr. Moran's best description of deathbed Poe, was that he was pale and in a stupor. Moran's firsthand description doesn't give reason to believe Poe had just taken a beating. Guess it is possible Poe was still 'cooped', but there's no evidence he was beaten up in the process, or plied with liquor. Moran wrote that there was no smell of liquor on Poe's breath. Still a mysterious tragedy.
What's interesting about Poe's death specifically is how much we need it to mean something. A writer who built an entire career around gothic mystery and the macabre dying in unexplained delirium, calling out an unknown name - it almost feels authored. Which is probably why so many people resist the mundane explanations. Rabies or diabetes don't fit the story we've built around him.
There's something worth sitting with there. The legends we construct around artists often require a suitably dramatic exit. Poe's death is mysterious partly because we need it to be.
How appropriate that Poe would leave us with a mystery upon his death. One Halloween I visited the home he once occupied in Philadelphia, which left a strong impression on me--especially the cellar.
Was there a cask and a brick wall???
Aah. I'll have to add Poe to my Holy Crap Read This Before Death list. My stack of books on this list is already taller than me. Life's just too short to absorb *all* the Good Bits, isn't it.
The "cooping" scenario seems 100% plausible.
“Mobtown” says it all.
The article kept saying this person "called" that person, who "called" somebody else. But the phone had not been invented yet. How did they communicate? Telegraph?
Called = called upon.
Oh ok. Thanks. So I guess that means everybody was nearby. I knew there had to be some sort of explanation. Communication was slow back before electricity and cars.
I think it would mean he was in Baltimore, they needed to call upon certain people. This could have been by telegraph if there was access, as you suggested, or by private messenger, (Hey, kid, go tell Mr or Dr So-n-So they are needed at X address). Messengers were used for certain classes of people like Drs or politicians or other civic workers especially in an urban environment.
Could be
expansion? really?
There is an excellent, if complicated, historical novel, The Lighthouse at the End of the World, regarding the last days of Edgar Allan Poe, featuring Poe's detective, C. Auguste Dupin. Written by Stephen Marlowe.
https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780525940494
The ravin
🙆♂️
If you check out the "Official Memoranda of Death..", the doctor (JJ Moran) who was treating Poe as he died.. didn't describe any physical injuries on Poe. The theory that Poe was beaten just hours before being taken to the hospital, doesn't have supporting evidence. Dr. Moran's best description of deathbed Poe, was that he was pale and in a stupor. Moran's firsthand description doesn't give reason to believe Poe had just taken a beating. Guess it is possible Poe was still 'cooped', but there's no evidence he was beaten up in the process, or plied with liquor. Moran wrote that there was no smell of liquor on Poe's breath. Still a mysterious tragedy.
Thank you so much.
That is freaky.
Who the hell is Edgar?
so will I.
What's interesting about Poe's death specifically is how much we need it to mean something. A writer who built an entire career around gothic mystery and the macabre dying in unexplained delirium, calling out an unknown name - it almost feels authored. Which is probably why so many people resist the mundane explanations. Rabies or diabetes don't fit the story we've built around him.
There's something worth sitting with there. The legends we construct around artists often require a suitably dramatic exit. Poe's death is mysterious partly because we need it to be.