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I was curious about the context of the Edgar Allen Poe quote, "I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." Turns out it's from a letter to a friend (reply guy?) named George Washington Eveleth, in 1848 https://t.co/cYAJQMx6V1
so I found the context, sure – he was talking about the death of his wife. RIP. But what I wasn't expecting to find was Edgar Allen Poe talking about trying to get at least 500 subscribers for his substack / tinyletter!!! https://t.co/mp1PIrEpVr
the whole letter is quite entertaining and revealing – I copied it out because it wasn't formatted in paragraphs look at 5 – he's discussing how he replied to some other guy about something... it's exactly like alt twitter. amazing tempted to read their entire correspondence https://t.co/adfWf31pPg
hold up!! GWE sent Poe 3 letters over a year before Poe replied his first letter (pic 2) is just classic reply guy ramble and... oh my fucking god... HE DOES A STAN DEAR POE I SENT YOU ALL THESE LETTERS YOU MUST HAVE GOTTEM https://t.co/VPGlS1Fiu9
AND HE SENT MONEY WITH THE LETTERS Poe's reply: https://t.co/nsyejSVoQL
But now we have a mystery on our hands, lads how did GWE turn it around? how did he go from receiving a dismissive "I really wonder at your patience under the circumstances", to intimate confessions of Poe's feels after his wife's death???
1. thanks for returning my money, you are a gentleman. I thought you were a rogue 2. I bought your poems, I like them, hope to read more 3. "Isn‘t there a false idea though in this?" CLASSIC MOVE and also he nerds out about the subject matter smooth. well played George https://t.co/NaUOc9CU0p
but Poe didn't reply to the above letter, so George wrote him again, 4 months later your takes are good, I think they can be even better... [several questions]... "Do you think proper to write to me in answer to the above questions? It would be pleasing to me to have it so." https://t.co/Zrf0OsMgYJ
Poe replies with a classic opener, "sorry for the late reply". His vibe is totally different now!! – he's impressed by the quality of questions. He upgrades George from "cordially yours" to "Truly Your Friend", thanks him for being a subscriber, even insists on paying for postage https://t.co/3v4Wglekvg
important detail I guess recurring payments would've been too much of a hassle at the time https://t.co/EDMrIMDo4Z
george's next letter, presumably embolded by poe calling him friend, is a magnificently lengthy one he opens with tremendous flattery,,, they don't make reply guys like this anymore https://t.co/zYtwhpYoWg
literally tfw senpai notices you https://t.co/45SeqKEcDx
this is the last third of the letter. there is an anxious, earnest energy that I've seen in some DMs I get from kids sometimes – it's tedious, but it's also refreshingly heartfelt. you can feel George's excited nerd energy, his words almost spilling out of him https://t.co/nL8Nu2Op0Y
George had mentioned that someone accused Poe of plagiarism, and it's the main thing Poe is concerned about. Poe does promise to write more at length later, presumably to answer some of the questions. I'm really enjoying reading this, it feels so real. which of course... it is https://t.co/wKcy1NpX7H
(I now kinda feel like rewatching Altered Carbon. 😂 or maybe a compilation of Poe's scenes. you see how my mind works...) https://t.co/g09zap2vP6
I glory in your spunk! https://t.co/nDSk91Y3ck
At this point Poe is sick, and grieving his wife, but he does make an effort to reply to George It's interesting to feel the pace of the words, how George offers these voluminous paragraphs & Poe's responses are thoughtful-and/but-succinct status disparity + writer's sharpness https://t.co/JUfixXn84b
Ok then here it gets interesting George does a typical George reply, lots of questions, "Write will you not?" silence for 6 months, and then Poe writes the "long intervals of horrible sanity" letter I think Poe went through some shit, and needed an outlet, and George was there https://t.co/ATy8cVLk2y
George does another typical George reply (skipping it), and Poe starts talking about a lecture he gave about his theory of the Universe I did not know this?? Poe was a cosmic shitposter And almost everyone hated it except... Albert Einstein?!?! (Who read about it 80yrs later) https://t.co/0N77rjWK48
absolutely fascinating nobody ever told me this about Poe he actually devises the first working solution to Olbers' Paradox; the problem of why the sky gets dark at night if the universe is infinitely old, vast and evenly populated with stars https://t.co/NHkRno2CLR
We're reaching the end of what I have here – George writes that he was recovering from Typhoid fever. Man, getting sick sucked back then. He writes 3 more letters over a year, Poe replies like a busy important friend would – snappy but appreciative https://t.co/JDwit2xywG
and in the last letter (idk if Poe replied after this), George says he wondered if Poe had gotten too famous to reply nothing particularly dramatic George is fascinating to me... I realize that we don't usually read his POV. We usually read authors https://t.co/wS9voFaT8u
