Text: Edgar Allan Poe, five receipts for money received from George Rex Graham - March 25 - July 24, 1841

Notes:

These five receipts are on both sides of a single sheet of paper, measuring approximately 12.5 cm x 8.2 cm. They are preserved in the Gimbel Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The description in the catalogue for the 1959 exhibit (p. 154, item 44A) states, with some presumption, “These receipts represented Poe's pay for thirty-three contributions to Graham's Magazine, including his critical reviews of Dickens, Irving, Bulwer, Macaulay, Marryat, Ainsworth, Warren, etc., and for his own ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue,’ ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom,’ ‘The Island of the Fay,’ ‘The Colloquy of Monos and Una,’ ‘To Helen,’ ‘Never Bet the Devil Your Head,’ and ‘Israfel.’ His total earnings for these were $314.” In his edition of Poe's letters, Ostrom notes that these receipts were in the Gibble sale, May 7-8, 1945, item 432 (Ostrom, p. 711 note).