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EMMA C. EMBURY.(1)
Mrs. Embury is one of the most noted, and certainly one of the most meritorious of our female littérateurs. She has been many years before the public — her earliest compositions, I believe, having been contributed to the “New York Mirror” under the nom de plume “Ianthe.” They attracted very general attention at the time of their appearance and materially aided the paper. They were subsequently, with some other pieces, published in volume form, with the title “Guido and other Poems.”(2) The book has been long out of print. Of late days its author has written but little poetry — that little, however, has at least indicated a poetic capacity of no common order.
Yet as a poetess she is comparatively unknown, her reputation in this regard having been quite overshadowed by that which she has acquired as a writer of tales. In this latter capacity she has, upon the whole, no equal among her sex in America — certainly no superior. She is not so vigorous as Mrs. Stephens, nor so vivacious as Miss Chubbuck,(3) nor so caustic as Miss Leslie, nor so dignified as Miss Sedgwick, nor so graceful, fanciful and spirituelle as Mrs. Osgood, but is deficient in none of the qualities for which these ladies are noted, and in certain particulars surpasses them all. Her subjects are fresh, if not always vividly original, and she manages them with more skill than is usually exhibited by our magazinists. She has also much imagination and sensibility, while her style is pure, earnest, and devoid of verbiage and exaggeration. I make a point of reading all tales to which I see the name of Mrs. Embury appended. The story by which she has attained most reputation is “Constance Latimer, the Blind Girl.”(4)
Mrs. E. is a daughter of Doctor Manly [[Manley]], an eminent physician of New York city. At an early age she married a gentleman of some wealth and of education, as well as of tastes akin to her own.(5) She is noted for her domestic virtues no less than for literary talents and acquirements.
She is about the medium height; complexion, eyes, and hair light; arched eyebrows; Grecian nose; the mouth a fine one and indicative of firmness; the whole countenance pleasing, intellectual and expressive. The portrait in “Graham's Magazine” for January, 1843, has no resemblance to her whatever.
1. Emma Catherine Manley Embury was born February 25, 1806 and died February 10, 1863.
Poe rather closely follows an article in Graham's for January 1843 [[p. 55]] which he mentions. Here is an extract:
Mrs. Embury . . . is a daughter of Dr. [James R.’ Manly [[Manley]], an eminent physician in that metropolis. [New York,] . . . Under the signature of Ianthe she gave to the public numerous effusions . . . A volume of these youthful, but most promising efforts, was selected and published, but we believe it has been out of print. Since her marriage, Mrs. Embury has given to the public more prose than poetry . . . We know of no American female writer who has composed so great a number of popular tales . . . the lesson they inculcate is invariably of a pure moral tendency. “Constance Latimer, the Blind Girl,” is, perhaps, better known than any other of her single productions. Mrs. Embury . . . is not less distinguished for domestic virtues than literary ability.
2. Guido, a Tale; Sketches from History, and Other Poems by Ianthe was brought out in New York, 1828.
3. Miss Chubbuck is better known as Mrs. Amelia Welby.
4. Constance Latimer; or, the Blind Girl, with other tales by Mrs. Emma C. Embury, published for the benefit of the New York Institution for the Blind, was issued in New York by the Harpers, 1838.
5. Mrs. Embury's husband was Daniel Embury, president of the Atlantic Bank, Brooklyn.
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Notes:
None.
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[S:0 - TOM4L, 2026] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Editions - The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe (T. O. Mabbott) (Emma C. Embury)