Text: James A. Harrison, “A Memorial to Poe,” Richmond Times (Richmond, VA), vol. 12, ns. no. 107, June 2, 1897, p. 4, cols. 5-7

“There is one matter, especially, which I should like to bring before the Book Club before we adjourn this evening; and that is the proposition lately made by the twin English department and the students of the University to erect some sort of memorial to Edgar Allan Poe in the Rotunda Library when it is finished. Poe confronts us at the very [column 6:] threshold of the University — for he was here in 1826 as its most illustrious alumnus, who distinguished himself while here in Latin and French, and as a boy of seventeen, in the Italian class, made so remarkable a translation in verse from Tasso that it called forth the enthusiastic praise of Professor Blaetterman, our first Professor of Modern Languages. Nothing has ever been done to commemorate the genius of Poe here, and its connection with the University. We propose, after consultation with Valentine, the sculptor, to erect a bronze bust — it may be, a bronze bas-relief — in an alcove of the new Library, which we shall ask the visitors to set aside for this purpose. At an enthusiastic meeting held the other night at the Jefferson Hall, presided over by Dr. Kent, a Committee of Ways and Means was appointed and quite an encouraging sum of money was subscribed to start the movement.

“I propose to include in the alcove not only all the available editions, commentaries, translations, autographs, rare prints, and so on, connected with Poe, but also to make the spot sacred to Southern literature generally, to include in the collection other poets and literary men and women, such as Lanier, Page, Harris, Allen, Cooke, Sims [[Simms]], Thompson, Timrod, Randall, Hayne, Mrs. Preston, the rare group of dialect writers now before the public — Craddock, Stuart, Davis — and others, so that the alcove might be a working laboratory of material for students interested in this subject as a whole.

Here they could find everything to their hand, with Poe as the central figure and central inspiration; and, in aid of this purpose I offered, as a start, to set aside $100 contributed to the Library last year, for the purchase of editions of Poe. In the course of the summer, the Library will be in working order, and I have already written to New York to see what can be done for us in collecting material to fill the alcove. The suggestions was made that, as there was a beautiful window in Westminster Abbey dedicated to Chaucer and filled with scenes from the ‘Canterbury Tales,’ and one in Stratford Church dedicated to Shakespeare with memorial scenes from his plays, perhaps a Poe window might be the most appropriate shape for the memorial to take. The bust will cost $750. What we want now is for the ladies of this Club and the other literary clubs to help us during the coming autumn with entertainment, dramatic or musical, or whatever form it may take, so as to assist in raising this considerable sum. It is proposed to dedicate the bust on 7 October, 1899, the fiftieth anniversary of Poe's death, and to do this, we must start early, order the bust and have the money on hand to pay for it.” The Critic, May 29, 1897.

Mr. Robert Lee Traylor, of Richmond, an amateur collector of books, prints and autographs began twenty years ago to collect editions, translations, commentaries, portraits, prints, autographs and other memorials of Poe, and he possesses now a collection of Poe — ana [[Poeanan]], which is, perhaps, second only in interest, extent and value to that owned by Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman, of New York. Among other interesting items in Mr. Traylor's collection is the original daguerreotype, which was presented by Poe a few days before his death, to Mrs. Sarah Elmira Shelton, whom he had engaged to marry, and which is his best portrait It was reproduced for the first time in the Century Magazine for October 1894, and prints from the Century block were published in the third volume of the definition edition of Poe's Works, [column 7:] issued by Stone & Kimball in ten volumes, Chicago, 1894-95.