Text: J. W. Ostrom, B. R. Pollin, and J. A. Savoye, “Illustrations 02-03,” The Collected Letters of Edgar Allan Poe — Vol. I: 1824-1845 (2008), between pp. 74 and 75, I-A (This material is protected by copyright)


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John Allan, ca. 1804

02. John Allan, ca. 1804

Courtesy of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond, VA

This portrait of Poe's foster father remained in the Allan family until 1915, when it was purchased by Orin C. Painter, of Baltimore, whose sister, Mrs. J. Hyland Huhns, donated it to the Maryland Historical Society in 1947. Nearly forty years later, in 1986, the Historical Society sold the painting to the Poe Museum in Richmond.

Frances Allan, ca. 1840

03. Mrs. Frances Allan, ca. 1804

Courtesy of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond, VA

The original portrait of Frances Allan, unlocated since about 2000, was given to the Valentine Museum in Richmond after the death of Edward V. Valentine in 1930. A copy, attributed to Robert Sully, was given by George Mayo to the Valentine Museum, which in turn gave it to the Poe Museum in 1936.

Both portraits are painted on metal and have been attributed to Phillip A. Peticolas (1760-1843), a Richmond painter of miniatures (see Ostrom, The Letters [1948], 1:xvi and 1:101), but also to Thomas Sully (see Phillips, 1:94 and Richmond Portraits in an Exhibition of Makers of Richmond 1737-1860, a 1949 exhibition catalog from the Valentine Museum).

 


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Notes:

None.


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[S:0 - CLT08, 2008] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Editions - The Collected Letters of Edgar Allan Poe (Ostrom, Pollin and Savoye) (ills. 02-03)