Bloomsbury Auctions New York Presents the Most Significant Poe Manuscript to Come to Market in at Least a Half Century December 10th
Published December 10th, 2008
A recently discovered version of “Irene” or “The Sleeper,” one of Poe’s most important poems, has surfaced in rural Virginia. This is the first time the poem has been available for view to anyone outside of the family for whom it was written. It is not only the unpublished and earliest extant version of a poem that Poe considered even better than “The Raven,” but it also features new verse never before seen by the public.
The poem was written in 1830 during an especially turbulent period in Poe’s short troubled life. His foster mother had recently died and Poe was battling with his foster father John Allan. He was also about to be dishonorably discharged from West Point. Penned in a lovely cursive hand, it was written in the friendship album of a local belle of antebellum Richmond. The poem is the earliest example of one of the poet’s most potent themes–a lamentation on the death of a beautiful woman.
Poe renamed it “The Sleeper” in 1841. He wrote his admirer George W. Eveleth on December 15, 1846, “In the higher qualities of poetry, it is better than ‘The Raven’—but there is not one man in a million who could be brought to agree with me in this opinion.” Rufus W. Griswald included it in The Poets and Poetry of America (1842). The poem is an extraordinary discovery and contains a new one long stanza and other textual variants not found in the published versions. The provenance of this poem is impeccable and truly extraordinary.
“Lady Irene” will be offered for auction in New York City on December 4th as part of Bloomsbury’s Important Books, Manuscripts, Literature, and Americana sale ($100,000-200,000). Other highlights from the sale include a letter discussing religion typed and signed by Einstein ($40,000-60,000), an Assyrian palace foundation brick from 1305 - 1274 BC with cuneiform describing the reinforcement of a canal ($8,000-12,000), an autographed letter signed by John Adams wishing for retirement from public life and revealing his disdain for factional politics ($30,000-40,000), and a rare separate state printing of The Constitution of the United States following its ratification ($30,000-40,000).
Viewings of Important Books, Manuscripts, Literature, and Americana sale will be held on Saturday 6 December, Monday 8 December-Tuesday 9 December from 10:00am until 5:00pm, Wednesday 10 December from 10:00am-12:00pm. The auction will begin promptly at 2:00pm on Wednesday 10 December.
Auction info http://ny.bloomsburyauctions.com/
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