Edgar Allan Poe Letter to Editor Sells at Auction for $125,000

Stephanie Farr at The Philadelphia Inquirer has the scoop on an 1847 handwritten letter from Edgar Allan Poe that's just sold at auction for $125,000. In the letter, Poe, who was strapped for cash, begs a Philadelphia magazine editor for $40. More detail:

Not only did Poe write for Graham’s Magazine, but he served as its literary editor for a period, too, during which time the publication’s circulation skyrocketed, Pettit said.

National Park Service Ranger Paul Campbell, who is often detailed to the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia (which remains closed due to COVID-19 regulations), said what stood out to him about the auctioned letter was not only Poe’s distinctive handwriting, but also the amount for which it sold.

“There’s an incredible irony that here he is asking for money, not a great amount — $40, and the very paper he wrote it on is now selling for $125,000,” Campbell said. “Here was a person who struggled with financial difficulties through his whole adult life. I can only imagine what he’d be thinking now if he knew."

Not only did the final bid on this Poe letter exceed winning bids of seven previous Poe letters sold by the company (which went for between $60,000 and $80,000), it far exceeded winning bids at the same auction for a handwritten scientific manuscript by Albert Einstein, which sold for $28,185, and a manuscript signed by George Washington, which went for $28,125.