Literary background
Poe in print: The Raven and a surviving letter
Ink, courtesy and the search for readers.
The Raven in the Evening Mirror
The Raven first appeared in the New York Evening Mirror on 29 January 1845. It occupied an inside page, among advertisements for lamps and sheet music.
The Library of Congress’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division preserves an original copy of that day’s paper. An illustration in the Library’s account of the poem’s newspaper appearance shows its conclusion crowded among advertisements.
A letter for The Broadway Journal
By November 1845, Poe was seeking a subscriber for The Broadway Journal, a small New York literary magazine he edited. His one-page letter begins with a compliment to someone who had subscribed to one of his earlier ventures.
His request was direct: “I venture now frankly to solicit your subscription and influence for ‘The Broadway Journal,’ of which I send you a specimen number.”
He signed the note Edgar A. Poe, following an abbreviated closing that described him as the recipient’s most obedient servant.
Library reports in 2024 and 2026
The Library’s account of the newspaper marked the 175th anniversary of Poe’s death on 7 October 2024. He had died on 7 October 1849 in a Baltimore hospital, under circumstances the Library describes as never fully understood.
The letter is credited to the Library’s Manuscript Division in its feature on John D. Batchelder’s autograph collection of 9 July 2026, which characterises the task of finding subscribers as tedious but essential.