According to his endnotes, the image of Virginia on page 63 is "Courtesy of Mrs. Antoinette Smith Suiter / The Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Richmond, Virginia." The web site for the Poe Museum in Richmond makes a mention of her and refers to her as "Mrs. Antoinette Suiter, the great, great, granddaughter of Elizabeth Poe Herring."
I know the image was also reproduced at Poe's grave site in Baltimore with a description, but I didn't get a picture of it. Anyone else know more?
-- Edited by Midnightdreary at 07:11, 2009-01-31
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It was night in the lonesome October, of my most immemorial year.
I have a particular interest in Virginia Poe, so I'm quite curious about this "new" portrait of her. If you're still viewing this thread, I wonder if you know why, since the Herring descendants had this portrait for all these years, they never seem to have told anyone about it until a few years ago? I know that the first Poe biographers, like Ingram and Gill, were very anxious to be able to reproduce some likeness of her for their books. And how was it authenticated as being an image of Virginia, considering that the woman in the painting bears only a slight resemblance to the "deathbed portrait." (Of course, that painting, is, I suppose, a bit mysterious itself.) Thank you!
The portrait belongs to Toni Smith Suiter, a descendent of Elizabeth Herring. Elizabeth was Poe's first cousin and the subject of an early poem. She attended Poe's funeral and received a number of Poe items including his vest and stockings which Toni Suiter gave to the Poe Museum several years ago. The vest is the one Poe wore in the water color reproduced in Graham's Magazine in 1845.
I am descended from Poe's cousin William of Augusta, Montgomery, and Baltimore.
That other image of Virginia was a surprise to me too! The first place I saw it was at Poe's grave site, which only a few years ago had a few info boards added around it. That image was one of them. I'm not sure what the provenance of it is or what the process was to authenticate it, but apparently it's believed to be legit. I'll have to look into it some day...
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It was night in the lonesome October, of my most immemorial year.
I have to second this recommendation. I also received this as a gift and absolutely adore it. Its perfect for all ages, too. It contains the image of a sketch that Poe did that I saw at the Richmond museum and have been looking for forever since. Also, there is another portrait of Virginia that I have not seen anywhere else. Usually, when youre looking, you can only find her death portrait. In this biography, however, there is a beautiful portrait of her that I love. The extractable memorabilia cant be beat. I am totally geeked over this book! A must have.
I received as a gift Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories, by Poe "descendant" (or, at least, relative) Harry Lee Poe. I was impressed with it, so I thought I'd share my thoughts!
The book is breathtakingly beautiful: a high-quality design that screams "POE" and doesn't skimp for artistry. Essentially, it is a biography, probably the most accurate I've read (I say this having not read all of it yet), without being excessively detailed. Even so, it remarks on a lot of the misconceptions of Poe that I often point out to others: that he did not go by the name "Edgar Allan Poe," that much of his myth we know today was created by Rufus Griswold, that he wrote much more than horror, and that he wasn't "immoral."
What really makes the book, however, is the "removable memorabilia," including reproductions of handwritten letters, documents, manuscripts, publications, etc. I've seen a similar version of David McCullough's 1776, though that book was much clunkier (for lack of a better word). This book is superbly illustrated as well, including many of the well-known illustrations of Poe works by Harry Clarke.
Frankly, the book is rich - probably the richest Poe book you'll find. I don't mean to sound gushing, but if anyone asks for a good book on Poe to start their Poe studies, send them to find this book!
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It was night in the lonesome October, of my most immemorial year.
