My dad had a debilitating stutter when he was a kid. He could barely get a sentence out at times, and as was the case then and now, he was considered mentally slow because of it.
A nun at his school knew better, thankfully, and had him recite poetry to overcome his stutter. My grandparents had a volume of Edgar Allan Poe’s work at home, so Dad would practice with those, and like most kids, he especially loved The Raven.
So my introduction to Poe, and one of my fondest memories, was Dad reciting The Raven to me. As much as I loved it though, I never developed a particular love for Poe’s work. I never disliked it, and find the story of his life fascinating, but have never been able to say that I’m a fan.
This story of Bradford Morrow’s search for a rare book by Poe – “the rarest book in American literature ” – is a fantastic tale in itself, though. Tamerlane and Other Poems was Poe’s first published work, which he paid for by enlisting donations from his classmates. He published it anonymously as “a Bostonian,” and according to Morrow, it’s estimated that only 40 or 50 copies were printed with that edition. One of the twelve copies known to exist today was stolen from the University of Virginia, and has never been recovered. It’s unknown if it still exists, or if it’s possibly been destroyed to conceal evidence.
Morrow recounts his meetings with fellow Poe aficionados and collectors in his research of the eleven privately held copies of Tamerlane, and it all sounds so cool that I’m dreaming of jumping into researching Poe, for an excuse to hold one in my hands.
Morrow’s account of his research on the book and of the mystical reverence of holding – or even viewing such a book – is something that any book lover can understand. Check it out for yourself!