Edgar Allan Poe Digital Collection from UT: Austin

The University of Texas at Austin has made available a huge digital collection of Edgar Allan Poe materials. Here, you'll find manuscripts and letters by Poe, original editions of his works, photos of his various possessions, and a whole lot of Poe related ephemera from the 19th and 20th centuries. This will definitely be an invaluable resource for serious researchers or mere admirers of his work looking to gain a deeper insight into the man through documents closer to his own time. However, it's unclear whether this digital archive will be posted indefinitely, or just through 2009 as part of the bicentennial commemorations. Don't hesitate to visit this wonderful Poe collection while it's there.

A personal favorite of mine is the section cataloging his portraits. Viewing these pieces, it becomes rapidly obvious that the mustached and somewhat haggard looking visage of Poe we carry today did not cement itself immediately. In fact, the early and foreign sketches of the writer show him in a more youthful and happier light. The portraits lifted from life in Poe's younger years also provide us with a different glimpse of this mind's talented, but frustrating existence.

This is just one observation that can be made from taking in this exhibition. View and bookmark today for a slice of literary history few have had the ease of peering into. An article which gives further background on the archive from UT's Harry Ransom Center can be read here.

-Grim Blogger