Studies and Alcohol

The first part of this episode is an examination of the courses that Poe took at the University of Virginia, and the unique qualities of the instructors.  This episode then deals specifically with the writer’s use of alcohol - especially at the University of Virginia.

00:01  Introduction
02:18  Similar courses at other universities
05:30 Classes at University of Virginia
06:25 Ancient Languages
09:31 Modern Languages
12:39 Use of alcohol at the University
13:24 Information from Harry Poe
20:07 Heredity and alcohol use
25:21 Poe and Sons of Temperance
27:48 Next episode
28:00 Sources

What courses did Poe take at the University of Virginia?
How much money did Poe receive from John Allan to pay for those courses?
Was it enough?
Did Poe seem to enjoy the taste of alcohol at the University of Virginia?
Describe Poe’s association with an early forerunner to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Transcript

Spoken by Poe - italics

00:01  Introduction

Welcome to Celebrate Poe. My name is George Bartley, and this is episode number 120 - Studies and Alcohol.  The opening and outro music for this episode is from Come Rest in This  Bosom - said to be Edgar Poe’s favorite song. And this is the second in a series of episodes about Edgar Allan Poe’s education at the University of Virginia.

When I was listening to the episode from last week, I realized that I had used the word matriculated when referring to the time Poe enrolled at the University of Virginia.  Then it hit me that the word “matriculated” is not a word we use everyday - so a better way of communicating that concept is to say enrolled or even BEGAN studying.

Later in this episode, I want to address the subject of the writer’s relationship to alcohol at the University of Virginia.  But first the Ghost of Mr. Poe and I will talk about the classes he took at the University of Virginia.  If you are like most people - including me when I was working at the Poe Museum in Richmond - you really don’t have an understanding of the specific classes that Poe took at the University of Virginia.  I hope that after this episode, you will have a firmer grasp on WHAT Poe studied, and the resulting conflicts.

Ghost Sound

Well, hello Mr. Poe - it is certainly good to talk with you.

Greetings, Mr. Bartley - - I presume you would like to talk about the University of Virginia.

02:18  Similar courses at other universities

Yes, I’d like to start with what might seem like a very basic question about John Allan - Now one might ask - I am sure Mr. Allan was - what were you DOING at the University of Virginia - what were you LEARNING?

Ah, I can only surmise that John Allan was interested in the contents of my studies. But perhaps a more instructive way of assessing this is to very briefly look at the course of studies that I would have experienced at another college or university .  For example, what would I have been studying if I had attended Harvard University during the same period.?

It seems to me that is the kind of college that you would have been expected to attend.

Most probably.  I do know that during the early 19th century, students were expected to arrive at Harvard well-versed in Latin grammar. This would be an initial requirement for entry.

And you certainly had that box checked.

What box?  What do you mean?

That is just another way of saying you met that qualification - especially with your classical background from various Richmond schools and 5 years at Stoke Newington.

I know that students at Harvard University were required to follow a  prescribed course of studies in Latin, Greek and Hebrew.  Other disciplines included Rhetoric and Logic, Ethics and Politics, Arithmetic and Geometry, and later, Algebra, Astronomy, Physics, Metaphysics and Theology.

How does that differ from the University of Virginia?  I would assume that it also had a classical emphasis.

Partially - but there was a major difference - In contrast, students at the University of Virginia were encouraged to make their OWN decisions in almost all areas.  They were encouraged to CHOOSE their own classes. Mr. Jefferson believed that freedom was paramount.

I am sure that John Allan would have preferred that you study a subject in the mathematics that would aid you in John Allan’s business endeavors.

And from a practical standpoint - always paramount in John Allan’s mind - was the reality that a Harvard or Yale would have been much farther away from Richmond.  But one might say that I had a - to use a current phrase - a mind of my own - and understood the importance of a classical education, as well as the overwhelming beauty of the imagination.

05:30 Classes at University of Virginia

Well, tell us specifically about your classes.

First, I believe we were to take three classes - John Allan - with all his money gave me money for only TWO classes - a major deficiency that placed me at a distinct disadvantage.   I always felt uneasy with him - that he was never going to accept me - and appearing like a pauper while attending the University of Virginia with the wealthy sons of plantation owners was a complete disgrace and constant reminder of my underlying rejection by those who were at the center of my life.

That is a genuine shame.  But tell us about the two classes you DID take.

Ah, a subject that does give me some comfort in comparison.

06:25 Ancient Languages

My class schedule began with Ancient Languages (Greek and Latin) on  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 7:30 A.M. to 9:30 A.M.  My professor was George Long, an most excellent scholar.  George Long was acually among the first scholars whom Mr.Jefferson choose to become a member of the faculty at the University of Virginia.

George Long was born in 1800 and died in 1879 - a rather long lifespan for the period.  And from what I understand, he was only 9 years older than me, but had a fine analytical mind in his area of expertise and was a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.

Do you know how long George Long taught at the University of Virginia.

Ah, only three years - but in that time, George Long established standards of scholarship which have become a tradition at the University of Virginia.  After his time at the University of Virginia, he received a call to the University of London.  I was most fortunate to have him as a professor.

Was he extremely strict?

Why Mr. Bartley - he was Chair of Ancient Languages at the University, and during his senior class, I was required during each period to read one hundred lines from a Roman poet such as Virgil.

That sounds difficult.

That was just a start.  This was followed by translations from Horace or some other author in Greek or Latin.  Occasionally Professor Long would vary this program by written tests in Greek or Latin grammar. The grammatical constructions were illustrated by copious references to classical authors, and the class was instructed to follow up each reference and become familiar with the general texts of the authors used. In fact, Gessner Harrison, George Long’s foremost pupil and his successor in the Chair of Ancient Languages, has testified to the close attention and hard labor that was necessary.  I find it most admirable that George Long believed it was most important to teach Latin and Greek with an deep understanding of history. Why students said that Professor Long was able to teach languages and and geography in a style that made them come alive.

Mr. Poe, such a class does sound difficult, but also highly rewarding. 

I can offer my utmost verification of that observation.

09:31 Modern Languages

I highly appreciate your description of the subject matter of Ancient Languges, but what was the other class you took?

Ah yes, the 60 dollars was also used to pay for another class from the School of Modern Languages (French, German, Italian, and Spanish). This class met on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, 7:30 to 9:30 A.M.The Professor of Modern Languages was George Blaetterman, a native of Germany, then living in London.  He was appointed to the chair on the recommendation of George Ticknor of Harvard.

I understand that George Blaetterman was a very colorful person.

Yes, such a charge could not be denied.  He actually beat his wife with a cowhide whip on the street. And he was even dismissed in 1838 at the request of the undergraduate body.  But he seems to have been a most competent linguist.

He must have been highly talented in his field, but I do find that whipping your wife business to be revolting.

Ah yes, he was another individual who had a fine analytical mind.  But in the early 19th century, a wife was basically considered the husband’s property.

Be that as it may, I hope we are not veering back to that kind of thinking.

Be that as it may, Professor Blaetterman taught French, Spanish, and Italian.I will never forget the occasion when Professor Blaetterman gave the class a voluntary exercise to translate a verse from Tasso - a 16th century Italian poet.  I was the only student who responded, and my verse was highly praised.  One must note that Professor Blaetterman was not easily impressed.

Thank you Mr. Poe for your insightful description of your classes at the University of Virginia.

Thank you for the opportunity.  I just wish that John Allan had given me the finances to take a third class.  He certainly could have afforded it - he saved a considerable amount just because the University of Virginia was relatively closeby in comparion to such schools as Harvard and Yale.

That is true.

Well, Mr. Bartley - if I have concluded the discussion of my classes at the University, I will take my leave.

GHOST EXIT

12:39 Use of alcohol at the University

In a way, I am glad the ghost of Poe is not here because for the rest of this episode, I want to talk about Poe’s use of alcohol at the University - an often sensitive subject.

You see, when many people think of Poe at the University of Virginia, they automatically assume that he drank a great deal of alcohol.  But the subject of Poe and alcohol is far more complex.  Even well before he entered the University, he was greatly affected by alcohol - as a baby, it is believed that the custom was to give the infant or child a mixture of laudunum and alcohol.   That would certainly keep the baby quiet, but to a person like Poe - to whom alcoholism ran in his family - some would say he basically became an alcoholic as a child.

13:24 Information from Dr. Harry Poe

You may remember from episode eighty four, that I spoke about an excellent book about Poe’s life called Evermore: Edgar Allan Poe and the Mystery of the Universe. Evermore deals with such areas as Poe’s understanding of suffering, love, beauty, justice, and unity.  I had read the book before, and was incredibly impressed.  But this time, in addition to the text, I read the notes at the back of the book.  You know you like a book when you are fascinated by its footnotes.  By the way, the author is Dr. Harry Lee Poe, a professor at Union University, and former head of the Poe Foundation.  He is also the author of several excellent books on C.S. Lewis, as well as Edgar Allan Poe, and a distant cousin to Edgar Allan Poe himself!

The notes in Evermore really blew me away - they read, “Drinking has proven to be a gamble for the family.  My grandfather’s generation included three alcoholics among five children, plus several of his first cousins who were alcoholic. Only one child in the previous generation ever drank, and he was an alcoholic My great-great-grandfather William Poe wrote to Edgar, warning him of the family curse.  For an alcoholic, the warning comes too late once the drinking has begun.”

This was about a year ago, and I was hoping I could use that information in this podcast.  So I found Dr. Poe’s email address from the website of the college where he teaches and asked for permission.  I wrote: (and I tend to write lengthy emails)

Dr. Poe:
 
As way of introduction, my name is George Bartley, and I used to be a guide at Poe Museum in Richmond about 20 years ago.  I then worked for the West Virginia Humanities Council traveling around the state doing historical presentations as Edgar Poe.  Currently I do a podcast called “Celebrate Poe” about the “life, times, and influences of America’s Shakespeare - Edgar Allan Poe.”
 
I started the podcast a year ago, and have had 1,208 downloads in 52 countries - from what I understand that is considered rather good for an educational podcast. This weekend, I am doing a podcast about Poe’s alcoholism - a very personal one because many people in my family are alcoholics.   I talk about my experiences, and point out that doing research into Poe’s relationship to substances that were harmful for him led me to a sense of peace and acceptance in dealing with the chaos in my family.
(By the way, this was a year ago, and that number of downloads has risen to almost 6,000 in 66 countries.)  But back to the email text -
 
Anyway, I have read your book Evermore several times (I think it is one of the best books I have ever read) and am extremely eager to deal with Eureka in my podcast - tho I can see now that is going to take a lot of work.  I am asking your permission to use item 13 in the Notes section at the back of Evermore (the section where you mention alcoholism in some of your ancestors.)  The main reason I am asking is that I am a stickler regarding confidentiality when it comes to anything - even a mention - of substance abuse.  I assumed that it might be ok to mention in a podcast (and of course give me a chance to mention you and your book!)  but I just wanted to be sure. 

Sorry for the length of this email, but I wanted to be thorough.
 
Have a great day!

George Bartley (I know, only Boomers sign their names to emails.)

And then I added - almost as an after thought - perhaps we could set up an audio interview in the future -- just consider this an open invitation.   And then I clicked SEND.

At that moment, I felt I was sabotaging myself - it hit me that I really should not have asked him to do an interview - he was a very busy man who speaks all over the world.

But a few hours later, I got this reply:

Dear George;
 
Thank you for your note and your continuing interest in Poe. May you have many fulfilling years with your podcast. I am happy for you to quote the endnote. My great-great-grandfather William Poe wrote to his cousin Edgar to warn him of the “family curse.” Alcoholism appears to be a disorder to which some people are genetically pre-disposed. It has run in my family for centuries. Poe’s case was particularly awful, because he was also allergic to alcohol. James Russell Lowell said that a thimble full would render Poe virtually insensible, so he was not a binge drinker, but gave the impression of being one.
 
I would love to join you some time for a conversation.
 
All the best,
Hal

By that point, I was walking on air.  And I sent this reply to Dr. Poe - I feel funny saying Hal.

Dr. Poe

Thank you so much for your email - if it is ok with you, I would like to use some of the info you sent me.  Of course, I really want to do a good job on this episode because the image of Poe as a “hopeless drunk” is an image that far too many people have regarding Poe.

By the way, I had a professor at the American Shakespeare Center who was from the UK and studied at Oxford under Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.  (Note here - Dr. Poe has also studied at Oxford.)  This professor  told the class that we would be able to say to future classes that we studied under Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, once removed - referring to how educators are influenced by those who teach them, and how that influence has a ripple effect that extends to any future student.   

Now I included that last bit in this current episode because I think it extends to ANY teacher - from the caveman informally teaching survival skills to his children.  Teaching includes Poe’s professors at the University of Virginia. And teaching includes the educators that you and I have had.

20:07 Heredity and alcohol use

There is considerable controversy on the exact effect of heredity regarding alcohol - in other words, if one or both parents are alcoholics, does that always mean that you have more of a tendency to become an alcoholic?  True, Edgar Poe’s father, David Poe, was definitely a practicing alcoholic and deserted the family before young Edgar had a chance to know his father.  Edgar Poe’s brother Henry Leonard eventually lived in Baltimore with his aunt Maria, was also an alcoholic, and Henry died when he was just twenty four.

One time when we do have documentation of Edgar Poe’s early drinking was when he attended the University of Virginia.  Poe, like most students attending college for the first time, had that heady feeling that he was away from the control of his parents for the first time. In an environment like the University of Virginia during its second year, the men (women were not allowed in the college yet) started getting into all kinds of trouble.   There was a great deal of gambling, fighting, pistol fights, and of course, drinking.  In a letter from Thomas Goode Tucker to Douglas Sherley on April 5, 1880, Thomas Tucker wrote ““Poe would seize a full glass, without water or sugar, and send it home at a single gulp. This frequently used him up.”  So it is obvious that he did not drink alcohol because he enjoyed any kind of taste.

It appears that Poe DID drink in college - and even then a small amount could devastate him - but we are not certain how much Poe would drink.  In 1868, William Wertenbaker noted that “I often saw him in the Lecture room and in the library, but never in the slightest degree under the influence of intoxicating liquors. Among the Professors he had the reputation of being a sober, quiet and orderly young man.”

Note that these comments were made more than several decades after the fact, so there is some question about their reliability.

A bit more reliable - possibly - are the three letters of recommendation that Poe was given when he left the army in 1829.  A Lieutenant J. Howard noted “His habits are good, and intirely [sic] free from drinking.” A Captain H. B. Griswold said that Poe was “exemplary in his deportment” and Lt. Colonel W. J. Worth said that Poe “appears to be free from bad habits”

But other sources claim that Poe began drinking again once he entered West Point. Timothy P. Jones recalled that Poe “was certainly given to extreme dissipation within a very short time after he entered school.” A Thomas W. Gibson gave the statement in 1867 that “I don‘t think he was ever intoxicated while at the Academy, but he had already acquired the more dangerous habit of constant drinking.” However, Jones was later found guilty of gross neglect of his academic and military duties, and Gibson was later found guilty of setting fire to a building near the barracks.  So, according to The Poe Log,  they were both court-martialed and dismissed from West Point by 1832.  Also note that Jones recorded his recollections in 1903.  This was over seventy years after their days at West Point.

Alcoholism was a problem that chased Poe throughout his life, and could take hours for this podcast to deal with - but I think it is a great deal more useful to trace the ebbs and flows of Poe’s use of alcohol and drugs in specific situations as they come up.  For example, to save a discussion of the effects of alcohol on Poe’s work at a specific magazine - the Southern Liteary Messenger for example - when this podcast talks about Poe’s work at that magazine in general.

There are certainly other reports about Poe drinking - as well as comparatively long periods of abstinence - later in his life - and I will go into them in more detail in future episodes.

25:21 Poe and Sons of Temperance

But to bring the subject of Poe’s attraction for alcohol full circle, I would like to end this section with Poe’s involvement in Richmond with the Sons of Temperance.  You see, On August 27, of 1849, Poe was initiated into the Sons of Temperance, Shockoe Hill Division, in Richmond.  You can think of the Sons of Temperance as a precursor or forerunner to Alcoholics Anonymous - except the Sons of Temperance paid a greater attention to the financial situation of their members - the Sons of Temperance required a two dollar initiation fee - in those days that was equal to a week’s salary - so it would seem to me that Poe, with his limited financies, had to be serious about joining and following through.  The Sons of Temperance eventually paid your funeral expenses, so they were very concerned about your health and the circumstances of your eventual demise.  According to James A. Harrison in the Biography section of The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe, a W. J. Glenn, an officer of the Sons of Temperance, said ““the statement was made and too busily circulated that Poe’s death was the result of a spree commenced as soon as he reached Baltimore. We of the temperance order to which he belonged exerted ourselves to get at the facts, and the consensus of opinion was that he had not been drinking, but had been drugged.”  When I read about the Sons of Temperance and the strong bond that they routinely develop regarding the welfare of each other, it became apparent that these were people who were really concerned about keeping up with Poe’s health.  In my opinion, they are about the closest that we will come to knowing what may or may not have killed Edgar Allan Poe.

27:48  Next episode:

The next episode should hopefully be the final episode of Celebrate Poe that deals with the writer’s life at the University of Virginia.

28:00 Sources for this episode include

The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography by Arthur Hobson Quinn, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man by Mary E. Phillips, Life of Edgar A. Poe by Eugene L. Didier, The Poe Log: A Documentary Life of Edgar Allan Poe by Dwight Thomas and David K. Jackson, Poe and Place by Phillip Edward Phillips, and New Glimpses of Poe by James A. Harrison

Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.