University of Virginia Library

1) Here Poe is probably referring to his work for the Southern Literary Messenger, a journal that Thomas White founded in August of 1834. One year later, Poe assumed editorial duties at the Southern Literary Messenger, telling some correspondents that he was assisting with the journal, others that he was its editor.

2) William Henry Leonard Poe Henry (1807-1831), more commonly known as Henry, was Poe's older brother. He grew up under the care of his paternal grandparents, David and Elizabeth Poe of Baltimore. As a young man, he embarked on sea voyages to South America, then published accounts of his travels, as well as sentimental poems. In 1829, Edgar Allan Poe worried that his brother was an alcoholic; in 1831, Henry Poe died in Baltimore, possibly of tuberculosis.