Editorial Notes
[1.]
The first envelope has been ripped in two, so
some words are missing.
[2.]
William Evans Burton, an actor born in England, published
Burton's Gentleman's Magazine.
In 1839, he hired Poe as
assistant editor, but refused to grant him any autonomy or creative
freedom. By May of 1840, Poe's relationship with Burton had
deteriorated. After Burton advertised the journal for sale,
Poe believed that his employer would cease publishing the magazine and devote
himself instead to establishing the National Theatre.
Thus Poe began planning his own journal, the Penn
Magazine. Upon learning of Poe's plans, Burton fired him, and in
the June issue of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine
gave notice that "Our readers are repsectfully informed that in the
future Edgar A. Poe will not be connected with this Magazine" (Thomas
xviii-xix, 302). Griswold gives a more sensational version of Poe's
departure from Burton's: "Mr. Burton appreciated
his abilities and would gladly have continued the connexion; but Poe was
so unsteady of purpose and so unreliable that the actor was never sure
when he left the city that his business would be acred for" (49).
