 | Poe Collection: Letter from Charles Percival to Edgar Allan Poe, 1845 December 19
|  |
Editorial Notes
[[1]]
"Chas. G. Percival" is written in Poe's hand, according to a pencilled note on the manuscript.
[[2]]
Poe replied to Percival's query on January 3, 1846: "It is an illegimate cryptograph— that is to say, the chances are, that, even with the key, it would be insoluble by the authorized correspondent. Upon analysis, however, independent of the key-solution, I find the translation to be the 3 first verses of the 2nd chapter of St. John" (cited in Thomas, 615).
The verses are as follows:
On the third day there was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the
mother of Jesus was there;
Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.
When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine"
Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with his disciples.
When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to him, "They have no wine"
(Revised Standard Version, http://etext.virginia.edu/rsv.browse.html).
| Poe Collection: Letter from Charles Percival to Edgar Allan Poe, 1845 December 19
| |