This letter contains the earliest surviving portion of "The Raven" in manuscript and the only surviving manuscript of the poem made for use of a printer.
"The Raven" was intended for anonymous publication in the second issue of the American Review: A Whig Journal (February 1845), but it was initially published in the New York Evening Mirror (29 January 1845, under the pseudonym "Quarles") and in the New-York Daily Tribune (4 February 1845, where it is noted as "From the American Review for February," and is attributed to Poe). The version printed in the Daily Tribune incorporates the revised lines as given in this letter.
Address panel reading "J. Augustus Shea Esqr. / To be delivered as soon as he comes in."
Dating and localization from Mabbot.
Formerly bound with an original daguerreotype of Poe (one of five contemporary copies of the "Ultima Thule" daguerreotype by Samuel Masury and S.W. Hartshorn, Providence, Rhode Island, 9 November 1848) and related material. The daguerreotype (MA 8658) is now housed separately. The related material (a printed copy of "The Raven" from an unknown publication (14 p.); a dealer description (2 p.); and a letter (2 p.) concerning the provenance of the related daguerreotype) remains in the original binding.
High reserve.
Revising lines 60-66 (the last line of the tenth stanza and the whole of the eleventh) of "The Raven."