| TITLE
| Edgar Allan Poe |
| CREATOR | Hartshorn, Samuel W.
Masury, Samuel |
| DATE | 1905 |
| DIMENSIONS | 31.25 x 27.25 in. |
| ORIGINAL FORMAT | Photograph |
| MEDIUM | Photography |
| PHYSICAL NOTE | Modern reproduction (c1905) from original daguerreotype taken at the studio of Masury and Hartshorn in Providence, 1848 |
| DONOR | John Hay Library at Brown University |
| LOCATION | Providence Athenæum: Art Room |
Edgar Allan Poe sat for this daguerreotype, known as the Whitman or Hartshorn Daguerreotype, on November 13, 1848 at the Westminster Street studio of Masury and Hartshorn in Providence, Rhode Island, after a tumultuous week which included an overdose of laudanum and a bout of heavy drinking.
The daguerreotype was a gift from Poe to Sarah Helen Whitman, given to her after she finally consented to marry him. The engagement did not last long, but Whitman kept the daguerreotype until 1874. In a letter she noted Poe’s “sweet and serene expression” in the image. The daguerreotype was gifted to the Brown University Library in 1905, and the Athenæum's is a copy of the original.
Lancaster, Jane.
Inquire Within: A Social History of the Providence Athenæum Since 1753. Providence, RI: Providence Athenæum, 2003, p. 74-80.
"Poe & Whitman."
The Providence Athenæum, 2019,
www.providenceathenaeum.org/about/history/poe-whitman/. Accessed 26 June 2019.
"Exhibits/Past Exhibits 2019."
The Providence Athenæum, 2019,
www.providenceathenaeum.org/visit/exhibits/past-exhibits-2019/. Accessed 26 June 2019.
Robe, Margaret. “Edgar Allan Poe.” 2016. ARTH 401: Cataloguing Curiosity, Wheaton College, student paper."Edgar Allan Poe & Sarah Helen Whitman."
Curio, 2013,
www.library.brown.edu/dps/curio/edgar-allan-poe-sarah-helen-whitman/. Accessed 26 June 2019.