Talk:Sarah Helen Whitman

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Changing sourced material[edit]

Someone changed text that was cited to a specific source. Of course, this is problematic for obvious reasons. This is the version changed: [1]. Hopefully I will be able to check the original source. If they don't match up, I will have to put it back to the prior version... even if this new information is true, it must be verifiable, which means a cited source must reflect that information. --Midnightdreary (talk) 16:07, 19 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am the guilty party. Poe, in his poem, "To Helen," describes seeing Helen in her rose garden. The Whitman House on Benefit Street fronts directly onto the sidewalk, and the famous rose garden where Poe saw Helen, still extant, is behind and below the house. It is possible to stand, today, exactly at the corner where Poe stood and peek down into the garden. The Wikipedia article also has an incorrect date for Poe's proposed marriage to Mrs. Whitman. The bans were announced for December 25, not December 24. You could probably find this confirmed in Thomas & Jacksons "The Poe Log." The Bowen Street address for Helen's Death came from her obituary. I will find that and post the citation as soon as I can uncover it. As author of a book about Poe and Mrs. Whitman, I was reluctant to cite myself. The book is Rutherford, Brett. "Last Flowers: The Romance and Poetry of Edgar Allan Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman." 2003. Providence: The Poet's Press. A new edition has just been issued in paperback, and I expect to post the complete text on my website, www.poetspress.org. Brutherford (talk) 15:10, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I'll have to add your book to my wishlist! Don't feel to reluctant to cite yourself, so long as your book is a reliable source - if it's been printed by a real publishing company (as opposed to self-published), you shouldn't have a problem. Overdoing it might get a few eyebrows raised, but don't feel hesitant. The date is interesting because I've seen some real fights over which day (I think it's Mary Phillips who says, "It couldn't possibly have been Christmas!" So, anyway, keep helping out here - we could use it - just make sure you know how the footnoting system works. Thanks! --Midnightdreary (talk) 15:56, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman died last night at half-past nine o'clock at the home of Mrs. Albert Dailey, 97 Bowen Street" - Source: The Providence Journal, June 28, 1878, cited on page 502 of John Carl Miller's book, "Poe's Helen Remembers," 1979. Charlottesville: Univ Press of Virginia.

In Thomas and Jackson's book, "The Poe Log," this entry on page 779:

"23 DECEMBER. Poe writes to Mrs. Clemm: "We shall be married on Monday [25 December], and will be at Fordham on Tuesday". Their source is Letters of Edgar Allan Poe, Vol 2: 412. Christmas day was NOT the ultra high holiday it later became -- and there was nothing unusual about selecting that day for a wedding. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Brutherford (talk • contribs) 14:57, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with you there. I had found the same listing in the Poe Log, actually. I think the problem stems from the note saying "Monday" rather than an actual date. --Midnightdreary (talk) 15:26, 18 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

---97 Bowen St is now 133 Brown street (and has been for over a century) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.180.5.145 (talk) 23:13, 7 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]