66 Owners of either the edition of Poe's complete works, edited in 1896 by Prof. George E. Woodberry and Mr. Edmund Clarence Stedman, or the splendid Arnheim edition of last year, are probably satisfied. that they have all of Poe that they want in their libraries. The Virginia Poe, also, served its purpose well, and, we believe, found many purchasers. Still there are likely to be many more editions, and the editors and corr ertators will find something new to do with Poe's works as long as they are read. Similarly, while many will sympathize with Mr. Charles Leonard Moore's expressed hope in his admirable review of the latest Life of Poe," that Prof. Harrison's work may be the last biography, and last "defense" of Poe, undoubtedly there will be, from time to time, other biographies, other "defenses of Poe, and other studies of his character from " newly discovered evidence." Why should Poe's fame escape that which the fame of Shakespeare has had to endure? Nevertheless, Mr. Moore's article, taking account of Prof. Harrison's Life as a "last word" about Poe, is one we are glad to be able to place before our readers, as it includes an estimate of Poe by a student of literature who seems to us to understand the great American poet and romancer better than most other crities and students of literature in the present hour. |