Palmer C. Holt Papers, circa 1948-2017

Overview of the Collection

Title
Palmer C. Holt Papers
Dates
circa 1948-2017 (inclusive)
Quantity
8 Linear feet of shelf space, (23 Boxes)
Collection Number
Cage 876 (collection)
Summary
This collection consists of materials related to Palmer C. Holt's scholarship on Edgar Allan Poe, including his hand-written concordance of poems, fiction, and sketches by Poe. Holt's scholarship largely relates to sources and traditions that Poe borrowed from and imitated.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Palmer C. Holt (1920-2000) was an independent Edgar Allan Poe scholar and collector who, as a graduate student at the University of Chicago in the late 1940s, began tracing Poe's often-debated use of sources in his creative work. During a busy lifetime of teaching at the secondary level, Holt assembled and annotated an extensive library of the works that Poe borrowed from, created a hand-written concordance of the writer's poetry and fiction as a tool for studying their sources and analogues, and in 1959 and 1962 published two articles from his findings. The publication of important, annotated scholarly editions of Poe's writings after 1968 increasingly duplicated Holt's largely unpublished findings, but he nevertheless persisted in his meticulous research, often with results that enriched and superseded those of more conventionally situated scholars. Illness in his retirement prevented Holt from realizing his long-planned book on Poe's use of sources, but its basic findings and conclusions can be recovered from the working papers included in this collection and the annotated books in his donated library.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection consists of papers of Poe scholar Palmer C. Holt, nearly all of which relate to his research on Poe's sources. It includes correspondence, notes, articles (drafts and finished work), worksheets for his Poe concordance and its planned expansion, and his hand-written concordance of poems, fiction, and sketches by Poe itself. Holt's completed concordance consists of a file, arranged alphabetically by word, that locates the occurrence of those words in particular tales and poems by Poe. Holt's scholarship largely relates to sources and traditions that Poe borrowed from and imitated. It also includes a small amount of material from Holt's student years, notes from Poe scholar Alexander Hammond's work with the papers, and miscellaneous papers.

Series 1. Holt papers on Edgar Allan Poe sources, Holt miscellaneous papers, and collection documentation, circa 1948-2011. This series includes correspondence, articles about Poe by Holt, notes on Poe's sources, student papers by Holt, and miscellaneous items.

Series 2. Holt material for Poe Concordance expansion, circa 1962-1996. Contents include concordance worksheets for its unfinished expansion keyed to James A. Harrison, editor, Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe (1902), volume XIV: Essays, Miscellanies, Literati, Autography. Includes plan, analysis, and comment on the concordance, arguing that it reflects a scholar's critical sensibility, not a machine compilation; also "Editorial Comments" and several folders of photocopies of Holt's worksheets.

A descriptive item list by Alexander Hammond for the contents of boxes 1-4 (2017) is filed with this series, and included in the detailed container list below.

Series 3: Edgar Allan Poe Concordance, circa 1951-1958. This series consists of 20 drawers of cards, organized alphabetically by word, tracing the usage of words in works by Poe, and several folders of photocopies of Holt's worksheets, organized according to title of work by Poe.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description]

Palmer C. Holt Papers, circa 1948-2017 (Cage 876)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in three series.

Acquisition Information

Palmer Holt donated his Poe concordance and supporting documentation to the Washington State University Libraries in 1996 (MS.1996.02); after his death, his family supplemented this donation with a gift of additional papers in 2003. The Department of English at Washington State University transferred the last of the latter research material in 2010 (MS.2010.06).

Processing Note

Alexander Hammond and Cheryl Gunselman processed this collection in 2016-2017.

Related Materials

Palmer C. Holt Poe Collection. This book collection contains approximately 558 volumes from Holt's library.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series 1. Holt papers on Edgar Allan Poe sources, Holt miscellaneous papers, and collection documentation,  circa 1948-2011Return to Top

Alex Hammond's item descriptions are included.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
1 1
Holt collection census and supplement.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [13 Oct. 1995 Memo from Burton R. Pollin, with census of donated books and addenda in Pollin’s hand] [“Supplementary Materials” (addendum to above by A. Hammond)] [8 January 2003 Memorandum to Laila Miletic-Vejzovic: “Examination of Palmer Holt Library,” with inventory of additional books, materials added to MASC collection by Holt family]
1995-2003
1 2
Holt source file.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [8 January 2003 Memo to Laila Miletic-Vejzovic: with inventory of “Miscellaneous Materials” in 2003 donation] [Envelope with “Miscellaneous Materials” listed in IIIA inventory] [“Miscellaneous Materials,” listed in IIIB inventory in loose order] [Newspaper clipping: 01/05/2003 Englewood, FL Herald-Tribune story (copy) on Holt collection, Hammond visit]
2003
1 3
Pollin: additional Holt materials. Includes notes and articles (offprints) by Holt, correspondence from Burton Pollin to Alexander Hammond about the collection, and collected research material (reproductions).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [2 offprints of Holt’s “Poe and H.N. Coleridge’s Greek Classic Poets: ‘Pinakidia,’ ‘Politian,’ and ‘Morella’ Sources,” American Literature 24.1 (March 1962): 8-30.] [Xerox copy of Prof. O. M. Mitchell, A Course of Six Lectures on Astronomy, Delivered in the City of New-York, Specially Reported for the New-York Tribune (New York: Greeley and McElrath, Tribune Buildings, 1848] [Pollin note to Hammond on neglecting to send Holt file materials on Mitchell’s Planetary and Solar Worlds when latter added belatedly to collection, plus copy of Pollin 2001 Poe Review article that needed addendum to Holt.] [Holt notes on Mitchell.] [Holt xeroxes of N.Y. Tribune material on Mitchell.]
1995-2003
1 4
Miscellaneous Holt material.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Research articles, material, based on WSU’s Holt collection] [Richard Kopley, “Poe’s Taking of Pelham One Two Three Four Five Six.” Poe Studies: History, Theory, Interpretation 41 (2008): 109-16 (copy).] [Alexander Hammond, “Poe, Scott’s Fiction, and the Holt Source Collection: The Example of Ivanhoe and ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’” Resources for American Literary Study 34 (2011): 47-71 (offprint).] [Burton Pollin, ed., “Pinakidia” annotations in Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Vol. II: The Brevities (N.Y.: Gordian Press, 1985): 55, 82 (copy).] [Burton Pollin, ed., annotations in Writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Vol. V: Writings in The Southern Literary Messenger Nonfictional Prose (N.Y.: Gordian Press, 1997): 9, 130-31 (copies; note on Poe review of Feb. 1835 London Quarterly; extend discussion of Holt source findings for Poe’s “Palᴂstine).]
1985-2011
1 5
Miscellaneous articles, correspondence, and drafts by Holt.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [2 typescripts, “Lanier’s ‘Bruce’” with rejection letters, 1949, 1950] [Query to PMLA, 1949-May 13, 1950, about submission, “Poe—American Classicist”] [Query to PMLA, Dec. 26, 1949, about Aug. 30 submission, plus typescript of “Poe—American Classicist”] [Untitled 28-page holograph draft article, with reading notes on 6 library slips]
1949-1950 and undated
1 6
Article manuscripts and related correspondence.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Rejection letter for these articles from American Literature, 10 March 1952] [Typescript, “Ula-Lume, Body and Soul”—with 2 pages of MS and notes] [2 typescripts, “Poe’s Compilations” with outline, bibliography] [1 typescript, partial, of “Poe’s Compilations” with outline, bibliography] [1 typescript of sections IV, V, VI of “Poe’s Compilations” with bibliography]
1951-1952 and undated
1 7
Poe's Compilations (outline, introduction, and bibliography).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [MSS as listed in Folder heading]
undated
1 8
Poe's 'Palaestine': Source Study (typescripts).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [3 + 1 partial typescripts, “Poe’s ‘Palæstine’: A Source Study” (article version of sections II, III, IV of “Poe’s Compilations”)] [1 Xerox copy of “Poe’s ‘Palæstine’: A Source Study”] [1 Xerox copy of dedicatory letter to Anthon’s 1825 Classical Dictionary]
undated
1 9
Holt notes and essay draft on Anthon, Rees, Bailey.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [2 pages of MS notes for “Poe’s ‘Palæstine’”] [15-page MS draft of “Poe’s ‘Palæstine’” article on use of Anthon, Rees] [2 pages, notes for essay refuting Bailey’s source study—see “Compilations” III] [40 pages of misc. notes (all?) related to above]
undated
1 10
Holt notes and transcriptions for "Compilations" II, III, V, VI.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [12-page transcription of J.O. Bailey, “Poe’s ‘Palæstine,’” AL 13 (1941-41] [11-page transcription of Anthon entries] [20 pages of misc. notes on P’s use of Anthon] [16 pages of notes, P’s use of Rees for Stonehenge essay—see “Compilations” V] [8 pages of notes, P’s use of Anthon for street-paving essay—see “Compilations” VI]
undated
1 11
Greek Classic Poets. Includes offprint, notes, article manuscripts, and related correspondence.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [2 letters: Application to Garden City Public Schools, 26 Feb. 1960, noting BNYPL article; letter to Head of English Dept., Garden City Public Schools, 12 March 1960] [Offprint of Holt, “Poe and H.N. Coleridge’s Greek Classic Poets: ‘Pinakidia,’ ‘Politian,’ and ‘Morella’ Sources,” American Literature 24.1 (March 1962): 8-30.] [Card from, submission letter to, editor, American Literature, 8 February 1961; related correspondence] [Submission letter to editor, College English, 23 January 1961; 2 copies] [Notes on CE editor, submission limits] [2 typescripts (pink!), “Poe and the Greek Classic Poet: ‘Pinakidia,’ ‘Politian,” and ‘Morella’ Sources”] [1 MS/typescript draft. 31 + 2 pages, of “Poe and the Greek Classic Poets”] [2 partial typescripts (8 pages each), “Poe and the Greek Classic Poets: ‘Pinakidia,’ ‘Politian,’ and ‘Morella’ Sources”] [1 MS draft, 21 +1 pages, of “Poe, ‘Classical and Scholar-like’”] [1 MS draft, 6 pages, untitled (early version of above)] [7 untitled, disordered typescript pages (early versions of above?)]
circa 1960-1962
1 12
Poe's 'To Science,' Four Sources and "Structural Unity in Poe's 'To Helen." Article manuscripts and related correspondence.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [2 typescripts (6-pages each, pink) of “Poe’s ‘To Science,’ Four Sources”] [1 MS draft, 6 pages, “Poe’s ‘To Science’”] [Submission letters to editors, Saturday Review, 10 June 1963, and College English, 14 Dec. 1963, for “Structural Unity in Poe’s ‘To Helen’”] [3 typescripts, “Structural Unity in Poe’s ‘To Helen’” + MS] [1 MS/typescript draft, 7 pages, “Poe’s ‘To Science’”]
1963 and undated
1 13
Holt notes on words and names: data sheets keyed to Harrison, Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Approx. 46 data sheets on a word or name used by Poe, keyed to Harrison Complete Works, some with notes on verso, alphabetical order by main entry, with source texts and commentary; incl. 5 stapled data sheets on “Gallant”; 5 on “The Lighthouse”; 2 on “Morale”]
undated
1 14
Holt working notes: Gibbon and Poe studies.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Misc. source notes, 9 pp, from Sismondi’s History, reviews in Edinburgh Review, Quarterly Review, Twis history, etc., all on Rome, Italy] [23 pages of notes on Poe’s critique/use of Gibbon as source, including 1 cover page on Gibbon works; 1 folded page query on Millman editions; notes organized as in folder 13 and similarly alphabetized] [About 54 pages of notes for study of Poe and Gibbon, with 1 page of queries, incl. 2 pages observations on his Gibbon source, with comments on “To Helen,” review of Bulwer’s Reinzi, about 44 pages of source notes organized as in folder 13 but not alphabetized] [17 pages of notes for essay on Poe’s criticism/use of Gibbon, incl. 2 pages for draft opening and outline and character of critique; 15 pages of source notes organized as in folder 13 but unalphabetized]
undated
2 15
Drafts: Gibbon article, Poe's Reading, Poe's Colloquy.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [1 MS draft, 44 pages, “Poe and Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”] [1 MS draft, 3 pages, “Poe’s Reading,” incomplete] [1 MS draft, 6 pages, “‘Colloquy of Monos and Una’ as a Key to ‘Al Aaraaf,’” incomplete]
undated
2 16
Holt working notes (miscellaneous). Most are keyed to Harrison, Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [24 pages of miscellaneous notes, ranging over Poe’s writings, references, allusions, etc., most keyed to Harrison Works. ]
undated
2 17
New York Public Library research. Includes correspondence and research notes.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Letter, 12 Oct. 1964, to Foyles Bookshop, London] [Notes, Iliad, Gibbon’s Decline, “Lit. Small Talk,” “The Raven,” “How to Write/A Predicament,” 4 + 1/2 pp] [Notes, “Chapter on Autography,” 2 double-sided pages on Don Seitz’s edition of “A Chapter on Autography”] [Lists of research materials to be checked, NY Public Library, with 7 pp of notes]
1964 and undated
2 18
Notes: Critical Studies of Edgar Allan Poe. Includes lists of secondary studies of Poe, and notes on specific critical works.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [8 pages that list secondary studies of Poe, roughly 60 items in all] [40 pages of notes organized as follows below, most on secondary Poe studies, with focus on material about “Masque of the of Red Death,” “MS Found in a Bottle,” “Cask of A,” etc.; on parody/burlesque in early (Folio Club) tales, with Holt’s various comparative comments on other scholars’ work and on Trelawny’s Adventures of a Younger Son as undeveloped source.] [2 pages, first with listing of 4 secondary studies ante 1973, second with list for “Library Check” (Venice PL? NYPL?)] [1 double-sided page on Harry Levin, The Power of Blackness] [3 pages on Daniel Hoffman Poe x 7, 1972] [6 pages on Vincent Buranelli, EAP, 1961] [14 pages on Julian Symons, The Tell-Tale Heart: Life and Works, 1978] [7 pages on Edward Wagenknecht, EAP, the Man, 1963] [2 pages on Frances Winward, Haunted Palace: A Life, 1959] [5 misc. pages, with 1 sheet on 1968 Pollin article on “Red Death,” “P&P” sources, + 4 on various other tales] [40 pages of notes, organized as follows:] [1 page listing 6 (most of following) secondary studies, Bay Shore Pub. Lib.:] [2 pages on Ober and Burtness, The Enigma of Poe, 1969; 8 pages on Robert Hough, Literary Criticism of EA, 1965; 2 pages on L. and F Hyslop, Baudelaire on Poe, 1952; 18 + 5 pages on Edward Davidson, Poe: A Critical Study, 1957; 4 pages on E. W. Parks, EAP as Literary Critic, 1964]
undated
2 19
Miscellaneous queries; notes on projected study of Sources for Poe (see folders 26, 27-29).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [5 pages: 1st “summary of ‘Bon-Bon’”; 2nd (double-sided) comments on Folio Club’s Mr. Horrible Dictu; pages 3-5 unresolved queries on “Oval Portrait,” “Cask of Amontillado,” and 1974 Poe novel] [9 pages: Questions for Poe research, ranging over fiction, poetry] [23 pages: Notes for wide-ranging (projected?) study of “Sources for Poe,” emphasizing examples of, patterns in, his use of them] [14 pages of notes and commentary on sources of early poems (1st 7 pp), various tales and non- fiction pieces; unclear organization]
undated
2 20
Pollin: notes and corrections of Dictionary of Names/Titles.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [6 pages notes, plus copy of 1 page of these notes, + 2 partial pages: listing of errors in/corrections to Pollin’s Dictionary of Names and Titles—a computer-generated index to Harrison’s 1902 Works of EAP]
undated
2 21
Mabbott Poe edition (Poems); notes on "Israfel."
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [18 numbered pages notes on Mabbott’s 1968 annotated edition of the Poems—vol. I of the 3 completed volumes of Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Harvard UP, 1968-78)—primarily Holt’s highlighting, over course of volume, of M’s identification of sources, with H’s commentary and occasional demurral/correction] [8 discontinuously numbered pages—1-2, 1-2, 1-4—of comments on,, analysis of, “Israfel.]
undated
2 22
Mabbott Poe edition (Tales and Sketches II); source for "MS Found."
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [102 unnumbered pages of Holt notes, keyed to T.O. Mabbott’s text of/notes on “MS. Found In A Bottle” in his 1978 annotated edition of Poe’s Tales and Sketches--vol. II of three completed volumes of Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe (Harvard UP, 1968-78). Most involve very detailed copying of parallel passages between Poe’s Folio Club tale and Edward Trelawny’s Adventures of a Younger Son (an annotated version of this text NOT in MASC collection; see “theft” note in Folder 23). Pp. 35-76 especially deals with Flying Dutchman “theme”/sources, with the “supernatural ship,” with “Discovery,” and other shared similarities with Adventures; pp. 77-100 with Scott’s Rokeby’s fn. on superstition in FD, plus sources for Spanish oak, wind, Trelawny’s de Ruyter for captain of supernatural ship, etc.; pp. 101-102 with tale’s sources for final whirlpool. Compare to notes in Folder 23.] [11 partially numbered pages, + 4 half pages of Holt notes on Mabbott Tales and Sketches--vol. II, Folio Club intro, pp. 200-07—with effort to link Trelawny to both Solomon Seadrift and Chronologos Chronology in the Folio Club.]
undated
2 23
Notes on Trelawny, "MS Found," Pym, Folio Club, "Cask."
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [8 copied pages: 4 on DNB entry on Trelawny, 4 from Armstrong bio of Trelawney] [15 small hand-trimmed note cards: 3 on Byron Letters, 8 doubled-sided on Marchand bio of Byron; 2 on “Buried Alive”; 2 on W. J. Jacobs, EAP] [9 half pages: Notes toward essay on Poe’s “Prose Apprenticeship,” focus “MS Found”] [12 + 2 half pages + 2 cards: Unorganized notes toward essay “Literary Lions: Poe, Trelawny, and the Folio Club (‘MS Found in a Bottle’).” Holt opens pages, “Forced to precipitate publication because of theft of hundreds of books from my library, all annotated with notes relating source passages to Poe”; Holt then names Trelawny’s Adventures, notes it is “Poe source” for “ MS Found,” “Descent into M,” and Pym. Arguments roughed out, questionable relative to Folio Club author/s, with dubious subtextual allegory in “MS” of journey thru birth canal to pre-birth, etc. No publication follows.] [21 pages—9 numbered + 5 numbered + 7 (including 3 numbered) of detailed notes on “MS” and Adventures and Keats, Shelley, Byron sources + 2 misc note pages on FC Tales] [3 pages of notes on Bret Harte bio that opens with paragraph on Folio Club plan + 2 folded pages notes on misc early tales] [19 pages of notes linking passages in Pym and Trelawny’s Adventures.] [11 pages of notes on sources for “Cask of Amontillado,” + 3 pages from book on flags re motto, M’s coat of arms] [5 numbered pages on “Shelley Poem, Unpublished, [Original, or Poe Fraud?]”—3 of pages given to copying “The Calm,” the rest to copying this N&Q article from 1853 that guesses the poem might be by Poe.] [22 unnumbered pages; misc. notes on Poe sources for various poems/ tales—including Pym, “Gold-Bug,” “Stylus” project, “Pit and Pendulum,” etc.] [9 pages (2 numbered) of notes on 1818 Port Folio as source for various Poe references in “Marginalia,” “Stylus,” etc.]
undated
2 24
Notes: Hoffman's Poe, Poe, Poe...
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [41 numbered pages on Hoffman’s. Poe, Poe,Poe,Poe,Poe,Poe,Poe (NY: Doubleday, 1972)] [21 numbered notes on Hoffman—on back of check blanks, Bay Shore NY—often spinning theories about “maelstrom” and “MS in Bottle” and Hoffman] [5.5 unnumbered notes on Hoffman,.5 sheet doubled sided, often extending his arguments]
undated
2 25
Notes: Moskovitz, Poe biography.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [2 numbered pages, 1st double sided, of notes on Sam Moskovitz, The Man Who Called Himself Poe (NY: Doubleday 1969), with emphasis on sources, incl. Memoirs of Martin Scriblerus and 1838 “Atlantis” by N. C. Brooks.]
undated
2 26
Article manuscript: "Amenities of Seeking Poe Sources," including plans for book (see folders 19, 27-29).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [8 numbered pages of MS, + 1 unnumbered sheet cut into halves. Unfinished draft formulates Holt’s lifetime project, findings relative to Mabbott’s posthumous annotated editions of 1968 and 1978--which clearly scoop much of Holt’s prior work. Again repeats inferences r.e. Trelawny’s Adventures and “‘MS Found” and Chronologos Chrononology in the Folio Club”; at page 6, draft becomes fragmentary listing of other examples of Holt’s discoveries/ conclusions on Poe’s methods of working, his genius with sources, then drifts back to Trelawny. Cut sheet has notes toward a conclusion (?). Cf. Folders 19, 28.]
undated
2 27
Holt notes I (bundles and folded sheets), overview of projected book on Poe sources (bundled by Alexander Hammond; see folders 19, 26). (1 of 3)
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [13 bundles of notes. Initial bundles misc., some titled---“Steven Vincent Benet” (bundle 2), “Poe and W B Wallace” (bundle 5), Eureka (bundle 6), “explication of ‘Al Aaraaf’” (bundle 7); beginning with “Library reading at Univ. of Va.” (bundle 8), Holt’s returns to Trelawny Adventures and various other sources for “MS. Found in a Bottle,” Pym, speculative connections to Folio Club authors, including comments on noses and “Lionizing”(bundle 10), “Descent” (bundle 11), Trelawny influence (bundle 12) and Niagara Falls (bundle 13).]
undated
2 28
Holt notes I (bundles and folded sheets), overview of projected book on Poe sources (bundled by Alexander Hammond; see folders 19, 26). (2 of 3)
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: Bundle 1. [“Poe Book”—a sequence of notes, bundled by Hammond, that make up brief overview of never-completed Holt study of P’s sources. Note: key claim in “Poe’s Reading” of the writer’s keeping a “notebook” from 1820-1830—“He had little time for reading in the years that followed, apparently depending on the notebook that he must have guarded jealously”—a contention asserted in more detail in “Poe—bookworm” on Poe’s heavy reading, as early as age 10-15, and his compiling a “ common- place book” that borrowed many a “ transmitted quotation or statement of fact,” all linked to early Timeline from Hervey Allen bio.] [23 folded sheets and bundles of sheets, on misc. sources, including bundle 2 (21 pp on Longfellow imitations)]
undated
3 29
Holt notes I (bundles and folded sheets), overview of projected book on Poe sources (bundled by Alexander Hammond; see folders 19, 26). (3 of 3)
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Unnumbered folded sheets and bundles of sheets] Bundle 1. [Letitia Elizabeth Landon (LEL) sources for Poe] Bundle 2. [Notes on “Tale of the Ragged Mts.”—12pp] Bundle 3. [12 cards, partial pages on misc. sources, cruxes] + [19 folded sheets (or quired/bundled sheets) of misc. notes]
undated
3 30
Holt notes II (topic bundles).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Mostly unnumbered folded and quired sheets of misc. notes, organized in 12 bundles] Bundle 1. [8 pp. of notes on Wolf Mankowitz, The Extraordinary Mr. Poe] Bundle 2. [2 pp. of notes on “Al Aaraaf” and misc. poetry sources.] Bundle 3. [4 pp. of notes on Osgood valentine, Virginia’s “Valentine,” + 1 p on Elizabeth Arnold and 1st husband] Bundle 4. [2 pp. Poe’s puns] Bundle 5. [1 p. on Poe’s influence on Wilde Portrait of DG] Bundle 6. [4 numbered part sheets on Rushmore’s Fanny Kemble—notes on Niagara Falls, Trelawny (“Descent” source?)] Bundle 7. [7 numbered part sheets, + 2 fragments, on influence of Poe/ Trelawny on Melville’s Typee.]
undated
3 31
Holt notes III (topic bundles).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Unnumbered, bundled, folded and quired sheets of notes] Bundle 1: [2 unnumbered, 2 numbered, folded sheets + 2 small sheets—notes on “Al Aaraaf”] Bundle 2: [3 folded sheets on Mabbott and “The Raven”; 6 part sheets, notes on its sources.] Bundle 3: [1 1/2 folded sheets of notes on “The Coliseum”] Bundle 4: [1 1/2 folded sheets of notes on “Sonnet--Silence”] Bundle 5: [1 1/2 folded sheets of notes on Michelangelo concepts/ theory and “Pintix” allusion in “Loss of breath”]
undated
3 32
Holt notes IV (bundles), on Henry Neele as source.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: Bundle 1. [Systematic notes on Poe’s probable use of Henry Neele (1798-1828) whose Literary Remains were reviewed in New Monthly in 1829. After citation pages with style sheet material, numbered pages in bundles arguing for sources, parallels to Neele as follows:] Bundle 2. [3 pp: intro to Literary Remains, comparison Poe and Neele] Bundle 3. [2 pp on “Pinakidia”] Bundle 4. [4 pp on “Poetic Principle,” “Phil of Comp,” Letter to B”] Bundle 5. [3 pp on Politian”] Bundle 6. [6 pp on “Marginalia,” “Pinakidia,” Our Amateur Poets items] Bundle 7. [5 pp on “Israfel,” Lalla Rookh, Koran, Neele links] Bundle 8. [3 pp on “Haunted Palace”] Bundle 9. [2 pp on “The Sleeper,” “Bridal Ballad”]
undated
3 33
Miscellaneous clippings and ephemera.
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Newspaper clipping: Thurber illustrator, 01/28/1958, St. Joseph, Michigan?] [Newspaper clipping: T.O. Mabbott NYT obituary, 05/16/1969] [Newsday clipping: Thorton Wilder advice, 03/14/1962] [Newspaper clippings, 16 pp., not Poe-related, most from Newsday of 1970.] [Newspaper clippings (2 copies): “Poe’s Corner” pt. II] [Newspaper clipping: NYT book review of Silverman biography, 22 Dec. 1991] [Gordian Press flyer, Poe editions, Letters, etc. undated (198?)] [Real estate flyer “Venice Englewood Area” undated] [Flyer—Poe Museum] [Handout—Providence RI Athenaeum]
circa 1950s-1990s
3 34
Holt notes and papers (student work from the University of Chicago).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Spiral notebook: Holt notes from U of Chicago English 166 course on history of western literary criticism (June 25, 1951), keyed to Smith and Parks, The Great Critics (presumably upper- division/grad-level summer course), + 3 pp. of Holt notes for a Poe and Coleridge article.] [2 Holt Bluebooks, U. of Michigan: Eng. 267, Eng. 166] [3 Holt course papers, U of Chicago: Eng. 301; Eng. 351B (“Dating”); Eng. 351B (“Keats’ Sonnet”)] [2 student papers for Holt at U of Chicago: Eng. 301, Eng. 316]
circa 1940s
3 35
Poe Studies Association newsletter and "Poe Studies."
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [4 numbers of Poe Studies Association Newsletter vols. 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 4.1 (May 1974-May 1976)] [10 numbers of Poe Studies, 1975, 1983-89] [1 number of U of Chicago Dept. of English Newsletter, fall 1985]
circa 1970s-1980s

Series 2. Holt Material for Poe Concordance Expansion ,  circa 1962-1996Return to Top

Alex Hammond's item descriptions:

[NOTE: Poe concordance in collection covers Poe’s tales—keyed to James A. Harrison, ed., Complete Works of EAP (1902), vols. II-VI--and poems—keyed to Harrison, vol. VII. See folder 36 for Holt overview and plan for concordance. Other materials in folders 36-40 involve unfinished expansion of project to include Poe writings in vol. XIV of the Harrison Poe edition: Essays, Miscellanies, Literati, Autography.]

Container(s) Description Dates
Box Folder
3 36
Poe concordance I (overview and plan for project, with concordance sheets).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [17 + unnumbered pages of plan, analysis, comment on Holt’s Poe concordance (argues it reflects a Poe scholar’s critical sensibility, not a machine compilation; advantages of approach, samples, style issues, with 2 final pp of “Editorial Comments.”] [Approx. 36 concordance-slip sheets, keyed to Harrison Works, vol. XIV (Essays, etc.), most with 20 multiple entries]
undated
3 37
Poe concordance II (concordance sheets).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Approx. 54 concordance-slip sheets, keyed to Harrison Works, vol. XIV (Essays, etc.), most with 20 multiple entries] [Essays, etc.]
undated
3 38
Poe concordance III (concordance sheets).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Approx. 72 concordance-slip sheets, keyed to Harrison Works, vol. XIV (Essays, etc.), most with 20 multiple entries.]
undated
3-4 39-41
Poe concordance IV (concordance sheets).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Approx. 350 concordance-slip sheets, keyed to Harrison Works, vol. XIV (Essays, etc.), most with 20 multiple entries]
undated
4 42-43
Poe concordance V (concordance sheets).
Alex Hammond's item descriptions: [Approx. 220 concordance note sheets, keyed to Harrison Works, vol. XIV (Essays, etc.), most with 9 multiple entries]
undated
4 44-51
Concordance note sheets (photocopies).
undated
4 52
Collection documentation: descriptive item list by Alexander Hammond for the contents of boxes 1-4.
2017

Series 3: Edgar Allan Poe Concordance,  circa 1951-1958Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
5-23
Edgar Allan Poe concordance, produced by Holt
circa 1951-1958

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Personal Names

  • Holt, Palmer C. -- Records and correspondence
  • Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849