SYNOPSIS
EDGAR ALLAN POE: A NEW SLANT
PRESENTED BY ARLYN IMBERMAN
Best known for his psychologically thrilling tales of mystery and suspense, Edgar Allan
Poe is remembered today by millions around the world for works that include The
Raven, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Lesser known to
the general public, however, is Poe’s work Chapter on Autography which is regarded by
today’s graphologists as an early classic in the field of handwriting analysis.
Although he had no formal training in the discipline of graphology, Poe fancied himself a
practicing graphologist. In truth, Poe seemed to use graphology as a literary platform
from which to reveal his longstanding biases both toward those whom he befriended as
well as those whom he felt had betrayed him.
In honor of the 2009 celebration of the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth, Arlyn
Imberman has sifted through handwritten evidence to analyze Poe, as well as weigh in
on the famous author’s remarks about the handwritings of celebrated members from his
own literary circle. Through the encouragement of the Poe Society and the collaboration
with Susan Tane, a noted collector of Poe manuscripts, Arlyn Imberman was provided
with samples of the writing of Poe and Rufus Griswold.
Focusing first on Poe, Ms. Imberman has compared writing samples from various points
in Poe’s life to find that Poe maintained a unique style of writing, which, remarkably, he
could consistently sustain, even as his private life and emotional state were becoming
unraveled. Writing samples from various time points exhibit consistency in form,
structure, space picture and pattern of movement.
This is an intriguing find because Poe’s once trusted friend and colleague, anthologist
Rufus Wilmot Griswold, maligned Poe by writing a scathing obituary about him, which
characterized Poe as a madman and alcoholic in his final years. Poe’s actual
handwriting doesn’t substantiate Griswold’s obituary claims. Ms. Imberman reveals that
even one year before Poe died, writing samples show that Poe impressively navigated
the pen with liquidity, elegance, and discipline. The handwritings of typical alcoholics
usually show a heaviness of line, smeariness, tremor, sudden awkward angularities,
irritability and lack of both manual and emotional control. But, Poe’s handwriting is
excellently organized, beautifully distributed on the page, unmarred by blemishes,
unexpected angularities or tremor.
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Poe Writing From April 1846
Poe Writing From October 1839
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Ms. Imberman then offers graphological insight into the character of the man who
penned Poe’s infamous obituary. Griswold’s own handwriting reveals that he is a bright,
complex man who navigates his world well, but that he is an injustice collector. The
middle zone of his writing is quite small and often illegible and damaged. One can
surmise that he is a steamroller who will brook interference from no one and who
become vindictive when provoked. True to his handwriting, Griswold took his revenge
on Poe by editing a posthumous collection of Poe's works and writing Poe’s published
bio that falsely depicted Poe as addicted to drugs and chronically drunk. Griswold died
in New York in 1857, but the damage he did to Poe was, ironically, Griswold’s most
effective literary work.
Rufus Griswold
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Other writers in Poe’s literary circle were far more prominent.
The leader of the American Transcendentalism movement, essayist Ralph Waldo
Emerson was one of the notable men that Poe chose to analyze through graphology.
About Emerson’s writing, Poe stated: “Bad sprawling, illegible and irregular writing,
although sufficiently bold. The latter trait may be, and no doubt is, only a portion of his
general affectation.”i Poe’s handwriting analysis was surely clouded by Emerson’s
dismissive remarks about Poe. Emerson had publicly discounted Poe’s literary
achievements and called Poe “a jingle man.” In truth, Ms. Imberman notes that
Emerson’s handwriting is actually beautiful for its time. Emerson’s writing resembles
strands of silk across the page, showing Emerson to be very fast and capable of
maintaining multiple agendas.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Another esteemed author who had a prickly relationship with Poe was Washington
Irving, best known for his short stories The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van
Winkle. Poe analyzed Irving’s handwriting this way: “The manuscript of Mr. Irving has
little about it indicative of his genius. The letters now before us vary remarkably in
appearance. Mr. Irving has been so thoroughly satiated with fame as to grow slovenly in
the performance of his literary tasks. This slovenliness has affected his handwriting.” ii In
actuality, Ms. Imberman shares that Irving’s writing samples reveal a very cramped,
stilted writing style. It is simplified and modern, considering the times. Irving’s writing
reveals that he was very careful and meticulous with a strong sense of judgment and
evaluation, yet with little empathy. Irving is intellectually sophisticated but emotionally
cramped. In particular, the “g” in his last name, which resembles a claw. The spacing is
clear and organized without many flourishes, simplified and modern, considering the
times. The “g” at the end of the signature goes back into the lower one, which signifies
one who is grasping and acquisitive. It is a writing with a strong right slant reaching out
for the next goal, which is a sign of his high concentration but yet one who is niggardly
on an emotional level.
Washington Irving
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is another writer whose handwriting Poe felt driven to
analyze. In fact, Poe also felt compelled to review and viciously criticize Longfellow’s
1839 work, Hyperion as a “lazy” and “shapeless” work.iii Of Longfellow’s actual
handwriting, Poe wrote, “His manuscript is remarkably good and is fairly exemplified in
his signature. We see plain indications of the force, vigor, and glowing richness of his
literary style, the deliberate and steady finish of his compositions. The man who writes
this may not accomplish much, but what he does will always be thoroughly done.”iv To
his eternal credit, Longfellow forgave Poe’s vicious attacks and only weeks after Poe’s
death, he was gracious enough to say: “The harshness of his criticisms I have never
attributed to anything but the irritation of a sensitive nature chafed by some indefinite
sense of wrong.”
According to Ms. Imberman, Longfellow’s gracious character is clearly visible in his
handwriting. The space between Longfellow’s handwritten words is carefully calibrated.
She notes that the uprightness of his strokes and the care taken to create his letter
forms are important. Additionally, the way he creates his signature is significant. In the
“H” in “Henry,” the letters are split and the loop connecting the lower zone in the letter
“y” goes backwards. This signifies that the source of his inspiration is his active “inner
theater.” Taking the sample further, the size of the “f” in “Longfellow” and the
calligraphic “L” beginning his surname is meaningful. Longfellow’s writing shows that
Longfellow seeks inner harmony and equanimity and favors mediation.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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As all graphologists know, the science of graphology reveals and confirms many
insights about the character of anyone who wields a pen. In the case of Poe and his
circle of literary colleagues, graphic evidence brings to life the unique personality traits
of America’s most celebrated authors and helps illuminate their important life stories.
Ms. Imberman notes that Poe’s particular interest in the special art and science of
graphology leads to one definitive conclusion about the man—Edgar Allan Poe was an
enigma to himself, to his contemporaries, and remains an enigma to us today.
Ms. Imberman quotes a brilliant graphologist named Edward O’Neill, who has been
quite fascinated by Poe and applied a finely tuned psychological lens to Poe’s writing:
“Within the body of American creative writing, both Poe’s poetry and his prose
stand out as twin islands, unique and alone, unrelating to anything preceding or
following them . . . He cultivated the strange, the morbid, the shadow-side of
human activity, shaping his work with the fastidious craft of the artisan, rather
than the artist, evoking sepulchral images and melodies foreign to the American
scene . . . Today, much mystery still remains to be probed regarding certain
aspects of this unhappy life; and opinion is still divided, among his literary
colleagues, as to his greatness as a writer. But, without Edgar Allan Poe, we may
legitimately wonder how much longer it would have taken for American literature
to come of age.”v
i
Jim Chevallier, Edgar Allan Poe Analyzes Handwriting: A Chapter on Autography By Edgar A.
Poe (US: Chez Jim Books, 2004) 45.
ii
Chevallier 5.
iii
Chevallier 10.
iv
Chevallier 10.
v
Edward B. O’Neill, “Edgar Allan Poe: American Literary Enigma,” 1988, Reprinted in Write
Up July 1999, National Society for Graphology, Vol. 7:17.
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