Poe's Life in Boston

JOHN NEAL
The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette
December, 1829

Poe's first literary supporter was John Neal, the editor of The Yankee and Boston Literary Gazette to whom the poet dedicated his second volume of verse, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems in 1829. Poe credited Neal for giving him "the very first words of encouragement I ever remember to have heard." Neal's article. "Unpublished Poetry," in this issue of The Yankee provided Poe with his first meaningful exposure as a writer and it ends with high praise from Neal: "What more can we do for the lovers of genuine poetry? Nothing. They who are judges will not need more; and they who are not–Why waste words upon them? We shall not."

The Edgar Allan Poe Collection of Susan Jaffe Tane