Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Papers of John Carl Miller, Accession #5218-g, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was a bequest of John Carl Miller, and was received by the Library on November 18, 1980.

Biographical/Historical Information

Miller was born in Escatawpa, Mississippi, in 1916. He recieved a B.A. degree in English from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, and later earned an M.A. (1947) and Ph.D. (1954) in English from the University of Virginia. Miller was a specialist in early American literature and an authority on Edgar Allan Poe. He taught at the University of Alabama, Louisiana State University, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, Virginia, and the Virginia Military Institute before joining the faculty at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, in 1967. He remained there until his death in October 1979.

Scope and Content Information

The collection consists on six Hollinger boxes (ca. 2.5 linear shelf feet) the papers, 1830-1979, of John Carl Miller, an Edgar Allan Poe scholar.

The collection includes Miller's manuscripts of Poe's Helen Remembers and John Henry Ingram's Poe Collection at the University of Virginia ; a typescript of John Henry Ingram's of "The True Story of Edgar Allan Poe," business papers associated with Miller's Building Poe Biography; and source material regarding Edgar Allan Poe, his family, and friends.

The material on Poe's Helen Remembers contains two copies of the typescript, one annotated, both with autograph corrections and miscellaneous pages; and an index. The dates of the two manuscript pages are unknown but the book itself was published in 1979 by The University Press of Virginia.

Miller then prepared a revision of his 1960 edition of John Henry Ingram's Poe Collection which was accepted for publication by The University Press of Virginia a month before his death. The material includes a typed manuscript, an index, and copies of working material, annotations and corrections.

The folders with materials related to Building Poe Biography , which was published by Louisiana State University Press in 1977, contain an index submitted for review, a typescript of "Review of Building Poe Biography", a contract, royalty statements, correspondence, invoices, canceled checks, and receipts. Louis Rubin is a correspondent.

There are ca. 775 pages of a carbon copy of a typescript of "The True Story of Edgar Allan Poe by John H. Ingram." a note on the title page states "This typescript made from the manuscript in 1954-1955 by John C. Miller." Three pages of autograph corrections and additions are included.

The Source Information regarding Edgar Allan Poe consists of copies of articles in at least twenty late 19th century newspapers and periodicals including Scribner's Monthly , The Athenaeum , New York Herald , Baltimore Sun , and Appleton's Journal . There are also copies of letters of F. W. Thomas to Poe and of John H. Ingram, Maria Poe Clemm, and Sarah Helen Whitman. In addition, this source material contains autograph notes and lists, photographs of Sarah Helen Witman, Edouard Manet's drawing of Poe and of the Providence (Rhode Island) Athenaeum Library, and a card file containing Miller's notes Poe's correspondence.

Organization

The collection has been divided into three series: I. Manuscripts, II. Business Papers, and III. Source Material. The manuscript series is arranged alphabetically and includes two manuscripts of Poe's Helen Remembers , one of John Henry Ingram's Poe Collection and one of The True Story of Edgar Allan Poe . The second series, Business Papers, was chiefly generated by the publication of Building Poe Biography" . The third series contains the source material. Except as noted, the original organization of each series is unchanged. The original organization of the latter two series was not apparent. During the processing of the Source meterial , scattered unfoldered items were added to it and the items associated with Building Poe Biography were removed to create the Business Papers series.