Scribbledehobbledehoyden: The Magpie's Eye: Page 87

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January 2, 2009

Mr. Monck Mason's flying machine, the Victoria

l. u. Griswold's "Memoirs of the Author" (EA Poe)

From these notes, I surmise that I'd just toured the Free Library of Philadelphia's rare book room.  A marvelous place.  Among its many treasures is Grip, the raven which in life was owned by Charles Dickens and inspired Poe's poem, "The Raven."  Griswold was the son of a bitch who slandered Poe immediately after his death, which slanders have been the received wisdom ever since.


The flying machine reference is to the Great Balloon Hoax, one of Poe's finer dishonesties.

Oh, and "l. u." is my shorthand for "look up."

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