There are libraries you visit for books. And then there are libraries where the building itself seems to be holding onto a story. The Providence Athenæum in Providence, Rhode Island, is one of those places.
Opened in its present Greek Revival building in 1838, the Athenæum is filled with tall shelves, old books, artwork, reading alcoves, and an atmosphere that makes you want to disappear inside with a novel for an entire afternoon. But in the fall of 1848, two writers came here for something besides reading. They were falling in love.
A Valentine for Edgar Allan Poe
Sarah Helen Whitman was a Providence poet, critic, widow, and longtime member of the city’s literary community. She was also fascinated by Spiritualism and the possibility of an existence beyond this one.
In January 1848, she wrote a Valentine poem for Edgar Allan Poe. The poem was intended to be read at a Valentine’s Day literary gathering in New York. Poe wasn’t actually present, but the poem helped begin a literary flirtation between the two writers. And theirs was not quite a romance between strangers. Several years earlier, Poe had apparently caught sight of Whitman outside her home during a visit to Providence. He later wrote a poem, “To Helen,” inspired by his memory of seeing her there.
By September 1848, Poe traveled to Providence specifically to meet and court her. The two shared a love of poetry and literature, along with an interest in the mysterious and otherworldly. And one of the places where they spent time together was the Providence Athenæum.
Courting Among the Books
There’s something wonderfully romantic about the thought of Edgar Allan Poe and Sarah Helen Whitman slipping away together into a beautiful old library, surrounded by books.
During one of their visits, Whitman showed Poe an anonymous poem she’d discovered in a bound volume of the American Whig Review. The poem was called “Ulalume.” She apparently didn’t know who had written it. Poe did. He revealed that the poem was his and wrote his name beneath it in pencil.
Years later, Whitman returned to the library and discovered that the volume was still there. Remarkably, the signed copy of “Ulalume” remains in the Providence Athenæum’s Special Collections today. And that’s not the only trace Poe left behind.
On December 21, 1848, he borrowed a novel called Stanley; or, Recollections of a Man of the World. The library’s original charging book still contains his signature. Those little details are what make historical places magical.
Poe wasn’t a legendary literary figure to the people watching him walk through those rooms in 1848. He was simply a man in love, borrowing a book.
Dreams of a Christmas Wedding
The courtship became serious quickly. Poe proposed, and after considerable hesitation, Whitman agreed to marry him. Her family and friends strongly opposed the match, and the relationship was turbulent. But by late December, Poe and Whitman were preparing for a Christmas Day wedding. On December 23, Poe even wrote to his aunt: “We shall be married on Monday.” But, sadly, they weren’t, because the Providence Athenæum was about to become the setting for the final chapter of their romance.
The Message in the Library
On December 23, Poe and Whitman spent part of the day together preparing for their marriage. While they were at a Providence library, Whitman was handed a message warning her against the marriage and telling her that Poe had broken a promise he had made to abstain from alcohol. Whitman believed the report and the wedding was called off.
Poe tried to persuade her not to end the engagement, but the damage had been done. After an emotional final meeting at Whitman’s home, he left Providence. They never saw each other again. Poe died less than a year later, on October 7, 1849, under circumstances that remain mysterious.
But That Wasn’t Quite the End
Maybe the most poignant part of the story is what happened afterward. Whitman lived for nearly another thirty years, and despite the painful ending of their relationship, she remained one of Poe’s defenders. After his death, Poe’s reputation was badly damaged by hostile accounts of his life and character. Whitman pushed back. In 1860, she published Edgar Poe and His Critics, defending both the man she had known and his literary work.
She also remained connected to the Providence Athenæum for the rest of her life. Today, portraits of Poe and Whitman hang in the library’s Art Room. The volume containing Poe’s handwritten signature beneath “Ulalume” is still there, as is the charging book recording the novel he borrowed during those final December days. And the library where they once sat together among the books is still welcoming readers.
I think that’s why we love places like this so much. Not only are they beautiful, but history isn’t locked away behind glass. It’s sitting quietly on a bookshelf, a penciled signature beneath a poem, reminding us of a love story that ended more than 175 years ago.
A Bookish Road Trip Stop
The Providence Athenæum is still an independent, member-supported library today and is located on Benefit Street in Providence, Rhode Island. If I ever make my dream bookish road trip through New England, this one is absolutely on the list. Because really, how could I resist a beautiful old library with books, ghosts of literary romances, and Edgar Allan Poe?
I couldn’t. Not even a little. Could you?
