Спасибо за ссылку. Статья действительно прекрасная. Откуда телега, впрочем, не знаю.

Вообще говоря, если интересно, Тарасову можно написать: на его сайте указан мэйл: saint-juste@narod.ru.

Я лучше его лично спрошу. А то неудобно как-то,
конфуз однако

Такие дела
Миша

Есть такая гипотеза. Сам я по этому поводу ничего не читал, но видел как-то передачу о возможных причинах смерти По по каналу Discovery. Ему, конечно, веры нет, фуфло еще то. Но сам канал тут как бы и ни при чем, поскольку теорию продвигают какие-то другие люди, причем с относительно недавних пор.

Суть же дела, по этой гипотезе (реконструкции) такова. По любил сидеть по кабакам и пить разные напитки, амонтильяды-шмонтильяды.
Дела шли плохо и он накачивался в своем любимом заведении. Да, еще перед тем он, если я правильно запомнил, курил какую-то дурь. Но до того. И, в принципе, был на ногах и всё бы ничего если бы не выборы. Методы набора голосов в США были самые чукотские ("конфеты", виски) и занимался этим делом целый штат наемных негодяев. Известны многочисленные случаи, когда на участок приводили одних и тех же людей (накачав тех или же за какую-то плату) и те "голосовали" по несколько раз - как-то ухитрялись это делать, как-то одежку им чуть меняли. Ну и подкуп чиновников имел место, ясное дело. А что комиссии, крестики стоят в списке и ладно.

И есть подозрение, что По угробили именно эти выборщики, напоив до невменяемого состояния и сводив в участок для голосавния (возможно не один раз). Затем они его где-то бросили на улице и он ночь пролежал в какой-то канаве. Смесь из переохлаждения, алкоголя и принятой ранее дури (опиума?) и сделала свое дело.

Интересно, да. Я не знал.

Чуть ниже areksi@lj цитирует материал,
поучительно чрезвычайно

Такие дела
Миша

вот уж, воистину, занимательное рядом.

The Cooping Theory
This is the theory given in the vast majority of Poe biographies, although it cannot be proven true. Coincidence or not, the day Poe was found on the street was election day in Baltimore and the place near where he was found, Ryan's Fourth Ward Polls, was both a bar and a place for voting. In those days, Baltimore elections were notorious for corruption and violence. Political gangs were willing to go to great extremes to ensure the success of their candidates. Election ballots were stolen, judges were bribed and potential voters for the opposition intimidated. Some gangs were known to kidnap innocent bystanders, holding them in a room, called the "coop." These poor souls were then forced to go in and out of poll after poll, voting over and over again. Their clothing might even be changed to allow for another round. To ensure compliance, their victims were plied with liquor and beaten. Poe's weak heart would never have withstood such abuse. This theory appears to have been first offered publicly by John R. Thompson in the early 1870s to explain Poe's condition and the fact that he was wearing someone else's clothing. A possible flaw in the theory is that Poe was reasonably well-known in Baltimore and likely to be recognized.


The eminent Poe scholar Dr. Thomas Ollive Mabbott, quoting Robert D'Unger, dismissed the cooping theory as "twaddle," but neither offers any explanation. It does answer some of the stranger details and may yet be shown to have some merit. James A. Harrison seems to accept the cooping theory. Didier's book The Poe Cult reprints his article on "The True Cause of Poe's Death" in which he quotes a letter from a person who claims to have seen Poe "in the coop." This information was sent to Didier by Alexander Hynds on December 8, 1879. Hynds, a Baltimore attorney, identified the source only as "my friend, a prominent man of San Francisco." Since the ultimate source for the letter remained anonymous, it has generally been dismissed as journalistic sensationalism. In his own biography of Poe, John Joyce quotes the identical letter, also without identifying the source, and claiming it as if it had been related to him personally (John A. Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, New York: F. T. Neely, 1901, pp. 195-197). Mrs. Weiss adds further to the confusion by repeating the same article, but attributing it, ironically, to Dr. Snodgrass (Weiss, Home Life of Poe, 207-211).

Didier had already published a slightly different account : "he met some of his old West-Point friends, who invited him to a champagne-supper that night. At first he refused to drink, but at last he was induced to take a glass of champagne. That set him off, and, in a few hours, he was madly drunk. In this state he wandered off from his friends, was robbed and beaten by ruffians, and left insensible in the street all night" (Didier, "The Grave of Poe," Appleton's Journal, VII, January 27, 1872, p. 104). One wonders if Didier's opinion was changed by convicing evidence or mere preference.

N. H. Morrison's letter to J. H. Ingram, November 27, 1874, includes these comments "The story of Poe's death has never been told. Nelson [Neilson] Poe has all the facts, but I am afraid may not be willing to tell them. I do not see why. The actual facts are less discreditable than the common reports published. Poe came to the city in the midst of an election, and that election was the cause of his death" (Miller, Building Poe Biography, p. 49). Neilson, Poe's cousin, spoke briefly at the dedication of Poe's memorial grave in 1875, but made no statement concerning the circumstances of Edgar's death. If Neilson Poe had specific information about Poe's final days, he apparently took it with him to the grave.

William Hand Browne's letter to J. H. Ingram, August 24, 1874, includes these comments "The general belief here is, that Poe was seized by one of these gangs, (his death happening just at election-time; an election for sheriff took place on Oct. 4th), 'cooped,' stupefied with liquor, dragged out and voted, and then turned adrift to die" (Miller, Building Poe Biography, p. 69).

Замечательно! Спасибо огромное. Я сделал апдэйт к
сообщению

Такие дела
Миша