Author Edgar Allen Poe’s letter, where he apologized to his publishers for getting inebriated and somewhat disorderly at New York, was acquired by the University of Virginia.

Mr. Poe has blamed his poet and lawyer friend William Ross Wallace for his lapse saying Mr. Wallace was entrely resposible for bringing about the situation. In the letter dated July 18th, 1842, Mr. Poe wrote to his publishers J. and Henry G. Langley, “Will you be so kind enough to put the best possible interpretation upon my behavior while in N-York? You must have conceived a queer idea of me — but the simple truth is that Wallace would insist upon the juleps, and I knew not what I was either doing or saying.”

Mr. Poe’s apology and attempt to pacify the Langleys can be explained by the fact that he was “desperately pushed for money” at the time and nearly pleads with them to buy an article from him. The Langleys refused but Poe was able to sell it elsewhere that year and it was published.

Poe’s letter will be in “From Out That Shadow: the LIfe and Legacy of Edgar Allen Poe” as an exhibit from Saturday at the University of Virginia Library alongside over a hundred other items. Also included in the exhibits are a manuscript of The Raven, original artwork, Poe’s writing desk and his portrait and that of his mother.

The exhibition will be over on April 1st and taken to the University of Texas for further display.