cited in Edgar Allan Poe's "A Chapter on Autography"
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DANA, Richard Henry 1787-1889 - Though not so well known today as his son (who wrote Two Years Before the Mast), Dana, Sr. once had a sold reputation as a poet. He also loved and wrote about the sea, though from the shore, where his poor health as a boy often sent him. One of his major poems was “The Buccaneer”, about a murder by a pirate. He was briefly a lawyer and a member of the legislature, before ill-health pushed him to literary pursuits, first in assisting Channing with the North American Review. He published his first poem, “The Dying Raven”, in 1825 and his first collection, Poems and Prose Writings, in 1833. Rufus Wilmot Griswold said of him (perhaps too optimistically), “All the writings of Dana belong to the permanent literature of the country”.
DAWES, Rufus 1803-1859 - A Massachusetts poet. His major works include The Valley of the Nashaway and other Poems, Athenia of Damascus, Geraldine (a long narrative poem), and Nix's Mate: An Historical Romance of America (1839) Poe wrote other unflattering remarks about him, quoting Griswold, in Poets and Poetry of America : "As a poet the standing of Mr. Dawes is as yet unsettled; there being a wide difference of opinion respecting his writings."
DOANE, Bishop George Washington 1799-1859 - Bishop, orator and educator. While at Hartford as professor at Washington (later Trinity) College in 1824, he edited the Episcopal Watchman. He became rector of Trinity Church in 1830 and bishop of New Jersey in 1832. Financial problems growing from his efforts in founding two schools led to a trial in which he was cleared. He published poetry (Songs by the Way, 1824) and speeches. His son edited his Life and Writings (1861).
DOW, Jesse Erskine 1809-1850 - A journalist and poet. Having served on the Constitution from 1835 to 1836, he later wrote Sketches From the Logs of Old Ironsides (1839) about the experience. He, Poe and F. W. Thomas met in 1840 and shared interests in cryptography, politics and literature. He ended his days in Washington D. C.
DOWNING, Jack - This signature appears to be something of an ‘in’ joke: Downing was a fictional character created by Seba Smith.
DU SOLLE, John Stephenson 1810-1876 - “Colonel” John Stephenson Du Solle was the editor of Spirit of the Times, a penny paper which attacked various wealthy interests. His offices were across from those of Graham’s. A friend of Poe’s, he seems to have had a sulphurous reputation. He later settled in New York, where he became private secretary to P. T. Barnum.
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