DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710040585

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

VIRGINIA [BRIEFS]

Poe exhibit features

rare works from

author's collection

RICHMOND - Edgar Allan Poe found respect hard to come by for the dark genius of his poetry, short stories and literary criticism in the early 19th century.

Now, a collection of more than 60 examples of Poe's rarest works has been brought together in the city that was his childhood home. Scholars say it is the rarest of Poe's significant volumes, letters and manuscripts.

The works shed light on the sometimes morbid, often spellbinding, prose and poetry and the tragic figure whose suffering gave credence to his work.

The ``Quoth the Raven'' exhibit at the Edgar Allan Poe museum contains numerous first editions of Poe's work. Few copies of these books exist, and most have never been seen by Poe enthusiasts.

The books and manuscripts seem untouched by time. Most are in their original bindings, none of them yellowed or torn.

``These are museum pieces by any standards . . . the highest quality American literary manuscripts in private hands,'' said Stephen Loewenthiel, a rare-book expert and owner of the 19th Century Shop in Baltimore.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is one of the 12 remaining copies of ``Tamerlane and Other Poems.''

Poe was a struggling 18-year-old author in 1827 when a young publisher agreed to print a few copies of the book. The 40-page book includes ``Tamerlane,'' a poem in which Poe writes of his love for a Richmond woman, and shorter poems he wrote at age 14. ``Tamerlane'' was published anonymously and never distributed.

There is a first edition copy of ``The Prose Romances,'' which is extremely rare. Poe was searching for a publisher to print a collection of stories but was unsuccessful. So in 1843, he decided to serialize the stories.

The book flopped after the first printing. Only 14 copies exist.

The exhibit also includes a copy of Poe's ``William Wilson,'' in a book owned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the first published copy of ``Murders in the Rue Morgue,'' in Graham's Magazine.

SOUTHWEST

Official: Balancing growth,

environment tough in state

FERRUM - Allen administration policies have made it difficult to balance environmental protection with economic development, a Martinsville official said.

``In this state from 1973 to 1994, we had moderate progress in environmental protection. . . . Under Allen and (state Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton) Dunlap, we've seen progress replaced with anti-environmental extremism,'' Councilman Elizabeth Haskell told an environmental symposium.

Haskell said Virginia's system of independent cities and counties also has been a barrier to a balanced policy.

Haskell chairs Conserve Virginia, a nonpartisan political action committee that supports preservation-minded candidates.

The symposium drew about 500 business people, students and national experts Thursday for the first day of the three-day conference. The goal was to promote sustainable development in the Roanoke Valley.

Environmental advocate Gerald McCarthy said business and environmental communities in Virginia have been galvanized in recent weeks by the threatened federal takeover of some of the state's environmental regulatory functions.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu