Affair of Edgar Poe and Frances Osgood in The Scarlet Letter
The Original Academic Book
by
Andrew Barger

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​The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most beloved novel. Published in March of 1850, it quickly sold out of its first two printruns. It is still widely discussed in classrooms worldwide and taught as a moral allegory that warns against the mental and physical tolls of infidelity.

 

Attorney Andrew Barger has uncovered another allegorical layer of The Scarlet Letter—the rumored love affair between Edgar Allan Poe and popular author Frances Osgood. In over 500 footnotes, Barger deconstructs the novel in his academic book, revealing the puritanical portrayals of Osgood as Hester Prynne, Poe as Minister Dimmesdale, Rufus Griswold as Chillingworth, and several other real-life authors of the day.

 

Entirely new historical facets of Hawthorne’s famous novel have been unlocked. Learn about this new discovery in this enlightening scholarly edition that is perfect for teachers and professors at all levels of education.

 

Andrew uncovered that a line from Osgood’s “Zarifa” poem forms a line of Poe’s “[Deep in Earth]” couplet. Andrew Barger, “Frances Osgood’s Connections to Edgar Allan Poe’s Couplet and the Stuart Manuscript of ‘Eulalie,’” Poe Studies 55, no. 2 (2022): 109-25.

 

Andrew is a member of the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society, Edgar Allan Poe Society, and Poe Society of Baltimore.

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DAGUERREOTYPES/ILLUSTRATIONS 13

FOREWORD 15

Hawthorne’s Fivefold Motivation 24

Poe’s Harsh Criticism 24

Poe’s Longfellow War 28

The Dial, Brook Farm Phalanx, and Transcendentalists 32

Poe’s Lampooning of Margaret Fuller 33

Poe’s Perceived Lack of Morals 38

 

Edgar Allan Poe 41

Nexus of Their Names 42

Broad Foreheads 43

Pale Skin 44

Large, Dark Eyes 45

Tremulous Lips 46

Dark Clothing 47

Melancholy 47

Apart from the World 51

Persuasive Speaking and Writing 53

Eloquent Speakers 53

Intellectually Gifted 55

Young Women Fawn Over Them 55

Diminishing Physical Appearances 56

Wordplay on “Providence” 63

Craft Trifecta 65

Hardworking Scholars 66

Wanderers 67

Planned Escapes 68

Sensitive Temperaments 71

Truthseekers 72

Incessant Prayers 73

Long Forest Walks 73

Dreams and Hallucinations 74

Bouts of Insanity 77

Marks on Chests 78

Hands Over Hearts 79

Both Live with a Widow 84

Annabel Lee 85

Shadow — A Parable 87

Dream-Land 87

The Raven 88

Mesmerism Stories 88

The Fall of the House of Usher 89

The Haunted Palace 90

A Dream within a Dream 91

Imp of the Perverse 91

The Tell-Tale Heart 92

Thou Art the Man! 92

Ulalume 93

Eureka! — The Election Sermon 102

 

Frances Sargent Osgood 111

Name of Hester Prynne 112

Similar Appearances 114

Beauties 115

Caused a Great Scandal 115

Mutual Ties to Boston 119

Mother’s Deceased 120

Flower Motifs 121

Feminine Natures 122

Adherers of Truth 122

Givers of Love Advice 123

Mutual Obstinacy 124

Childlike Preoccupations with the Past 125

Minds Escape from the Present 128

Popularity of Their Art 128

Black Man’s Mark 131

Ties to the Universalist Church 133

Speak! 134

Ideal Man is Unattainable 136

Encouragers 136

Forgivers 137

Vows of Silence 138

Refuse to Disclose the Father 139

Would Death be Better? 140

Overlapping Circle of Friends with Hawthorne 141

Murmuring Brooks of Osgood and Hawthorne 145

 

Fanny Fay Osgood 151

Una Hawthorne 151

Name of Pearl 152

Look Like Their Mothers 155

Hidden Away in Apartments 155

Flowerlike 156

No Physical Deformities 157

Graceful 157

Lavishly Dressed 158

Fairylike 159

Elf Children 161

Bright Skintones 162

Sickly 164

Bipolar Personalities 166

Half Welcome, Half Blame 167

On Tiptoes for a Flight 169

 

Samuel Stillman Osgood 171

Frequent Travelers 171

Change of Name to Chillingworth 174

 

Rufus Wilmot Griswold 175

Name of Roger Chillingworth 176

Grizzled Beards 177

Unattractive 178

Close Relationship 178

Psychological Warfare 179

Ultimately Hate Each Other 180

Forlorn Creatures 181

Vindictive 181

Power to Destroy Careers 182

Husbands 183

Marks Names in the Large Book 185

Finder of Hidden Virtues 187

Failing Health 188

 

Elizabeth Fries Ellet 189

Name of Mistress Hibbins 190

Witches 191

Ugly Tempered 191

Former Intimacy 192

Nonstop Necromancy 196

 

Nathaniel Parker Willis 199

Name of John Wilson 200

Same Beard 201

Ministers 201

Scholars 201

Advisors 201

Friends of the Minister 202

Minister has Finally Spoken 204

No Right to Meddle 205

The Fruits 206

Tropical Birds 206

Popular with Children 207

Lanterns 207

The Move Home 207

Write About Deaths 208

 

Thomas Dunn English 209

Name of Governor Bellingham 210

Versed in the English Way 210

Both Attorneys 210

Cohorts in Mischief 211

Speak of Bacon 211

Familiar with Coke, Noye, and Finch 212

Soldiers 212

The Four Guards 213

Plans Hatched 213

Lack of True Inventiveness 214

Welfare of the State 215

 

James Fenimore Cooper 217

Acquaintance of Chillingworth 218

Similar Appearance to Characters 218

Facial Scars 218

Extensive Seafaring Novels and Bristol 219

 

CONCLUSION 221

AFTERWORD 223

APPENDIX OF NAMES 235

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Q: Thanks for your time, Andrew! How did you uncover that Hawthorne portrayed the rumored affair of Edgar Allan Poe and Frances Osgood in The Scarlet Letter?

 

A: It began about a decade ago when I decided to figure out what Poe meant in his amazing poem: “Ulalume: A Ballad.” His former fiancee, Sarah Helen Whitman, said it was his most biographical poem. I analyzed every line to see how it could fit biographically into Poe’s life. There are definite time-date stamps throughout the ballad. After years of study I concluded that it was, in fact, biographical and an obscure confession, if you will, of his affair with Frances Osgood. Years later, when I was reading The Scarlet Letter, the characters started to jump out at me as having the same features and personalities. It started with Minister Dimmesdale. He possesses numerous characteristics of Poe, including his depressed nature, sensitive temperament, large dark eyes, dark clothing, and a broad forehead. I began jotting down all the similarities I was seeing. Dimmesdale’s bad qualities, like talking to himself and praying as he walks down the street were almost identical to what Rufus Griswold claimed that Poe did in his “Ludwig” obituary he published just after Poe died. Unfortunately for Poe, Hawthorne relied heavily on this Griswold hitpiece. For kicks, I then did the same with Hester Prynne.

 

Sure enough, she appeared to be a puritanical portrayal of Frances Osgood. Their last names are a transition cipher, in a nod to Poe and his cryptography solutions. Hester’s art is highly regarded and she is able to sell all that she produces, just like Osgood did with her poetry. She often thinks of the past and childish matters, which Osgood also did in her poetry. Hester looks just like Poe described Osgood in his sketchpieces. Hester is very romantic and Osgood wrote many romantic poems. While her husband was traveling, she was left to her own devices. Osgood’s husband, Samuel Osgood, frequently traveled painting the portraits of the rich and famous. Hester’s daughter, Pearl, has fairylike qualities. The middle name of Osgood’s third child was Fay, which is another name for a fairy. That brought me to Pearl.

 

What little we know about Fanny Fay Osgood primarily comes from Osgood’s poetry. We know she was fairylike and her life was half sorrow and half joy, just like Pearl in Hawthorne’s novel. I then remembered that Mary Seward appeared to call Fanny Fay by the nickname Pearl in her poem “Our ‘Pearl,’” which she published in The Memorial collection after Osgood’s death. Chillingworth had many similarities to Rufus Griswold and there were several other authors involved in the Poe-Osgood scandal that Hawthorne appears to have modeled in The Scarlet Letter. There are ciphers in some of their names, just like Hawthorne did with Osgood and Prynne. I was beside myself to uncover this and went about deconstructing the novel by viewing it in terms of the authors of Hawthorne’s day as they related to Poe and Osgood. It took years. There are over five-hundred footnotes in the book.

 

Q: Why do you think other scholars have not recognized this in the past 176 years?

 

A: The question of the paternity of Frances Osgood’s third child, Fanny Fay, was not questioned in print until Poe scholar, Thomas Mabbott, gave passing reference in the late 1960s. From Nathaniel Hawthorne’s side, scholars simply did not know, at least in any great detail, about the rumored affair between Edgar Allan Poe and Frances Osgood. If you are not looking for a specific thing, you will never find it. On the Poe side, most scholars have looked the other way. There is no quicker way to get a Poe scholar into a fluster than to mention the alleged affair of Poe and Osgood.

 

Q: Why do you think Poe scholars have not done a deep dive into the rumored affair?

 

A: There are two main reasons. The first is a result of the ever-prevelent: Hasn’t Poe Suffered Enough Doctrine. Poe underwent bouts of heavy drinking, loved ones dying throughout his life, poverty, and attacks from literary figures of his day even after he died. Under the HPSE Doctrine, there is no room for one more dark chapter in Poe’s life. The second primary reason, and the one I think is the main reason, is that there has never been a concerted study into the poetry of Frances Osgood from March 1845 (when she met Poe) to May 1850 (when Osgood died). I went through every magazine from this time period and studied all the Osgood poems and short stories. She was publishing up to three poems a month.

 

Q: What about the 1980 book by John Evangelist Walsh: Plumes in the Dust: The Love Affair of Edgar Allan Poe and Fanny Osgood?

 

Over forty years ago the historical author asserted that Poe had an illicit affair with Osgood that resulted in her third child—Fanny Fay Osgood—though light on scholarship. This was about a dozen years after Mabbott raised the issue. Walsh’s book stitched together certain events in their lives and cites spurious letters to circumstantially bolster his assertion. Poe scholars panned Plumes in the Dust as lacking scholarship, and rightly so. It was largely ignored for the same lack of study into the works of Frances Osgood. Mary De Jong, points out that Walsh “examined only a few of her writings after 1845 to ascertain in what sense she was Poe’s Lover. Those writings constitute the best available source of evidence . . ..”

 

Q: Did Walsh notice the references in The Scarlet Letter? 

 

A: No. Walsh seems to have missed the legion references in Hawthorne’s novel. 

 

Q: Why did Hawthorne seek revenge on Poe?

 

A: Poe was Hawthorne’s harshest critic. He published no less than four articles about Hawthorne’s lack of creativity. Poe said: “[Hawthorne] is infinitely too fond of allegory,

and can never hope for popularity so long as he persists in it.” As a result, Hawthorne placed Poe in his most famous allegory.

 

Q: Tell me about the cover design

 

A: Hawthorne makes clear in The Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne’s dress is gray. The letter A is stitched on the dress with gold thread. I wanted to be as true to the original novel as possible so I asked the designer to create a cover that looks like a snapshot of Hester’s dress.

 

Q: Was this difficult?

 

A: I had a couple revisions with the designer. It was important for the gold stitching around the A to appear handstitched. Obviously, there were no sewing machines in the 1640s, which is when the novel is set. I also wanted the cover to look like grey linen for Hester’s dress.

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