... Poe the go-ahead. New responsibilities, however, would soon interfere. In1845, Poe took the opportunity to become, successively, a contributor to, an editor of, and the proprietor of the Broadway ... hisdebt to the character-writers.At the Southern Literary Messenger, Poe also had the chance to readmany memoirs and reminiscences, and these helped shape the direction of his literary study, too. ... approach to writingliterary history. The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini reinforced the value Poeattached to reminiscences. Not only was autobiography useful forunderstanding the lives...