While reading a parody of “The Raven” on April 18, 1846, Abraham Lincoln enjoyed “several hearty laughs.” The excited public devoured fifteen parodies the poem and “innumerable” reprints, as tallied by F. O. Mabbott. Exploiting this unprecedented attention, Poe claimed he had planned it all, writing to W. Thomas May 4, 1845, “‘The Raven’ has great run … but I wrote for express purpose running.”...