Jim Wright

Special to NorthJersey.com

If you visit Philadelphia this summer, be sure to stop by the main branch of the Free Library in Center City. You’ll be able to see a certain bird that you probably never knew existed beyond the pages of a poem.

This isn’t just any bird, mind you. Although more and more of this once-unusual species are being seen in North Jersey, this particular bird is more than 150 years old.

It’s from England. It made its debut in a Charles Dickens novel in 1841. And it’s currently on display in a glass case in the library’s Rare Book Department for all the world to see.

Maybe I should also mention the bird is big, it’s black, and it just might be the most famous bird in all of literature.

Will I keep the bird’s identity a secret? Nevermore.

The Bird Watcher:Close encounters of the bird kind

The Bird Watcher:A birding day trip to the Hudson Valley

That’s right. The actual feathers-and-flesh bird that inspired Edgar Allan Poe to write “The Raven” sits safe and sound on the library’s third floor, the gift of a wealthy donor who collected all things Poe and who knew that the poem’s blackbird had been inspired by the Dickens family’s pet raven, Grip.

The talkative corvid was a minor character in Dickens’ historical novel, “Barnaby Rudge.” Poe, a book reviewer living in Philadelphia at the time, was amused by the literary blackbird’s chatterings, which included comments such as “Never say die. Bow, wow, wow. I'm a devil, I'm a devil. Hurrah."

Poe gave “Barnaby Rudge” a favorable review but noted that Dickens could have used “the raven’s croakings” to better advantage — as harbingers to heighten the drama. In 1845, Poe took his own advice and wrote “The Raven,” which became an instant classic.

Critics familiar with the writings of Poe and Dickens immediately saw the connection between the two ravens. Observed James Russell Lowell: “There comes Poe with his raven, like Barnaby Rudge, Three-fifths of him genius and two-fifths sheer fudge.”

But how did Poe’s inspirational raven end up in Philly?

First, the Dickens family had their beloved bird preserved after its unexpected death, the likely result of its drinking white paint in 1841. The taxidermy bird then sat on Dickens’ mantel until the author died in 1870.

After that, the raven passed from collector to collector until it was purchased at auction in 1951 and endowed to the Free Library by Richard A. Gimbel, an avid Poe collector and one of the department store Gimbels.

The Free Library’s Poe collection goes far beyond the world’s most famous corvid. Gimbel also donated the only known copy of "The Raven" in Poe's distinctive hand, the manuscript for "Annabel Lee"; and the manuscript for "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."

Still, it is the taxidermy blackbird that is the showstopper, huge and black and beautiful.

The other benefit of seeing Grip in all his shiny-feathered glory is you have an excuse to read “The Raven” again — something most of us probably haven’t done in years.

And that’s one of the unexpected benefits of bird-watching. The hobby doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s a wonderful way to connect with all sorts of subjects, including incredible poems of yore.

If you want to see a raven in North Jersey:

Try the Meadowlands or the State Line Hawk Lookout in Alpine. I’ve also seen these highly intelligent birds and heard their guttural calls in the Celery Farm in Allendale.

If you want to see Grip:

Take a free tour of the Free Library’s Rare Book Department at 1901 Vine Street. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Tours of the General Collections begin at 11 a.m.

More info: https://libwww.freelibrary.org/programs/rarebooks/