Edgar Allan Poe was a 19th century American poet, author, and editor, most famous for his short stories involving Gothic themes of mystery and horror.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Birth and Education
Edgar Allan Poe was born Edgar Poe on January 19th, 1809, in Boston. His parents died in 1811, and he was unofficially adopted by John and Frances Allan, who baptized him Edgar Allan Poe.
Poe and the Allans sailed to England in 1815; Poe attended schools in Scotland, Chelsea, and Stoke Newington (a London suburb). They returned in 1820.
Poe attended the University of Virginia for a short time in 1826, but dropped out with gambling debts. Distressed that his sweetheart had married another man, he moved to Boston and soon enrolled in the military.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Literary Career
Poe anonymously published Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827, which sold almost no copies. He was released from the Army in 1829, enrolled in West Point in 1830, and was dismissed from West Point in 1831.
Struggling to support his literary career, Poe worked at various times for Gentleman’s Magazine, Southern Literary Messenger, Graham’s Magazine, and Evening Mirror.
On May 16th, 1836, Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. In 1845, “The Raven” was published in Evening Mirror. In 1847, Virginia Poe died of tuberculosis.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Death
Poe died in Baltimore in the Washington College Hospital on October 7th, 1849, after being found delirious on the streets of Baltimore.
Newspapers reported that Poe had died from "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation", but the true cause of death remains unknown; it has been theorized that Poe died of alcohol, cholera, rabies, suicide or tuberculosis. He is buried in the Westminster Burying Ground.
Griswold’s Slanderous Obituary of Edgar Allan Poe
Two days after Poe’s death, a slanderous obituary written by Rufus Wilmot Griswold's Poe was published in the New York Tribune. Griswold, Poe’s nemesis, became Poe's literary executor and worked to tarnish his enemy's reputation.
Griswold’s interpretation of Poe – as insane, addicted to drugs, and constantly drunk – worked itself deeply into the public consciousness and sparked a fierce debate over Poe’s character which continues today.
Poe remains a familiar icon in pop culture; he also has a rich literary legacy, influencing short stories, criticism, detective fiction, and science fiction.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Most Famous Works
Some of Edgar Allan Poe’s most famous short stories include “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Black Cat,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” "The Masque of the Red Death" and "The Premature Burial".
His poetry includes “The Raven,” “A Dream Within a Dream,” “Lenore” and “Annabel Lee.”
The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore
Rebekah Richards - Rebekah Richards has published fiction and nonfiction in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Brandeis Law Journal, Where the Children Play, ...
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