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Edgar Allan Poe

  • Edgar Poe
Sort Name
Poe, Edgar Allan
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Type
Person
Gender
Male
Date of birth
1809-01-19
Place of birth
Boston
Date of death
1849-10-07
Place of death
Baltimore

Wikipedia

Edgar Allan Poe (né Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as one of the central figures of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States, and of early American literature. Poe was one of the country's first successful practitioners of the short story, and is generally considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre. In addition, he is credited with contributing significantly to the emergence of science fiction. He is the first well-known American writer to earn a living by writing alone, which resulted in a financially difficult life and career.

Poe was born in Boston. He was the second child of actors David and Elizabeth "Eliza" Poe. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and when Eliza died the following year, Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan of Richmond, Virginia. They never formally adopted him, but he lived with them well into young adulthood. Poe attended the University of Virginia, but left after only a year due to a lack of money. He frequently quarreled with John Allan over the funds needed to continue his education as well as his gambling debts. In 1827, having enlisted in the United States Army under the assumed name of Edgar A. Perry, he published his first collection, Tamerlane and Other Poems, which was credited only to "a Bostonian". Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement after the death of Allan's wife Frances in 1829. However, Poe later failed as an officer cadet at West Point, declared his intention to become a writer, primarily of poems, and parted ways with Allan.

Poe switched his focus to prose, and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In 1836, when he was 27, he married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. She died of tuberculosis in 1847.

In January 1845, he published his poem "The Raven" to instant success. He planned for years to produce his own journal The Penn, later renamed The Stylus. But before it began publishing, Poe died in Baltimore in 1849, aged 40, under mysterious circumstances. The cause of his death remains unknown and has been attributed to many causes, including disease, alcoholism, substance abuse, and suicide.

Poe's works influenced the development of literature throughout the world and even impacted such specialized fields as cosmology and cryptography. Since his death, he and his writings have appeared throughout popular culture in such fields as art, photography, literary allusions, music, motion pictures, and television. Several of his homes are dedicated museums. In addition, The Mystery Writers of America presents an annual Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.

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Annotation

American author, poet, editor, and literary critic.

Last modified: 2020-08-12 (revision #20727)

Editions

NameFormatISBNRelease Date
Spirits of the Dead: Tales and PoemsPaperback0-14-062239-X1997
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of NantucketeBook?2014-05-25
Los crímenes de la calle Morgue (Colección grandes novelas de Crimen y Misterio)Hardcover97884471571032022
Die denkwürdigen Erlebnisse des Arthur Gordon PymPaperback3-548-02516-11975
Groteskin ja arabeskin runojaHardcover95275641152023-10-26
Ajan ja avaruuden kartatPaperback97895161197101999
Œuvres en ProseHardcover97820701045431932-03-30
Short Fiction (Edgar Allan Poe)eBook?2020-11-18
La máscara de la Muerte Roja y otras historias macabras (colección horror y misterio)Paperback987-07-5239-X2022-09
Horrorgeschichten: Das Beste vom Meister des UnheimlichenPaperback978-3-458-36231-92021
Cuentos: El gato negro y otros relatos (Colección Leer Más)Paperback98772555372022
Die Maske des Roten Todes: KurzgeschichtenPaperback?1967
Kootut kertomuksetHardcover97895185101712006
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Identifiers

Goodreads Author ID
4624490
ISNI
0000 0001 2135 4025
LibraryThing Author
poeedgarallan
MusicBrainz Artist ID
f72fcfda-b560-4f16-95e1-8c25acf60288
OpenLibrary Author ID
OL28127A
VIAF
60351476
Wikidata ID
Q16867

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Last Modified
2024-06-17