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Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
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His parents were itinerant actors, who both passed away within a
year of each other. Poe became an orphan before the age of three.
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Poe went to live with a Richmond merchant named John Allan.
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At the age of five Poe could recite English poetry. One of his
teachers later said he was "born a poet."
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At age six, Poe moved to England where he attended Manor School
at Stoke Newington. Later it become the setting for his story
"William Wilson."
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Never legally adopted, Poe took Allan's name for his middle
name.
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Back home in the States, Poe attended the University of
Virginia, but was expelled for not paying his gambling debts.
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In 1827 Poe published his first book Tamerlane And Other Poems
under the name "A Bostonian." Poe published it at his own
expense. It sold poorly at the time, but has become one of the
rarest volumes in American literary history.
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Poe married his cousin Virginia, who was only 13 years old. She
busted a blood vessel in 1842, and remained a virtual invalid
until her death five years later.
~ Poe gambled to cover his expenses. He sometimes took his brother's identity to mislead his creditors.
~ The Ushers in "The Fall of the House of Usher" were named after Noble Luke Usher and Harriet L'Estrange Usher, who had performed with Poe's parents years before.
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In 1833 Poe won a $50 prize for the short story "MS Found
in a Bottle." He started a career as a staff member of
various magazines.
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~ Poe's most successful poem "The Raven" was published in
1845.
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In a lecture in Boston the author said the two most effective
letters in the English language were o and r - which inspired
the expression nevermore in "The Raven."
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Poe suffered from bouts of depression and madness, especially
after the death of his wife. He attempted suicide in 1848. In
September the following year he disappeared for three days after
a birthday party.
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Poe died under mysterious circumstances. The Father of the Detective Story "left us with a real-life mystery which Poe
scholars have been trying to solve for over 150 years."
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He was buried in the yard of Westminster Presbyterian Church in
Baltimore, Maryland.
Read
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