Edgar Allan Poe on our seventyone website? He is no longer alive! However, he was innovative in his time and still shapes movies today.
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, critic, and editor best known for suggestive short stories and poems that caught the fantasy and interest of readers around the world. His imaginative storytelling and tales of mystery and horror gave birth to the modern detective story.
Edgar Poe’s parents, David and Elizabeth Poe, were low-paid actors living in Boston/USA. They had three children, Henry, Edgar, and Rosalie. Elizabeth Poe passed away in 1811 when Edgar was two years old. She had separated from her husband. John and Frances Allan adopted Edgar. Edgar became Edgar Allan Poe, and they moved to England.
He learned French and Latin, as well as history and math. He later returned to America and continued his studies. Edgar enrolled at the University of Virginia in 1826. Even though John Allan inherited plenty of money, he only contributed to Edgar about a third of what he required. Although Edgar had done well, he started to drink extensively and quickly became in debt. He had to leave the school less than a year later.
Edgar Allan Poe had no money and job skills and was disregarded by John Allan. Edgar joined the U.S. Army in 1827, leaving behind his true love Sarah Elmira Royster.
He did relatively well in the military and reached the rank of sergeant major. In 1830, Edgar Allan Poe entered West Point as a cadet. It is thought that Edgar deliberately broke the rules and ignored his obligations so he would be dismissed from his initial five-year term.a
Newspapers and magazines
In 1831, Edgar arrived in New York City, where he had some of his poetry circulated. He presented his stories to several magazines, and they were all rejected. He sent a message to his foster-father John Allan, begging for support, but none came. John Allan died in 1834. He did not mention Edgar in his testament.
In 1835, Edgar finally got employed as an editor of a newspaper. He won a contest with his anecdote, “The Manuscript Found in a Bottle”. As an editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, Edgar profitably managed the newspaper and improved its circulation from 500 to 3,500 copies. Edgar married his cousin, Virginia. He was 27, and she was 13.
Edgar left the paper in early 1836, complaining of the meagre salary. In 1837, he wrote “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym” but could not find any monetary success. He went to Philadelphia in 1838, where he authored “Ligeia” and “The Haunted Palace”. His initial short stories, “Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque”, were released in 1839. Edgar obtained the copyright and twenty copies of the book but no money.
Edgar Allan Poe - detective story
In 1840, Edgar joined George R. Graham as an editor for Graham’s Magazine. In the two years he worked for Graham’s, he printed his first detective tale, “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”.
The magazine’s circulation rose from 5,000 to 35,000 copies when Edgar was the editor. However, he left Graham’s in 1842 because he wanted to start his magazine.
Edgar found himself short of a regular job once again. He tried to start a magazine named “The Stylus” and failed. In 1843, he published booklets containing several short stories, but they didn’t go well. He won a hundred dollars for the story “The Gold Bug “. However, he barely had sufficient money to support his family.
His wife’s health was fading away. Edgar was deeply distressed by it. Edgar renewed his boyhood romance with Sarah Royster Shelton and planned to marry her in October. In September, Edgar supposedly took the wrong train and was found on the floor at Gunner’s Hall in Baltimore and was taken to the hospital. He lapsed in and out of consciousness but could never explain what happened to him.
Edgar Allan Poe passed away on October 7, 1849.
This is a guest post by our favourite daughter “AMS”.
