The Strange Life of Edgar Allan Poe |

On January 29, 1845 Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven was published in the New York Evening Mirror. He was paid $9.

Poe had a short but eventful life. Paren'tless by the age of three he lived with a foster family and was educated in European boarding schools. He attended the University of Virginia for a short time but left because of gambling debts. A stint at West Point ended in court-martial. Unable to support himself through his writing, he worked as a literary editor. He remained close to his biological relatives marrying his 13-year-old first cousin Virginia in 1835. Her death from consumption in 1842 is believed to have influenced his writing.

On October 3, 1849, a delirious Poe was found on a Baltimore street in someone else’s clothes. He died on October 7 at the age of 40. Newspaper reports attributed his death to cerebral inflammation, a euphemism for alcoholism. There is speculation however that he may have been a victim of cooping. It was a practice in which men of voting age were disguised and coerced into casting multiple votes for a specific candidate. The victims of this practice were often drugged or physically forced to go along with this plan.

Poe’s life was brief, but his influence was great. Considered the father of the modern detective story, he also inspired countless science fiction and horror writers.

In addition, Poe lives on as a fictional character in these novels.

The American Boy by Andrew Taylor
Nevermore by Harold Schechter
Not Quite Dead by John MacLachlan Gray
The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl