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The Life Of Edgar Alan Poe
a Biography
1809 -- 1849
He gained some fame from the publication in 1845 of a dozen stories as well as of
The Raven and Other Poems, and he enjoyed a few months of calm as a respected critic
and writer. ...
Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, the second of
the three children of David Poe and Elizabeth (Arnold) Poe, both of whom were
professional actors and members of a touring theatrical company. ... Although never
formally adopted by them, Poe regarded the couple, especially Mrs. ... Both in London and then in
Richmond after the familys return, Poe was well educated in private academies. ...
In 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia, newly founded by former
President Thomas Jefferson. ...
After quarreling with Allan, Poe left Richmond in March 1827 and sailed to Boston,
where, in relatively short order, he enlisted in the United States Army (under the name
Edgar A. ...
In 1829, Poe had published a second collection of verse, which attracted little
more attention than its predecessor. ... Poe referred to
her as "the first, purely ideal love of my soul." Also in 1831, Poe went to Baltimore, where
he moved in with his widowed aunt Maria Clemm, his fathers sister, who was to be the
most deeply devoted of his several mother-figures, and her eight-year-old daughter
Virginia. ...
Frances Allan had died in February 1829, and John Allan, who was by this time
permanently alienated from Poe, had remarried in October 1830. On Allans death in 1834,
Poe received nothing. Effectively disinherited, unsuited for business or the military, Poe
turned to journalism, the one avenue likely to
afford a successful career to someone of his interests and abilities. Through the
recommendation of the novelist John Pendleton Kennedy, who had been one of the judges
of the Saturday Visiter contest, Poe began in March 1835 to contribute short fiction and
book reviews to the Richmond-based Southern Literary Messenger. In a period of
American literature not notable for them, Poe exhibited coherent aesthetic principles and
high critical standards, and within months his vigorous and uncompromising reviews
began to increase the Messengers circulation and to enhance its reputation, prompting its
publisher to make Poe his principal book reviewer and editorial assistant. By the end of
the year, Poe, who had moved to Richmond with Virginia and Mrs.
Approximate Word count = 1946
Approximate Pages = 7.8
(250 words per page double spaced)
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