America has a fine history of excellent people born throughout the centuries, and the Great Romantic Author Edgar Allan Poe was one of them. Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most renowned personalities in American history.
Knowing about this author is a real deal if you like detective stories. Edgar is a beautiful person when it comes to stories, narratives, detective stories, or other short stories. Let’s take a look at some interesting facts about Edgar Allan.
1. MS. Found in a Bottle, the Cutting-Edge Short Story
The Great Romantic Author Edgar Allan Poe won a prize in 1833 for this short story. After getting an award from a well-known firm like The Baltimore Saturday Visitor, he drew the attention of John P. Kennedy towards him.
As a result, he became the assistant editor for a short time at the Southern Literary Messenger, directed by the guidance of Thomas W. White, the main editor.
2. The Stylus
It was formerly known as The Penn and was created and modified by the great romantic author Edgar Allan Poe. He wanted to start writing The Stylus in 1834, but due to several factors, the date was shifted, and the journal came in June 1840.
3. Edgar Poe was Renowned as the Tomahawk Man
Being a critic, this great romantic author was renowned as the Tomahawk Man due to the reviews given by Edgar. The reviews used to be harsh and judgemental, so people used to call Edgar Allan Poe Tomahawk Man.
4. Unveiling of On The Cosmography of the Universe at Society Library in New York
A modern-day book named Cosmogenesis was mentioned to this great romantic author, Edgar Poe’s research and interest in cosmology. Apart from cosmology, Edgar Allan Poe was tormented by cryptography.
5. Baptized After a Character in a Play of William Shakespeare’s King Lear
The parents of this great romantic author, mother Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe, and father David Poe were so enchanted by the tragedy play they performed, named King Lear, written by William Shakespeare, that they named his second born Edgar. This name was one of the characters in the play.
6. Hobbies of Cosmology and Intercosmic Space
Other than the romantic and horror genre, Allan Poe was fascinated by cosmology and the universe. He wrote a prose poem called Eureka, in which he talked about space and the universe. Readers found a resemblance to the Big Bang theory in this poem.
7. The Great Romantic Author was an Ailurophile
Edgar was a cat lover. The short story The Black Cat is the living proof of the love of this great romantic author for cats. He used to believe that cats brought good luck, so when he wrote his stories or poems, his cat sat beside him most of the time. He thought that the cat was the source of motivation and inspiration.
8. Baltimore Ravens: The American Team
At that time, The Raven was so successful that even the American football team named itself Baltimore Raven in honor of renowned poet Edgar Allan Poe.
9. The Great Romantic Author’s Other Genres
Apart from writing about horror and romance, this great romantic author was keenly interested in other genres such as tragedy, detective fiction, cosmology, and tragic romance.
10. The Raven: An Expeditious Success of Edgar Allan Poe
This Great Romantic Author wrote The Raven; later, in January 1845, Poe published it. The Raven is an epic poem; the stories mark the inexplicable arrival of a raven to a person. The poem talks about the sadness and insanity of a person.
The supernatural horror story talks about a woke-up lover forgetting his lost love through symbols such as talking ravens. Poe published this 18-stanza poem as a narrative and sold it to The American Review.
11. The Murders in the Rue Morgue
This short story is a detective story created in 1841. It was the first modern story with tags of detective fiction. It is said that the detective story of this great romantic author deeply inspired the creator of Sherlock Holmes.
12. The Purloined Letter
The Purloined Letter is one of the more than seventy short stories this great romantic author wrote. It is a detective story about the police and the thief who stole a letter.
13. The Dilemma of Edgar Allan Poe’s Real Family
In January 1809, Edgar Poe was born in Massachusetts in a family of actors. David Poe Jr. and Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe were the parents of Allan Poe. Still, David Poe Jr. abandoned Poe along with her mother, elder brother Henry, and Rosalie, the youngest sister.
14. Facts About John Allan and Edgar Allan Poe’s Foster Family
After his father abandoned Edgar Allan Poe, the death of his mother due to pulmonary TB deeply affected Poe. Later, he was taken into the dwelling of John Allan (foster father), a well-known businessman in Richmond, Virginia.
John and Frances Allan were Allan Poe’s foster parents. They forenamed him Edgar Allan Poe, and later, he lived with them until he lost touch with his foster father.
15. Edgar Allan Poe Facts Related to His Early Life and the Riches
His foster father sent him to a boarding school situated in Chelsea. Poe moved back to Richmond in 1820 with his family, but tragically, some of his close ones departed, and Edgar Allan inherited 750,000 dollars, making him wealthy.
When he joined the University of Virginia, he got into gambling, alcohol, and horse races, eventually destroying his inheritance. Later on, John did not pay Poe’s gambling debts, leaving him in a huge debt.
16. Career in the United States Army
Unable to handle his in-debt condition, Poe joined the United States Military Academy. Poe served less time in his five-year enlistment, eventually leaving the army on the condition that he should unite with his father.
Throughout his time in the military, he acquired the position of private. He served firstly at Fort Independence in Boston, then at Fort Moultrie in South Carolina as an artificer. He attained a Sergeant Major rank in the first two years of his service.
17. Poe’s First Collection
Poe published his first collection named Tamerlane and Other Poems; when he was still in the West Point Academy, he crashed at West Point, New York, being a cadet officer.
18. The Black Cat
As mentioned, Edgar was fond of cats; it was said that when he wrote his poems and stories, a cat used to sit on one of his shoulders.
19. Edgar Against Longfellow
Poe’s works also include literary criticism and international literature. Poe lashed and had a self-war with himself in the name of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Poe’s criticism was directed at Henry, claiming that Longfellow had plagiarised Poe’s work.
20. Backfire on Poe’s Reputation by Rufus Wilmot Griswold
It is mentioned in the history of this great romantic author and critic that once Edgar wrote a cynical criticism regarding the work of Rufus Wilmot Griswold. In the out-turn, Rufus was so full of malice that he started a campaign to tarnish Edgar’s reputation.
Rufus Wilmot Griswold got a fix on Poe’s psychological concerns and habit of alcohol and drugs. Rufus was so wary of Edgar, the great romantic author, that he even published a fallacious biography memoir of this British poet.
21. Friendship of Charles Dickens and Poe
It is known that Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe were writing pals. Once they met in Philadelphia, after that, they both used to write to each other often.
Edgar Allan Poe was a true fanatic of him. Charles Dickens even kept a talking raven named Grip as a pet raven, inspired by the story The Raven that this great romantic author wrote.
22. Failure of The Broadway Journal
In 1846, one of his writings of Poe failed miserably, forcing him to move to a cottage in Fordham, New York City. The cottage was later known as Edgar Allan Poe’s Cottage. This was the place where Virginia spent her last few days with Allan Poe.
After the death of his wife on 30 January 1847, Poe continued working on his new pieces, getting inspiration from the deaths of loved ones that he experienced throughout his life.
23. Virginia Clemm, the Better Half of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe married Virginia Clemm in 1836. Edgar Poe was 27 at that time, and Virginia was 13. She was one of the greatest poets in American history. The wedding of this great romantic author was a mysterious deed.
Virginia was Edgar Allen Poe’s younger cousin. Edgar’s cousin Virginia was a child bride, and Maria Clemm, her mother, supported their wedding. Edgar Allen Poe received veracious support from aunt and cousin Virginia in his 11 years of marriage.
24. Virginia’s Death, a Turning Point in Allan Poe’s Life
The death of Poe’s wife left a massive impact on all the family members. Virginia’s illness influenced him profoundly, fortifying the deaths of both his mothers. His wife’s death also influenced his work, which reminisced the death of youthful women, as in Annabel Lee‘s The Raven.
25. After Virginia Clemm’s Death
Poe went insane after the death of his beloved wife. He was so unstable that he tried to get back together with Sarah Helen Whitman, a poet, in Rhode Island. Before Virginia, Poe was once engaged to Whitman but broke off due to Poe’s alcoholism and distressing behavior.
Later, when he was frightened off by the Whitmans, Poe returned to Richmond and recommenced his relationship with Sarah Elmira Royster, with whom he engaged before going to the University of Virginia and after losing touch.
26. Edgar’s Abhor for the Name Allan
It is believed that the name Allan, given by the great romantic author’s foster father, wasn’t used for signing any thesis or documents. When the father and Edgar were separated, he started using his middle name, Allan, as little as possible.
27. Commuting Places
Edgar Poe has commuted many times throughout his life. However, upon his death, when he was 40, he swapped to different places. From his birthplace, Massachusetts, to his foster place, Richmond, he surely moved to many places.
He started his journal and then moved to places like Scotland, Philadelphia, New York, Fordham, London, Virginia, and Baltimore. He was forced to move to different locations because of work. In the end, he was in Washington.
28. The Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe’s death remains a mystery to this day. He died when he was 40 years old, which was way too young. Poe was found on a street in Baltimore in dreadful condition; later, when he was taken to hospital, he was very weak and died after four days.
29. Disappearance of Poe’s medical certificates
When Poe died four days later in the hospital, the reports, medical records, bills as well as his death certificate all went missing, which is suspicious as this great romantic author was a renowned person.
30. The Cause of Death
The cause of Edgar’s death is still a mystery, due to the missing of all the pivotal documents, the hunch has left the people concerned. Some say that it was a murder, and others claim that Poe committed suicide. People also claim that Poe suffered from epilepsy, heart disease, and even cholera.
Conclusion
You undoubtedly know lots of interesting facts about Edgar Allan Poe. The life of this poet, editor, and writer is undoubtedly a rollercoaster ride to start with. Poe’s character was so enchanting that his short stories and other poems were a triumph.
The facts about this great romantic author and short story writer are so fascinating that one must consider his life history. Poe’s stories included short stories, gothic horror, and detective fiction.
Last Updated on by Pragya Chakrapani
