Edgar Allen Poe

EDGAR ALLAN POE

Born Jan. 19, 1809

Died Oct. 7, 1849

Poe, a great 19th-century American author, was born on Jan 19, 1809, in , . Both his parents died when Poe was two years old, and he was taken into the home of John Allan, a wealthy tobacco exporter of , . Although Poe was never legally adopted, he used his foster father's name as his middle name.

After several years in a Richmod academy, Poe was sent to the . After a year, John Allan refused to give him more money, possibly because of Poe's losses at gambling. Poe then had to leave the university.

In 1827 he published, in Boston, Tamerlane and Other Poems. This was the first volume of his poems, and was published anonymously. The book made no money, and Poe enlisted in the United States Army under an assumed name. After he served two years, his foster father arranged for him to be honorably discharged and to enter the United States Military Academy. But, within six months, Poe was dismissed because of neglect of duty.

Poe then began to write stories for magazines. In 1831, he published Poems by Edgar A. Poe, which he dedicated to the cadets of the U.S. Military Academy. In 1833, he won a cash prize for the story . In 1835, he jointed the staff of the , . Within a year, the circulation of the magazine increased seven times thanks to the popularity of Poe's stories.

Poe, however, soon lost his job with the magazine because of his drinking. In 1836, he married beautiful Virginia Clemm, the 13-year-old daughter of his aunt. The following year he lived in New York City, and the next year he drifted to . There he became associate editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. He contributed literary criticism, reviews, poems, and some of his most famous stories to this magazine.

In 1840, Poe published