POE, EDGAR ALLAN

born Jan. 19, 1809, Boston, Mass., U.S. died Oct. 7, 1849, Baltimore, Md. American short-story writer, poet, critic, and editor who is famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. His tale The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) initiated the modern detective story, and the atmosphere in his tales of horror is unrivaled in American fiction. His The Raven (1845) numbers among the best-known poems in the national literature. Additional reading Edition. Thomas Ollive Mabbott (ed.), The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, 3 vol. (1969, 1978), the definitive edition. Letters. J.W. Ostrom, The Letters of Edgar Allan Poe, 2 vol. (1948). Bibliography. J.L. Dameron and I.B. Cauthen, Jr., Edgar Allan Poe: A Bibliography of Criticism, 18271967 (1974), includes foreign criticism; Esther F. Hyneman, Edgar Allan Poe: An Annotated Bibliography of Books and Articles in English, 18271973 (1974). Biography. Arthur H. Quinn, Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography (1941, reprinted 1969), long the standard work; N. Bryllion Fagin, The Histrionic Mr. Poe (1949), emphasizes the theatrical quality of his life; Geoffrey Rans, Edgar Allan Poe (1965), introductory; Edward Wagenknecht, Edgar Allan Poe: The Man Behind the Legend (1963), his character and personality; C. Alphonso Smith, Edgar Allan Poe: How to Know Him (1921), introductory; James A. Harrison, Life of Edgar Allan Poe (1903, reprinted 1970); Vincent Buranelli, Edgar Allan Poe (1961), primarily a critical introduction; Una Constance Pope-Hennessy, Edgar Allan Poe, 18091849: A Critical Biography (1934, reprinted 1969); William Robert Bittner, Poe: A Biography (1962), includes a summary of the basic points of scholarly controversy over his life; Roger Asselineau, Edgar Allan Poe (1970), a brief introduction; Haldeen Braddy, Glorious Incense: The Fulfillment of Edgar Allan Poe, 2nd ed. (1968), an overview of his achievement and influence. Criticism. E.H. Davidson, Poe: A Critical Study (1957); Perry Miller, The Raven and the Whale (1956); Louis Broussard, The Measure of Poe (1969), emphasis on his work as allegory and symbolism; Eric W. Carlson (ed.), The Recognition of Edgar Allan Poe: Selected Criticism Since 1829 (1966); William L. Howarth (ed.), Twentieth Century Interpretations of Poe's Tales (1971); Robert Charles Regan (ed.), Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays (1967); Floyd Stovall, Edgar Poe the Poet: Essays New and Old on the Man and His Work (1969); Killis Campbell, The Mind of Poe, and Other Studies (1933, reprinted 1962), each deals with some matter that has been in dispute among students of Poe. Specialized topics E.W. Parks, Edgar Allan Poe As Literary Critic (1964); W.T. Bandy, ed., Seven Tales, with a French Translation and Prefatory Essay by Charles Baudelaire (1971) and Charles Baudelaire, Edgar Allan Poe: Sa vie et ses ouvrages (1973), text in French and English, show Baudelaire as translator and plagiarist. John Walsh, Poe the Detective: The Curious Circumstances Behind The Mystery of Marie Roget (1967), reinvestigation of a crime used in a Poe story; David K. Jackson, Poe and the Southern Literary Messenger (1934, reprinted 1970), the periodical he edited; Hervey Allen and T.O. Mabbott, Poe's Brother (1926); Palmer Cobb, The Influence of E.T.A. Hoffmann on the Tales of Edgar Allan Poe (1908); Sidney P. Moss, Poe's Literary Battles: The Critic in the Context of His Literary Milieu (1963); Celestin P. Cambiaire, The Influence of Edgar Allan Poe in France (1927, reprinted 1971); Samuel Moskowitz (ed.), The Man Who Called Himself Poe (1969), an anthology of fiction and poetry in which Poe appears as an integral character; Michael Allen, Poe and the British Magazine Tradition (1969); Patrick Francis Quinn, The French Face of Edgar Poe (1957). Psychoanalytic Joseph Wood Krutch, Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius (1926); John W. Robertson, Edgar Allan Poe: A Psychopathic Study (1922); David M. Rein, Edgar Allan Poe: The Inner Pattern (1960); Marie Bonaparte, Edgar Poe, tude psychoanalytique, 2 vol. (1933; The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe, with an introduction by Sigmund Freud, 1949), often farfetched in its interpretations. Major Works: Poems. Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827); Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems (1829); Poems by Edgar Allan Poe (1831); The Raven and Other Poems (1845); Ulalume (1847); Annabel Lee (1849); The Bells (1849). Short stories. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque (1840); The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe (1843), includes The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Man That Was Used Up; Tales (1845), includes The Fall of the House of Usher, The Mystery of Marie Roget, The Gold Bug, The Black Cat, and The Purloined Letter; The Masque of the Red Death (1842); The Pit and the Pendulum (1843); The Tell-Tale Heart (1843); The Premature Burial (1844); The Cask of Amontillado (1846).