Portal:Edgar Allan Poe/Biography archive
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[edit] August 2007
2007 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Griswold was the literary executor of the works of Edgar Allan Poe after Poe's death. Rival editors in Philadelphia and New York City, Griswold and Poe had often clashed, including fighting for the affection of Frances Sargent Osgood. It is unknown if Poe had requested Griswold take care of his collected works or if Griswold had tricked him into it. Griswold also wrote the first obituary of Poe, calling him an "erratic star" whose loss would cause little grief. Griswold went on from there to further defame Poe's character, though many came forward to deny his claims including George Rex Graham and Sarah Helen Whitman.
[edit] September 2007
Charles Baudelaire (April 9, 1821 – August 31, 1867) was a French poet and critic who also made influential French translations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe in the 19th century. Born in Paris, Baudelaire soon became known for his bold criticisms and published his first volume of poetry, Les Fleurs du mal ("The Flowers of Evil"), in 1857. His work had themes of sex and death and created a stir in French society; Baudelaire was prosecuted for moral offenses and several of his poems were suppressed. In 1852, he had begun translating the works of Poe, which he continued to do until 1865. These translations helped influence the creation of the Symbolist movement in France. Largely because of Baudelaire's early translations, Poe remains a strong influence on French literature.
[edit] October 2007
Eliza Arnold Poe (1787-1811) was a British-born American actress and the mother of Edgar Allan Poe. Shortly after her first husband Charles Hopkins died, leaving her a widow at age 18, she married David Poe in 1806. Eliza, like her mother before her, was an accomplished stage actress. David's attempts at acting were highly criticized and six weeks after David and Eliza (along with their young sons William Henry Leonard and Edgar) moved from Virginia to New York, David left the family or, possibly, died. Their daughter, Rosalie, was born shortly after. Eliza struggled to care for her three children alone on her actress's salary. When she became sick with tuberculosis, local newspapers and friends solicited for money on Eliza's behalf. Eliza died Eliza on December 8, 1811 at the age of twenty-four. She is buried at St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond. Though her actual burying place is unknown, a memorial marks the general area. After her death, her three children were separated: William Henry Leonard was taken in by relatives in Baltimore, Rosalie was cared for by the McKenzie family of Richmond and Edgar was brought into the household of John and Frances Allan.
[edit] November 2007
Thomas Dunn English (June 29, 1819 - April 1, 1902) was a lawyer and minor writer who engaged in a bitter feud with Edgar Allan Poe and was likely an inspiration for "The Cask of Amontillado." In 1846, Poe sued English and his publisher at the New York Mirror for libel. Poe won the suit, but English continued his insults, especially in a novel called 1844, which included a character which seemed to be a caricature of Poe. This character was known for his drinking and muttering "Nevermore." Poe's own literary response may have cast English as Fortunato, who meets his end being buried alive in a vault while wearing a jester's outfit, still awaiting his cask of amontillado.
English went on to represent New Jersey's 6th congressional district in the House of Representatives from 1891 to 1895. He died in 1902.
[edit] December 2007
Sarah Helen Whitman (January 19, 1803 - June 27, 1878) was a poet and essayist and follower of the Transcendentalist movement from Providence, Rhode Island. She had a heart condition that required her to inhale ether. She was also a love interest of Edgar Allan Poe after Whitman dedicated a Valentine's Day poem to him in 1848. Flattered, Poe responded anonymously with his previously-published "To Helen" before writing a new poem with the same new dedicated to her. Despite Poe's ongoing relationship with other women, including Sarah Elmira Royster, he proposed to Whitman. They chose a wedding date of December 24, 1848 after Poe promised to stay sober. The wedding was called off, though the reason is not fully agreed upon. After Poe's death, Whitman was one of the most famous of his public defenders against Rufus Wilmot Griswold's accusations. Upon her death in 1878, Whitman left much of her money to charity.
[edit] January 2008
Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 - October 7, 1849) was a literary critic, poet, and short story writer, known for his horror fiction and as the inventor of detective fiction. Born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1809, Poe was orphaned by age 3. He was taken in by the wealthy Allan family in Richmond, Virginia. After brief attempts at university studies and a military career, Poe embarked on literary pursuits, despite poor reception of his first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems. Over his twenty years of publishing, he worked in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, earning a reputation as a harsh critic. His short stories and poems often focused on themes of death and mourning, sometimes comically. His most successful works during his lifetime were "The Gold-Bug" and "The Raven". Distraught by the death of his wife Virginia in 1847, Poe produced what he considered his "masterpiece" in 1848: Eureka: A Prose Poem. In the lengthy work, Poe attempted to explain his intuitive theory on the origin of the universe and man's relationship to God. Poe died in Baltimore in 1849 under mysterious circumstances. The cause of his death is not known with certainty, though theories include cooping, suicide, cholera, and many others. The story of Poe's life and his works remain influential on popular culture, films, television, and in music.
[edit] February 2008
Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and Realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the "father of free verse". His work is also very controversial, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which has been described as obscene for its overt sexuality.
Born on Long Island in 1819, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War in addition to publishing his poetry. Early in his career, he also produced a temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common man with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey while his health further declined. Though several were invited, he was the only poet to attend the November 17, 1875 memorial service for Edgar Allan Poe when his new grave marker was unveiled. Whitman died at age 72 and his funeral became a public spectacle with live music, speeches, and refreshments.
[edit] March 2008
Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870), was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous social campaigner. Considered one of the English language's greatest writers, he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters, and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime. The popularity of Dickens' novels and short stories has meant that not one has ever gone out of print. Dickens wrote serialised novels, the usual format for fiction at the time, and each new part of his stories was eagerly anticipated by the reading public.
Edgar Allan Poe was inspired by Dickens's novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty to write "The Raven". Poe believed that Grip, a talking raven in the novel, could have been used more dramatically to serve a symbolic, prophetic purpose. One scene in particular in the novel bears a resemblance to "The Raven": at the end of the fifth chapter of Dickens's novel, Grip makes a noise and someone says, "What was that – him tapping at the door?" The response is, "'Tis someone knocking softly at the shutter." The similarity did not go unnoticed: James Russel Lowell in his A Fable for Critics wrote the verse, "Here comes Poe with his raven, like Barnaby Rudge / Three-fifths of him genius and two-fifths sheer fudge."
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[edit] April 2008
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and "Evangeline". Born in Portland, Maine, Longfellow studied at Bowdoin College before traveling to Europe and working as a professor of language at Harvard College. By 1854, he retired from teaching to focus on his writing. Longfellow predominantly wrote lyric poetry, known for its musicality, which often presented stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and also had success overseas.
Longfellow has been criticized for imitating European styles and writing specifically for the masses. One of his most vocal critics was Edgar Allan Poe. Originally praising Longfellow, once calling him "unquestionably the best poet in America", Poe publicly accused Longfellow of plagiarism. In what has been since termed by Poe biographers as "The Longfellow War", he called Longfellow "a determined imitator and a dextrous adapter of the ideas of other people", specifically Alfred, Lord Tennyson. His accusations may have been a publicity stunt to boost readership of the Broadway Journal, for which he was the editor at the time. Longfellow never responded publicly.
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[edit] May 2008
Nathaniel Parker Willis, also known as N. P. Willis, (January 20, 1806 – January 20, 1867) was an American author, poet and editor. After graduating from Yale College, he worked as an overseas correspondent for the New York Mirror before moving to New York. Working with multiple publications, he soon became the highest-paid magazine writer in America, earning about $100 per article and $5,000 per year. In 1846, he started his own publication, the Home Journal, which is still published today as Town & Country. Shortly after, Willis moved to a home on the Hudson River where he lived a semi-retired life until his death in 1867.
Willis had boosted his popularity thanks to his good nature, though he was occasionally noted for being effeminate and Europeanized. As a publisher, he tried to appeal to the taste of the readers while supporting new talent. In addition to travel writings, Willis published several poems, tales, and a play. Despite his intense popularity for a time, at his death Willis was nearly forgotten.
Willis was a close friend and frequent employer of Edgar Allan Poe. While editor of the Mirror, he oversaw the first publication of "The Raven" on January 29, 1845.
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