remove text highlightsEdgar Allan Poe:
In Baltimore and at the Enoch Pratt Free Library
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was a poet, literary critic, and fiction writer who pioneered the mystery story in America and still haunts the American imagination with works such as "The Raven" and "The Masque of the Red Death." His legacy of great literature and his mysterious death in Baltimore at age 40 are still debated and discussed today.
Poe had connections to most major cities on the eastern seaboard of the United States, but few as close as those to Baltimore. Although he was born in Boston, he had been known to cite Baltimore as his birthplace. Since the 1930s, the Enoch Pratt Free Library has collected materials and memorabilia about Poe. This guide is intended to help those interested in the life and works of Poe as regards Baltimore.
Read further to learn more about Poe, his contributions to American literature, and his life and death in Baltimore.
Poe in Baltimore
The Poe family's history in Baltimore dates to 1755. Poe's grandfather played an integral role in the Revolutionary War and fought again in the War of 1812. His cousin Neilson was a prominent lawyer. A number of Poe's early successes were in Baltimore. Here is a brief chronology:
1755. Poe's great-grandparents, John and Jane McBride Poe move to Baltimore from Ireland with their four children.
1775. David and Elizabeth Poe, Poe's grandparents, live on Market Street.
1779. David Poe, Sr. is appointed Quartermaster during the Revolutionary War and contributes $40,000 of his own money to the war effort. He befriends the Marquis de Lafayette, who, years later, visits his grave.
1805. David Poe, Jr., Edgar's father, makes his acting debut in Baltimore. His mother had been an actress from age 9 until her death at age 24.
1809. David Jr. and his wife bring five-week-old Edgar to Baltimore for the first time.
1814. David Sr., at the age of 71, helps defend the city in the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812.
1827. The Baltimore newspaper North American publishes Edgar's poem "Dreams."
1829. Poe shares rooms first with one cousin, then another in Baltimore.
1829. Baltimore printers Hatch and Dunning publish Poe's Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems.
1831. Poe returns to Baltimore to live with his aunt Maria Clemm and her children, including Virginia Clemm.
1833. The family moves to Amity Street in Baltimore.
1833. Poe wins a literary prize of $50 for his story "Mss Found in a Bottle" from the Saturday Morning Visitor, a newspaper. The prize is awarded in the Latrobe House on Mulberry Street, one half block from where the Pratt Library stands today.
1835. Poe proposes to Virginia Clemm, and they are married later that year.
1844. Poe returns to Baltimore after an absence of several years, to deliver a lecture on American poetry.
1849. Poe is found nearly unconscious in a tavern and is taken to Washington College Hospital, later known as Church Hospital, where he dies four days later on October 7th. The cause of death has been disputed ever since.
Poe at the Enoch Pratt Free Library/State Library Resource Center
Since 1934, when the Poe Room opened on the second floor of the Central Library, the Enoch Pratt Free Library has been a center of scholarship about Edgar Allan Poe. View our virtual exhibit, where you will find such items as:
- A letter from Poe to Maria and Virginia Clemm, professing his love for Virginia.
- A letter of condolence upon Edgar's death to Maria Clemm from his cousin Neilson Poe.
- A poem written in a letter by Virginia for Edgar, which included a lock of her hair.
- Portraits of Edgar and Virginia.
Humanities Department
Poe's poetry, along with his critical writings, and biographical and critical works about him, are available from the Humanities Department. Some of these books include:
- Bonaparte, Marie. The Life and Works of Edgar Allan Poe: A Psycho-analytic Interpretation. Foreword by Sigmund Freud. New York, Humanities Press, 1971. PS2631.B622 1971
Bonaparte, a great-grandniece of Napoleon I, was both a patient and a student of Sigmund Freud, and she approached the life of Poe from a Freudian standpoint.
- Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. PS2631.M48 1992
A biography with a balanced point of view, neither idealizing nor condemning Poe.
- Moran, John J. A Defense of Edgar Allan Poe: Life, Character and Dying Declarations of the Poet. An Official Account of His Death by His Attending Physician. Washington, DC: William F. Boogher, 1885. PS2631.M6
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. With a new foreword by Shawn Rosenheim. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998. PS2631.Q5 1998
Quinn was one of the first to separate the myth from the reality of Poe's life.
- Quinn, Arthur Hobson. Edgar Allan Poe: Letters and Documents in the Enoch Pratt Free Library, edited by Arthur H. Quinn and Richard H. Hart. New York: Scholars' Facsimiles and Reprints, 1941. PS2631.Q5
Quinn, a major biographer of Poe, teamed with Hart, a well-known scholar and former head of the Humanities Department at the Enoch Pratt Free Library to list the items owned at the Pratt Library at the time of its publication.
- Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. PS2631.S525 1991
An unusual look at Poe's life with an eye more toward the bombastic side rather than the tragic side.
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- Pratt Library Catalog. Use the Pratt Library's online catalog to find more books by and about Poe.
- Literature Resource Center.
This electronic database contains full-text biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of more than 90,000 authors from every age and literary discipline, including Poe. It can be accessed from the Pratt Library home page for Maryland residents who have a Pratt Library card. If you do not live in Maryland, contact your local library to see if they subscribe to this database.
Poe Room
The Poe Room was dedicated on January 19, 1934, the 125th anniversary of Poe's birth. It was intended to be a "living memorial to the great genius, who stimulated American literature." It now functions as a meeting room, but does contain an exhibit of letters, memorabilia, and a portrait of Poe copied from a daguerreotype by Thomas Corner for the Pratt Library. Among the books in the Poe Room are:
- Poe, Edgar Allan. The Raven: Illustrated by Gustave Doré; with Comment by Edmund C. Stedman. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1884. PS2609.A13F 1884
Doré, a 19th century engraver, was known for his dramatic portrayal of literary works. Here is a wonderful example with "Lenore" appearing on nearly every page, ghostly and beautiful.
- Rice, Sara Sigourney. Edgar Allan Poe: A Memorial Volume. Baltimore, Turnbull Brothers, 1877. PS2633.R5
Rice, a Baltimore schoolteacher, was a leader in obtaining a monument to Poe and moving his remains from the back of the Westminster Hall cemetery to a prominent place in front.
Special Collections
The Special Collections Department, housed in our Annex, is an exciting center for scholarship, with books, manuscripts, artworks, and other items. Books about Poe in our Special Collections include:
- Phillips, Mary Elizabeth. Edgar Allan Poe, the Man. 2 vols. Philadelphia: John C. Winston Co., 1926. PS2631.P51
- Whitman, Sarah Helen. Edgar Poe and His Critics. New York: Rudd & Carleton, 1860. PS2631.W53 1860
Whitman, a poet, was engaged for a period to Poe, after Virginia's death. The engagement was broken off the year before his death.
Poe Online
Poe lives on today in cyberspace.
- Edgar Allan Poe Digital Collection
Housed at the University of Texas, Austin, this collection contains images of all Poe manuscripts and letters owned by the Harry Ransom Center. Also included are a selection of related archival materials, two books by Poe annotated by the author, sheet music based on his poems, and portraits from the Ransom Center collections.
- Edgar Allan Poe Manuscripts Collection
This virtual collection unites letters physically held in the University of Virginia Library Special Collection Department, Charlottesville, VA; the Poe Museum, Richmond, VA; and the Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA.
- Edgar Allan Poe National Historical Site, Philadelphia, PA
Poe also had close ties to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he lived for about six years. The one remaining house occupied by him has become a national landmark.
- Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore
Information about Poe's life in Baltimore with a detailed chronology, information about the Amity Street house, the gravesite, Church Home and Hospital, and other information. The Society, founded in 1923, is a strong force in Poe scholarship today and is now attempting to put all of Poe's works online.
- Knowing Poe
Produced by Maryland Public Television, this interactive site introduces students to the "Literature, Life, and Times of Edgar Allan Poe . . . In Baltimore and Beyond." The Pratt Library provided much of the primary source documentation for this site.
- Poe Museum Online
Sponsored by the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia, this site contains educational materials, including a packet for teachers, an online quiz, and details of Poe's life in Richmond.
- Poe's Library from The House of Usher
Online audio readings of Poe's works, Poe related clothing, Raven Beer, and educational links are all available at this site.
Poe's Death
The cause of Poe's death remains a mystery to this day. Theories range from murder to carbon monoxide poisoning. The following Web sites talk about these theories:
Ask Us
If you would like to learn more about Edgar Allan Poe's life and writings, e-mail us through our Ask-A-Librarian service, call us at (410) 396-5487, or mail your questions to:
Humanities Department
Enoch Pratt Free Library
State Library Resource Center
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
