Essential Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) Read Free

Courier publishes five of Poe’s stories: “Met zengerstein,” “The Bargain Lost” (later revised as “Bon-Bon”), “Duke de L‘Omelette,” “A Decided Loss” (later revised as “Loss of Breath”), and “A Tale of Jerusalem.” Horatio Alger and Louisa May Alcott are born.
1833
Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle” wins a writing contest sponsored by a weekly Baltimore newspaper, the Saturday Visiter. Poe’s repeated attempts to reconcile with John Allan are met
with uncompromising resistance. Slavery is abolished in the British Empire.
1834
John Allan dies in Richmond on March 27. Before his death, Allan had written Poe out of his will, and the financially des perate young writer receives nothing from Allan’s large estate.
1835
Poe moves to Richmond, where he becomes editor of the Southern Literary Messenger. Poe’s critical reviews and stories begin to appear in the journal, including “Berenice,” “King Pest,” and “Morella.” Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, is born. P. T. Barnum gives his first exhibition.
1836
Poe marries his fourteen-year-old cousin Virginia Clemm on May 16. He contributes many blunt, often scathing reviews to the Southern Literary Messenger and gains a reputation as a fearless critic. Davy Crockett is killed at the Alamo.
1837
Poe leaves the Southern Literary Messenger, possibly because of alcohol abuse, and takes Virginia and her mother to live in New York City. Chapters of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym are published in the Messenger. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Twice-Told Tales is an American bestseller.
1838
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, Poe’s only novel, is pub lished in New York by Harper and Brothers. His tale “Ligeia” is published in the American Museum. Poe moves his family to Philadelphia.
1839
Poe becomes an assistant editor for Burton’s Gentleman’s Mag azine. He begins to write essays on cryptography (a life-long interest) and publishes “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “William Wilson” in Burton’s. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow publishes “Hyperion.” Abner Doubleday organizes the first game of baseball.
1840
Lea and Blanchard, a Philadelphia publisher, releases Poe’s Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. Poe is fired from Burton’s. He serializes the novel The Journal of Julius Rodman in Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine. James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pathfinder is an American bestseller.
1841
Poe works as an editor for Graham’s Magazine, in which he publishes “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” generally considered the first modern detective story. Poe corresponds with James Fenimore Cooper. President William Henry Harrison dies a month after his inauguration and is succeeded by Vice President John Tyler. Ralph Waldo Emerson publishes his first collection of essays. The U.S. population reaches 17 million.
1842
Poe meets Charles Dickens, who publishes American Notes this year. Virginia begins to show symptoms of tuberculosis. Poe publishes “The Pit and the Pendulum” and “The Masque of the Red Death.”
1843
The United States Saturday Post publishes “The Black Cat,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” appears in James Russell Lowell’s new literary journal, the Pioneer. Poe’s story “The Gold-Bug” wins a $100 prize from a Philadelphia newspaper and brings him wider renown. Henry James is born. The U.S. Congress commissions Samuel Morse to build the first telegraph line from Washington to Baltimore.
1844
Poe moves his family to New York City, where he finds a position with the Evening Mirror.
1845
“The Raven” appears in the Evening Mirror on January 29. In February, Poe becomes an editor for the fledgling Broadway Journal. The New York publisher Wiley and Putnam issues Poe’s Tales and The Raven and Other Poems.
1846
Virginia Poe’s tuberculosis worsens, and the Broadway Journal ceases publication. Poe moves his family to Fordham, New York. He writes “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Philos ophy of