The Story and Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

By: Fernando Bessega

Poe was born to actors Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe Jr. in 1809, but within two years his father had abandoned the family and his mother had died of tuberculosis. After being taken in by the wealthy Allan family (who eventually disowned him), Poe attempted an early literary career under the pseudonym Henri Le Rennet before joining the army to escape gambling debts.

His first work of poetry Tamerlane and Other Poems was published in 1827 with a print run of only 50 copies; it was attributed to merely a Bostonian,” it was not until the publication of The Raven nearly 20 years later that Poe became a household name. Dispite his limited success during his lifetime he was one of the first American authors to attempt to subsist on writing alone.
On the eve of his death in 1849, Poe was recovered delirious in the street wearing strange clothes, obituaries attributed his demise to congestion of the brain” a euphemism for death by disreputable cause. Speculation has continued to this day included brain cancer, epilepsy, cholera, diabetes, syphilis, heart disease and rabies. All medical records have been lost.

For the past 50 years a secretive visitor has called on Poe’s grave in Baltimore on the anniversary of the author’s death. Dressed in black with a silver cane, the figure arrives in the early morning leaving three red roses and a bottle of cognac. The visitor has rarely been photographed and their identity never revealed.

Ten most expensive Edgar Alan Poe books ever sold on AbeBooks:

1. The Raven - $5000
Contained in the original publisher’s box this 23 page book includes Poe’s classic poem with commentary by Edmund Stedman and 26 full page plates by Gustave Dore.

2. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket - $4,500
Leaf ads dated May 1838 and rebound circa 1920s this first edition prose book is his only book-length work of fiction.

3. Eureka: A Prose Poem - $2000
First edition limited to 500 copies written in 1848. Poe’s last major work and his longest non fiction work which attempts to explain the universe.

4. The Raven - $1725
Bound by Daniel Kelm and Sarah Pringle with an embossed raven on the cover. A completely redesigned version of Cheloniidae Press’ first book originally published in 1980. Includes nine wood engravings by Alan James Robinson. Special Binder’s copy limited to 25 copies. Signed by both Kelm and Robinson.

5. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - $1575
Four volumes which include a preface by Maria Clemm (Poe’s mother-in-law)

6. The Poetical Works -$1588
Includes Preface by the editor (James Hennay). Published in 1852 which was the first printing of Poe's Poetical Works in England.

7. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - $1496
Edited by John H. Ingram. The Standard edition in four volumes. First edition.

8. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - $1275
Newly collected and edited with a memoir, critical introductions and notes by Edmund Clarence Stedman George Woodberry. First edition of this 10 volume set.

9. The Raven - $1250
First edition from 1884 with comment by Edmund Stedman, illustrations by Gustave Dore.

10. Bells and Other Poems - $1045
First edition with 28 illustrated colour plates by Edmund Dulac. Bells was first published in 1849 after Poe’s death in Seatrain’s Union Magazine.

Article Source: https://www.collectibles-articles.com

Fernando Bessega is an ecommerce expert specialized in the book market. You can find book by Edgar Allan Poe .

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