Bust of author Poe wearing a jacket, vest and necktie.
Published onDec 13, 2023
69. Edgar Allan Poe
Christian Petersen papers, RS 26/02/52, Iowa State University, Special Collections and University Archives.
Date
c. 1920s
Material
Plaster, bronze
Description
Bust of author Poe wearing a jacket, vest and necktie.
Markings
n/a
Provenance / Location
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, Massachusetts.
Alternate Title(s)
n/a
Notes / Sources
Image of bust in Papers, SC, Box 10 f.2; mentioned in Box 2 f.2, Dailey typescript,1952, Box2, f.2.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849) U.S. poet, critic, and short-story writer. Poe was raised by foster parents in Richmond, Va., following his mother’s death in 1811. He briefly attended the University of Virginia and then returned to Boston, where in 1827 he published a pamphlet of youthful, Byronic poems. By 1835 he was in Richmond as editor of the Southern Literary Messenger, the first of several periodicals he was to edit or write for. There he married a 13-year-old cousin, who died in 1847. At various times he lived in Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. Alcohol, the bane of his irregular and eccentric life, caused his death at age 40. His works are famous for his cultivation of mystery and the macabre. Among his tales are “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Black Cat,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and “The Pit and the Pendulum.” “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Purloined Letter” initiated the modern detective story. His poems (less highly regarded now than formerly) are musical and sensuous, as in “The Bells,” a showcase of sound effects; they include touching lyrics inspired by women (e.g., “Annabel Lee”) and the uncanny (e.g., “The Raven”).
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