Edgar Allan Poe at The Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland

myminifactory

Edgar Allan Poe (January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was a celebrated American author, poet, editor, and literary critic who dominated the Romanticism movement in the United States and made significant contributions to American literature. Famous for crafting gripping tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe is widely regarded as one of the pioneering figures of the short story genre in America, and he is credited with inventing detective fiction. He also played a crucial role in shaping science fiction. Poe was born in Boston and became an orphan after his father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother passed away a year later. His child was then taken care of by John and Frances Allan from Richmond, Virginia. Although they never adopted him officially, Poe lived with them until he reached young adulthood. However, tensions developed over debts, including those caused by gambling and the cost of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for a semester but had to leave due to financial constraints. He quarreled with Allan over funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name. At this time, he started his publishing career with an anonymous collection of poems called Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". Following Frances Allan's death in 1829, Poe and Allan reached a temporary reconciliation. However, failing as an officer's cadet at West Point and declaring a strong desire to be a poet and writer, Poe parted ways with John Allan. Poe shifted his focus towards prose and spent the next several years working for various literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his distinctive style of literary criticism. His work required him to move between several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin in Baltimore. Poe published his poem "The Raven" in January 1845, which was met with instant success. However, his wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. For several years, he had been planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at the age of 40, Poe passed away in Baltimore; the cause of his death remains unknown and has been attributed to various factors, including alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents. Poe's works had a significant influence on literature worldwide, as well as in specialized fields such as cosmology and cryptography. He also appears throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre. Note: This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help. Scanned : Photogrammetry (Processed using Agisoft PhotoScan)