Poe was born in Boston on January 19, 1809. His father deserted the family and his mother died before Poe was three years old. John Allan and his wife Frances raised Poe as a foster child, but never legally adopted him. From 1815 to 1820 the family lived in England, and Poe attended a private school near London, where he did well in his studies.

In 1826, Poe entered the University of Virginia, where he was an excellent student. But because his foster family sent him barely enough money to live Poe gambled to try to win money for books and clothing. His resulting debts caused Allan to withdraw him from the university. Allan then wanted Poe to study law, but Poe determined to follow a literary career. After the two quarreled in March, 1827, Poe left home for Boston, where he later enlisted into the army as "Edgar A. Perry." By the time he was honorably discharged in 1829, he had attained the rank of sergeant maj

Poe's most productive period as a fiction writer and critic extended from 1837 to 1845. He spent 18 months in New York City, and published his only novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym during that time. Poe moved to Philadelphia in 1838, and edited two magazines there. Despite his success as an editor and writer he was so underpaid that he and his family often went without enough food. In Philadelphia, Poe wrote significant reviews of the works of Longfellow and Hawthorne. Some of Poe's greatest tales appeared in a collection of his first 25 stories, Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque. But they brought him neither important recognition nor money.

From 1844 until his death, Poe lived in New York City. During the mid 1840's, he wrote and edited as much as 15 hours a day and enjoyed a growing reputation as a short-story writer. His tale "The Gold-Bug" sold 300,000 copies. In many ways, 1845 was his best year-12 stories published in Tales and 30 poems in The Raven and Other Poems. "The Raven" brought him the greatest recognition. Also in 1845, James Russell Lowell wrote the first essay-length appreciation of Poe as a writer. He praised Poe as " the most discriminating philosophical and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America."

Barnett, Sandy. "Edgar Allan Poe: History of the Mystery" 1996-1999. Mystery Net.

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