The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
John Hay Library Reading Room
20 Prospect Street
Providence, R. I. 02912
An exhibition to commemorate the birth of Poe, January 19, 1809, the same year as Darwin and Lincoln, and to remember his death, October 7, 1849. Poe was an editor, reviewer, essayist, literary critic and theorist, but is perhaps best known as the author of poems, such as The Raven, and stories, such as The Murders in the Rue Morgue, considered to be the first detective story. Works displayed feature his major publications in both genres, drawn primarily from the collections at the Hay and Rockefeller libraries. They also highlight his courtship of Providence’s Sarah Helen Whitman and the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death.