3-044-204 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe, 1849. Additional Info: Many of Edgar Allan Poe's contemporaries described him as he appears in this portrait: a darkly handsome and intelligent man who possessed an unorthodox personality. Despite being acknowledged as one of America's greatest writers of poetry and short stories, Poe's life remains shrouded in mystery, with conflicting accounts about poverty, alcoholism, drug use, and the circumstances of his death in 1849. Like his life, Poe's poems and short stories are infused with a sense of tragedy and mystery. This daguerreotype was made several months before Poe's death at age 40.