Customer Reviews

Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories

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I used to work at the Poe Musuem in Richmond, Virginia. One day a well dressed gentleman came in and introduced himself as Mr. Poe (sure, I thought, and I am George Washingon) - I later found out that he WAS Mr. Poe - a distant relative of Edgar Allan Poe. And I was overjoyed when I ran across this book - it is without a doubt one of the best books I have ever read about Poe - and I do a great deal of research for my show "Celebrate Poe: A Visit from the Ghost of Edgar Allan Poe." - I use this book as a "prop" in the show because of all the excellent copies of documents from Poe's life - this is DEFINITELY a book to you should not miss.

I could not believe it when I came across this book in the bargain section of a local bookstore and quickly snapped up a copy. What a treasure indeed for a Poe fan! This book has been well-compiled by accomplished author Harry Lee Poe, a cousin of Edgar Allan Poe, and a past president of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia.

In "Edgar Allan Poe: An Illustrated Companion to His Tell-Tale Stories", Poe's biography is told in a series of chapters: The Landscape Garden [1809-1827], Tamerlane [1827-1831], Berenice [1831-1837], The Fall of The House of Usher [1837-1842], The Tell-Tale Heart [1842-1844], The Raven [1844-1847], Eureka [1847-1849] and Poe's Mortem. Throughout the book, there are interesting memorabilia [removable] such as reproductions of the marriage bond between Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins and David Poe Jr, a letter from Edgar to John Allan, Edgar's army enlistment document, selected pages from John Allan's account books reflecting the payments he'd made on Edgar's behalf, the cover of the Baltimore Sunday Visiter which contains Edagr's "Manuscript found in a Bottle", the marriage bond between Edgar and his cousin Virginia, selected pages from the first printing of The Raven, Poe's obituary as it appeared in the New York Daily Tribune and many others.

There are also lots of archival photographs throughout the book, as well as family portraits, pictures of the original covers of some of Poe's works, film posters of movies adapted from Poe's works [Spirits of the Dead, 1968 directed by Roger Vadim], original illustrations found in Poe's works etc. Also included are bits of Poe-related trivia.

Whilst far from being a comprehensive biography of Edgar Allan Poe, this serves as a collector's item for Poe fans with lots of archival documents/ photographs/trivia etc to keep fans happy.

I didn't think a book like this was possible. Harry Lee Poe has done his distant ancestor an incredible service by presenting an homage that is fair, accurate, balanced, and fun to read. This unconventional biography is supplemented with pull-outs which include reproductions of manuscripts, letters, etc. As great as these little add-ons are, they do not make the book (and, truth be told, some are interesting, others are unnecessary); it is the text that causes me to give this a rare 5-star review. The book is well-written, easy to follow, and engaging - though it certainly helps that this is a gorgeous book, illustrated lusciously and supplemented with many useful sidebar articles.

In all frankness, this book tells Poe's true story in a way that no other Poe biographer has done before. It presents the facts cleanly removed from the myth and legend (but still makes sure to explain that stuff too). It doesn't overdo it on literary analysis (a problem in A. H. Quinn's book for those beginning their Poe pursuits) but still discusses the most important (like "The Raven") and some of the lesser-known as well. It puts Poe in his own historical context as a struggling writer but also fast-forwards to discuss his unquestionable importance and popularity today.

When acquaintances asked me for a good book recommendation to start their Poe studies, I had to give a long, convoluted answer to define which bios to avoid, which to read with a grain of salt, and which to read only in part. My answer got easier. If you are looking for a place to start your Poe studies, THIS is the book, hands down.

This is a good, short, sympathetic biography of Poe written by a descendent of Poe's uncle and former president of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia.

It isn't as dry as Quinn's Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography or full of silly Freudian nonsense as Silverman's Edgar A Poe: Mournful and Neverending Remembrance. On the other hand, its brevity sacrifices an in-depth look at all but a few of his famous works and their composition. It's a chronological look at Poe with brief asides that include the villainy of his adopted father John Allan, his time at Sullivan's Island and West Point, his probable and "shameful" employment as a manual laborer, his one and only suit, and the circumstances surrounding the famous "Ultimata Thule" daguerrotype showing a doomed-looking Poe shortly after a suicide attempt.

The book tries hard to negate the stereotype of Poe as a crazy, morose drunk. It acknowledges his alcohol problems - whatever their cause, but it also emphasizes his humor and charm and early physical robustness. Poe's influence on various arts and, particularly, the detective and science fiction genres is mentioned. And, of course, no biography would be complete without looking at his mysterious death and the character assassination his literary executor Griswold committed.

The separate facsimiles, in cellophane envelopes, of the marriage certificate of Poe's parents, letters between Poe and John Allan, Poe's army enlistment records, the bond for Poe and Virginia's marriage, the newspaper appearance of "Manuscript Found in a Bottle", the first printing of "The Raven", Poe's beautiful handwriting for the poem "A Valentine" and "For Annie", the Ultima Thule portrait, and the writer's obituary are not the gimmicks they first seem. They really do evoke a bit of the man and his time.

Nicely illustrated throughout , this book should appeal to any Poe fan.

While it's true, as one customer pointed out, that this is far from a comprehensive biography of Poe, in all fairness, that's not what this book ever set out to be. Rather, it is Dr. Harry Lee Poe's delightful and unique celebration of his illustrious forbear and that ancestor's lasting legacy in this, the year of Poe's bicentennial.

Clear-headed, intriguing, and charmingly written, this sumptuously designed/illustrated, well researched volume with its treasure-trove of removable, Poe-related facsimiles, is a vivid, inspiring, hands-on, one-stop-shop introduction to an often misunderstood writer who has, with some justification, been referred to as "America's Shakespeare".

As a lifelong devotee and collector of Poe, I also feel the book does a great and always-needed job of setting the record straight on this most unjustly maligned of all important American authors. And the regrettable NEED for such a task comes courtesy of none other than Poe's own literary executor (read "executioner"), the unscrupulous Rufus Wilmot Griswold. Yet, thanks to Griswold's nefarious and "pioneering" contributions to the annals of Poe biography, he was merely the first of many to grossly distort and misrepresent the Facts in the Case of E. A. Poe. So it's always a refreshing cause for celebration when a book on Poe emerges which is not only truthful but can be enjoyed and appreciated by a wide spectrum of readers (and not just Poe-obsessed Academia Nuts like Yours Truly).

Also, I should point out here -- for you may not learn it elsewhere -- that this tome is also the richly deserving 2009 winner of a prestigious Edgar Award, given out each year by the Mystery Writer's Of America in honor of the man who literally invented the mystery/detective genre as we know it today.

And my scholarly eye was able to detect but a single minor flaw upon my first reading -- and that merely in a caption which stated Poe wore a moustache only in the final year of his life, whereas it was actually the last several. But I suppose that's just a case of splitting hairs. (Ouch!) On a purely technical level, though, I do have a quibble with the little round Raven stickers used to seal the six vellum envelopes containing the removeable facsimilies -- namely that I wish they'd used some kind of velcro patches instead, because the stickers come loose and fall off all too easily.

But though it is now sadly out-of-print and already a collector's item (one look at the actual book and you'll see why they couldn't afford to produce too many of these), this richly rewarding volume is an absolute must-have Poe-pourri of enlightenment & goodies for both longtime admirers of Eddy P. and anyone eager to make his acquaintance for the first time.

Take it from me, a dedicated EAP aficionado from way back -- Nevermore will you be likely to find a more enjoyable book on Edgar Allan Poe than THIS!

My students adore this book. If you have access to a document camera, project the letters and artifacts so all can see.