Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum
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The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum is located in Baltimore, Maryland and also houses the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore. Located on Amity St., the small unassuming structure is a typical row home, purported to have been the home of Edgar Allan Poe for a few years in the 1830s.
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[edit] History
The brick home is assumed to have been built in 1830 and rented by Poe's aunt Maria Clemm in 1832. Clemm was joined in the home with her ailing mother, Elizabeth Cairnes Poe, and her daughter Virginia Clemm. Edgar Allan Poe moved in with the family around the age of 23, after leaving West Point. Virginia was 10 years old at the time; Poe would marry her three years later, though their only public ceremony was in 1836.
The house was rented using pension money that Elizabeth collected thanks to her husband, David Poe Sr., who was a veteran of the American Revolutionary War.
[edit] Museum Today
Displays in the house include a lock of Poe's hair, some original china that once belonged to John Allan (Poe's guardian after Eliza Poe's death), and a large reproduction of the portrait of Virginia Clemm painted after her death as well as many other Poe-related images. A reprint of the 1849 obituary from the October 24, 1849 edition of the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper is also on display along with a reprint of Poe's original announcement for the creation of a new literary magazine to be called [[The Stylus]] - an endeavor that never came to fruition.
The museum and the Poe Society also host a number of Poe events throughout the year. It claims, for example, the largest Poe birthday celebration in the world every January at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground. The organization also observes the annual visit of the mysterious Poe Toaster and helps protect his identity.
The current curator of the museum is Jeff Jerome.
[edit] Works Penned In This House
Though it cannot be fully proven, the Poe Society alleges that the following works were created while Poe was staying in this house:
[edit] Stories
- MS. Found in a Bottle
- Lionizing: A Tale
- Shadow-A Parable
- Berenice
- Morella
- King Pest the First. A Tale containing an Allegory
- Hans Pfaall -- A Tale
[edit] Poems
- "Latin Hymn"
- "Enigma"
- "Serenade"
- "The Coliseum"
[edit] See also
- Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia
- Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
