Tamerlane and Other Poems
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| Author | Edgar Allan Poe |
|---|---|
| Original title | Tamerlane and Other Poems |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Poetry collection |
| Publisher | Calvin F. S. Thomas |
| Released | July 1827 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 40 |
Tamerlane and Other Poems was the first published collection of poems by Edgar Allan Poe. Only 50 copies were released in July 1827 when Poe was only 19 years old. It was published anonymously with the tagline "By a Bostonian" (though Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, he spent most of his life up to this point in Richmond, Virginia). Boston was, at the time, a center for publishing and the literary world.
Poe paid for the publication with his own money. Published by an 18-year old printer named Calvin F. S. Thomas, the collection was 40 pages long. Few copies were sold and the collection received no critical attention.
Poe introduced the collection with an apologetic notice admitting the low quality of his work. He claimed, however, that the majority of the poems were written between 1820 and 1821, "when the author had not completed his fourteenth year" - assumed to be an exaggeration. The poems, many of which had a theme of youth, were largely inspired by the work of Lord Byron - in fact, the character of the title poem "Tamerlane" has a daughter named "Ada," perhaps named after Byron's own daughter.
It is believed only a dozen copies of this original printing remain, making it one of the rarest of first editions in American literature.
[edit] Poems included
- "Tamerlane"
- "A Dream"
- "Evening Star"
- "The Happiest Day"
- "Imitation"
- "The Lake"
- "Song"
- "Visits of the Dead" (later renamed to "Spirts of the Dead")
[edit] References
- Meyers, Jeffrey. Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. Cooper Square Press, 1992. pp. 33-4.
- Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. Harper Perennial, 1991. pp. 38-40.
