Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston. His lifelong struggle with depression and alcoholism ended on October 7, 1849, at the age of 40.

Poe’s work as an editor, poet, and critic had a profound impact on American and international literature. His stories mark him as one of the originators of both horror and detective fiction. Many anthologies credit him as the “architect” of the modern short story. He was also one of the first critics to focus primarily on the effect of style and structure in a literary work; as such, he has been seen as a forerunner to the “art for art’s sake” movement. French Symbolists such as Stéphane Mallarmé and Arthur Rimbaud claimed him as a literary precursor. Charles Baudelaire spent nearly fourteen years translating Poe into French.

Today, Poe is remembered as one of the first American writers to become a major figure in world literature.