Just before leaving Richmond in February 1826 to attend the University of Virginia, Poe became engaged to Elmira Royster, a young woman who lived in the Allan family’s neighborhood. Royster’s father opposed the match and intercepted the letters Poe…
On November 5, 1848, Poe tried to commit suicide by drinking laudanum, an opiate. He became delirious but vomited the mixture. Four days later he sat for a portrait, of which this is a copy. Whitman dubbed this-the most famous of all Poe…