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…
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…