The Interesting Mystery Behind the Death of Edgar Allan Poe (and his first writings)

Edgar Allan Poe died a mysterious, sudden death en route to work on a writing project. Most of the public assumed self-inflicted causation, and media death reports suggested as much with descriptors like 'congestion of the brain' and 'cerebral inflammation'.

Rumors around his demise included such ailments as drugs, syphilis and heart disease . . . and one about nefarious politics: some believed Poe fell after having been cooped up in a voter fraud scam known as "cooping"-- a practice wherein targets were drugged and shut into holding, in "room or coops", then dragged around to polling places to cast [often multiple] votes.

This curious account of Edgar Allan Poe is one of the great literary mysteries, brought to our attention in reading today via Bustle article penned by Charlotte Ahlin. Learn about this and four other literary mysteries "that have never been solved".

Other little-known facts about Edgar Allan Poe

On this day, 1815 June 22, Edgar Poe moved with the Allan family from Boston to London, where the young and recently orphaned boy would attend school for approximately five years before returning to America. Then, in four more years, Edgar's first-known poem was penned:

"Last night, with many cares & toils oppres'd,/ Weary, I laid me on a couch to rest." -Via Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore

Fourteen years later, Edgar landed a job as a gentleman's magazine editor and soon followed that opportunity with publication of his first novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.


Further Reading:

Did you know that Poe is considered the father of detective stories? Learn more about Edgar Allan Poe's life and work: Edgar Allan Poe WebQuest

Edgar Allan Poe Remembered, via The Twilight Zone Vortex

 
REF:

• Meyers, Jeffrey (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy. 

• Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Edgar Allan Poe Timeline of Important Dates. Retrieved June 22, 2018.

• Wikipedia contributors. "Edgar Allan Poe." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 5 Jun. 2018. Web. 22 Jun. 2018