Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography

by Arthur Hobson Quinn, Shawn Rosenheim (Foreword)

Now in paperback―the classic, monumental biography of Poe by Arthur Hobson Quinn. Renowned as the creator of the detective story and a master of horror, the author of "The Red Mask of Death," "The Black Cat," and "The Murders of the Rue Morgue," Edgar Allan Poe seems to have derived his success from suffering and to have suffered from his success. "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" have been read as signs of his personal obsessions, and "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Descent into the Maelstrom" as symptoms of his own mental collapse. Biographers have seldom resisted the opportunities to confuse the pathologies in the stories with the events in Poe's life. Against this tide of fancy, guesses, and amateur psychologizing, Arthur Hobson Quinn's biography devotes itself meticulously to facts. Based on exhaustive research in the Poe family archive, Quinn extracts the life from the legend, and describes how they both were distorted by prior biographies.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Literary Criticism, Academic, Biography Memoir

804 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1941

About the author

An authority on the history of American drama and literature, Arthur Hobson Quinn attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his B.S. in 1894 and his Ph.D in 1899. Quinn also studied at the University of Munich. He began his teaching career when he was appointed an instructor in mathematics at Penn in 1894, and and instructor of English in 1895. The University appointed him Assistant Professor of English in 1904. Quinn would eventually hold the title of Welsh Professor of History and English, and serve as Dean of the College from 1912-1922.

Reviews

[Anastacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't write many reviews, as I don't write them well. I find it difficult to describe how I feel about a work of creativity -- for me it's like describing what water tastes like. I don't really enjoy putting those feelings and stirrings into actual words, anyway. I write this in defense of what I feel are some unfair comments that I feel misrepresent the book.

If you're ever in the mood to read a 900 page biography of Edgar Allan Poe, by God, read this book. I read this by accident; reading on a Kindle offers both a blessing and curse of not being as able to judge a book by its cover. Or, in this case, its heft. If I knew, I don't think I would have bought it in the first place. By and large as a voracious reader, I am loathe to make such a commitment. I want something new; I need instant literary gratification. I am happy I didn't realize its length until much later or I'd have missed a tremendous opportunity to dig in to Quinn's meticulously researched presentment of the "true" life of one of history's finest minds.

I object to comments that suggest that Quinn merely worked to discredit every slander against Poe. Quinn adroitly examines Poe's life and writings and while it is clear he deeply admired the man, there is no hesitation by Quinn to point out Poe's faults and weaknesses. In my mind, it is a stunning offering of judiciousness and integrity in a sea of cheap recitation of supposed scandal and ill-repute. This is one of the strongest arguments for reading it at all; Quinn had to know the length of his book would not work to his favor, and yet he exhaustively pursued facts to great lengths. These truths are indeed far less exciting to contemptuous minds, but he reported the life of Poe with conviction. I don't see him trying to prove the rumors false because of sheer idolatry, I see this as the work of a true scholarly historian: one who struggles to tell the TRUE story. He is tender but fair.

It is certainly true that Quinn spends an awful lot of time on tedious details, the most unfortunate of which is the book's own beginning. It's a shame, because so many readers (myself included) will grow impatient and will shelve the book out of complete boredom. I purchased the book several months ago and did just that; it was only because I had nothing else to read that I gave it another chance. There is such a thing as too many details, and here Quinn fails. For those who can get through the beginning, I think it's an extraordinary read. I respectfully disagree that one must be "hyper-literate" to understand Quinn's writing. I cannot help but note the irony of a complaint of "flowery" and "hyper-literate" language in a 862 page biography of Edgar Allan Poe, a literary legend. I'm at a loss for words to defend such a complaint, but it made my day. (Oh, irony! Is there anything you can't do?)

It's also a lesson to all of us that words and insults are powerful and the wounds they cause may never heal. Poe wasn't a perfect man, but who among us are? What's remembered of him is sadly tinged with baseless slander, and that's a damn shame because there is so much more to him than I would have ever known had I not read this book. It's not for everyone, but it's truly amazing in its humanness. In this regard, it is probably the best biography I have ever read, and I think history is better for Quinn's conviction and integrity.

*Just a note: As much as I enjoyed it, I was relieved to find that a not insignificant portion of the book (the end) is appendices and references. For the reader on the fence, know that the end comes quicker than expected. Unfortunately the same can be said of Poe's own end, no zing intended.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far the most definitive biography of Edgar Allan Poe.

The only qualm I have with this biography concerns the author using Dr. John Moran's account of Poe's death and dying words “God, help my poor soul."
Dr. John Joseph Moran in every way must be considered a very unreliable witness. "In 1875, 26 years after the death of Edgar Allan Poe, Dr. Moran wrote an article for the New York Herald called Official Memoranda of the Death of Edgar A. Poe. In it, he claimed that Poe’s last words were, 'The arched heavens encompass me, and God has his decree legibly written upon the frontlets of every created human being, and demons incarnate, their goal will be the seething waves of blank despair.' Many people doubt Moran’s credibility, as there are countless inconsistencies in that article. Also, Poe was supposedly barely lucid. https://www.historicmysteries.com/edg...

"Because Poe did not have visitors, Moran was probably the only person to see the author in his last days. Even so, his credibility has been questioned repeatedly, if not considered altogether untrustworthy. Throughout the years after Poe's death, his story changed as he wrote and lectured on the topic." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_o...

What I feel a more apropos legendary ending to his life would be to use his own words.
In the poem Alone Poe's words hauntingly shroud his own death.

Then–in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life–was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still

[Michael Kuehn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edgar Allan Poe has remained one of my favorite authors since high school -- Premature Burial, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher-- come on, what’s not to love in these macabre tales -- so when I made the decision to read a Poe biography I first did some research to find out what biographies were ranked as the best, most thorough, most accurate.

I was well aware that there are a multitude of Poe biographies out there, many of them, according to Poe authorities, carelessly researched and unreliable. This volume by Quinn published in 1941 rose to the top of the list on most rankings as the most detailed, well-documented, unbiased biography of Edgar Allan Poe. It is very heavy on Poe’s own correspondence, letters printed in full or excerpts. What emerges over the course of the 700-plus pages is a well-rounded portrait of a complex character, his strengths as well as his weaknesses, not always flattering.

Poverty, or near poverty, seems to have haunted Poe most of his life, and according to his letters he was never shy about asking friends, relatives, and business associates for help. Some of the letters plead, others look for payment as redress for some past slight or injustice, real or imagined -- these were the least admirable moments. To be fair, though, for Poe it most likely was a matter life or death, literally.

Besides his poetry and fiction, Poe edited a variety of literary periodicals over the years, and wrote literary criticism. As a critic, he was held in high regard by many, honest and perceptive, but oftentimes brutal in his assessments, which only had the effect of making enemies he did not need. He had glowing things to say about contemporaries Dickens and Hawthorne: Mr. Dickens, through genius, has perfected a standard form which Art itself will derive its essence, its rules. [315]

-- but an early review of Cooper was scathing:

...a flashy succession of ill-conceived and miserably executed literary productions, each more silly than its predecessor...[283]

This has been called the “definitive biography of Edgar Allan Poe,” and judging from its meticulous research, adherence to facts, and unwillingness to dabble in wild speculation or pop-psychology analysis, it surely must be.

At times the constant breaks in the narrative flow for extended citations from correspondence I found annoying, however, caeteris paribus, I’d rather have that additional information at my disposal than not.

Overall, a great read which gave me a more accurate and insightful look at the author whose work I’ve admired for decades.

[Meg Elison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unnecessarily defensive of the writer, but drawn heavily from primary sources and well-knitted together.

[Paul Haspel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edgar Allan Poe finally got the biographer he deserved in 1941 – almost a century after his death – when Arthur Hobson Quinn of the University of Pennsylvania published this masterpiece of literary biography. In 761 densely packed pages, Quinn clears away the accumulated mass of falsehood, distortion, and misinformation that had gathered around Poe. In the process, he presents the reader, as no writer had done before and few have approached since, with the true life and personality of a great American author.

All the facts of Poe’s short, turbulent, often tragic, always poverty-plagued life are here; but for those who are not already familiar with Poe’s life, a word of explanation is in order regarding why this biography so needed to be written. In one of the most unfortunate decisions ever made by a major American writer, Poe chose a long-time enemy, one Rufus Griswold, to serve as his literary executor. Griswold rewrote letters of Poe, forged passages that Poe never wrote, and cast every act of Poe’s in the worst possible light – all in an effort to depict Poe as an utterly immoral literary fiend, forever indulging depraved appetites. As Poe scholar Shawn Rosenheim states in a foreword to this Johns Hopkins University Press reprint of Quinn’s work, “It was as if Mozart had left his scores to Antonio Salieri….Poe has never fully recovered from Griswold’s portrait of him as a drunken, amoral, death-obsessed wretch” (p. xii).

Griswold’s lies could not be further from the historical truth of Poe as a dedicated writer who tried to live a good life and worked hard at his craft. Griswold’s slanders were already known in 1850, when Charles Alexander, a publisher who had worked with Poe, wrote in response to a query that “With all his faults, [Poe] was a gentleman; which is more than can be said of some who have undertaken the ungracious task of blackening the reputation which Mr. Poe, of all others, esteemed ‘the precious jewel of his soul’” (p. 297). Yet today, the Poe-as-villain image fostered by Griswold still endures. It is as if some people find that image too cool, too grungy, too Goth, to let go of. But if that image persists, it is not Quinn’s fault.

Quinn diligently sought out all the primary-source documents then available regarding Poe and his life and times. When considering Poe’s time at the University of Virginia, for example, Quinn gives us not only Poe’s original U.Va. Matriculation Book entry from February 14, 1826, but also Poe’s place among students who excelled in the Senior Latin and Senior French classes. Original letters from Poe – like a letter written from Baltimore on May 4, 1833, submitting what he called “Tales of the Arabesque” for possible publication by the New England Magazine – are not only quoted but reproduced in Poe’s own handwriting on the printed page. These, combined with the abundant drawings, engravings, and photographs that Quinn includes, and no less than twelve appendices, do much to put the reader in Poe’s time.

As the Critical Biography subtitle indicates, Quinn provides literary criticism of Poe’s work, along with biographical facts of Poe’s life. When considering two stories published by Poe in 1844, for instance, Quinn dismisses “The Spectacles” as “one of the most absurd of the Grotesques. The story of Mr. Talbot, who is so near-sighted that he falls in love with his great-great-grandmother, defies comment” (p. 400). By contrast, “A Tale of the Ragged Mountains” receives praise from Quinn as a tale in which “The realistic treatment of the supernatural was rarely better done by Poe” (pp. 400-01). Quinn’s literary judgments are judicious, and most readers will probably tend to agree with them, as when Quinn lauds Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado” as “a powerful tale of revenge in which the interest lies in the implacable nature of the narrator” and adds, in praise of the story’s concision, that “There is not one word to spare in ‘The Cask of Amontillado’” (p. 500).

Quinn is able to consider Poe’s work in the context of both Poe’s life and Poe’s previous work, as when he writes of the poem “For Annie” that “‘For Annie’ is one of Poe’s finest poems….In ‘The Bells’ he had imitated sounds by other sounds. In ‘For Annie’ he did something much more difficult. He reproduced an emotional state by a short throbbing measure, in which the very incoherencies mirror perfectly the mood” (p. 600). And as this poem was published in 1849, the year of Poe’s too-early death at the age of 40, there is a special pathos in the way Quinn draws attention to two specific lines from “For Annie” – “And the fever called ‘Living’/Is conquered at last” – as evidence that Poe “had not ceased to possess the secret of the magnificent phrase” (p. 600).

Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography closes by contrasting Griswold’s calumnies with the verifiable facts of Poe’s life. Quinn sees Griswold as “a representative of his time”, a spokesman for the “great wave of moralistic effort” then sweeping the country. He suggests that to the reform-minded public of the 1840’s and 1850’s, “Poe’s life as portrayed by Griswold, was a horrible but delicious bit of source material” -- and that, for that Puritanical public, the facts of Poe’s life were simply irrelevant, as “Goodness, like happiness, has no history that is interesting to the reforming spirit” (pp. 692-93). While Quinn acknowledges Poe’s faults – his tendency to alienate people who could have helped him, his lapses into substance abuse – he emphasizes “the real Edgar Poe, the industrious, honorable gentleman…the warm friend and courteous host” (p. 694), a man who was loved most by those who knew him best. With regard to Poe the literary artist, many readers of today would agree with what Quinn wrote back in 1941 – that Poe “remains not only the one American, but also the one writer in the English language, who was at once foremost in criticism, supreme in fiction, and in poetry destined to be immortal” (p. 695).

Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography, 75 years after its publication, remains the definitive Poe biography. Every reader who is interested in Edgar Allan Poe's life and work should read this book.

[Katie McVay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want to know Mr. Poe intimately? Read this book. But don't expect to get it done this decade. Seriously, it's a BIG, LONG book. And it tends to use flowery language that only the hyper-literate can understand. (I had to go back and re-read some passages several times to figure out what the biographer was trying to say.) But it's considered to be THE authoritative book on Poe, and I can see why. The book seamlessly combines a chronological account of Poe's personal and professional life with tidbits of letters, photos, and personal correspondence that reveal the fragile, sensitive, self-possessed, bitter, tender, arrogant, artistic genius that Poe was. Biographer Quinn spent years studying the man, went to great lengths to acquire even the most seemingly inane artifacts (accounting ledgers from Poe's stint at West Point), and leaves no detail unrevealed in his quest to cut to the heart of his subject. I started this book six months ago and hope I never finish it. It's utterly fascinating and frustratingly good.

[Lilah · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent compilation of material on Poe's life. Probably the best biography written on him for its lack of a narrative approach.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://nerdylooksgoodonyou.blogspot.c...

Just for Fun: Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography, Arthur Hobson Quinn

While reading this on the train one day, a man sitting next to me leaned over and said, "Isn't that the guy who married his cousin?" I wasn't sure how to answer that because I had passed the part of Quinn's biography explaining that Poe only married his cousin because he cared for her and his aunt, and not because he was mentally deranged. They were married and loved each other, but were not "in love" in a romantic sense of the word, according to my interpretation of Quinn's analysis.

How does one explain that to a stranger on the train without first highlighting Poe's extremely complicated relationship with his foster family who adopted him after both of his parents died?

I said, "Yes."

Poe's writings have fascinated me since middle school. I had a teacher in fifth grade English who had our class read several of Poe's short stories. She realized immediately that I had fallen in "book love" and gave me a paperback copy of some of her favorites. I have that book around here somewhere, and have pulled it out every few years to remind myself of those first favorites. The Tell Tale Heart and The Black Cat were two in that collection. I remember drawing in pencil a picture of a man with a "tell tale brain" as part of some follow-up activity for the former. I spent hours drawing his brain and the plants surrounding the walking man, and ran out of time so only had time to color in the brain, red of course. As for the later, I vividly remember the teacher saying, "I hate cats" and (as an animal lover) being extraordinarily alarmed. Only after reading the story several times through did I understand she had a sense of humor.

Quinn seemed to feel obligated to defend Poe's every move. In his mind, Poe was a wonderful person who the world destroyed with its hateful, unfair ways. I do agree that in many of the circumstances portrayed in the biography, that Poe had an unfortunate lot; I do not agree, though, that there weren't things he could have done to help himself out of those situations. Poe was apparently a very intelligent, bitter man who did not know how to keep his thoughts and opinions to himself. That doesn't make him a terrible person, he doesn't need defending. If it weren't for his ruminative thoughts and his anger we never would have experienced his writings. He doesn't need to be sorry for his "sins" and we do not need to pretend he was some sort of hero in his personal life.

I loved reading about one of my favorite authors, and the collections of letters to and from Poe included in this biography were extraordinarily interesting. It'll be a short time before I need to get my hands on another biography of Poe so I can read more of those.

[Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ultimate Poe biography, originally published in 1940; nothing else comes close in terms of scope. Quinn's remit here is to deliver the facts of Poe's life by relying entirely on testimony gathered from historical documents, letters being the main source of inspiration. That this book runs to 800 pages, including appendices, is no surprise when many of Poe's letters are printed in their entirety, and he was after all a verbose writer in his communication. It's engaging, unhurried stuff, Quinn carefully working his way over familiar ground and yet finding something new and intriguing to say each time. The psychology, the era, the relationships with other characters, all develop impeccably. Yes, it's a long book, but it's one that rewards close attention throughout, leaving the reader with a well-developed understanding of what made Poe the man he was. Quinn serves only to tell the truth here, and so it's something of a warts-and-all portrayal, yet at the same time there's something deliciously satisfying in the way he unpicks the lies and machinations of Poe's biographer, the repellent Griswold, to get at the real story beneath the embellishments.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A more thorough biography has never been written about one of the most eminent writers of fiction and poetry. A must read for anyone interested in learning the true story of Poe and his distractors.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

C-. nonfiction, biography, informative, but tedious

[Steve Kemp · Rating 5 out of 5]

By far ,the best written and researched of Poe's biographies .

[Myrna Medrano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Edgar A. Poe.

[Julia Harris - Cullimore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the most comprehensive and accurate biography on Poe out there. Not only does he detail his life using accurate and reliable sources, Quinn lays to rest many false rumors perpetuated by Griswold systematically and effectively. Don't plan on reading it in any hurry but it is worth the time.

[Rhonda Yung · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...Quinn did the most comprehensive analysis of Edgar Allan Poe than anything else I have come across. Poe is my favorite poet and author. I have taught him for many years but have always had questions about him and his esoteric life. Quinn has answered all my queries in a very detailed fashion...I mean DETAILED!! This book is definitely a vast undertaking as it tilts about three pounds in girth and just shy of 900 pages. With all that said, I definitely recommend this biography for anyone who wants a thorough depiction of Poet's life.

[Undine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this seventy-year-old book is inevitably somewhat dated, it is still by far the most intelligent biography of Poe that has yet to appear. Quinn is, ironically, at his weakest when discussing Poe's writings (although his chapter on "Eureka" is interesting.) However, his book provides the most clear-eyed and rational view of Poe as a person available in print. For anyone interested in learning about Poe, this is indisputably the place to start.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt sorry for Edgar, if this book is anything like his real life (as biographies should be). After reading this we went to Baltimore, rode by his house, and grave. Such a drug induced genius he must of been. What a sad man he also must have been. He only reached his truest fame posthumously. Good read, not sure I believe every aspect of this book, again a historical biography.

[Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraordinarily well researched and comprehensive, this 1940's biography of Edgar Allan Poe dismisses effectively many of the misconceptions about Poe and his life. Best read if you are familiar with the wide range of Poe's poetry and prose.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am obsessed with EAP and love learning more and more about him, but this book has almost too much information. That is just to say that if you are an obsessive fan of Poe you will love all the information but if you want a simple biography of him I suggest you find a different book.

[Jimmie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought I had read all of Mr. Poe's writing, but did not realize he was really a poet and a critic also. He had such a sad life and then to have his reputation destroyed by lies was heartbreaking. Hope he is now resting in peace. Now must read his poetry.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but dry bio of Poe.

[Breanna]

I think you should let me read the book