Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer, poet, and critic best known for his Gothic horror short stories, such as "The Tell-Tale Heart," and poems, including "The Raven." "To Zante," dated November 6, 1840, consists of an autograph manuscript that is part of a letter.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American author, poet, and critic.
Poe was orphaned at the age of two and raised by John and Frances Allan in Richmond, Virginia. While in Richmond, he first met and fell in love with Sarah Elmira Royster. Poe attended the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, but dropped out due to financial difficulties. He then joined the Army and published his first poetry collection, Tamerlane and Other Poems, in 1827. Poe attended West Point but, again, left the Academy due to financial hardship. He published his second poetry collection, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, in 1829, and his third poetry collection, Poems, in 1831.
After leaving West Point, Poe shifted his focus from poetry to short stories, literary criticism, and editorial and publishing work at literary publications. In 1836, he married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm (1822-1847). Poe's work required the couple to move between Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and New York City.
From 1840 to 1841, Poe created a prospectus for a literary magazine he proposed to edit and publish called Penn Magazine.
From 1835 to his death, Poe wrote pieces of literary theory, such as "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846), and genre-defining short stories, such as the Gothic horror short stories "The Tell-Tale Heart" (1843) and "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839).
Poe died under mysterious circumstances in 1849 in Baltimore, Maryland.
"To Zante," dated November 6, 1840, is an autograph manuscript containing a sonnet that is part of a letter from Edgar Allan Poe to Richard Henry Stoddard. In the text preceding the sonnet, Poe, writing from Philadelphia, mentions that he has been out of town and is responding to Stoddard's request for a sonnet. The sonnet, "To Zante," is about Sarah Elmira Royster, Poe's first love.
Gift of Susan Jaffe Tane, 2024.
Processed by Amy Lau in 2025.
This item was donated by Susan Jaffe Tane in 2024 alongside manuscripts, poems, and letters of Samuel Clemens (Berg Coll MSS 188320), Charles Dickens (Berg Coll MSS 186712), Oliver Wendell Holmes (Berg Coll MSS 188319), Henry David Thoreau (Berg Coll MSS 188318), and Walt Whitman (Berg Coll MSS 188321), which have been described separately.