Edgar Allan Poe bibliography
The works of American author Edgar Allan Poe include many poems, short stories, and one novel. His fiction spans multiple genres, including horror fiction, adventure, science fiction, and detective fiction, a genre he is credited with inventing. These works are generally considered part of the Dark romanticism movement, a literary reaction to Transcendentalism. Poe's writing reflects his literary theories: he disagreed with didacticism and allegory. Meaning in literature, he said in his criticism, should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface; works whose meanings are too obvious cease to be art. Poe pursued originality in his works, and disliked proverbs. He often included elements of popular pseudosciences such as phrenology and physiognomy. His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Though known as a masterly practitioner of Gothic fiction, Poe did not invent the genre; he was following a long-standing popular tradition.
Poe's literary career began in 1827 with the release of 50 copies of Tamerlane and Other Poems credited only to "a Bostonian", a collection of early poems that received virtually no attention. In December 1829, Poe released Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems in Baltimore before delving into short stories for the first time with "Metzengerstein" in 1832. His most successful and most widely read prose during his lifetime was "The Gold-Bug", which earned him a $100 prize, the most money he received for a single work. One of his most important works, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", was published in 1841 and is today considered the first modern detective story. Poe called it a "tale of ". Poe became a household name with the publication of "The Raven" in 1845, though it was not a financial success. The publishing industry at the time was a difficult career choice and much of Poe's work was written using themes specifically catered for mass market tastes.
Poetry
Title | Date | First published in | Notes |
| "Poetry" | 1824 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "" | 1825 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | Not authenticated, attribution to Poe is likely incorrect |
| "Tamerlane" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "Song" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "Imitation" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "A Dream" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "The Lake" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "Spirits of the Dead" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "Evening Star" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "Stanzas" | July 1827 | Tamerlane and Other Poems | |
| "The Happiest Day" | September 15, 1827 | The North American | |
| "To Margaret" | circa 1827 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "Alone" | 1829 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "To Isaac Lea" | circa 1829 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "To The River ——" | 1829 | Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | |
| "To ——" | 1829 | Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | Begins "The bowers whereat, in dreams..." |
| "To ——" | 1829 | Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | Begins "Should my early life seem..." |
| "Romance" | 1829 | Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | |
| "Fairy-Land" | 1829 | Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | |
| "To Science" | 1829 | Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | |
| "Al Aaraaf" | 1829 | Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems | |
| "An Acrostic" | 1829 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "Elizabeth" | 1829 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "To Helen" | 1831 | Poems by Edgar A. Poe | |
| "A Paean" | 1831 | Poems by Edgar A. Poe | |
| "The Sleeper" | 1831 | Poems by Edgar A. Poe | |
| "The City in the Sea" | 1831 | Poems by Edgar A. Poe | |
| "The Valley of Unrest" | 1831 | Poems by Edgar A. Poe | |
| "Israfel" | 1831 | Poems by Edgar A. Poe | |
| "Enigma" | February 2, 1833 | Baltimore Saturday Visiter | |
| "Fanny" | May 18, 1833 | Baltimore Saturday Visiter | |
| "The Coliseum" | October 26, 1833 | Baltimore Saturday Visiter | |
| "Serenade" | April 20, 1833 | Baltimore Saturday Visiter | |
| "To One in Paradise" | January 1834 | Godey's Lady's Book | |
| "Hymn" | April 1835 | Southern Literary Messenger | |
| "To Elizabeth" | September 1835 | Southern Literary Messenger | Republished as "To F——s S. O——d" in 1845 |
| "May Queen Ode" | circa 1836 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "Spiritual Song" | 1836 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "Latin Hymn" | March 1836 | Southern Literary Messenger | |
| "Bridal Ballad" | January 1837 | Southern Literary Messenger | Originally published as "Ballad" |
| "To Zante" | January 1837 | Southern Literary Messenger | |
| "The Haunted Palace" | April 1839 | American Museum | |
| "Silence–A Sonnet" | January 4, 1840 | Saturday Courier | |
| "Lines on Joe Locke" | February 28, 1843 | Saturday Museum | |
| "The Conqueror Worm" | January 1843 | Graham's Magazine | |
| "Lenore" | February 1843 | The Pioneer | |
| "A Campaign Song" | 1844 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "Dream-Land" | June 1844 | Graham's Magazine | |
| "Impromptu. To Kate Carol" | April 26, 1845 | Broadway Journal | |
| "To F——" | April 1845 | Broadway Journal | Republished as "To Frances" in the September 6, 1845, issue of the Broadway Journal |
| "Eulalie" | July 1845 | ||
| "Epigram for Wall Street" | January 23, 1845 | Evening Mirror | |
| "The Raven" | February 1845 | American Review: A Whig Journal | |
| "The Divine Right of Kings" | October 1845 | Graham's Magazine | |
| "A Valentine" | February 21, 1846 | Evening Mirror | Originally published as "To Her Whose Name Is Written Below" |
| "Beloved Physician" | 1847 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | Incomplete |
| "Deep in Earth" | 1847 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | Incomplete |
| "To M. L. S—— " | March 13, 1847 | The Home Journal | |
| "Ulalume" | December 1847 | American Whig Review | |
| "Lines on Ale" | 1848 | Never published in Poe's lifetime | |
| "To Marie Louise" | March 1848 | Columbian Magazine | |
| "An Enigma" | March 1848 | Union Magazine of Literature and Art | |
| "To Helen" | November 1848 | Sartain's Union Magazine | |
| "A Dream Within A Dream" | March 31, 1849 | The Flag of Our Union | |
| "Eldorado" | April 21, 1849 | Flag of Our Union | |
| "For Annie" | April 28, 1849 | Flag of Our Union | |
| "To My Mother" | July 7, 1849 | Flag of Our Union | |
| "Annabel Lee" | October 9, 1849 | New York Daily Tribune | Sold before Poe's death but published posthumously |
| "The Bells" | November 1849 | Sartain's Union Magazine | Sold before Poe's death but published posthumously |
Tales
Other works
Essays
- "Maelzel's Chess Player"
- "The Philosophy of Furniture"
- "A Few Words on Secret Writing"
- "Morning on the Wissahiccon"
- "The Balloon-Hoax" — A newspaper article that was actually a journalistic hoax
- "The Philosophy of Composition"
- ""
- "The Rationale of Verse"
- "The Poetic Principle"
Novels
- The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
- The Journal of Julius Rodman — Incomplete
Plays
- Politian — Incomplete
Other
- Tales of the Folio Club — A projected collection of Poe's tales on "dunderism" which was never completed in his lifetime
- The Philosophy of Animal Magnetism — A pamphlet on Mesmerism credited to a "Gentleman of Philadelphia", attributed to Poe using stylometry
- The Conchologist's First Book — A textbook on sea shells produced by Poe as a condensed version of a textbook by Thomas Wyatt
- The Light-House — An incomplete work that may have been intended to be a short story or a novel
Collections
- Tamerlane and Other Poems
- Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems
- Poems
- Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
- The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe
- Tales
- The Raven and Other Poems