In 1887, the promising young artist James Carling was buried in a pauper’s grave in Liverpool. He was only twenty-nine. During his lifetime, he had been celebrated as the “Fastest Drawer in the World” and the “Lightning Caricaturist.” Though his “lightning” drawing skills had brought him from a childhood in poverty on the streets of Liverpool to the acclaim of audiences throughout the United States, he aspired to something greater. Carling sought to outdo the world’s most popular illustrator, the French artist Gustave Dore, by illustrating Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” better than Dore ...
The Poe Museum Blog
Poe’s Pumpkin Patch Returns
It's that time of year again. Kids are wearing costumes, decorating pumpkins, and hunting for candy. On October 29, they can do all those things and more while getting an introduction to great literature at the same time by coming to Poe's Pumpkin Patch at the Poe Museum. The event runs from noon until 5 P.M. and is included in the price of Poe Museum admission. The Poe-themed games include a mummy wrapping contest inspired by "Some Words with a Mummy," a black cat pinata inspired by "The Black Cat," a treasure hunt inspired by "The Gold Bug" and "The Purloined Letter," and more. A costume ...
New Exhibit Explores Death and Mourning in Poe’s Age
Think Poe was morbid because he wrote so often about death in poems like "Annabel Lee," "The Raven," and "Lenore?" Such poems about death and mourning were actually fairly common in the nineteenth century. With high infant mortality rates and the inability to combat diseases like tuberculosis (which claimed Poe’s mother, foster mother, brother, and wife), death was very much a part of everyday life. One in four children in Poe’s time died in infancy, and many women died in childbirth. Consequently, almost everyone knew someone who had died young. In this light, Poe's poems about the deaths of ...
Poe Returns to Shockoe Hill Cemetery
If you missed last summer's unique tour/performance of Richmond's historic Shockoe Hill Cemetery, you're not alone because every performance was sold out in advance, causing many people to miss this rare opportunity. That's why Edgar Poe, the Allans, Elmira Shelton, Jane Stanard, and the rest of Poe's Richmond family and friends are returning for five more performances this September 22-24. Don't miss what could be the last opportunity to walk in Poe's footsteps as he (portrayed by Chris Patrick) guides you through the historic final resting place of many of his closest friends while reliving ...