Edgar Allan Poes Fortune

Edgar Allan Poe never made a fortune. His works gained international fame and made
him well known by everyone but Poe was not a businessman. Until the day he died, Poe was
riddled with financial troubles because of his Foster Father not paying for his education,
gambling, not being a able to find a job, national depression or criticisms from other authors.
He started his adult life in debt to the University of Virginia because his foster father
would not help pay for his education. He gambled to try to pay his debt but only created more.
He had reduced to burning his furniture to keep warm and finding food where he could. He left
the University with collectors after him so he joined the Army to escape his massive debt.
Poe was dismissed from the Military Academy West Point and later moved to New York
after marrying Virginia Clemm. He needed to provide for his wife and the Panic of 1837 was
pressing down on the already struggling couple. He could not find editorial work and wrote his
first novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. They moved to Philadelphia in 1838 and he
could finally found work with several magazine firms including: Burtons, Grahams Magazines
and Alexanders Weekly Messenger. He started to build his own journal to escape poverty but
could not find financial backing. His wife now having Tuberculosis, he moved back to New York
and made quite an entrance. He wrote a false article about a balloon trip over the ocean;
attracting the whole citys attention. He soon revealed he had tricked them and demonstrated his
ability to create a story.
In 1845, Poe wrote, The Raven and it was popular enough to make a living with, for a
little while. Money then became irrelevant because he was nationally famous and people loved
his works. Suddenly, because of a rumor of Poe having an affair with a married woman, he left

New York for a private life away from the city. Virginia died in 1847 and Poe could not write for
several months. He traveled around looking for support for his supposed new piece, The Stylus
and was with several women. Poe was broke again and was found dead in a bar wearing
someone elses clothes in 1849.
No matter what money he had come across, Poe was sure not to keep it. Hed made a
living off his writing but would always end up poor. When his wealthy Foster Father died, he
was left out of the will. He only ever afforded apartments and cottages. Several of his loved ones
were killed by tuberculosis. It was truly Edgar Allan Poes destiny to be surrounded by sadness
and darkness so he could become the greatest dark fiction author in the world.

Citation

"Edgar Allan Poe." Bio.com. Ed. Biography.com Editors. A&E Networks Television, n.d.

Web. 31 Mar. 2016.

Poe Museum Staff. "Poe's Life." Poe's Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2016.
Poe, Edgar Allan, and John H. Ingram. Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works.

Whitefish, MT: Kessinger, 2004. Print.