UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

The Corresponence of James McNeil Whistler
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Edgar Allen Poe, 1809-1849

Nationality: American
Date of Birth: 1809
Place of Birth:
Date of Death: 1849
Place of Death:

Identity:

Edgar Allen Poe was an author and poet.

Life:

Like JW, he had failed at the United States Military Academy at West Point. JW and his friends greatly admired Poe's work, and Poe's poem 'Annabel Lee' (1849) inspired JW to make several studies. These works (Annabel Lee (YMSM 79); Annabel Lee (M.1077); Sketch for 'Annabel Lee' (YMSM 80)) date from the 1870s to the late 1880s when he returned to the theme. He may been encouraged by Stéphane Mallarmé who gave him a copy of his new translation of Poe Les Poèmes d'Edgar Poe.

Bibliography:

MacDonald, Margaret F., James McNeill Whistler. Drawings, Pastels and Watercolours. A Catalogue Raisonné, New Haven and London, 1995; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe (accessed 2004); The Columbia Encyclopedia, www.bartleby.com/65/po/Poe-Edga.html (accessed 2005).