Tamerlane and Other Poems

infobox Book |
name = Tamerlane and Other Poems
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = Cover, original printing
author = Edgar Allan Poe
cover_artist =
country = flagicon|USA United States
language = English
series =
genre = Poetry collection
publisher = Calvin F. S. Thomas
release_date = July 1827
media_type = Print
pages = 40
isbn =
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"Tamerlane and Other Poems" was the first published collection of poems by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1827. Today, it is believed only 12 copies of the 40-page collection exist.

Overview

Only 50 copies were released in July 1827 when Poe was only 18 years old. It was published anonymously with the tagline "By a Bostonian" [Silverman, Kenneth. "Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 38. ISBN 0815410387] (though Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, he spent most of his life up to this point in Richmond, Virginia). Boston was, at the time, a center for publishing and the literary world. Poe's embracing his "Bostonian" heritage may have been an attempt to distance himself from the Allan family in Richmond. [Cornelius, Kay. "Biography of Edgar Allan Poe" in "Bloom's BioCritiques: Edgar Allan Poe", Harold Bloom, ed. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002. p. 12 ISBN 0791061736]

Poe paid for the publication with his own money. Published by an 18-year old printer named Calvin F. S. Thomas, the collection was 40 pages long. Few copies were sold and the collection received no critical attention.Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". Cooper Square Press, 1992. pp. 33-34. ISBN 0815410387]

Poe introduced the collection with an apologetic notice admitting the low quality of his work. He claimed, however, that the majority of the poems were written between 1820 and 1821, "when the author had not completed his fourteenth year" [Silverman, Kenneth. "Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance". Harper Perennial, 1991. p. 39. ISBN 0060923318] - assumed to be an exaggeration. The poems, many of which had a theme of youth, were largely inspired by the work of Lord Byron - in fact, the character of the title poem "Tamerlane" has a daughter named "Ada," perhaps named after Byron's own daughter. The poems also have elements inspired by Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. [Krutch, Joseph Wood. "Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius". New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926.]

It is believed only a dozen copies of this original printing remain, making it one of the rarest of first editions in American literature. One copy is part of the collection at the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. [Rose, Lloyd. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/travel/index/stories/rose05101998.htm "Washington Post" article] . May 10, 1998] One sold at auction for $125,000. [Nelson, Randy F. "The Almanac of American Letters". Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 70. ISBN 086576008X] Ironically, the value of one copy today is more money than Poe ever made in his lifetime. [Meyers, Jeffrey. "Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy". Cooper Square Press, 1992. p. 139. ISBN 0815410387] Its rarity was recognized as early as 1925, when the "Saturday Evening Post" ran an article titled "Have You A Tamerlane in Your Attic"? [Nelson, Randy F. "The Almanac of American Letters". Los Altos, California: William Kaufmann, Inc., 1981: 71. ISBN 086576008X]

Endnotes

In this collection, Poe includes endnotes explaining some of his allusions from the title poem. He also confesses early on that he knows little about the historical Tamerlane, "and with that little, I have taken the full liberty of a poet." These endnotes do not appear in any other collection that includes "Tamerlane."

Themes

Poe adopted some of the common themes of the day, including imagery of heavenly bliss and angelic beauty. He steps away from the typical use of didacticism of the time and instead focuses on psychological reverie and symbolist aesthetics. [Reynolds, David S. "Beneath the American Renaissance: The Subversive Imagination in the Age of Emerson and Melville". Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1988. ISBN 0674065654. p. 44]

Critical reception

"Tamerlane and Other Poems" was virtually ignored, receiving no critical attention. The only public notice of it was a mention of the title in a couple lists of recent books. [Campbell, Killis. "Contemporary Opinions of Poe", "The Mind of Poe and Other Studies". New York: Russell & Russell, Inc., 1962: 373–8.]

Poems included

* "To — — " (now known as "Song")
* "Tamerlane"
* "Visits of the Dead" (now known as "Spirits of the Dead")
* "Evening Star"
* "Imitation"
* Untitled poem (now known as "Stanzas")
* Untitled poem (now known as "A Dream")
* Untitled poem (now known as "The Happiest Day")
* "The Lake" [ [http://www.eapoe.org/works/editions/taopc.htm Tamarlane and Other Poems] at the Edgar Allan Poe Society online]

References

External links

* [http://www.eapoe.org/works/editions/taop.htm List of known extant copies] of "Tamarlane and Other Poems", Edgar Allan Poe Society online