Summary
Manuscript, Poe Museum, Richmond, Virginia ;
In the spring of 1841, Poe met Rufus W. Griswold, a writer and
editor who was preparing
The Poets and Poetry of America
(published 1842). On May 29, 1841, Poe sent Griswold a brief
autobiography of
his life up to 1841. He claims to have been born in 1811, when he was in fact
born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809
(see Poe's story "William Wilson," in which the narrator likewise
claims to have been born in January of 1811). He touts the lineage of the
Poe family, describes the deaths of his parents,
writes about his adoption by
John and Frances Allan, and discusses his life as a student at the University of Virginia.
Mentions his failed attempt to
join the Greek liberation fighters, his travels in Russia, and
his time at West Point.
Griswold used some of the facts that Poe provides here in
his own memoir of Poe.
