Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (1849)

Edgar Allan Poe (né Edgar Poe; 19 january 1809 - 7 october 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as one of the central figures of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States and of early American literature. Poe's early mystery tales featuring the detective, C. Auguste Dupin, though not numerous, laid the groundwork for similar characters that would eventually become famous throughout the world :

• The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841)
• The Mystery of Marie Roget (1842)
• The Purloined Letter (1845)

Arthur Conan Doyle and Poe

Lectures

• Facts About Fiction (1893) : Arthur Conan Doyle said "Poe was one of the finest short story writers in the English tongue."
• Readings and Reminiscences (1894) : a lecture tour in USA in which Arthur Conan Doyle mentioned "he admired Edgar Allan Poe's detective stories, acknowledging their influence on his own work."
• Lecture in memory of Edgar Allan Poe (1909) : Sir Arthur Conan Doyle presided the lecture.

Interviews

• A Talk with Dr. Conan Doyle (1892) : Arthur Conan Doyle said "The best detective in fiction is Edgar Allan Poe's Monsieur Dupin; then Monsieur Le Cocq, Gaboriau's hero."
• Conan Doyle as he appears here (1894) : "Dupin is unrivalled. It was Poe who taught the possibility of making a detective story a work of literature."
• A Chat about Sherlock Holmes (1901)
• Conan Doyle Speaking (1930) : "I except of course Edgar Allan Poe's splendid stories, which though only three in number, are a model for all time."

Articles

• Through the Magic Door (1906) : Chapter VI is mainly about Edgar Allan Poe.
• The Best Short Story in the World (13 december 1919, John O'London's Weekly) : Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ranked Poe's stories at rank #2 and #3, after Stevenson.
• Our American Adventure (1922) : Chapter XIII includes a part about Edgar Allan Poe.

Poem

• To An Undiscerning Critic (28 december 1912, London Opinion) : Poe in two verses.

In the Sherlock Holmes stories

A Study in Scarlet (1887)

• Sherlock Holmes said that C. Auguste Dupin "had some analytical genius, no doubt; but he was by no means such a phenomenon as Poe appeared to imagine." (STUD 367).

The Cardboard Box (1893)

• Sherlock Holmes said to Dr. Watson "You remember that some little time ago when I read you the passage in one of Poe's sketches in which a close reasoner follows the unspoken thoughts of his companion, you were inclined to treat the matter as a mere tour-de-force of the author. On my remarking that I was constantly in the habit of doing the same thing you expressed incredulity." (CARD 23).

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