Lindsey Graham

But in his anxiety over the meeting, Poe got drunk on port wine and rum coffee.

Robert Tyler turned him away before the meeting could take place.

Amid these setbacks, Poe continued publishing some of his most famous short stories.

Death was a recurring theme in his work.

In 1843, he published The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart.

Both horror stories, they featured unreliable narrators confessing to the murder of an innocent.

The Black Cat mirrored Poe's own life in its depiction of an impoverished alcoholic with a devoted, long-suffering wife.

Although Poe gained a reputation from writing horror, the majority of his stories were comedies.

Some of these also drew from his own life.

His story Never Bet Your Head was a satirical tale spoofing literary critics who insisted that all literature should have a moral.

Poe was the first major American writer to try to support himself entirely through writing, but this meant his life was one of constant financial struggle.

International copyright law did not exist until the 1890s, which allowed American publishers to pirate material from overseas.

During Poe's lifetime, American publishers had little incentive to pay American writers when there was nothing stopping them reprinting the work of popular British authors at no cost.

Writers like Poe were at a disadvantage.

Poe had difficulty selling his work, and he was poorly paid for the work he did sell.

He frequently resorted to begging friends for money.

In April 1844, Poe and his family returned to New York.

Despite poverty and family illness, his six years in Philadelphia were the most productive of his life.

He had edited two significant magazines and published more than 30 short stories.

He looked forward to finding greater opportunities in New York, but financial stress forced him to return to editorial work.