The Raven (Illustrated Edition)

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is one of Americas greatest and most dark and mysterious writers. The circumstances surrounding his untimely death are still unknown, as is what made him tick. Part of the American Romantic Movement, Poe is best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, and Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story. Long before Sherlock Holmes became famous, Poe invented the genre of detective fiction and contributed to science fiction. Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television today, and the NFLs Baltimore Ravens got their name from his most famous poem. Poe's best known fiction works are Gothic, a genre he followed to appease the public taste. His most recurring themes deal with questions of death, including its physical signs, the effects of decomposition, concerns of premature burial, the reanimation of the dead, and mourning. Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre, a literary reaction to transcendentalism, which Poe strongly disliked. Poes best known poem is The Raven, noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. The poem is about a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness. The lover, often identified as being a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore. Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further instigate his distress with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore". This edition of Poes The Raven is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and is illustrated with pictures of Poe, his residences, and the poems original illustrations.