Hometowns

No fewer than five American cities were home to Poe. Born in Boston, he was brought up in Richmond by John and Frances Allan, who took him in after his mother’s death. After a year at the brand new University of Virginia, he returned to Boston to seek his fortune. Prolonged conflict with his foster father and the death of his foster mother propelled him to Baltimore, home of his Poe relations. With Virginia and Maria Clemm, he moved back to Richmond, then on to Philadelphia, and finally to New York.

These relocations brought Poe into new and larger publishing markets with more opportunities—and more risks. In the 1830s and ’40s, the great revolutions in printing technology that enabled largescale production were just underway. Poe’s steadiest income came from magazines, to which he contributed as a writer and editor. But new periodicals often collapsed after a year or two. Copyright law was rarely enforced, so Poe lost out on royalties when popular works were reprinted. The family’s dire financial straits were intensified by emotional turmoil. Virginia Poe died from tuberculosis in 1847 at the
age of 24. Poe never secured the personal and professional stability he sought through his many moves.