Basalt breccia, green groundmass is composed of epidote.

Upper Triassic breccia from York County, Pennsylvania.

Megabreccia (left) at Titus Canyon Narrows

Tertiary breccia at Resting Springs Pass, Mojave Desert, California.

Breccia ( /ˈbrɛtʃiə/ or /ˈbrɛʃiə/; Italian: breach) is a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock cemented together by a fine-grained matrix,^[1] that can be either similar to or different from the composition of the fragments.

The word is a loan from Italian, and in that language indicates either loose gravel or stone made by cemented gravel. A breccia may have a variety of different origins, as indicated by the named types including sedimentary breccia, tectonic breccia, igneous breccia, impact breccia and hydrothermal breccia.

Types[link]

Sedimentary[link]

Sedimentary breccias are a type of clastic sedimentary rock which are composed of angular to subangular, randomly oriented clasts of other sedimentary rocks. They are formed by either submarine debris flows, avalanches, mud flow or mass flow in an aqueous medium. Technically, turbidites are a form of debris flow deposit and are a fine-grained peripheral deposit to a sedimentary breccia flow.

The other derivation of sedimentary breccia is as angular, poorly sorted, immature fragments of rocks in a finer grained groundmass which are produced by mass wasting. These are, in essence, lithified colluvium. Thick sequences of sedimentary (colluvial) breccias are generally formed next to fault scarps in grabens.

In the field, it may at times be difficult to distinguish between a debris flow sedimentary breccia and a colluvial breccia, especially if one is working entirely from drilling information. Sedimentary breccias are an integral host rock for many SEDEX ore deposits.

Sedimentary breccias can be described as rudaceous.

A conglomerate, by contrast, is a sedimentary rock composed of rounded fragments or clasts of pre-existing rocks. Both breccias and conglomerates are composed of fragments averaging greater than 2 millimetres (0.079 in) in size. The angular shape of the fragments indicates that the material has not been transported far from its source. Breccias indicate accumulation in a juvenile stream channel or accumulations because of gravity erosion. Talus slopes might become buried and the talus cemented in a similar manner.

Collapse[link]

A collapse breccia forms where there has been a collapse of rock, typically in a karst landscape. Collapse breccias form blankets in highly weathered regolith due to the removal of rock components by dissolution.

Tectonic[link]

Tectonic breccias form where two tectonic plates create a crumbling of the interface, by their relative movements.

Fault[link]

Fault breccias result from the grinding action of two fault blocks, as they slide past each other. Subsequent cementation of these broken fragments may occur by means of mineral matter introduced by groundwater.

Igneous[link]

Igneous clastic (detrital) rocks can be divided into two classes:

• Broken, fragmental rocks associated with volcanic eruptions, both of lava and pyroclastic type;
• Broken, fragmental rocks produced by intrusive processes, usually associated with plutons or porphyry stocks.

Volcanic[link]

Volcanic pyroclastic rocks are formed by explosive eruption of lava and any rocks which are entrained within the eruptive column. This may include rocks plucked off the wall of the magma conduit, or physically picked up by the ensuing pyroclastic surge. Lavas, especially rhyolite and dacite flows, tend to form clastic volcanic rocks by a process known as autobrecciation. This occurs when the thick, nearly solid lava breaks up into blocks and these blocks are then reincorporated into the lava flow again and mixed in with the remaining liquid magma. The resulting breccia is uniform in rock type and chemical composition.

Lavas may also pick up rock fragments, especially if flowing over unconsolidated rubble on the flanks of a volcano, and these form volcanic breccias, also called pillow breccias.

The volcanic breccia environment is transitional into the plutonic breccia environment in the volcanic conduits of explosive volcanoes, where lava tends to solidify and may be repeatedly shattered by ensuing eruptions. This is typical of volcanic caldera settings.

Intrusive[link]

Clastic rocks are also commonly found in shallow subvolcanic intrusions such as porphyry stocks, granites and kimberlite pipes, where they are transitional with volcanic breccias.^[2]

Intrusive rocks can become brecciated in appearance by multiple stages of intrusion, especially if fresh magma is intruded into partly consolidated or solidified magma. This may be seen in many granite intrusions where later aplite veins form a late-stage stockwork through earlier phases of the granite mass. When particularly intense, the rock may appear as a chaotic breccia.

Clastic rocks in mafic and ultramafic intrusions have been found and form via several processes:

• consumption and melt-mingling with wall rocks, where the felsic wall rocks are softened and gradually invaded by the hotter ultramafic intrusion (termed taxitic texture by Russian geologists)
• Accumulation of rocks which fall through the magma chamber from the roof, forming chaotic remnants
• Autobrecciation of partly consolidated cumulate by fresh magma injections or by violent disturbances within the magma chamber (e.g. postulated earthquakes)
• Accumulation of xenoliths within a feeder conduit or vent conduit.

Impact[link]

Alamo bolide impact breccia (Late Devonian, Frasnian) near Hancock Summit, Pahranagat Range, Nevada.

Impact breccias are thought to be diagnostic of an impact event such as an asteroid or comet striking the Earth, and are usually found at impact craters. Impact breccia, a type of impactite, forms during the process of impact cratering when large meteorites or comets impact with the Earth or other rocky planets or asteroids. Breccia of this type may be present on or beneath the floor of the crater, in the rim, or in the ejecta expelled beyond the crater. Impact breccia may be identified by its occurrence in or around a known impact crater, and/or an association with other products of impact cratering such as shatter cones, impact glass, shocked minerals, and chemical and isotopic evidence of contamination with extraterrestrial material (e.g. iridium and osmium anomalies).

Hydrothermal[link]

Hydrothermal breccia, Cloghleagh Iron Mine, near Blessington in Ireland, composed mainly of quartz and manganese oxides, the result of seismic activity about 12 million years ago.

Hydrothermal breccias usually form at shallow crustal levels (<1 km) between 150 to 350^oC, when seismic activity (an earthquake) causes a void to open along a fault deep underground. The void draws in hot water and as pressure in the cavity drops, the water violently boils – akin to an underground geyser. In addition, the sudden opening of a cavity causes rock at sides of the fault to destabilise and implode inwards, the broken rock gets caught up in a churning mixture of rock, steam and boiling water. Rock fragments hit each other and sides of the fault, and attrition quickly rounds angular breccia fragments. Volatile gases are lost to the steam phase as boiling continues, in particular CO₂. As a result, the chemistry of the fluids change and ore minerals rapidly precipitate.

Breccia-hosted ore deposits are ubiquitous.^[3]

Silicified and mineralized breccia. Light gray is mostly dolomite with a little translucent quartz. Dark gray is jasperoid and ore minerals. Veinlet along lower edge of specimen contains sphalerite in carbonates. Pend Oreille mine, Pend Oreille County, Washington.

The morphology of breccias associated with ore deposits varies from tabular sheeted veins and clastic dikes associated with overpressured sedimentary strata, to large-scale intrusive diatreme breccias (breccia pipes), or even some synsedimentary diatremes formed solely by the overpressure of pore fluid within sedimentary basins. Hydrothermal breccias are usually formed by hydrofracturing of rocks by highly pressured hydrothermal fluids. They are typical of the epithermal ore environment and are intimately associated with intrusive-related ore deposits such as skarns, greisens and porphyry-related mineralisation. Epithermal deposits are mined for copper, silver and gold.

In the mesothermal regime, at much greater depths, fluids under lithostatic pressure can be released during seismic activity associated with mountain building. The pressurised fluids ascend towards shallower crustal levels that are under lower hydrostatic pressure. On their journey, high-pressure fluids crack rock by hydrofracturing, forming an angular jigsaw breccia. Rounding of rock fragments less common in the mesothermal regime, as the formational event is brief. If boiling occurs, methane and hydrogen sulfide may be lost to the steam phase and ore may precipitate. Mesothermal deposits are often mined for gold.

Ornamental uses[link]

Natural patterns on the polished surface of selected pieces of breccia or "landscape marble" can resemble a city skyline or even trees, and were used as inlays for furniture etc., especially in Italy.

The striking visual appearance of breccias has for millennia made them a popular sculptural and architectural material. Breccia was employed for column bases in the Minoan palace of Knossos on Crete in about 1800 BC.^[4] Breccia was used on a limited scale by the ancient Egyptians — one of the best-known examples is the statue of the goddess Tawaret in the British Museum. It was regarded by the Romans as an especially precious stone and was often used in high-profile public buildings. Many types of marble are brecciated, such as Breccia Oniciata or Breche Nouvelle.

Breccia statue of the Ancient Egyptian goddess Tawaret.

It is most often used as an ornamental or facing material in walls and columns. A particularly striking example can be seen in the Pantheon in Rome, which features two gigantic columns of pavonazzetto, a breccia coming from Phrygia (in modern Turkey). Pavonazzetto obtains its name from its extremely colourful appearance, which is reminiscent of a peacock's feathers (pavone is "peacock" in Italian).

See also[link]

• Fault breccia
• Impact crater
• Hydrothermal circulation
• Vein (geology)
• Diatreme
• Kimberlite
• Regolith

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Breccia

Further reading[link]

• Sibson, R.H. (1987). "Earthquake rupturing as a mineralizing agent in hydrothermal systems". Geology 15 (8): 701–704. DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(1987)15<701:ERAAMA>2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0091-7613. 

• Sibson, R.H. (2000). "Fluid involvement in normal faulting". Journal of Geodynamics 29 (3–5): 469–499. DOI:10.1016/S0264-3707(99)00042-3. 

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Amedeo Minghi
Background information
Origin	Italy
Genres	Pop, Italian popular music, Adult Contemporary
Years active	1966–present
Labels	Dischi Ricordi, Apollo, CBS, It, Italian RCA, Fonit Cetra, Italian EMI
Website	http://www.amedeominghi.com/
Notable instruments
Piano

Amedeo Minghi (born in Rome, Italy on 12 August 1947) is an Italian singer/songwriter. He has written songs for Andrea Bocelli, Mietta, Mia Martini, Anna Oxa, Marcella Bella, Gianni Morandi and Rossana Casale and composed several sound tracks as for the television film Fantaghirò (aka Cave of the Golden Rose).

• 2000: Anita
• 2002: L'altra faccia della luna
• 2003: L'altra faccia della luna (Edizione sanremese)
• 2005: Su di me
• 2005: Sotto L'Ombrellone (con Lino Banfi)
• 2006: The Platinum collection
• 2008: 40 anni di me con voi
• 2009: All'Auditorium. L'ascolteranno gli americani

This article on a singer-songwriter is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Edgar Allan Poe
1848 "Ultima Thule" daguerreotype of Poe
Born	Edgar Poe (1809-01-19)January 19, 1809 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	October 7, 1849(1849-10-07) (aged 40) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Nationality	American
Spouse(s)	Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe
Signature

Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction.^[1] He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.^[2]

He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. His publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian".

Poe switched his focus to prose and spent the next several years working for literary journals and periodicals, becoming known for his own style of literary criticism. His work forced him to move among several cities, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York City. In Baltimore in 1835, he married Virginia Clemm, his 13-year-old cousin. In January 1845 Poe published his poem, "The Raven", to instant success. His wife died of tuberculosis two years after its publication. He began planning to produce his own journal, The Penn (later renamed The Stylus), though he died before it could be produced. On October 7, 1849, at age 40, Poe died in Baltimore; the cause of his death is unknown and has been variously attributed to alcohol, brain congestion, cholera, drugs, heart disease, rabies, suicide, tuberculosis, and other agents.^[3]

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. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

This plaque marks the approximate location^[4] where Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts.

He was born Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 19, 1809, the second child of English-born actress Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and actor David Poe, Jr. He had an elder brother, William Henry Leonard Poe, and a younger sister, Rosalie Poe.^[5] Edgar may have been named after a character in William Shakespeare's King Lear, a play the couple was performing in 1809.^[6] His father abandoned their family in 1810,^[7] and his mother died a year later from consumption (pulmonary tuberculosis). Poe was then taken into the home of John Allan, a successful Scottish merchant in Richmond, Virginia, who dealt in a variety of goods including tobacco, cloth, wheat, tombstones, and slaves.^[8] The Allans served as a foster family and gave him the name "Edgar Allan Poe",^[9] though they never formally adopted him.^[10]

The Allan family had Poe baptized in the Episcopal Church in 1812. John Allan alternately spoiled and aggressively disciplined his foster son.^[9] The family, including Poe and Allan's wife, Frances Valentine Allan, sailed to Britain in 1815. Poe attended the grammar school in Irvine, Scotland (where John Allan was born) for a short period in 1815, before rejoining the family in London in 1816. There he studied at a boarding school in Chelsea until summer 1817. He was subsequently entered at the Reverend John Bransby’s Manor House School at Stoke Newington, then a suburb four miles (6 km) north of London.^[11]

Poe moved back with the Allans to Richmond, Virginia in 1820. In 1824 Poe served as the lieutenant of the Richmond youth honor guard as Richmond celebrated the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette.^[12] In March 1825, John Allan's uncle^[13] and business benefactor William Galt, said to be one of the wealthiest men in Richmond, died and left Allan several acres of real estate. The inheritance was estimated at $750,000. By summer 1825, Allan celebrated his expansive wealth by purchasing a two-story brick home named Moldavia.^[14] Poe may have become engaged to Sarah Elmira Royster before he registered at the one-year-old University of Virginia in February 1826 to study languages.^[15] The university, in its infancy, was established on the ideals of its founder, Thomas Jefferson. It had strict rules against gambling, horses, guns, tobacco and alcohol, but these rules were generally ignored. Jefferson had enacted a system of student self-government, allowing students to choose their own studies, make their own arrangements for boarding, and report all wrongdoing to the faculty. The unique system was still in chaos, and there was a high dropout rate.^[16] During his time there, Poe lost touch with Royster and also became estranged from his foster father over gambling debts. Poe claimed that Allan had not given him sufficient money to register for classes, purchase texts, and procure and furnish a dormitory. Allan did send additional money and clothes, but Poe's debts increased.^[17] Poe gave up on the university after a year, and, not feeling welcome in Richmond, especially when he learned that his sweetheart Royster had married Alexander Shelton, he traveled to Boston in April 1827, sustaining himself with odd jobs as a clerk and newspaper writer.^[18] At some point he started using the pseudonym Henri Le Rennet.^[19]

Military career[link]

Poe was first stationed at Boston's Fort Independence while in the army.

Unable to support himself, on May 27, 1827, Poe enlisted in the United States Army as a private. Using the name "Edgar A. Perry", he claimed he was 22 years old even though he was 18.^[20] He first served at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor for five dollars a month.^[18] That same year, he released his first book, a 40-page collection of poetry, Tamerlane and Other Poems, attributed with the byline "by a Bostonian". Only 50 copies were printed, and the book received virtually no attention.^[21] Poe's regiment was posted to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina and traveled by ship on the brig Waltham on November 8, 1827. Poe was promoted to "artificer", an enlisted tradesman who prepared shells for artillery, and had his monthly pay doubled.^[22] After serving for two years and attaining the rank of Sergeant Major for Artillery (the highest rank a noncommissioned officer can achieve), Poe sought to end his five-year enlistment early. He revealed his real name and his circumstances to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Howard. Howard would only allow Poe to be discharged if he reconciled with John Allan and wrote a letter to Allan, who was unsympathetic. Several months passed and pleas to Allan were ignored; Allan may not have written to Poe even to make him aware of his foster mother's illness. Frances Allan died on February 28, 1829, and Poe visited the day after her burial. Perhaps softened by his wife's death, John Allan agreed to support Poe's attempt to be discharged in order to receive an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.^[23]

Poe finally was discharged on April 15, 1829, after securing a replacement to finish his enlisted term for him.^[24] Before entering West Point, Poe moved back to Baltimore for a time, to stay with his widowed aunt Maria Clemm, her daughter, Virginia Eliza Clemm (Poe's first cousin), his brother Henry, and his invalid grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe.^[25] Meanwhile, Poe published his second book, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, in Baltimore in 1829.^[26]

Poe traveled to West Point and matriculated as a cadet on July 1, 1830.^[27] In October 1830, John Allan married his second wife, Louisa Patterson.^[28] The marriage, and bitter quarrels with Poe over the children born to Allan out of affairs, led to the foster father finally disowning Poe.^[29] Poe decided to leave West Point by purposely getting court-martialed. On February 8, 1831, he was tried for gross neglect of duty and disobedience of orders for refusing to attend formations, classes, or church. Poe tactically pled not guilty to induce dismissal, knowing he would be found guilty.^[30]

He left for New York in February 1831, and released a third volume of poems, simply titled Poems. The book was financed with help from his fellow cadets at West Point, many of whom donated 75 cents to the cause, raising a total of $170. They may have been expecting verses similar to the satirical ones Poe had been writing about commanding officers.^[31] Printed by Elam Bliss of New York, it was labeled as "Second Edition" and included a page saying, "To the U.S. Corps of Cadets this volume is respectfully dedicated." The book once again reprinted the long poems "Tamerlane" and "Al Aaraaf" but also six previously unpublished poems including early versions of "To Helen", "Israfel", and "The City in the Sea".^[32] He returned to Baltimore, to his aunt, brother and cousin, in March 1831. His elder brother Henry, who had been in ill health in part due to problems with alcoholism, died on August 1, 1831.^[33]

Publishing career[link]

After his brother's death, Poe began more earnest attempts to start his career as a writer. He chose a difficult time in American publishing to do so.^[34] He was the first well-known American to try to live by writing alone^[2][35] and was hampered by the lack of an international copyright law.^[36] Publishers often pirated copies of British works rather than paying for new work by Americans.^[35] The industry was also particularly hurt by the Panic of 1837.^[37] Despite a booming growth in American periodicals around this time period, fueled in part by new technology, many did not last beyond a few issues^[38] and publishers often refused to pay their writers or paid them much later than they promised.^[39] Poe, throughout his attempts to live as a writer, had to repeatedly resort to humiliating pleas for money and other assistance.^[40]

Poe married his 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. Her early death may have inspired some of his writing.

After his early attempts at poetry, Poe had turned his attention to prose. He placed a few stories with a Philadelphia publication and began work on his only drama, Politian. The Baltimore Saturday Visiter awarded Poe a prize in October 1833 for his short story "MS. Found in a Bottle".^[41] The story brought him to the attention of John P. Kennedy, a Baltimorean of considerable means. He helped Poe place some of his stories, and introduced him to Thomas W. White, editor of the Southern Literary Messenger in Richmond. Poe became assistant editor of the periodical in August 1835,^[42] but was discharged within a few weeks for being caught drunk by his boss.^[43] Returning to Baltimore, Poe secretly married Virginia, his cousin, on September 22, 1835. He was 26 and she was 13, though she is listed on the marriage certificate as being 21.^[44] Reinstated by White after promising good behavior, Poe went back to Richmond with Virginia and her mother. He remained at the Messenger until January 1837. During this period, Poe claimed that its circulation increased from 700 to 3,500.^[5] He published several poems, book reviews, critiques, and stories in the paper. On May 16, 1836, he had a second wedding ceremony in Richmond with Virginia Clemm, this time in public.^[45]

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket was published and widely reviewed in 1838.^[46] In the summer of 1839, Poe became assistant editor of Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. He published numerous articles, stories, and reviews, enhancing his reputation as a trenchant critic that he had established at the Southern Literary Messenger. Also in 1839, the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque was published in two volumes, though he made little money off of it and it received mixed reviews.^[47] Poe left Burton's after about a year and found a position as assistant at Graham's Magazine.^[48]

In June 1840, Poe published a prospectus announcing his intentions to start his own journal, The Stylus.^[49] Originally, Poe intended to call the journal The Penn, as it would have been based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the June 6, 1840 issue of Philadelphia's Saturday Evening Post, Poe bought advertising space for his prospectus: "Prospectus of the Penn Magazine, a Monthly Literary journal to be edited and published in the city of Philadelphia by Edgar A. Poe."^[50] The journal was never produced before Poe's death. Around this time, he attempted to secure a position with the Tyler administration, claiming he was a member of the Whig Party.^[51] He hoped to be appointed to the Custom House in Philadelphia with help from President Tyler's son Robert,^[52] an acquaintance of Poe's friend Frederick Thomas.^[53] Poe failed to show up for a meeting with Thomas to discuss the appointment in mid-September 1842, claiming to be sick, though Thomas believed he was drunk.^[54] Though he was promised an appointment, all positions were filled by others.^[55]

Poe spent the last few years of his life in this small cottage in the Bronx, New York.

One evening in January 1842, Virginia showed the first signs of consumption, now known as tuberculosis, while singing and playing the piano. Poe described it as breaking a blood vessel in her throat.^[56] She only partially recovered. Poe began to drink more heavily under the stress of Virginia's illness. He left Graham's and attempted to find a new position, for a time angling for a government post. He returned to New York, where he worked briefly at the Evening Mirror before becoming editor of the Broadway Journal and, later, sole owner.^[57] There he alienated himself from other writers by publicly accusing Henry Wadsworth Longfellow of plagiarism, though Longfellow never responded.^[58] On January 29, 1845, his poem "The Raven" appeared in the Evening Mirror and became a popular sensation. Though it made Poe a household name almost instantly,^[59] he was paid only $9 for its publication.^[60] It was concurrently published in The American Review: A Whig Journal under the pseudonym "Quarles".^[61]

The Broadway Journal failed in 1846.^[57] Poe moved to a cottage in the Fordham section of The Bronx, New York. That home, known today as the "Poe Cottage", is on the southeast corner of the Grand Concourse and Kingsbridge Road. Virginia died there on January 30, 1847.^[62] Biographers and critics often suggest Poe's frequent theme of the "death of a beautiful woman" stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his life, including his wife.^[63]

Increasingly unstable after his wife's death, Poe attempted to court the poet Sarah Helen Whitman, who lived in Providence, Rhode Island. Their engagement failed, purportedly because of Poe's drinking and erratic behavior. However, there is also strong evidence that Whitman's mother intervened and did much to derail their relationship.^[64] Poe then returned to Richmond and resumed a relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Elmira Royster.^[65]

Death[link]

Edgar Allan Poe is buried in Baltimore, Maryland. The circumstances and cause of his death remain uncertain.

On October 3, 1849, Poe was found on the streets of Baltimore delirious, "in great distress, and... in need of immediate assistance", according to the man who found him, Joseph W. Walker.^[66] He was taken to the Washington College Hospital, where he died on Sunday, October 7, 1849, at 5:00 in the morning.^[67] Poe was never coherent long enough to explain how he came to be in his dire condition, and, oddly, was wearing clothes that were not his own. Poe is said to have repeatedly called out the name "Reynolds" on the night before his death, though it is unclear to whom he was referring. Some sources say Poe's final words were "Lord help my poor soul."^[67] All medical records, including his death certificate, have been lost.^[68] Newspapers at the time reported Poe's death as "congestion of the brain" or "cerebral inflammation", common euphemisms for deaths from disreputable causes such as alcoholism.^[69] The actual cause of death remains a mystery.^[70] Speculation has included delirium tremens, heart disease, epilepsy, syphilis, meningeal inflammation,^[3] cholera^[71] and rabies.^[72] One theory, dating from 1872, indicates that cooping – in which unwilling citizens who were forced to vote for a particular candidate were occasionally killed – was the cause of Poe's death. ^[73].

Griswold's "Memoir"[link]

The day Edgar Allan Poe was buried, a long obituary appeared in the New York Tribune signed "Ludwig". It was soon published throughout the country. The piece began, "Edgar Allan Poe is dead. He died in Baltimore the day before yesterday. This announcement will startle many, but few will be grieved by it."^[74] "Ludwig" was soon identified as Rufus Wilmot Griswold, an editor, critic and anthologist who had borne a grudge against Poe since 1842. Griswold somehow became Poe's literary executor and attempted to destroy his enemy's reputation after his death.^[75]

Rufus Griswold wrote a biographical article of Poe called "Memoir of the Author", which he included in an 1850 volume of the collected works. Griswold depicted Poe as a depraved, drunk, drug-addled madman and included Poe's letters as evidence.^[75] Many of his claims were either lies or distorted half-truths. For example, it is now known that Poe was not a drug addict.^[76] Griswold's book was denounced by those who knew Poe well,^[77] but it became a popularly accepted one. This occurred in part because it was the only full biography available and was widely reprinted and in part because readers thrilled at the thought of reading works by an "evil" man.^[78] Letters that Griswold presented as proof of this depiction of Poe were later revealed as forgeries.^[79]

Literary style and themes[link]

1860s portrait by Oscar Halling after an 1849 daguerreotype

Genres[link]

Poe's best known fiction works are Gothic,^[80] a genre he followed to appease the public taste.^[81] 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.^[82] Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre, a literary reaction to transcendentalism,^[83] which Poe strongly disliked.^[84] He referred to followers of the movement as "Frog-Pondians" after the pond on Boston Common.^[85][86] and ridiculed their writings as "metaphor-run mad,"^[87] lapsing into "obscurity for obscurity's sake" or "mysticism for mysticism's sake."^[84] Poe once wrote in a letter to Thomas Holley Chivers that he did not dislike Transcendentalists, "only the pretenders and sophists among them."^[88]

Beyond horror, Poe also wrote satires, humor tales, and hoaxes. For comic effect, he used irony and ludicrous extravagance, often in an attempt to liberate the reader from cultural conformity.^[81] In fact, "Metzengerstein", the first story that Poe is known to have published,^[89] and his first foray into horror, was originally intended as a burlesque satirizing the popular genre.^[90] Poe also reinvented science fiction, responding in his writing to emerging technologies such as hot air balloons in "The Balloon-Hoax".^[91]

Poe wrote much of his work using themes specifically catered for mass market tastes.^[92] To that end, his fiction often included elements of popular pseudosciences such as phrenology^[93] and physiognomy.^[94]

Literary theory[link]

Poe's writing reflects his literary theories, which he presented in his criticism and also in essays such as "The Poetic Principle".^[95] He disliked didacticism^[96] and allegory,^[97] though he believed that meaning in literature should be an undercurrent just beneath the surface. Works with obvious meanings, he wrote, cease to be art.^[98] He believed that quality work should be brief and focus on a specific single effect.^[95] To that end, he believed that the writer should carefully calculate every sentiment and idea.^[99]

In "The Philosophy of Composition", an essay in which Poe describes his method in writing "The Raven", he claims to have strictly followed this method. It has been questioned, however, if he really followed this system. T. S. Eliot said: "It is difficult for us to read that essay without reflecting that if Poe plotted out his poem with such calculation, he might have taken a little more pains over it: the result hardly does credit to the method."^[100] Biographer Joseph Wood Krutch described the essay as "a rather highly ingenious exercise in the art of rationalization".^[101]

Legacy[link]

Illustration by French impressionist Édouard Manet for the Stéphane Mallarmé translation of "The Raven", 1875. Digitally restored.

Literary influence[link]

During his lifetime, Poe was mostly recognized as a literary critic. Fellow critic James Russell Lowell called him "the most discriminating, philosophical, and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America", suggesting – rhetorically – that he occasionally used prussic acid instead of ink.^[102] Poe's caustic reviews earned him the epithet "Tomahawk Man". A favorite target of Poe's criticism was Boston's then acclaimed poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who was often defended by his literary friends in what would later be called "The Longfellow War". Poe accused Longfellow of "the heresy of the didactic”, writing poetry that was preachy, derivative, and thematically plagiarized. Poe correctly predicted that Longfellow's reputation and style of poetry would decline, concluding that "We grant him high qualities, but deny him the Future".^[103]

Poe was also known as a writer of fiction and became one of the first American authors of the 19th century to become more popular in Europe than in the United States.^[104] Poe is particularly respected in France, in part due to early translations by Charles Baudelaire. Baudelaire's translations became definitive renditions of Poe's work throughout Europe.^[105]

Poe's early detective fiction tales featuring C. Auguste Dupin laid the groundwork for future detectives in literature. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said, "Each [of Poe's detective stories] is a root from which a whole literature has developed.... Where was the detective story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it?"^[106] The Mystery Writers of America have named their awards for excellence in the genre the "Edgars".^[107] Poe's work also influenced science fiction, notably Jules Verne, who wrote a sequel to Poe's novel The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket called An Antarctic Mystery, also known as The Sphinx of the Ice Fields.^[108] Science fiction author H. G. Wells noted, "Pym tells what a very intelligent mind could imagine about the south polar region a century ago."^[109]

Like many famous artists, Poe's works have spawned innumerable imitators.^[110] One interesting trend among imitators of Poe, however, has been claims by clairvoyants or psychics to be "channeling" poems from Poe's spirit. One of the most notable of these was Lizzie Doten, who in 1863 published Poems from the Inner Life, in which she claimed to have "received" new compositions by Poe's spirit. The compositions were re-workings of famous Poe poems such as "The Bells", but which reflected a new, positive outlook.^[111]

Edgar Allan Poe photographed circa 1849

Even so, Poe has received not only praise, but criticism as well. This is partly because of the negative perception of his personal character and its influence upon his reputation.^[104] William Butler Yeats was occasionally critical of Poe and once called him "vulgar".^[112] Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson reacted to "The Raven" by saying, "I see nothing in it"^[113] and derisively referred to Poe as "the jingle man".^[114] Aldous Huxley wrote that Poe's writing "falls into vulgarity" by being "too poetical"—the equivalent of wearing a diamond ring on every finger.^[115]

It is believed that only 12 copies of Poe's first book, Tamerlane and Other Poems, have survived. In December 2009, one copy sold at Christie's, New York for $662,500, a record price paid for a work of American literature.^[116]

Physics and cosmology[link]

Eureka: A Prose Poem, an essay written in 1848, included a cosmological theory that presaged the Big Bang theory by 80 years,^[117][118] as well as the first plausible solution to Olbers' paradox.^[119][120] Poe eschewed the scientific method in Eureka and instead wrote from pure intuition.^[121] For this reason, he considered it a work of art, not science,^[121] but insisted that it was still true^[122] and considered it to be his career masterpiece.^[123] Even so, Eureka is full of scientific errors. In particular, Poe's suggestions opposed Newtonian principles regarding the density and rotation of planets.^[124]

Cryptography[link]

Poe had a keen interest in cryptography. He had placed a notice of his abilities in the Philadelphia paper Alexander's Weekly (Express) Messenger, inviting submissions of ciphers, which he proceeded to solve.^[125] In July 1841, Poe had published an essay called "A Few Words on Secret Writing" in Graham's Magazine. Realizing the public interest in the topic, he wrote "The Gold-Bug" incorporating ciphers as part of the story.^[126] Poe's success in cryptography relied not so much on his knowledge of that field (his method was limited to the simple substitution cryptogram), as on his knowledge of the magazine and newspaper culture. His keen analytical abilities, which were so evident in his detective stories, allowed him to see that the general public was largely ignorant of the methods by which a simple substitution cryptogram can be solved, and he used this to his advantage.^[125] The sensation Poe created with his cryptography stunt played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines.^[127]

Poe had an influence on cryptography beyond increasing public interest in his lifetime. William Friedman, America's foremost cryptologist, was heavily influenced by Poe.^[128] Friedman's initial interest in cryptography came from reading "The Gold-Bug" as a child—interest he later put to use in deciphering Japan's PURPLE code during World War II.^[129]

In popular culture[link]

As a character[link]

The historical Edgar Allan Poe has appeared as a fictionalized character, often representing the "mad genius" or "tormented artist" and exploiting his personal struggles.^[130] Many such depictions also blend in with characters from his stories, suggesting Poe and his characters share identities.^[131] Often, fictional depictions of Poe use his mystery-solving skills in such novels as The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl.^[132]

Preserved homes, landmarks, and museums[link]

The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site in Philadelphia is one of several preserved former residences of Poe

No childhood home of Poe is still standing, including the Allan family's Moldavia estate. The oldest standing home in Richmond, the Old Stone House, is in use as the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, though Poe never lived there. The collection includes many items Poe used during his time with the Allan family and also features several rare first printings of Poe works. The dorm room Poe is believed to have used while studying at the University of Virginia in 1826 is preserved and available for visits. Its upkeep is now overseen by a group of students and staff known as the Raven Society.^[133]

The earliest surviving home in which Poe lived is in Baltimore, preserved as the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum. Poe is believed to have lived in the home at the age of 23 when he first lived with Maria Clemm and Virginia (as well as his grandmother and possibly his brother William Henry Leonard Poe).^[134] It is open to the public and is also the home of the Edgar Allan Poe Society. Of the several homes that Poe, his wife Virginia, and his mother-in-law Maria rented in Philadelphia, only the last house has survived. The Spring Garden home, where the author lived in 1843–1844, is today preserved by the National Park Service as the Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site.^[135] Poe's final home is preserved as the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in the Bronx, New York.^[62]

In Boston, a commemorative plaque on Boylston Street is a couple of blocks away from the actual location of Poe's birth.^{[136][137][138][4]} The house which was his birthplace at 62 Carver Street no longer exists; also, the street has since been renamed "Charles Street South".^[139][140] A "square" at the intersection of Broadway, Fayette, and Carver Streets had once been named in his honor,^[141] but it disappeared when the streets were rearranged. In 2009, the intersection of Charles and Boylston Streets was newly designated "Edgar Allan Poe Square".^[142]

Other Poe landmarks include a building in the Upper West Side, where Poe temporarily lived when he first moved to New York. A plaque suggests that Poe wrote "The Raven" here. The bar where legend says Poe was last seen drinking before his death still stands in Fells Point in Baltimore, Maryland. The drinking establishment is now known as "The Horse You Came In On", and local lore insists that a ghost they call "Edgar" haunts the rooms above.^[143]

Poe Toaster[link]

Adding to the mystery surrounding Poe's death, an unknown visitor affectionately referred to as the "Poe Toaster" paid homage to Poe's grave annually beginning in 1949. As the tradition carried on for more than 60 years, it is likely that the "Poe Toaster" was actually several individuals, though the tribute was always the same. Every January 19, in the early hours of the morning, the person made a toast of cognac to Poe's original grave marker and left three roses. Members of the Edgar Allan Poe Society in Baltimore helped protect this tradition for decades. On August 15, 2007, Sam Porpora, a former historian at the Westminster Church in Baltimore where Poe is buried, claimed that he had started the tradition in the 1960s. Porpora said the claim that the tradition began in 1949 was a hoax in order to raise money and enhance the profile of the church. His story has not been confirmed,^[144] and some details he gave to the press have been pointed out as factually inaccurate.^[145] The Poe Toaster's last appearance was on January 19, 2009, the day of Poe's bicentennial.

Selected list of works[link]

Other works

• Politian (1835) – Poe's only play
• The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838) – Poe's only complete novel
• "The Balloon-Hoax" (1844) – A journalistic hoax printed as a true story
• "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) – Essay
• Eureka: A Prose Poem (1848) – Essay
• "The Poetic Principle" (1848) – Essay
• "The Light-House" (1849) – Poe's last incomplete work

See also[link]

	Edgar Allan Poe portal
	Horror portal
	Poetry portal
	Biography portal

• Edgar Allan Poe and music
• List of coupled cousins
• USS E.A. Poe (IX-103)

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Allen, Hervey (1927). "Introduction". The Works of Edgar Allan Poe. New York: P. F. Collier & Son. 
• Associated Press (August 15, 2007). "Man Reveals Legend of Mystery Visitor to Edgar Allan Poe's Grave". http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293413,00.html. Retrieved 2007-12-15. 
• Benitez, R, Michael (September 15, 1996). "Poe's Death Is Rewritten as Case of Rabies, Note Telltale Alcohol". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/15/us/poe-s-death-is-rewritten-as-case-of-rabies-not-telltale-alcohol.html.  Based on "A 39-year-old man with mental status change". Maryland Medical Journal 45: 765–769. 1996. 
• Benton, Richard P. (1987). "Poe's Literary Labors and Rewards". In Fisher, Benjamin Franklin IV. Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society. pp. 1–25. ISBN 978-0-9616449-1-8. http://www.eapoe.org/papers/psbbooks/pb19871c.htm. 
• Bramsback, Birgit (1970). "The Final Illness and Death of Edgar Allan Poe: An Attempt at Reassessment". Studia Neophilologica (University of Uppsala) XLII: 40 
• BronxHistoricalSociety.org (2007). "Edgar Allan Poe Cottage". http://web.archive.org/web/20071011072300/http://bronxhistoricalsociety.org/about/poecottage.html.  Archived from the original on 2007-10-11.
• Burns, Niccole (November 15, 2006). "Poe wrote most important works in Philadelphia". School of Communication — University of Miami. http://com.miami.edu/parks/philapoeauthor.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
• Cappi, Alberto (1994). "Edgar Allan Poe's Physical Cosmology". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 35: 177–192. Bibcode 1994QJRAS..35..177C 
• Canada, Mark, ed. (1997). "Edgar Allan Poe Chronology". Canada's America. http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/17841865/lit/poe.htm. Retrieved 2007-06-03. 
• CrimeLibrary.com (2008). "Death Suspicion Cholera". http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/celebrity/edgar_allan_poe/5.html. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
• Carlson, Eric Walter (1996). A Companion to Poe Studies. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-26506-8. http://books.google.com/?id=nMHFGbxYhEMC&pg=PA476&lpg=PA476&dq=%22lizzie+doten%22+poe. Retrieved 2007-06-03. 
• Cornelius, Kay (2002). "Biography of Edgar Allan Poe". In Harold Bloom. Bloom's BioCritiques: Edgar Allan Poe. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7910-6173-2. 
• Edgar Allan Poe Society (2007). "The Baltimore Poe House and Museum". http://www.eapoe.org/balt/poehse.htm. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
• Fisher, Benjamin Franklin IV (1993). "Poe's 'Metzengerstein': Not a Hoax (1971)". On Poe: The Best from American Literature. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. pp. 142–149. ISBN 978-0-8223-1311-3. 
• Foye, Raymond, ed. (1980). The Unknown Poe (Paperback ed.). San Francisco, CA: City Lights. ISBN 0-87286-110-4. 
• Frank, Frederick S.; Magistrale, Anthony (1997). The Poe Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-27768-9. 
• Friedman, William F. (1993). "Edgar Allan Poe, Cryptographer (1936)". On Poe: The Best from American Literature. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. pp. 40–54. ISBN 978-0-8223-1311-3. 
• Gargano, James W. (1967). "The Question of Poe's Narrators". In Regan, Robert. Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. pp. 165. ISBN 978-0-13-684963-6. 
• Glenn, Joshua (April 9, 2007). "The house of Poe – mystery solved!". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/brainiac/2007/04/_a_globe_reader.html. 
• Grayson, Eric (2005). "Weird Science, Weirder Unity: Phrenology and Physiognomy in Edgar Allan Poe". Mode 1: 56–77. http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/publications/mode/documents/grayson.html. 
• Hall, Wiley (August 15, 2007). "Poe Fan Takes Credit for Grave Legend". Associated Press. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=2007-08-15_D8R1O6LO0&show_article=1&cat=breaking. 
• Harner, Gary Wayne (1990). "Edgar Allan Poe in France: Baudelaire's Labor of Love". In Fisher, Benjamin Franklin IV. Poe and His Times: The Artist and His Milieu. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society. ISBN 978-0-9616449-2-5. 
• Harrison, Edward (1987). Darkness at Night: A Riddle of the Universe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-19270-6. 
• Harrowitz, Nancy (1984), "The Body of the Detective Model: Charles S. Peirce and Edgar Allan Poe", in Umberto Eco; Thomas Sebeok, The Sign of Three: Dupin, Holmes, Peirce, Bloomington, IN: History Workshop, Indiana University Press, pp. 179–197, ISBN 978-0-253-35235-4 . Harrowitz discusses Poe's "tales of ratiocination" in the light of Charles Sanders Peirce's logic of making good guesses or abductive reasoning.
• Hayes, Kevin J. (2002). The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-79326-1. 
• Hecker, William J. (2005), Private Perry and Mister Poe: The West Point Poems, Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, ISBN 978-0-8071-3054-4 
• Hoffman, Daniel (1998) [1972]. Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-2321-8. 
• Hungerford, Edward (1930). "Poe and Phrenology". American Literature 1: 209–231. 
• Huxley, Aldous (1967). "Vulgarity in Literature". In Regan, Robert. Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. pp. 32. ISBN 978-0-13-684963-6. 
• Jannaccone, Pasquale (translated by Peter Mitilineos) (1974). "The Aesthetics of Edgar Poe". Poe Studies 7 (1) 
• Kagle, Steven E. (1990). "The Corpse Within Us". In Fisher, Benjamin Franklin IV. Poe and His Times: The Artist and His Milieu. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society. ISBN 978-0-9616449-2-5. 
• Kennedy, J. Gerald (1987). Poe, Death, and the Life of Writing. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03773-9. 
• Koster, Donald N. (2002). "Influences of Transcendentalism on American Life and Literature". In Galens, David. Literary Movements for Students Vol. 1.. Detroit: Thompson Gale. 
• Krutch, Joseph Wood (1926). Edgar Allan Poe: A Study in Genius. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.  (1992 reprint: ISBN 978-0-7812-6835-6)
• Lake, Matt (2006). Weird Maryland. Nwe York: Sterling Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4027-3906-4. 
• Ljunquist, Kent (2002). "The poet as critic". In Hayes, Kevin J.. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 7–20. ISBN 978-0-521-79727-6. 
• Maslin, Janet (June 6, 2006). "The Poe Shadow". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/arts/06iht-bookwed.1903554.html. Retrieved 2007-10-13. 
• Meyers, Jeffrey (1992). Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy (Paperback ed.). New York: Cooper Square Press. ISBN 978-0-8154-1038-6. 
• Neimeyer, Mark (2002). "Poe and Popular Culture". In Hayes, Kevin J.. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 205–224. ISBN 978-0-521-79727-6. 
• Nelson, Randy F. (1981). The Almanac of American Letters. Los Altos, CA: William Kaufmann, Inc.. ISBN 978-0-86576-008-0. 
• New York Daily News (December 5, 2009). "Edgar Allan Poe's first book from 1827 sells for 662,500; record price for American literature". http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2009/12/05/2009-12-05_rare_poe_book_scares_up_662g.html. Retrieved 2009-12-24. 
• New York Times (May 20, 1894). "Emerson's Estimate of Poe". http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A03E5D91630E033A25753C2A9639C94659ED7CF. Retrieved 2008-03-02. 
• Ostram, John Ward (1987). "Poe's Literary Labors and Rewards". In Fisher, Benjamin Franklin IV. Myths and Reality: The Mysterious Mr. Poe. Baltimore: The Edgar Allan Poe Society. pp. 37–47. ISBN 978-0-9616449-1-8. http://www.eapoe.org/papers/psbbooks/pb19871e.htm. 
• Poe, Edgar Allan (November 1847). "Tale-Writing—Nathaniel Hawthorne". Godey's Ladies Book: 252–256. http://www.eapoe.org/works/CRITICSM/GLB47HN1.HTM. Retrieved 2007-03-24. 
• PoeMuseum.org (2006). "Celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s 197th Birthday at the Poe museum". http://web.archive.org/web/20090105212647/http://www.poemuseum.org./news_and_events/archive_2006.html.  Archived from the original "News and Events" on 2009-01-05.
• Quinn, Arthur Hobson (1998). Edgar Allan Poe: A Critical Biography. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-5730-0. http://eapoe.org/papers/misc1921/quinn00c.htm.  (Originally published in 1941 by New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.)
• The Raven Society (2007). "Homepage". University of Virginia. http://www.uvaravensociety.com/. Retrieved 2007-12-06. 
• Rombeck, Terry (January 22, 2005). "Poe's little-known science book reprinted". Lawrence Journal-World & News. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/jan/22/poes_littleknown_science/ 
• Rosenheim, Shawn James (1997). The Cryptographic Imagination: Secret Writing from Edgar Poe to the Internet. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-5332-6. 
• Royot, Daniel (2002), "Poe's Humor", in Hayes, Kevin J., The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 57–71, ISBN 978-0-521-79326-1 
• Silverman, Kenneth (1991). Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-Ending Remembrance (Paperback ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-092331-0. 
• Smoot, George; Davidson, Keay (1994). Wrinkles in Time (Reprint ed.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-380-72044-6. 
• Sova, Dawn B. (2001). Edgar Allan Poe A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work (Paperback ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. ISBN 978-0-8160-4161-9. 
• Stableford, Brian (2003). "Science fiction before the genre". In James, Edward; Mendlesohn, Farah. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 15–31. ISBN 978-0-521-01657-5. 
• Tresch, John (2002). "Extra! Extra! Poe invents science fiction". In Hayes, Kevin J.. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 113–132. ISBN 978-0-521-79326-1. 
• Van Hoy, David C. (February 18, 2007). "The Fall of the House of Edgar". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/02/18/the_fall_of_the_house_of_edgar/. 
• Walsh, John Evangelist (2000) [1968]. Poe the Detective: The Curious Circumstances behind 'The Mystery of Marie Roget'. New York: St. Martins Minotaur. ISBN 978-0-8135-0567-1.  (1968 edition printed by Rutgers University Press)
• Weekes, Karen (2002). "Poe's feminIne ideal". In Hayes, Kevin J.. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 148–162. ISBN 978-0-521-79326-1. 
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• Wilbur, Richard (1967). "The House of Poe". In Regan, Robert. Poe: A Collection of Critical Essays. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. pp. 99. ISBN 978-0-13-684963-6. 

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

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• 'Funeral' honours Edgar Allan Poe BBC News (with video) 2009-10-11
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Alberto Breccia
Born	(1919-04-15)April 15, 1919 Montevideo, Uruguay
Died	November 10, 1993(1993-11-10) (aged 74) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Nationality	Argentine
Area(s)	Writer, Artist
Pseudonym(s)	"El Viejo"
Notable works	Mort Cinder La vida del Che

Alberto Breccia (April 15, 1919 - November 10, 1993) was an Uruguay-born Argentine comics artist and writer.

Biography[link]

Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Breccia moved with his parents to Buenos Aires, Argentina when he was three years old. After leaving school, Breccia worked in a tripe packing plant and in 1938 he got a job for the magazine El Resero, where he wrote articles and drew the covers.

He began to work professionally in 1939, when he joined the publishing house Manuel Láinez. He worked on magazines such as Tit-Bits, Rataplán and El Gorrión where he created comic strips such as Mariquita Terremoto, Kid Río Grande, El Vengador (based on a popular novel), and other adaptations.

During the 1950s he became an "honorary" member of the "Group of Venice" that consisted of expatriate Italian artists such as Hugo Pratt, Ido Pavone, Horacio Lalia, Faustinelli and Ongaro.^[1] Other honorary members were Francisco Solano López, Carlo Cruz and Arturo Perez del Castillo. With Hugo Pratt, he started the Pan-American School of Art in Buenos Aires. In 1957 he joined publisher Editorial Frontera, under the direction of Héctor Germán Oesterheld, where he created several Ernie Pike stories. In 1958 Breccia's series Sherlock Time ran in the comic magazine Hora Cero Extra, with scripts by Oesterheld.

In 1960 he began to work for European publishers via a Buenos Aries based art agency: for British publishing house Fleetway he drew a few westerns and war stories. This period did not last long. His son Enrique Breccia would also draw a few war stories for Fleetway in the late 1960s, such as Spy 13.

Breccia and Oesterheld collaborated to produce one of the most important comic strips in history, Mort Cinder, in 1962 .^[1] Interestingly, the face of the immortal Cinder is modeled after Breccia's assistant, Horacio Lalia, and the appearance of his companion, the antique dealer Ezra Winston, is actually Breccia's own. Cinder and Winston's strip began on July 26, 1962, in issue Nº 714 of Misterix magazine, and ran until 1964 .

In 1968 Breccia was joined by his son, Enrique, in a project to draw the comic biography of Che, the life of Che Guevara, again with a script provided by Oesterheld. This comic book is considered the chief cause behind Oesterheld's disappearance.^[1]

In 1969 Oesterheld rewrote the script of El Eternauta, for the Argentinian magazine Gente. Breccia drew the story with a decidedly experimental style, resorting to diverse techniques. The resulting work was anything but conventional and moving away from the commercial. Breccia refused to modify its style, which added to the tone of the script, and was much different from Francisco Solano López original.

During the seventies, Breccia makes major graphic innovations in black and white and color with series like Un tal Daneri and Chi ha paura delle fiabe?, written by Carlos Trillo. On the last one, a satire based on Brothers Grimm's tales, he plays with texture, mixing collage, acrylic and watercolor. This technique will be used later in the eighties by anglo-Saxons authors such as Bill Sienkiewicz and Dave McKean.

Other stories include: Cthulhu Mythos, Buscavidas (text by Carlos Trillo), a Historia grafica del Chile and Perramus, inspired by the work of the poet Juan Sasturain a pamphlet against the dictatorship in Argentina.

Alberto Breccia died in Buenos Aires in 1993.

Partial bibliography[link]

• Mariquita Terremoto.
• Kid Río Grande.
• El Vengador.
• Jean de Martinica.
• Vito Nervio (1947–1959 and 1974), with stories by Leonardo Wadel
• Mision Thyuraine (1961), with stories by Leonardo Wadel
• Pancho López (1956)
• Ernie Pike, written by Oesterheld
• Sherlock Time (1958–1959), written by Oesterheld
• Mort Cinder (1962–1964), written by Oesterheld
• Richard Long (1966), written by Oesterheld
• La vida del Che (1968), written by Oesterheld, additional art by Enrique Breccia
• El Eternauta (1969 edition), written by Oesterheld
• Evita, vida y obra de Eva Perón (1970), written by Oesterheld
• Squadra Zenith (1972–1974)
• Los mitos de Cthulhu (1973), written by Norberto Buscaglia, from text by H. P. Lovecraft
• Un tal Daneri (1974–1978), written by Trillo
• El corazón delator (1975), from a text by Edgar Allan Poe
• El Aire (1976), written by Guillermo Saccomanno
• Nadie (1977), written by Trillo.
• Buscavidas (1981), written by Trillo
• Perramus (1983), written by Juan Sasturain
• Drácula, Dacul, Vlad?, Bah... (1984)
• Informe sobre ciegos (1991), from text by Ernesto Sábato
• El Dorado, el delirio de Lope de Aguirre (1992), written by Carlos Albiac
• Martín Fierro, by José Hernández
• Platos voladores al ataque!!, written by Oesterheld

References[link]

El Aire (1976), written by Guillermo Saccomanno

External links[link]

• Alberto Breccia biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia
• Alberto Breccia biography on Dan Dare
• La Historieta Argentina Alberto Breccia work
• Alberto Breccia interview on Tebeosfera (Spanish)
• Alberto Breccia dossier FFF (Italian)