Originally Poe Started His Writing Career Doing What?

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 Politan . The Baltimore Saturday Visiter awarded Poe a prize in October 1833 for his short story " MS. Found in a Bottle ". 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.There he developed a reputation as a cut-throat critic, writing vicious reviews of his contemporaries. Poe also published some of his own works in the magazine, including two parts of his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. Poe's aggressive-reviewing style and sometimes combative personality strained his relationship with the publication, andwas discharged within a few weeks for having been caught drunk by his boss. he left the magazine in 1837. Takes family to New York to seek employment but is unable to find editorial post. Poe went on to brief stints at two other papers, Burton's Gentleman's Magazine and The Broadway Journal.

The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket was published and widely reviewed in 1838. In 1838 Poe m oves his family to Philadelphia, continues to freelance but considers giving up literary work. 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 which 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. Poe left Burton's after about a year and found a position as assistant at Graham's Magazine.

In June 1840, Poe published a prospectus announcing his intentions to start his own journal called The Stylus . Originally, Poe intended to call the journal The Penn , as it would have been based in Philadelphia. 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."

In 1841 Poe publishes"The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the first modern detective story, with new stories and poems, and articles on cryptography and autography; by year's end, Graham's subscriptions more than quadruple.

Around this time, in 1841, he attempted to secure a position with the Tyler administration, claiming that he was a member of the Whig Party . He hoped to be appointed to the Custom House in Philadelphia with help from president Tyler's son Robert, an acquaintance of Poe's friend Frederick Thomas. Poe failed to show up for a meeting with Thomas to discuss the appointment in mid-September 1842, claiming to have been sick, though Thomas believed that he had been drunk. Though he was promised an appointment, all positions were filled by others.

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. 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. Poe meets Dickens, and publishes "The Masque of the Red Death"

He returned to New York where he worked briefly at the Evening Mirror before becoming editor of the Broadway Journal and, later, sole owner. There he alienated himself from other writers by publicly accusing Henry Wadsworth Longfellow of plagiarism , though Longfellow never responded. This anti-plagiarism campaign is known as the "Little Longfellow War."

On January 29, 1845, his poem " The Raven " appeared in the Evening Mirror and became a popular sensation. It made Poe a household name almost instantly, though he was paid only $9 for its publication. It was concurrently published in The American Review: A Whig Journal under the pseudonym "Quarles". The Broadway Journal failed in 1846. Poe moved to a cottage inFordham,New York, in what is nowthe Bronx,where Virginia, now a semi-invalid, is nursed by family friend Marie Louise Shew. Poe and family mentioned as pitiable charity cases in the New York press. Poe manages to publish "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Philosophy of Composition," book reviews, and "Marginalia" in various magazines. Begins series of satirical sketches of "The Literati of New York City" in Godey's. The one on Thomas Dunn English, whom Poe had known in Philadelphia, draws a vicious attack by English on Poe's morality and sanity. Poe sues The Evening Mirror, publisher of the piece, and collects damages the following year. Hears rumors of his nascent fame in France, where translations and a long analysis of Tales appear. Conducts literary courtship in verse with poet Frances Sargent Osgood.

V irginia died there on January 30, 1847. Biographers and critics often suggest that Poe's frequent theme of the "death of a beautiful woman" stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his life, including his wife. P oe was increasingly unstable after his wife's death. He attempted to court poet Sarah Helen Whitman who lived in Providence, Rhode Island . Their engagement failed, purportedly because of Poe's drinking and erratic behavior.

in 1849, sick, confused and apparently suffering from persecution mania. Friends care for him and see him off to Richmond. Poe then returned to Richmond and resumed a relationship with his childhood sweetheart Sarah Elmira Royster.