Portrait of Edgar Allan Poe, with Signature

This portrait of Edgar Allan Poe is from an engraving by Frederick T. Stuart of Boston. It is based on the “Thompson” Daguerreotype, taken in Richmond, Virginia in 1849, only a few weeks before Poe’s death. The engraving was published as the frontispiece for the first of George E. Woodberry’s two biographical attempts about Poe (Edgar Allan Poe, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1885). In 1949, the centennial of Poe’s death, the engraving was used for a commemorative 3-cent U. S. stamp. The signature is taken from a letter Poe wrote on March 15, 1844 to Cornelius Matthews. The original of this letter is in the Huntington Library. Poe seems generally to have preferred not to write out his middle name, although he did use his full name on several occasions. The vast majority of his letters are signed “Edgar A. Poe,” often with a slight paraph (as for this signature).

This combined image was created specifically for this website. (A circular border has been added for artistic and practical reasons.) The Poe Society requests that the image not be used for other purposes, particularly uncredited and especially not for commercial endeavors. However, the use of Poe’s image is encouraged for educational purposes and for Poe Birthday Cakes.