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TO THE READER.
From my boyhood the writings of Edgar A. Poe have possessed a singular fascination for me. Admiration of his works led me to a close and exhaustive study of the poet's strange and romantic life. Although sixty years have elapsed since Poe's death, an amazing amount of ignorance still exists upon the subject of his life and character. It is hoped that the present volume will do something toward dispelling this ignorance, and present the author of “The Raven” to his countrymen, and the world, in some of the most interesting phases of his remarkable career.
For a quarter of a century after Poe's death, his name and fame were under a cloud. But during the present generation a great and wonderful change has taken place ——
“Through many a year his fame has grown, —
Like midnight vast, like starlight sweet, —
Till now his genius tills a throne,
And nations marvel at his feet.”
EUGENE L. DIDIER.
Baltimore, Md.
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Notes:
The lines are from a poem about Poe, by William Winter, first read at the dedication of his memorial grave on November 17, 1875.
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[S:0 - ELDPC, 1909] - Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore - Bookshelf - The Poe Cult and Other Poe Papers (Eugene L. Didier) (To the Reader)