Edger Allen Poe was born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Elizabeth Arnold Hopkins Poe and David Poe, Jr. Both of Poe's parents were actors and Poe was their second child. and their second son, they later had a daughter. In 1810, Poe's father abandoned their family, and his mother died a year later from pulmonary tuberculosis. Poe was then taken to the home of John Allan, a merchant from Richmond, Virginia. The Allans served as a foster family and gave him the name "Edgar Allan Poe", although they never officially adopted him. While with the Allans, Poe moved frequently first to Irvine, Scotland, then to London and finally back to Richmond, Virginia. Four years after returning to Richmond, Poe served as a lieutenant in the Richmond Youth Honor Guard, launching his military career. Shortly after Poe decided to attend the University of Virginia to study ancient and modern languages, after a year he became unable to pay for his tuition and dropped out. He moved to Boston and tried to support himself with various odd jobs, but to no avail. On May 27, 1827, he enlisted in the United States Army as a private. Poe enlisted under a false name "Poe A, Perry" and claimed he was 22 when he was actually 18. Later that year, Poe published his first book which was a 40-page book of poetry, entitled “Tamerlane and other poems”. The book made very little noise and received almost no recognition and only fifty copies were printed. Nevertheless, Poe continued to write and be involved in the military, and in 1827 was promoted to be an artillery trooper of essentially an artillery troop. Fast forward 2 years and Poe is now sergeant major in the artillery division which was at the time the highest...... middle of paper ...... his collection of previously published stories has brought in little money. collect caused a sensation and garnered mixed reviews. In 1840, Poe left Burton's Gentleman's magazine and started his own "journal". Poe intended to call the newspaper "The Penn", although the first issue was not published until Poe's death in 1849. Poe died at the age of 40, the cause of death. remains a mystery, he was found 4 days before roaming the streets of Baltimore on October 3, he was reportedly in a delirious state begging for help, the man who found him quickly took him to the Washington Medical College where he remained in incoherent critical condition until the morning of October 7. Poe did not gain serious recognition until long after his death; today he is considered one of the great American poets and is studied throughout the world..