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Front Porch

Front Porch How much influence did the evocative landscapes of Charleston, South Carolina, have on the young Edgar Allan Poe, who spent time there as an enlisted man and used it as the setting of his famous story "The Gold-Bug"? Sullivan's Island, by Michelle Van Parys. Few people besides Charlestonians and literary experts know that Edgar Allan Poe spent about a year in 1827 and 1828 on the outskirts of the Holy City, while stationed on Sullivan's Island as an enlisted man in the U.S. Army. Fifteen years later, Poe made Sullivan's Island the setting for his famous story, "The Gold-Bug," a dark tale about hunting pirate treasure. When he had had enough sand, sea, and drill, Poe got out of his enlistment and moved on. That's about all most of us know about Edgar Allan Poe and Charleston, South Carolina. But as Scott Peeples explains in this issue's first article, a paucity of facts has not prevented the fanciful from concocting a richer story. Charleston inspired Poe, we are told. It was there that his haunted, tragic, gothic, and delusioned sensibility first found the darkness to flower in. Charleston was the home of Annabel Lee, his poetic beloved, and http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Southern Cultures University of North Carolina Press

Front Porch

Southern Cultures , Volume 22 (2) – Jun 11, 2016

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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of the American South.
ISSN
1534-1488
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

How much influence did the evocative landscapes of Charleston, South Carolina, have on the young Edgar Allan Poe, who spent time there as an enlisted man and used it as the setting of his famous story "The Gold-Bug"? Sullivan's Island, by Michelle Van Parys. Few people besides Charlestonians and literary experts know that Edgar Allan Poe spent about a year in 1827 and 1828 on the outskirts of the Holy City, while stationed on Sullivan's Island as an enlisted man in the U.S. Army. Fifteen years later, Poe made Sullivan's Island the setting for his famous story, "The Gold-Bug," a dark tale about hunting pirate treasure. When he had had enough sand, sea, and drill, Poe got out of his enlistment and moved on. That's about all most of us know about Edgar Allan Poe and Charleston, South Carolina. But as Scott Peeples explains in this issue's first article, a paucity of facts has not prevented the fanciful from concocting a richer story. Charleston inspired Poe, we are told. It was there that his haunted, tragic, gothic, and delusioned sensibility first found the darkness to flower in. Charleston was the home of Annabel Lee, his poetic beloved, and

Journal

Southern CulturesUniversity of North Carolina Press

Published: Jun 11, 2016

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