The Final Days of Edgar Allan Poe: Clues to an Old Mystery Using 21st Century Medical Science

This study examines all documented information regarding the final days and death of Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), in an attempt to determine the most likely cause of death of the American poet, short story writer, and literary critic. Information was gathered from letters, newspaper accounts, and magazine articles written during the period after Poe's death, and also from biographies and medical journal articles written up until the present. A chronology of Poe's final days was constructed, and this was used to form a differential diagnosis of possible causes of death. Death theories over the last 160 years were analyzed using this information. This analysis, along with a review of Poe's past medical history, would seem to support an alcohol-related cause of death.