Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 in Boston, the son of traveling actors. He published his first book of poemsΒ Tamerlane and Other PoemsΒ in 1827, followed byΒ Tales of the Grotesque and ArabesqueΒ (which included "The Fall of the House of Usher") in 1839, but he did not achieve appreciable recognition until the publication of "The Raven" in 1845. He died in 1849.