Poe’s Visual Legacy

This essay provides an overview of how artists have responded to the “graphicality” of Poe’s writing. It assesses illustrators of Poe’s work as well as artists who have been influenced by his writing. Because more than seven hundred painters, illustrators, and sculptors have reacted to Poe’s work from the time of the first illustrated edition in 1852 to the present, this essay focuses on only a handful of exceptional artists.