Date of Completion
9-21-2014
Embargo Period
8-5-2014
Keywords
Poe, daguerreotype, photography and literature
Major Advisor
Dr. Robert Tilton
Associate Advisor
Dr. Raymond Anselment
Associate Advisor
Dr. Katherine Capshaw Smith
Field of Study
English
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Open Access
Open Access
Abstract
Edgar Allan Poe's literary successes in the late 1830's and early 1840's coincided with the invention and remarkable popularity of the daguerreotype. In this study I examine the profound impact the advent of photography had on Poe's writing. In an 1840 article for Alexander's Weekly Messenger Poe called photography "the most important, and perhaps the most extraordinary triumph of modern science." Through a close study of selected fiction, essays, and letters I argue that Poe was the first writer to explore the myriad possibilities of the newly emergent photographic world.
Recommended Citation
Itsou, Tiffanie M., ""Truth Itself in the Supremeness of Its Perfection": The Influence of Photography on Edgar Allan Poe's Writing" (2014). Doctoral Dissertations. 572.
https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/dissertations/572