On October 3, 1849 Edgar Allan Poe was found wandering the streets of Baltimore. He was said to be delirious. He died 4 days later on October 7.

 

Poe was never coherent long enough to tell how he ended up as he did (and in Baltimore of all places) but here a few popular theories on what brought about his death:

 

Theory #1: Hypoglycemia.

Theory #2: Suicide.

Theory #3: ‘Congestion of the brain’ or ‘cerebral inflammation’. Polite ways of saying ‘Death by alcohol(ism)’.

Theory #4: Rabies.

Theory #5: Dipsomania.

Theory #6: Cholera.

Theory #7: Brain tumor.

Theory #8: Epilepsy.

Theory #9: Apoplexy.

Theory #10: Delirium tremens.

Theory #11: Heart disease.

Theory #12: Syphilis.

Theory #13: Meningeal inflammation.

Theory #14: Cooping (complications resulting from...). (Victims are drugged and then used to vote at multiple polling locations during an election.)

 

And then there are the various theories that involve either some form of rare brain disease or some type of enzyme deficiency.

 

Due to a slanderous obituary written by Rufus Wilmot Griswold (an adversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s during his life) a specific image of a drunkard and maniac Poe emerged. Then, through some inexplicable turn of events, Griswold became Poe’s literary executor where, in the ‘biography’ that accompanied Poe’s collected works, Griswold continued his attack. He forged a number of Poe’s letters, ballooned certain character traits and, in general, fabricated details about the author. People who personally knew Poe disavowed this version of the author’s life but as it was the only printed biography readily available until 1875 it helped form the public’s perception of Poe.

 

In some ways Poe helped fuel the popularity of this image himself; many people (partly due to Poe’s regular use of the first person in his stories) associate(d) Poe with his characters, many of which are maniacs of one stripe or another.

 

Among accounts of his death the ones involving booze and/or cooping are the most popular probably because of Griswold’s libel. But, as Poe’s death certificate has been lost to the ages, verification of what he actually died from will likely never be made.