Exhibit: "Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster"

By: BY JANE TAYLOR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | Times-Dispatch
Published: July 16, 2009

If you go

Where: Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St.

When: Starting Monday; through Dec. 5

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday

Admission: Free

Info: www.lva.virginia.gov/ or (804) 692-3500

Eerie, fearsome, terrifying, frightening, thrilling -- all words indicative of the mystery surrounding Edgar Allan Poe's life and the tone of his works.

From a glance at those colorful adjectives covering the dark vinyl walls of the "Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster" exhibit at the Library of Virginia, one can tell that this showcase is anything but ordinary.

"It's Poe, so you have to do something different," said Barbara Batson, the library's exhibitions coordinator. The exhibit, opening Monday, explores Poe's influence on modern writers and visual artists as well as aspects of his life not commonly known.

However, most know Poe, born in 1809 in Boston, for his Gothic novels and poetry, including "The Raven." The exhibit will enlighten the public to Poe's depth, Batson said.

They will learn of Poe as a literary critic, as the first American writer to live off writing alone and as creator of the modern closed-door mystery story. The exhibit, which is part of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of Poe's birth, also attempts to answer long-standing questions regarding his mysterious death in Baltimore in 1849.

The display of international movie posters of Poe works highlights his status as the first American author to have a positive international reputation and following. And his international recognition remains strong.

"The French and the Japanese are very into Poe," Batson said. His following doesn't stop there: A Poe collector from Bahrain is expected to attend the opening of "Man, Myth, or Monster."

Because the curator of the exhibition, Chris Semtner, is also the acting director of the Poe Museum, the library has an impressive collection of artifacts from Poe's life on display.

Among the most notable is a first-edition copy of "Tamerlane," Poe's first published book of poetry. The exhibit also includes several original Poe manuscripts; a Poe family Bible; a desk from the Southern Literary Messenger, where Poe worked; and furniture from Moldavia, Poe's last home in Richmond.

Multimedia aspects of the exhibition include readings from Poe, the showing of the 1928 silent film "The Fall of the House of Usher" and an interactive Poe trivia game.

The library dedicates an entire corner to Poe as a Virginian.

"Despite the fact that he lived many places, he considered himself a Virginian. He absorbed the culture and picked up some of his gentlemanly traits in the South," said Jan Hathcock, public information coordinator for the library.

The title of the exhibition, "Poe: Man, Myth, or Monster," addresses the depth with which the library profiles Poe -- writer, rock star, mystery, person.

But Poe shaped his own public persona; he was known to fabricate details of his life. In his autobiography, Poe claimed to have graduated from the University of Virginia, when he actually left after a year, Hathcock said. He also claimed to have fought in the Greek War of Independence and to have been imprisoned in St. Petersburg, all of which is false.

Regarding Poe's modern reputation, Batson said, "There is a cloak of mystery around him that I think he would appreciate."