Poe’s Literary Reputation

Abstract

In 1841 Poe met an influential editor named Rufus W. Griswold, a clergyman who had drifted into editorial work in New York. He seems to have been something of a literary charlatan and had acquired a reputation for himself as an editor and author. Poe was unwise enough to appoint Griswold as his literary executor, not realising that Griswold in fact hated him.