AL AARAAF, TAMERLANE AND MINOR POEMS

Poe was discharged from the army on April 15, 1829, after securing a replacement to finish his enlisted term for him. John Allan agreed to support Poe’s new appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.  Before entering the Academy, Poe moved back to Baltimore to stay with his widowed aunt Maria Clemm, her daughter, Virginia Eliza Clemm, his brother Henry and his invalid grandmother Elizabeth Cairnes Poe. It was at this time that Poe published this second collection of poems in Baltimore in 1829.

It is not known how many copies were printed, though an estimate of 500 or fewer are usually accepted by scholars. According to Poe’s letter to John Allan, the poet had been promised 250 copies of the book to sell for his own profit, though it is likely that Poe  may have exaggerated this figure, which he had done in previous dealings. Fewer than 30 copies are known to exist today.