Edgar Allan Poe & The Groiler Club

Edgar Allan Poe spent most of his life in a restless search for literary recognition and financial security, but he finally found what he was looking for in a small wooden farmhouse now located at Kingsbridge Road and the Grand Concourse in Bronx, New York. In April 1844, he and his wife, Virginia, moved to this small cottage and hoped that the country air would rescue her failing health. Despite Poe’s efforts to save his wife by escaping to the quiet cottage surrounded by fields and orchards, she died of Tuberculosis. Even after his death, Poe’s literary masterpieces were still widely recognized and his home became something of a literary landmark. The New York Shakespeare Society decided to raise funds to move the tiny cottage across the street to a public park. The five rooms inside the cottage have been restored with furnishings appropriate to Poe’s residency. The cottage is now owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and is operated by The Bronx County Historical Society.

The club is named after Jean Groiler, the French Renaissance collector renowned for sharing his library with friends and preaching “Grolierii et amicorum,” meaning belonging to Grolier and his friends. The Grolier Club’s exhibition “Evermore: The Persistence of Poe” showcases a wide array of materials that have been recognized as the finest Poe collection in private hands. There are several grand discoveries in this exhibit such as the manuscript copy of “The Conqueror Worm,” an engraved engagement ring given by Poe to his childhood sweetheart, and much