Edgar Allan Poe ( January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. This Collection includes the following Tales: The purloined letter • The thousand-and-second tale of Scheherezade • A descent into the Maelström • Von Kempelen and his discovery • Mesmeric revelation • The facts in the case of M. Valdemar • The black cat • The fall of the House of Usher • Silence: a fable • The masque of the Red Death • The cask of Amontillado • The imp of the perverse • The island of the Fay • The assignation • The pit and the pendulum • The premature burial • The domain of Arnheim • Landor's cottage • William Wilson • The tell-tale heart • Berenice • Eleonora.