This stamp honors Edgar Allan Poe, one of the leading figures in American literary history, on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Poe is best known for his stories and poems of horror and the macabre, such as the "Raven" and "The Telltale Heart". In addition he was a noted editor and literary critic. He is considered to be the father of the modern detective novel as well. His works also touched on such diverse fields as physics, cosmology and cryptology.

