"Tamerlane" is a poem by Edgar Allan Poe that follows a fictionalized accounting of the life of a Turco-Mongol conqueror historically known as Tamerlane. The poem was first published in the 1827 collection Tamerlane and Other Poems. That collection, with only 50 copies printed, was not credited with the author's real name but by "A Bostonian". The poem's original version was 403 lines but trimmed down to 223 lines for its inclusion in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems.
Original cover of Tamerlane and Other Poems, in which "Tamerlane" first appeared
Tamerlane and Other Poems
Tamerlane and Other Poems is the first published work by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The short collection of poems was first published in 1827. Today, it is believed only 12 copies of the collection still exist.
Cover, original printing
Back cover with an advertisement for printer Calvin F. S. Thomas
Many of the poems in Tamerlane and Other Poems were inspired by Lord Byron. A character in the title poem was named Ada after Byron's daughter Ada Lovelace.