This document is a petition in bankruptcy filed by Edgar Allan Poe in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on December 19, 1842.
Edgar Allen Poe filed under the Bankruptcy Act of 1841 (which did not go into effect until 1842), which allowed voluntary bankruptcy to all debtors, but limited involuntary bankruptcy to merchants, bankers, brokers, and traders. Poe, like all other filers under the act, submitted Schedule A to his petition, indicating the names of creditors and the nature of his debts. Poe’s debts amounted to $2,071.41 (roughly $73,000 in today’s dollars) and included mostly book debt and money lent.
