What was the title of Poe's first published book?

Poe's first published book was Tamerlane and Other Poems. Published in 1827, the 40-page collection appeared when Poe was only 18 and was printed in Boston by Calvin F. S. Thomas. Poe paid for the printing himself after leaving his foster family and struggling to establish a career.

The book was issued anonymously, credited to “a Bostonian,” rather than to Edgar Allan Poe. Its poems were strongly influenced by Lord Byron and already introduced themes that would recur throughout Poe's writing, including lost love, death, pride, and melancholy. The title poem follows a fictionalized conqueror who sacrifices romance for ambition.

Only about 50 copies were probably printed, although scholars have debated the exact number. The collection received almost no attention at the time, and its extreme rarity later led critic Rufus Wilmot Griswold to believe it had never existed. Today, only around a dozen original copies are known.

A common mix-up is Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems, Poe's 1829 collection. That was his first book published under his name, but Tamerlane and Other Poems came first.