Edgar Allan Poe

It couldn't look any less impressive, this pocket-size, 40-page pamphlet self-published by an unidentified Boston author back in 1827. After it goes up for sale at Christie's auction house this afternoon in New York, someone likely will have paid upward of a half-million dollars for it. This collection of poems is the rarest of Edgar Allan Poe memorabilia, a first edition of his first published work. Twelve copies of "Tamerlane and Other Poems," whose author is identified only as "A Bostonian," are known to exist (only 50 were printed)

It couldn't look any less impressive, this pocket-size, 40-page pamphlet self-published by an unidentified Boston author back in 1827. "Tamerlane and Other Poems" sold for $662,500 at Christie's auction house this afternoon in New York, according to Christie's officials. There is no word on the buyer. This collection of poems is the rarest of Edgar Allan Poe memorabilia, a first edition of his first published work. Twelve copies of "Tamerlane and Other Poems," whose author is identified only as "A Bostonian," are known to exist (only 50 were printed)

THE NIGHT OF 100 ELVISES: The Elvis invasion actually takes place over two nights and includes appearances by, well, lots of Elvii at the Lithuanian Hall, 851-853 Hollins St. You should already have your tickets, since Saturday's event is sold out and Friday's will probably be by the time you read this. Doors open at 6 p.m. Friday. The event starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $55 in advance. Go to nightof100elvises.com. WARREN SEELIG: TEXTILE PER SE: This retrospective features textile-based constructions by fiber artist Warren Seelig at Maryland Institute College of Art's Fox Building at 1303 W. Mount Royal Ave. An opening reception takes place from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The show runs through March 14 in the Meyerhoff and Decker galleries.

Jim Lucio hadn't made a movie in years. But the combination of Edgar Allan Poe and the chance to have his work shown at the Baltimore Museum of Art proved irresistible. "I set out to make it funny; I hope it comes out this way," says Lucio of "APE," a film "very loosely" based on "The Murders In the Rue Morgue," which will be one of 17 Poe-inspired shorts to be shown at the BMA over the next two Fridays. "I haven't really made a film in years, since the '80s. But surprisingly, when I saw the finished product, it didn't stray too much from the visions I had in the '80s.

Baltimore's an Edgar Allan Poe kind of town, never more so than in 2009, with the Poe House, a football team named for his most famous poem and a yearlong celebration honoring the macabre author's death. Naturally, Baltimore's repertory movie house would want to feature a Poe movie at some point, if only to bask in the reflected glow of this long-term love affair. Problem is, when it comes to movies based on Poe's stories, there's a curious dearth of material. There's certainly a dearth of good material.

Free POE PROJECT: Single Carrot Theatre, 120 W. North Ave., offers four free performances of an interactive work in progress based on the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. The show takes place today and Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Call 443-844-9253 or go to singlecarrot.com. The event is held in conjunction with the citywide cultural celebration, Free Fall Baltimore, which runs through Oct. 31. For a complete list of Free Fall events, go to freefallbaltimore.com.

Edgar A. Poe, local author and poet of much renown, was laid to rest at Westminster Hall yesterday inside a simple redwood coffin, after a grand theatrical and oratorical send-off to usher him, as he once wrote, "into the region of shadows." Of course the true Poe remained buried beneath the monument on the northwest corner of the church grounds in Southwest Baltimore, near where his body was placed hastily in a family plot soon after his death on Oct. 7, 1849. But yesterday the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe's death was revived, so that the great poet could receive the eulogy that eluded him in the days following his demise.