Page "Edgar Allan Poe" Paragraph 43

Poe had a keen interest in cryptography.

He had placed a notice of his abilities in the Philadelphia paper Alexander's Weekly ( Express ) Messenger, inviting submissions of ciphers, which he proceeded to solve.

In July 1841, Poe had published an essay called " A Few Words on Secret Writing " in Graham's Magazine.

Realizing the public interest in the topic, he wrote " The Gold-Bug " incorporating ciphers as part of the story.

Poe's success in cryptography relied not so much on his knowledge of that field ( his method was limited to the simple substitution cryptogram ), as on his knowledge of the magazine and newspaper culture.

His keen analytical abilities, which were so evident in his detective stories, allowed him to see that the general public was largely ignorant of the methods by which a simple substitution cryptogram can be solved, and he used this to his advantage.

The sensation Poe created with his cryptography stunt played a major role in popularizing cryptograms in newspapers and magazines.