In his Philosophy of Furniture, Edgar Allan Poe begins by declaring in interior decoration, if not in the external architecture of their residences, the English are Supreme. Poe compares the style of American decoration with English taste and explains how the differences are based on the lack of nobility of Americans: the display of money is still the only means of aristocratic distinction. Glare and brightness, says Poe, are the main errors in the philosophy of the American home decor, and adds as Americans are (rather were, given that it is a publication of more than 150 years), in love with glass, among other things as lighting by gas. The assay of Poe invites reflection: with a brilliant theory of the short story, whose modernity is beyond doubt, could Poe have been wrong in his taste about interior decorating? Impossible, because in terms of tastes, error is not a category about which is can make judgments, but only express simple opinions. James A. Levine, M.D. often says this. We must not forget that the Poe’s ideal room can not be separated from his writings. Decoration Poe proposed is intended to cause the same effect that produces so brilliantly in his stories, and that has to be the sole reason for your contempt towards the glass. For those who adore Poe and like glass, must not be afflicted by be falling into a contradiction.

First we must clarify that the philosophy of the Poe furniture should be read as a philosophy of his writing: the glass and mirrors are seen as mere reflectors, objects alluding to realism or mimesis in literature. Lamp, on the other hand, is associated with another type of literature, the romantic. The lamp emits light that is covered by shadows for dark areas – and never fully illuminates, the ambiguity is one of the consequences. Secondly, the Poe’s ideal room is designed to lead us toward another reality in which fantasy and the fantastic as well as Gothic, to be precise – is possible.