A copper plate etching reproduction of the celebrated 1848 daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe on postcard stock, the image set within a dark oval vignette that isolates Poe's face and upper chest against a graduated ground. Poe appears as he did in the final year of his life, his large dark eyes directed toward the camera with characteristic intensity, his hair swept back from a broad forehead, and his cravat loosely knotted at the throat of a dark coat. A facsimile of his signature "Edgar A. Poe" appears in flowing script below the oval in the lower portion of the card.

The copper plate etching process gives the reproduction a fine-lined tonal quality distinct from photographic halftone printing, rendering the subtle modeling of Poe's face with unusual clarity and depth. The card was produced by the Everett Waddey Company of Richmond, Virginia, for the Poe Foundation, Inc., and identifies the source daguerreotype as made in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 9, 1848.

Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) remains among the most influential figures in American literary history, the originator of the detective fiction genre and a master of the Gothic tale, author of "The Raven," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "Annabel Lee," and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue." The November 1848 Providence daguerreotype, taken during one of his final public appearances, is among the last authenticated likenesses made of him before his death the following October. The reverse is printed "Post Cards of Quality — Everett Waddey Company, Richmond, Va." with dealer code "LOKEZ 98."