Interested Eldritch Dark scribblers, get the long sought after correspondence between Smith and Samuel Loveman directly from Derrick Hussey at Hippocampus Press. The volume is Born Under Saturn: The Letters of Clark Ashton Smith and Samuel Loveman. The two poets began their long friendship in 1913 when Smith was 7 or 8 years away from the publication of Ebony and Crystal, the book that struck awe into the heart of Donald Wandrei and instigated H.P. Lovecrsft's fan letter to Smith and their subsequent correspondence. One of the first impressions upon reading these as I am now is that the earlier letters are much more interesting than Smith's letters to his mentor, George Sterling. Loveman generously mailed books to Smith by poets whom they both admired, engendering much commentary as well as personal insights. I wonder what each of them thought of Aldous Huxley, or Huxley's poetry? Not to their taste I would imagine (I am reading his book, The Cicadas and Other Poems just now). Anyway,far fewer letters of Loveman survive, but as an intermittent autobiographical record of Smith's early, struggling pre-fiction writing years, it's indispensable. I didn't mean to sound like a publisher's advert here, but if anyone has made it thru this book or has read much of Huxley, your thoughts?

jkh

I've just finished reading Born under Saturn. As you note Kipling, it's a shame that more of CAS' letters to Loveman survive than the missives going in the other direction, making for a somewhat one-sided conversation. Nonetheless, CAS' letters provide a great deal of commentary on his creative frustrations, and his periodic inability to write verse due to ill health or simply feeling idle. He makes it clear throughout the correspondence that he often found it easier to create visual art rather than to write verse.

I haven't read Huxley's poetry, so I can't comment on that question, but I would second the recommendation to give this book a read if you're seeking more insight into CAS' creative process. I too have found it more interesting overall than the companion volumes of letters between CAS and August Derleth, and CAS and George Sterling.

Is it the usual "meat and potatoes" talk of practical mundane matters surrounding the creative process? You mentioned illness, idleness; there is also often the concern and hassle of getting published which Smith and Lovecraft could discuss endlessly. Or is there in this book also deeply personal revelations, such as about aesthetic taste, creative choices, and balance in composing verse, and about Smith's existential outlook, or his experience of being a cosmic identity as exposed in his "star treading" poetry?

In general Knygatin, the answer to your question is no. I've read a fair amount of CAS' extant correspondence, and as a rule, his letters tend more to the "meat and potatoes" apsects of the creative process, and less towards "deeply personal revelations" and how they might impact that process. Of course, there are some exceptions, since CAS often does comment on poets that he admired (Charles Baudelaire, Ernest Dowson, Edgar Allan Poe, etc), but his analysis as included in the letters is usually quite brief.

It seems to me that in many ways CAS was a fairly reserved person, even in his letters with correspondents that he communicated with over many years.

As a specific example, one of the letters in Born under Saturn briefly discusses the source of his poem "Witch Dance", but only in very succinct terms. I included the relevant quote in a blog post for anyone that might be interested:

[www.desertdweller.net]

"...she once did her Witches' Sabbat for me by firelight and moonlight here on the ridge...".

This reminds me of my first wife.

Smith's revelation succinctly expresses the principal difference between him and Lovecraft, in terms of life experience.

In virtually every photographic image of Smith I've seen--except possibly the very young ones--he looks to me like an effortless lady's man. It's this extra facet that allows him to write stories like The Witchcraft of Ullua and make it convincing by bringing to the story the *how* Ullua captivated men without even the aid of philtres. Smith knows all about how that works, I think.

This is a place where Lovecraft could not tread.

--Sawfish

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"The food at the new restaurant is awful, but at least the portions are large."
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Oldjoe Wrote:
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> In general Knygatin, the answer to your question
> is no. I've read a fair amount of CAS' extant
> correspondence, and as a rule, his letters tend
> more to the "meat and potatoes" apsects of the
> creative process, and less towards "deeply
> personal revelations" and how they might impact
> that process. Of course, there are some
> exceptions, since CAS often does comment on poets
> that he admired (Charles Baudelaire, Ernest
> Dowson, Edgar Allan Poe, etc), but his analysis as
> included in the letters is usually quite brief.
>
> It seems to me that in many ways CAS was a fairly
> reserved person, even in his letters with
> correspondents that he communicated with over many
> years.

From all the letters from CAS I've read, he was especially unlike HPL in that he would never write any lengthy essays detailing his precise thoughts on anything. Even when discussing subjects that inspired the utmost praise or abomination from him, he wouldn't usually say anything too specific. He'd list his favorite artists, for instance, but say very little about them other than the fact that he prefers oriental art over western art. Perhaps it's a shame, since some of his letters suggested interesting spiritual and philosophical beliefs regarding the role of weird fiction in human culture, but he never detailed those thoughts, merely suggested them.

Still, CAS utterly reviled biographers and strangers nosing their way into his private business, so it's probably for the best that we know so little about him, as far as his living lich and bat-winged ba are concerned!