Following the spottings of Hippocampus's latest CAS releases, has anyone received the two-volume edition of the letters between HPL and August Derleth?

Mike

No, not yet. The announcement at the Hippocampus Press website is a bit premature, AFAIK (as was the announcement of the CAS poetry); according to a reliable source of mine, the volumes were expected from the printer in "about 3 weeks" from July 19, so we probably won't see the HPL/AWD letters for a couple of weeks yet.

Does anybody know why Hippocampus (which I love) isn't doing an affordable paperback version of these? I would dearly love to have 'em, but given today's (and my) economic situation, I can't justify a $100 expenditure. Any inside info on this? I would think only a few libraries and well-heeled fans could afford this steep price.

Well, I'm just guessing here, but we may have a situation similar to that of Night Shade Books. Night Shade books released Mysteries of Time and Spirit: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Donald Wandrei in both hc and tpb, and then they released Lovecraft's Letters from New York in hc only. The reason given was that the tpb of Mysteries of Time and Spirit didn't sell well enough.

On the other hand, you never know -- Hippocampus Press did a tpb of Dunsany's Pleasures of a Futuroscope two years after the hc that I don't think was planned from the beginning.

BTW, The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard has just been announced. AFAIK, the plan is to publish all available letters of Lovecraft.

Thanks for your thoughts, Martinus. I may have to save my $$$ and spring for the set in case it doesn't come out in trade paper.

I'm hoping somebody, presumably Hippocampus, will indeed issue the unexpurgated letters of HPL. I've always treasured Arkham's 5-vol. series, reading them repeatedly over the years and taking great pleasure in Lovecraft's incredible intellect, charm, and wit. But those little ellipses all over the place have really bugged me, and I'm hoping Joshi and the gang can redo these in full. I imagine we'll get a fuller portrait of HPL and his circle, though perhaps not quite as flattering.

Garymorris is right about the 5 volumes set of Lovecraft's letters--wonderful, but those ellipses...

Still, after spending hundreds of dollars on those, it's a little frustrating to basically have to buy them all over again. Frustrating, but probably not so much that I will be able to resist the temptation. I already have the Letters From New York book, the Letters to Wandrei, as well as the new "Fortunate Floridian." But what about the Derleth letters? Are there really enough new ones to justify buying this set for $100.00? Derleth's letters are pretty well represented in the five volume set, so I wonder if there is a substantial new batch, or just a handful. If the latter, I don't know that that justifies the expenditure even for the serious devotee.

Dexterward Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Garymorris is right about the 5 volumes set of
> Lovecraft's letters--wonderful, but those
> ellipses...
>
> Still, after spending hundreds of dollars on
> those, it's a little frustrating to basically have
> to buy them all over again. Frustrating, but
> probably not so much that I will be able to resist
> the temptation. I already have the Letters From
> New York book, the Letters to Wandrei, as well as
> the new "Fortunate Floridian." But what about the
> Derleth letters? Are there really enough new ones
> to justify buying this set for $100.00? Derleth's
> letters are pretty well represented in the five
> volume set, so I wonder if there is a substantial
> new batch, or just a handful. If the latter, I
> don't know that that justifies the expenditure
> even for the serious devotee.

Actually, as I recall the number of letters to Derleth included in the Arkham collections were surprisingly sparse, considering the two corresponded on, iirc, nearly a weekly basis. And going from the citations in Joshi's biography, an enormous amount of material was left out; what we have there is, to use a hackneyed phrase, barely the tip of the iceberg. Then there's the fact that we don't have any of Derleth's own letters, so we're missing an entire side of the conversation to begin with.

I've seen excerpts elsewhere from that correspondence in various articles as well, and (unless one of those close to the project has contrary information) I think you'll find these will be substantial volumes indeed....

According to An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia, Lovecraft wrote more than 380 letters to Derleth, and this may be the greatest number surviving letters to a single correspondent. In Selected Letters, there are 59 letters to Derleth, all of them more or less abridged.

Essential Solitude will have all those 380+ HPL letters, plus the surviving 40-ish (?) AWD letters. I'd say that yes, there will be plenty of new material (as hintedby the fact that there are two volumes).

It was particularly wonderful to receive the two-volume set on my birthday. :-) Haven't had a chance to get deeply into it, but there's a lot to explore: 880 pages, with an extensive index. (Many entries on CAS, as one would expect.)

Mike

So this two-volume collection is available? It's out? That's good news, if so. :)

Oooooooooooooooooh, sweet!!

It'll probably be at least a couple of weeks before the books reach me, since they're going to Gavin Smith for bundling with other stuff. But I'm sure they're worth waiting for! :-)

I was seriously considering buying these books - it's a delicious prospect, and since I don't own a book exclusively dedicated to Lovecraft's letters (although there must be a considerable portion of them strewn across the various volumes of criticism I've got) it seems a financially canny one as well.
The only other book I own comparable to this is the Humphrey Carpenter collection of Tolkien's letters, and that volume contained only the letters of sufficient import to make the final cut; the reservation I have with this two-volume set is whether the bulk of it will be composed of mere banalities -- or do the letters all deal with worthwhile topics? Or is it the case that a good deal of them make pretty dry reading? After all, these presumably private letters were not intended to be placed in the public domain. The reason I ask is that I cannot find a review anywhere (trustworthy or otherwise), and the thing costs a fairly hefty £50 (I live in Great Britain). I don't really fancy wading through notes scribbled on the backs of postcards, or small conventional, conversational scrawls to get to oases of philosophical depth.
I would also like to know the calibre of the accompanying annotations, and how much space they occupy - Joshi’s books are usually very well edited, and I’m more or less certain they’ll be informative and entertaining.
Crucially, though, I am more concerned with the quality of the letters; so if anybody yet owns these very tempting volumes, please give an honest account of their worth!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 17 Aug 08 | 09:57AM by LurkerintheDark.

LurkerintheDark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I was seriously considering buying these books -
> it's a delicious prospect, and since I don't own a
> book exclusively dedicated to Lovecraft's letters
> (although there must be a considerable portion of
> them strewn across the various volumes of
> criticism I've got) it seems a financially canny
> one as well.
> The only other book I own comparable to this is
> the Humphrey Carpenter collection of Tolkien's
> letters, and that volume contained only the
> letters of sufficient import to make the final
> cut; the reservation I have with this two-volume
> set is whether the bulk of it will be composed of
> mere banalities -- or do the letters all deal with
> worthwhile topics? Or is it the case that a good
> deal of them make pretty dry reading? After all,
> these presumably private letters were not intended
> to be placed in the public domain.

Of course, since this is a complete volume, there WILL be plenty of postcards and whatnots. But from what I've read, Derleth and Lovecraft discussed literature to a great extent, and Lovecraft of course criticised Derleth's work for him. There will also be discussions of Lovecraft's philosophy, from what I recall of the letters in Selected Letters.

> The reason I
> ask is that I cannot find a review anywhere
> (trustworthy or otherwise), and the thing costs a
> fairly hefty £50 (I live in Great Britain).

Try Dead Reckonings #3.

> I
> don't really fancy wading through notes scribbled
> on the backs of postcards, or small conventional,
> conversational scrawls to get to oases of
> philosophical depth.
> I would also like to know the calibre of the
> accompanying annotations, and how much space they
> occupy - Joshi’s books are usually very well
> edited, and I’m more or less certain they’ll
> be informative and entertaining.

I'm sure there will be plenty of those.

> Crucially, though, I am more concerned with the
> quality of the letters; so if anybody yet owns
> these very tempting volumes, please give an honest
> account of their worth!

The only review I've seen seemed to hint that Lovecraft's letters to Barlow were more profound, in spite of Barlow's youth. But since Derleth was the one who published Lovecraft posthumously, and created the Cthulhu Mythos as a marketing gimmick, I'm sure there will be plenty of interest here.

>I was seriously considering buying these books - it's a delicious prospect, and
>since I don't own a book exclusively dedicated to Lovecraft's letters (although
>there must be a considerable portion of them strewn across the various volumes of
>criticism I've got) it seems a financially canny one as well.

If you don't own any other editions of Lovecraft's letters, you might also wish to consider the cheaper Letters to Alfred Galpin (http://www.hippocampuspress.com/lovecraft/letters_to_alfred_galpin.html) and/or Letters to Rheinhart Kleiner (http://www.hippocampuspress.com/lovecraft/lovecraft_letters_to_rheinhart_kleiner.html) -- for starters, anyway. These are mainly by the younger HPL, though (but which much substance). Or get that #3 issue of Dead Reckonings (which is cheap) and make your decision based on the review.

Juha-Matti

walrus Wrote:

> If you don't own any other editions of Lovecraft's
> letters, you might also wish to consider the
> cheaper Letters to Alfred Galpin
> (http://www.hippocampuspress.com/lovecraft/letters
> _to_alfred_galpin.html) and/or Letters to
> Rheinhart Kleiner
> (http://www.hippocampuspress.com/lovecraft/lovecra
> ft_letters_to_rheinhart_kleiner.html) -- for
> starters, anyway. These are mainly by the younger
> HPL, though (but which much substance). Or get
> that #3 issue of Dead Reckonings (which is cheap)[u][/u]
> and make your decision based on the review.
>
> Juha-Matti

The problem is though that that magazine could take a month to arrive (since I'm British), which is a bit long to wait for one review. Also, since that journal appears to be edited by Mr. Joshi, he's hardly going to have criticisms of his own book published in his own magazine -- or is it the case that the reviewer (whoever he may be) is impartial?
Doesn't anybody here own a copy of the book, and if so, can't he give his general opinion on it? It would be very welcome. I wouldn't call myself a 'general reader' when it comes to Lovecraftiana, my interest is far deeper. However, as I said in my previous post, I'm not keen on reading diary-like descriptions of Lovecraft's day to day life. I'm much more interested in the things promised on Hipocampus Press's webpage (http://www.hippocampuspress.com/lovecraft/letters-h-p-lovecraft-august-derleth.html); the history of weird fiction, spiritulism, occultism and werid fiction in general. What is the ratio of these sorts of topics to the mundane? -- if the latter exceeds the former, or comes remotely close to doing so, I may give it a miss!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 19 Aug 08 | 05:51AM by LurkerintheDark.

LurkerintheDark Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The problem is though that that magazine could
> take a month to arrive (since I'm British), which
> is a bit long to wait for one review. Also, since
> that journal appears to be edited by Mr. Joshi,
> he's hardly going to have criticisms of his own
> book published in his own magazine -- or is it the
> case that the reviewer (whoever he may be) is
> impartial?

In that same issue there's a review of Joshi's American Supernatural Tales which has some quite serious negative criticism, so I don't think partiality is a problem.

> Doesn't anybody here own a copy of the book, and
> if so, can't he give his general opinion on it? It
> would be very welcome. I wouldn't call myself a
> 'general reader' when it comes to Lovecraftiana,
> my interest is far deeper. However, as I said in
> my previous post, I'm not keen on reading
> diary-like descriptions of Lovecraft's day to day
> life. I'm much more interested in the things
> promised on Hipocampus Press's webpage
> (http://www.hippocampuspress.com/lovecraft/letters
> -h-p-lovecraft-august-derleth.html); the history
> of weird fiction, spiritulism, occultism and werid
> fiction in general.

Those blurbs are generally quite truthful.

I'm only about 2/3 through the first volume, but I think it's a well-balanced collection of letters. While they tend to be a little more impersonal than some of the other Lovecraft letter collections, they are balanced by the detailed discussions of literature. The young Derleth bombards HPL with queries about what he thinks about various authors; when Derleth writes his senior thesis on the Weird Tale, Lovecraft is generous with his recommendations. We also get a lot of HPL's comments on Derleth's writings, revelatory about HPL's general aesthetics. Joshi's annotations are very helpful, and appendices include pieces by Derleth about HPL and weird fiction, a lengthy bibliography, a glossary of names mentioned, and a listing of all the stories in Weird Tales that the two discussed. I'd imagine this set would be purchased by many large libraries in the USA, and perhaps in the UK as well, but if you are a Lovecraft scholar who would return to the collection over time, it might be a good investment. I've certainly enjoyed it so far.

Mike

Thanks Mike.
I probably will end up forking out for this after all. By 'impersonal' I assume you mean it lacks autobiographical asides, and whatnot. Maybe a curse and a blessing; whilst it would be nice to get some feeling of Lovecraft as a human, lengthy discussions about his day-to-day chores and other mundane occurances are something I could do without.
Sorry to pester futher, but is this volume (despite its size) better or worse than prior publications of Lovecraft's correspondence to specific people (i.e. excluding the 5 vol. Selected Letters)?

Although it's "impersonal" compared to HPL's letters to Long or Barlow, it is full of personal revelations and gossip. (HPL passes on a remark by Long that Derleth's stories are more "intelligent" than those of CAS or Wandrei; meow indeed!) There's lots of philosophical reflections, descriptions of scenery, analyses of politics and other weird Tales writers -- HPL often repeated things in letters to different correspondents, so some of what you get here will probably be found in letters to others. While HPL never warmed to Derleth to the extent he did to Long, Barlow, or CAS, he was clearly fond of him, taking his standard paternal interest in a young man looking for guidance. As I said, I've only read the first 2/3 of the first volume, so can't evaluate the whole thing, but from what I've read it's as interesting as any of the previously published volumes, and for my money is more interesting than the letters to Donald Wandrei. But "better or worse" is a personal matter. Perhaps Hippocampus, or another vendor, would offer you the possibility of returning the volumes after a brief inspection if they didn't suit your needs?

Lurkerinthedark,

Well, I just broke down this morning and ordered the books. If you don't mind waiting a few weeks, I'll be glad to give them a quick perusal when they arrive, and give you my overall impressions. In general, however, the five volume Arkham serious has much to recommend it (in spite of various shortcomings, notably the abridgement of various letters, etc.). Another book you might consider is "Fortunate Floridian"--Lovecraft's letters to Barlow. I have that also, and if you only read one selection, that's likely to be as good a survey as any. It's a little over 400 pages, and full of interesting details and discussions.

Otherwise, speaking more generally, does anyone know how many more books will be in this new "comprehensive" Joshi series? In other words, will there be a separate volume of Lovecraft and CAS, or other significant members of the "Lovecraft circle?" It's always a treat to delve into a new batch of Lovecraft's correspondence. Nevertheless, the books do tend to be a bit expensive, so I will probably have to put in a bit more overtime at work in order to afford them!

Next year Hippocampus Press is doing another two volume set of all the surviving correspondance of HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. I already have that one pre-ordered.

I've also heard they plan to do a two volume set of all the HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith Letters which I will also purchase when they put it up for pre-order. This may be a year or two from now.

This will complete my "Weird Tales Triumvirate"(HPL/CAS/REH) letters collection. I have all of REH's letters in three volumes courtesy of the REH Foundtation and the volume of CAS "Selected Letters" from Arkham House.

Dexterward Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Otherwise, speaking more generally, does anyone
> know how many more books will be in this new
> "comprehensive" Joshi series? In other words, will
> there be a separate volume of Lovecraft and CAS,
> or other significant members of the "Lovecraft
> circle?"

Eldritch Frog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Next year Hippocampus Press is doing another two
> volume set of all the surviving correspondance of
> HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. I already have
> that one pre-ordered.
>
> I've also heard they plan to do a two volume set
> of all the HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith
> Letters which I will also purchase when they put
> it up for pre-order. This may be a year or two
> from now.

Yes, probably in 2010.

Dexterward Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Otherwise, speaking more generally, does anyone
> know how many more books will be in this new
> "comprehensive" Joshi series?

A total of 20-25 volumes -- that's the plan, at least -- of all the available letters of Lovecraft. Unfortunately, not many of those will have both sides of the correspondence, since Lovecraft seldom saved letters from others.

Eldritch Frog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Next year Hippocampus Press is doing another two
> volume set of all the surviving correspondance of
> HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. I already have
> that one pre-ordered.
>
> I've also heard they plan to do a two volume set
> of all the HP Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith
> Letters which I will also purchase when they put
> it up for pre-order. This may be a year or two
> from now.

These are the two volumes that I'm most excited about.

Eldritch Frog Wrote:

>
> This will complete my "Weird Tales
> Triumvirate"(HPL/CAS/REH) letters collection. I
> have all of REH's letters in three volumes
> courtesy of the REH Foundtation and the volume of
> CAS "Selected Letters" from Arkham House.
>
>
By the way, how do you like the volume of Smith's "Selected Letters?" I would also like to purchase the Smith/Lovecraft correspondence when it comes out, but I was also thinking about the already published book of Smith's letters. How many of the CAS selected letters are addressed to Lovecraft?--If the number is too large, my fear is that it would be redundant to get that volume, and then also the Hippocampus 2 vol. set when it comes out.


Moreover, I've started to read the HPL/Derleth correspondence. I agree generally with what the others have said. It's slightly more matter of fact as compared with the Barlow correspondence, but for the devotee it still makes for fascinating reading...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 31 Aug 08 | 11:19PM by Dexterward.

Well, I might be prejudiced, but I think that the Arkham Selected Letters of CAS presents a balanced portrait of the man through his letters. We included as wide a range of correspondents as was possible, and by no means are all of CAS' letters to HPL, or to George Sterling, included therein. Just read any of the reviews of the books that are on-line, and I think that you will be pleased.

Scott

Besides, Selected Letters of CAS is a fun book -- and Smith is in fact at his best in other letters than those to Lovecraft.

Not only that, but the cover is very nice. It looks like a museum photo of ancient art. Art that is in fact CAS's carvings!

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Besides, Selected Letters of CAS is a fun book --
> and Smith is in fact at his best in other letters
> than those to Lovecraft.

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Besides, Selected Letters of CAS is a fun book --
> and Smith is in fact at his best in other letters
> than those to Lovecraft.

Psst...ixnay on the unfay! You want to blow my street cred as a scholar? : )

Scott

Oooops... Sorry... ;-)

Thank you, I will take your word on the CAS Selected Letters. Before I purchace the book however, I just want to make sure that a CAS "Collected Letters" is not forthcoming. I can't tell you how many times I've purchased an author's Selected Letters, taken a great liking to them, only to find later that I could have got the Collected Letters for a slightly higher price.

There are no plans for a "Collected Letters of CAS"--or, if there are, nobody has bothered to inform me (why am I always the last one to know?!) However, Smith's letters to Lovecraft will of course form part of their collected correspondence, and there are plans to publish the CAS-Samuel Loveman letters, most of which were not available for SLCAS.

Scott

Sitting here looking at my copies of Essential Solitude. Took about a week to arrive. Nice cover art ;-)

steve

sverba Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sitting here looking at my copies of Essential
> Solitude. Took about a week to arrive. Nice cover
> art ;-)

Heheh... ;-)

My own copy is in transit. Another, much smaller package that was sent at the same time by the same dealer arrived last Monday, so I've been hurrying home from work every day these past few days, but so far -- nothing. I set my hopes on tomorrow, because in this backward country, you can get no mail on Saturday or Sunday. :-(

Yrs
Martin

Quote:

in this backward country, you can get no mail on Saturday or Sunday. :-(

Irrelevant and off-topic aside:

Funny, I think the most backward countries are the ones that expect and force people to work all the time. It's a matter of values and perspectives, I suppose. Care to switch countries with me? ;-)

The two volume set Essential Solitude is huge at 880 pages!

Has anyone any idea how many pages the two Lovecraft/Howard volumes will have?

And at what comparable size should the Lovecraft/Smith volume(s) arrive?

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The two volume set Essential Solitude is huge at
> 880 pages!
>
> Has anyone any idea how many pages the two
> Lovecraft/Howard volumes will have?

I can guess. I've seen the figure "380 000 - 400 000 words" mentioned in connection with the total HPL/REH correspondence, so my guess is that those two volumes will be quite hefty, maybe the same size as Essential Solitude.

>
> And at what comparable size should the
> Lovecraft/Smith volume(s) arrive?

Probably smaller -- AFAIK, there are about 160 letters from HPL to CAS (and a number of postcards that I don't recall at the moment), and probably a significantly smaller number of letters from CAS to HPL (because HPL didn't preserve all of them). But last I heard it would still be a 2-volume set.

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I can guess. I've seen the figure "380 000 - 400
> 000 words" mentioned in connection with the total
> HPL/REH correspondence, so my guess is that those
> two volumes will be quite hefty, maybe the same
> size as Essential Solitude.
>

>
> Probably smaller -- AFAIK, there are about 160
> letters from HPL to CAS (and a number of postcards
> that I don't recall at the moment), and probably a
> significantly smaller number of letters from CAS
> to HPL (because HPL didn't preserve all of them).
> But last I heard it would still be a 2-volume set.


Thank you. I needed some extra spur, before deciding if I should go ahead and preorder or not. I haven't made up my mind if I want to invest in the Lovecraft/Howrd volumes or not. I am not a completist. (The Lovecraft/Smith volume is given, even if short.) I suspect that the Lovecraft/Howard correspondence will have a lot of formal history references, and that doesn't interest me overly if it goes on for hundreds and hundreds of pages. However, I leafed through the Selected Letters a bit, and Lovecraft also appears inspired colorful and spontaneous in his letters to Howard. I am also curious about Howard's correspondence, which I have never read before.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you. I needed some extra spur, before
> deciding if I should go ahead and preorder or not.
> I haven't made up my mind if I want to invest in
> the Lovecraft/Howrd volumes or not. I am not a
> completist. (The Lovecraft/Smith volume is given,
> even if short.) I suspect that the
> Lovecraft/Howard correspondence will have a lot of
> formal history references, and that doesn't
> interest me overly if it goes on for hundreds and
> hundreds of pages. However, I leafed through the
> Selected Letters a bit, and Lovecraft also appears
> inspired colorful and spontaneous in his letters
> to Howard. I am also curious about Howard's
> correspondence, which I have never read before.

Lovecraft was very impressed with Howard as a correspondent, and wrote so in a letter to Barlow. I have only leafed through the Collected Letters of Robert E. Howard (the three volumes of which obviously contain all of Howard's letters to Lovecraft), but there seem to be lots of local colour and vivid and engaging anecdotes in Howard's side of the correspondence.

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > And at what comparable size should the
> > Lovecraft/Smith volume(s) arrive?
>
> Probably smaller -- AFAIK, there are about 160
> letters from HPL to CAS (and a number of postcards
> that I don't recall at the moment), and probably a
> significantly smaller number of letters from CAS
> to HPL (because HPL didn't preserve all of them).
> But last I heard it would still be a 2-volume set.

According to David Schultz the postcards would number around 60 -- but I suppose not all of them may be recoverable for this edition (perhaps not even the majority), if a photocopy of them does not exist from before they were sold piecemeal (and also CAS himself gave away or sold some of the postcards at least while still alive, to for instance Jack Grill if memory serves; more out of the generosity of sharing them with enthusiasts rather than of financial necessity, perhaps). I have the impression that the HPL-to-Smith letters are generally not very lengthy (though frequent enough), so that probably they could be printed in one volume; but the co-presence of the surviving letters from CAS (not insignificant) complicates matters. The editorial annexures may be substantial as well.

- JMR

walrus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Martinus Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > >
> > > And at what comparable size should the
> > > Lovecraft/Smith volume(s) arrive?
> >
> > Probably smaller -- AFAIK, there are about 160
> > letters from HPL to CAS (and a number of
> postcards
> > that I don't recall at the moment), and probably
> a
> > significantly smaller number of letters from
> CAS
> > to HPL (because HPL didn't preserve all of
> them).
> > But last I heard it would still be a 2-volume
> set.
>
> According to David Schultz the postcards would
> number around 60 -- but I suppose not all of them
> may be recoverable for this edition (perhaps not
> even the majority), if a photocopy of them does
> not exist from before they were sold piecemeal
> (and also CAS himself gave away or sold some of
> the postcards at least while still alive, to for
> instance Jack Grill if memory serves; more out of
> the generosity of sharing them with enthusiasts
> rather than of financial necessity, perhaps).

Yes, that number does ring a bell. I think David is referring to the number of postcards that are included in the photocopy of the correspondence that was made before the estate started selling it item by item (which obviously won't include the stuff that CAS himself gave away).

> I
> have the impression that the HPL-to-Smith letters
> are generally not very lengthy (though frequent
> enough),

Yes, the impression I got from David's latest 'zine in the EOD is that they are fairly brief but contain a lot of humour and playfulness.

> so that probably they could be printed in
> one volume; but the co-presence of the surviving
> letters from CAS (not insignificant) complicates
> matters. The editorial annexures may be
> substantial as well.

Probably, yes. We'll know in 2010 or 2011! :-)

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I haven't made up my mind if I want to invest in the Lovecraft/Howrd volumes or not. I am not a
> completist. I suspect that the Lovecraft/Howard correspondence will have a lot of
> formal history references, and that doesn't interest me overly if it goes on for hundreds and
> hundreds of pages. However, I leafed through the Selected Letters a bit, and Lovecraft also appears
> inspired colorful and spontaneous in his letters to Howard. I am also curious about Howard's
> correspondence, which I have never read before.

Joshi has an article about the correspondence in Studies in the Fantastic #1 which gives some indication of the contents -- although somewhat narrow, I suppose, because the essay examines mainly the correspondents' debate on barbarism vs. civilisation, and I suppose they must have discussed many other topics as well. One could make the point that the rare case of both sides of letters surviving in such quantity (almost complete for Howard, and extensively for HPL) makes it quite a treat. Compared to the REH/HPL one, I would say that the Derleth correspondence is somewhat insubstantial (even if still desirable).

- JMR

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yes, that number does ring a bell. I think David is referring to the number of postcards that are
> included in the photocopy of the correspondence that was made before the estate started selling it
> item by item (which obviously won't include the stuff that CAS himself gave away).

Well, I had to go back and re-check, but in the EOD zine he says that the Squires photocopies don't appear to contain the postcards, unfortunately. However, I seem to remember Roy Squires issuing a pamphlet which may have included the texts or facsimiles of some postcards (but could be wrong on this -- in any case aside from his catalogs advertising them), and I have the texts of some errant cards transcribed, and several instutions in USA have stray letters and postcards too. (Naturally I will supply this data to Joshi & Schultz just in case it may help in making the collection a bit more complete).

> Yes, the impression I got from David's latest 'zine in the EOD is that they are fairly brief but
> contain a lot of humour and playfulness.

Judging from the letters that pop up in the market from time to time, several appear to be two-pagers.

- JMR

I recall having read earlier on this site a letter from Lovecraft to Smith (if I am not mistaken), that has surfaced recently and is in the hands of a private collector. It was written from Barlow's home, and includes an account of Lovecraft out in a small row-boat, looking into watery mossy depths and imagining horrors down there.
Is this an example of a letter that will be included in the Lovecraft/Smith volume?

I also hope that the editors of these letter volumes are not so overly literate, as to exclude such delightful, charming, and important details as illustrations and hieroglyphic scriblings. As was unfortunately sadly the case with Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 9 May 09 | 04:59PM by Knygatin.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recall having read earlier on this site a letter
> from Lovecraft to Smith (if I am not mistaken),
> that has surfaced recently and is in the hands of
> a private collector. It was written from Barlow's
> home, and includes an account of Lovecraft out in
> a small row-boat, looking down into watery mossy
> depths and imagining horrors down there.
> Is this an example of a letter that will be
> included in the Lovecraft/Smith volume?

Most likely, yes. If the letter is in the aforementioned photocopy or the Arkham House transcripts, then it will be included.

>
> I also hope that the editors of these letter
> volumes are not so overly literate, as to exclude
> such delightful, charming, and important details
> as illustrations and hieroglyphic scriblings.

Since Essential Solitude has Lovecraft's own illustrations, I think it is likely that the illustrations will appear in the CAS/HPL correspondence as well.

> As
> was unfortunately sadly the case with Selected
> Letters of Clark Ashton Smith.

This may have been done to keep production costs down, perhaps?

Martinus Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This may have been done to keep production costs
> down, perhaps?

You can't (or shouldn't) exlude such details to keep cost down. They are a living breathing part of a letter. Saying much of personality and spiritual flavour. They are essential. Can't just be ripped out.

I quite agree.

The Letters of Lovecraft and Howard can be bought from Hippocampus, at pre-publication discount, for $90. Or from Amazon for $63.

Knygatin Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Letters of Lovecraft and Howard can be bought
> from Hippocampus, at pre-publication discount, for
> $90. Or from Amazon for $63.

I suppose those Amazon discounts are essentially subsidized by copies bought at higher margin -- just an observation. Publishing HPL's letters is more or less charity work anyway.