I lucked out and acquired a 1st edition of Samuel Loveman's "The Hermaphrodite And Other Poems" signed by Sam himself. And the best news is it cost me only $23. The seller on ebay made a mistake in her listing and, having discovered this, pounced at the chance. I've read the book and Sam is an astonishing poet. It's a shame he isn't read in school.

If anyone is interested there are lots of Loveman's book available at abebooks.com.

I have been tempted to get the black leather edition of the book. I think it is of this book. I wonder if there is any good book on the queer poets of New York of the 1920s and 1930s. I find it fascinating that Loveman took Lovecraft to gatherings of what might have been queer poets. It seems incredible to me that HPL had no idea that Loveman was queer.

"I'm a little girl."
--H. P. Lovecraft, Esq.

Maybe HPL was just unobservant. I once attended a party at a friend's house and I was having such a great time that for the first two hours I didn't realize that there were no women among the guests!!

wilum pugmire Wrote:
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> It seems incredible to me that HPL had no idea that Loveman was queer.

I tend to think he had some inkling, but turned a blind eye, as it were. Can't furnish any references right now, but there are some letters where things can be read from between the lines. He certainly did observe it in persons he was introduced to by way of SL (e.g. Richard Ely Morse).

JMR

It seems to me far more likely, given the tenor of the age in polite society, that it was a matter of indifference - folks of an earlier era did not obsess over the question of one's sexuality, nor was it considered proper to do so - and, indeed, the content bachelor (see "My Fair Lady" et al) was a common figure of English novels, drama, musicals etc. - and whether he might or might not have a penchant for the irregular was a topic which only occurred when scandal erupted -

calonlan Wrote:
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> It seems to me far more likely, given the tenor of
> the age in polite society, that it was a matter of
> indifference - folks of an earlier era did not
> obsess over the question of one's sexuality, nor
> was it considered proper to do so - and, indeed,
> the content bachelor (see "My Fair Lady" et al)
> was a common figure of English novels, drama,
> musicals etc. - and whether he might or might not
> have a penchant for the irregular was a topic
> which only occurred when scandal erupted -


I think you may be EXACTLY right. Lovecraft also chose to "ignore" Loveman's Jewishness because it wasn't displayed in the manner that triggered Lovecraft's racism. It seems evident from all of his comments in letters (and in some stories) that I have seen that HPL admired masculine men and what he hated in queers was their effeminacy. Queers whom he befriended may have been "poetic" and urbane in mannerism, but not screaming queens. The one gent that really repulsed Lovecraft "I didn't know whether to kiss him or kill him...") seems to have been of the screaming variety.

"I'm a little girl."
--H. P. Lovecraft, Esq.