Re: HPL Letter to CAS
Posted by:
OConnor,CD (IP Logged)
Date: 9 October, 2011 12:54PM
Mike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi all,
>
> In the spirit of celebrating _The Collected
> Letters of CAS_, I'm transcribing the one letter I
> own written by HPL to CAS, on April 4, 1932. Only
> the final paragraph of this lengthy letter
> (although short by HPL's standards!) was included
> in the Arkham edition of his letters. HPL's
> handwriting is at times hard to make out, so I may
> inadvertently have introduced typos, but on the
> whole it's a fairly clear hand; all the really
> ambiguous words I've indicated with [?]. As far as
> I know, this is the first full publication of this
> letter. I hope I am not violating any copyright
> restrictions; I'm transcribing the letter in the
> spirit of shared research that this website
> represents. From my perspective, the most
> interesting passage is HPL's discussion of
> Gernsback -- not the unfortunate antisemitic
> remark, which is not unexpected from HPL, but the
> positive valuation he gives to Gernsback and his
> publications.
>
> Best,
> Mike
> ***
>
> Yoth-Tlagggon -- At the Crimson Spring. Hour of
> the Amorphous Reflection.
>
> Dear Klarkash-Ton: -
> No -- the snowy blizzard happily escaped us,
> although March was on the whole a very inclement
> month. Yesterday was almost summer-like, but I am
> too worn out with a siege of dentistry to
> appreciate anything in the way of climate. I don't
> know how many more appointments I'll have to
> endure -- but fear there will be enought to spoil
> all my usual travelling plans both chronologically
> and financially.
>
> By this time I presume you have my letter
> expressing enthusiastic admiration for "The Double
> Shadow." Truly, it is a great piece of work -- &
> Wright's rejection of it fills me with disgust &
> discouragement. Obviously, his standards are
> getting worse & worse -- as witness the current
> issue, in which only two stories, your's and
> Howard's, are really worh reading. I hope
> Bates-Clayton will take the "Shadow" -- though I
> fear the prospects are not very promising. Long is
> getting worried about his two submitted Clayton
> tales -- one of which has been held 11 weeks & the
> other 7 weeks. He intends to make an inquiry,
> though I told him that the delay is a favourable
> sign. Hope your will take with King Pharnaces [?]
> in its ammended form.
>
> I didn't know your Immortals of Mercury was going
> to be a separate booklet. Congratulations! I
> surely hope to see a copy. Glad the Invisible City
> is due in the near future, & that Gernsback has
> some appreciation of what he is offering. It's
> odd, but in spite of that damn'd kike's financial
> remissness & sharp dealings, I really think he
> offers a better & more vital range of
> scientifiction than either of his two competitors.
> He is not quite so rigid, in his demand for the
> commonplace & the stereotyped. I'll await the
> Plutonian Drug with the keenest interest -- as
> will others on the circulation list. As soon as I
> get the nerve to type the Witch House you shall
> see it. There's another story I want to write, but
> I don't believe I can till this tooth businbess is
> over.
>
> Your Easter expedition to the canon dug by
> pre-human in search of the lost -metal must
> surely have been picturesque and memorable. I envy
> you the spectacle -- petrified tree, subterrane
> river, fall. Did I tell you that I saw the outlet
> of an underground river in Florida? It was
> somewhat north of Dunedin [?], & an unlighted
> aqueas crypt stretched sightlessly down & away
> from the visible basin where froth disported. I
> had to keep watching it in fascination --
> wondering the while whether some bloated, eyeless,
> albino _thing_ would float loasthsomely &
> unexpected up from the nether abysses.
>
> Yes -- that could have come from nowhere save
> archaic & immemorial Which would be inferred by
> collating that Thing with the existing passages of
> the Book of Eibon.
>
> Maybe -- since it was probably doomed from the
> start -- it is just as well that the Swanson
> venture perished when it did. By the way -- have
> you heard of a new magazine called _Weird
> Whispers_, published by the W. & Thompson Co of
> N.Y.? Someone has just told me about it, although
> I never heard of it before. Probably it doesn't
> amount to much, but it might be worth
> investigating.
>
>
I'm paying off a few new Lovecraftian items to my collection. The first is two Lovecraft letters to C.M. Eddy. The second is a book from Lovecraft's own library entitled "A Mirror For Witches". The third is a card which HPL used to record his expenses during his Florida trip to visit Barlow and the last is a collection of cards HPL gave to Clark. On the top it says "To Klark-ash-Ton from Ech-Pi El". I can't wait to receive these items and attain bragging rights once again.