Miscellaneous Letters - Paperback

by H. P. Lovecraft (Author), David E. Schultz (Editor), S. T. Joshi (Editor)

Throughout his life, H. P. Lovecraft corresponded with a wide array of correspondents-in the amateur journalism movement, the world of pulp magazines, and elsewhere. This volume contains small batches of letters to these correspondents. A major inclusion is the surviving correspondence of two round-robin groups, the Kleicomolo and the Gallomo, wherein Lovecraft expatiates on his cosmic philosophy. Also included here are letters to C. M. Eddy and his wife, friends and colleagues in Providence; the few scraps of surviving letters to his future wife, Sonia H. Greene; letter to such pulpsmiths as Seabury Quinn and Carl Jacobi; and a significant tranche of letters to the little-known Robert Hartley Michael, to whom Lovecraft presented an encapsulated autobiography and also elucidated the incantation included in "The Horror at Red Hook."

This volume also contains letters published in Lovecraft's lifetime. These include letters he sent on a broad range of topics to the Providence Journal (on astronomy, band concerts, the hollow-earth theory, etc.); his notorious letters to the Munsey magazines attacking the romance stories of Fred Jackson; his debates on science with Orville L. Leach and J. F. Hartmann; and letters to the Haldeman-Julius Weekly on his personal philosophy.

All told, these letters present the full spectrum of Lovecraft's intellectual and literary interests, affording rare glimpses into his evolving character. All documents have been meticulously edited and annotated by David E. Schultz and S. T. Joshi.