INTRODUCTION TO THE LOVECRAFT COSMOS COLLECTION™ I
Welcome to the worlds of Howard Phillips Lovecraft!
The dreams and the drugs; the witchcraft and the wormholes; the aliens and their alarming deities; the mundane world where the anomalistic occurs quite normally – this, and much more, oozed from the pen of one of the most influential fantasy, horror and science fiction writers of the 20th century. Stephen King has said of him, “He struck with the most force, and I still think, for all his shortcomings, he is the best writer of horror fiction that America has yet produced.”
Creator of Arkham and Cthulhu, Lovecraft was the quintessential outsider who believed that, “…common human laws and interests and emotions have no validity or significance in the vast cosmos-at-large” and that, “The world is indeed comic, but the joke is on mankind.”
The digital equivalent of The Daily Prophet, and even more so of The Quibbler, in the Harry Potter books and films, each story is an experience that helps to tell itself though links. The format of this experience is neotext – a totally new hypermedia interactive version of each story – fully illustrated, and with hyperlinks to websites featuring word definitions, background material, sound effects and music, and, videos. Every link has been chosen to enrich the reading of the story and each story has additional ‘Links and Resources’ pages where the themes of the story and further background can be explored via the net. It has also been extensively annotated with footnotes and endnotes providing additional information and links.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Great HPL oriented blogs to check out
I'm running a little behind on getting my template revised and links added.
Here are a few to check out in the meantime.
http://hallowseve.wordpress.com/
http://princeofcairo.livejournal.com/
http://jackfaber.blogspot.com/ (especially Poe)
http://lovecrafter.blogspot.com/
http://estebanmedaglia.blogspot.com/
Here are a few to check out in the meantime.
http://hallowseve.wordpress.com/
http://princeofcairo.livejournal.com/
http://jackfaber.blogspot.com/ (especially Poe)
http://lovecrafter.blogspot.com/
http://estebanmedaglia.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Lovecraft Inspired Art
Rare Michael Whelan (b. 1950) Prints (from 1982) surfaced and for sale on ebay.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Video Link of Animated "The Terrible Old Man"
Unfortunately, I never know how long these links will last, so catch this video as soon as you can.
Click Here.
At the damnedcritic.blogspot.com.
Click Here.
At the damnedcritic.blogspot.com.
Lovecraft Studies 18
I'll try to periodically list the Lovecraft Studies issues.
Lovecraft Studies #18 (Necronomicon Press, Spring 1989)
Lovecraft and Jame Joyce by Norman L. Gayford.
Robert E. Howard and the Cthulhu Mythos by Robert M. Price
Swan Songs: Lovecraft and Yeats by Donald R. Burleson
The Last of H. P. Lovecraft by J. B. Michel
Reviews
Robert E. Howard and the Cthulhu Mythos by Robert M. Price
Swan Songs: Lovecraft and Yeats by Donald R. Burleson
The Last of H. P. Lovecraft by J. B. Michel
Reviews
Chapbook format; 8.5" x 7", 32 pages, Cover Art by Jason C. Eckhardt.
Lovecraft's Legacy: 1976 (with Fritz Lieber)
Journal of the H.P. Lovecraft Society 1976
The only thing I've located on this is that there was an article entitled "Lovecraft in My Life" by Fritz Lieber.
Submitted by T. Peter Park: Giant Lovecraftian Penguin
T. Peter just sent this message over ....
AARK! AARK!
Recall the giant penguins in H.P. Lovecraft's _At the Mountains of Madness_!
Pick up a penguin? Not this one you wouldn't· Evidence of giant bird found by fossil hunters· Creature may have used 18cm beak as spear.
James Randerson, science correspondent
Tuesday June 26, 2007
The Guardian
With their dinner-suit plumage and waddling gait, penguins are among the most unusual and endearing members of the bird kingdom. A new fossil find, however, has revealed that one of their ancestors was a far more fearsome beast.The fossils, which were found in Peru and are described in detail today by scientists, reveal a creature that was over 1.5 metres tall and weighed as much as a person. The 36 million-year- old tropical bird's intimidating appearance was topped off with powerful arms, a chunky neck and a potentially vicious 18-centimetre beak.
The discovery of the giant bird has shaken scientists' understanding of penguin evolution. The find indicates that penguins made the journey to equatorial regions much earlier in their evolutionary history than researchers had realised.And because the penguins lived during a period when the Earth was experiencing a "greenhouse" climate the pair of species are challenging what researchers thought they knew about how species adapt to hotter temperatures.
"It's a monster," said Julia Clarke at North Carolina State University, who described the fossils with her team in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today. The two main finds are remarkably complete and well preserved. "The bone preservation is extremely good," she said. "We have so few relatively complete penguins from that period of penguin evolution." The detail is so good that the researchers were able to see fine patterning on the beak of the giant penguin left by a sheet of keratin - the material that makes up feathers.The giant species has been named _Icadyptes salasi_. If it were alive today, _Icadyptes_ would tower over the largest penguins on the planet - the 1.2-metre emperors, whose epic migration across the Antarctic wilderness to bring food to their chicks was celebrated in the film "March of the Penguins."
The team do not have any direct evidence for the new discovery's diet, but the wings were adapted for swimming and found in sediments laid down just off shore. _Icadyptes'_ elongated beak would have been capable of snaring large fish, but its shape is so unusual that the team believe it used a previously unknown technique for catching prey. "It is distinct from anything we have in living penguins," said Prof Clarke. Attachment points for neck muscles are also very large suggesting that it had a powerful neck, perhaps for spearing prey.The discovery goes against the general rule that as climatic conditions get warmer, species tend to evolve into a smaller body size.The theory is that large size is useful in the cold because it reduces the ratio of surface area to volume, making it easier to conserve heat. But _Icadyptes_ was found in a region that resembled the modern day Atacama desert at a time when the Earth was experiencing an extremely warm period in its history.
The researchers speculate that there may have been an increase in ocean upwelling at the time around what is now the Peruvian coast. This would have fertilised the food chain, leading to an abundance of fish and so giving easy pickings for the mammoth birds.The find also contradicts the idea that penguins did not reach equatorial regions until between four and eight million years ago, well after a cooling period had set in that began to swell the polar ice caps. Today, only one species - the Humboldt penguin - is found on the coast of Peru.The team are keen to point out that although these species were adapted to the tropics, it does not mean that current penguin species will be able to adapt quickly to climate change. "
Current global warming is occurring on a significantly shorter timescale. The data from these new fossil species cannot be used to argue that warming wouldn't negatively impact living penguins," said Prof Clarke.The _Icadyptes_ fossil is the most complete of any giant penguin yet discovered. But it may be smaller than the largest giant known. _Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi_, Nordenskjoeld' s giant penguin, which is thought to have lived up to six million years ago and whose fossils were found in New Zealand, could have been up to 2 metres high and weighed 100kg.
AARK! AARK!
Recall the giant penguins in H.P. Lovecraft's _At the Mountains of Madness_!
Pick up a penguin? Not this one you wouldn't· Evidence of giant bird found by fossil hunters· Creature may have used 18cm beak as spear.
James Randerson, science correspondent
Tuesday June 26, 2007
The Guardian
With their dinner-suit plumage and waddling gait, penguins are among the most unusual and endearing members of the bird kingdom. A new fossil find, however, has revealed that one of their ancestors was a far more fearsome beast.The fossils, which were found in Peru and are described in detail today by scientists, reveal a creature that was over 1.5 metres tall and weighed as much as a person. The 36 million-year- old tropical bird's intimidating appearance was topped off with powerful arms, a chunky neck and a potentially vicious 18-centimetre beak.
The discovery of the giant bird has shaken scientists' understanding of penguin evolution. The find indicates that penguins made the journey to equatorial regions much earlier in their evolutionary history than researchers had realised.And because the penguins lived during a period when the Earth was experiencing a "greenhouse" climate the pair of species are challenging what researchers thought they knew about how species adapt to hotter temperatures.
"It's a monster," said Julia Clarke at North Carolina State University, who described the fossils with her team in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today. The two main finds are remarkably complete and well preserved. "The bone preservation is extremely good," she said. "We have so few relatively complete penguins from that period of penguin evolution." The detail is so good that the researchers were able to see fine patterning on the beak of the giant penguin left by a sheet of keratin - the material that makes up feathers.The giant species has been named _Icadyptes salasi_. If it were alive today, _Icadyptes_ would tower over the largest penguins on the planet - the 1.2-metre emperors, whose epic migration across the Antarctic wilderness to bring food to their chicks was celebrated in the film "March of the Penguins."
The team do not have any direct evidence for the new discovery's diet, but the wings were adapted for swimming and found in sediments laid down just off shore. _Icadyptes'_ elongated beak would have been capable of snaring large fish, but its shape is so unusual that the team believe it used a previously unknown technique for catching prey. "It is distinct from anything we have in living penguins," said Prof Clarke. Attachment points for neck muscles are also very large suggesting that it had a powerful neck, perhaps for spearing prey.The discovery goes against the general rule that as climatic conditions get warmer, species tend to evolve into a smaller body size.The theory is that large size is useful in the cold because it reduces the ratio of surface area to volume, making it easier to conserve heat. But _Icadyptes_ was found in a region that resembled the modern day Atacama desert at a time when the Earth was experiencing an extremely warm period in its history.
The researchers speculate that there may have been an increase in ocean upwelling at the time around what is now the Peruvian coast. This would have fertilised the food chain, leading to an abundance of fish and so giving easy pickings for the mammoth birds.The find also contradicts the idea that penguins did not reach equatorial regions until between four and eight million years ago, well after a cooling period had set in that began to swell the polar ice caps. Today, only one species - the Humboldt penguin - is found on the coast of Peru.The team are keen to point out that although these species were adapted to the tropics, it does not mean that current penguin species will be able to adapt quickly to climate change. "
Current global warming is occurring on a significantly shorter timescale. The data from these new fossil species cannot be used to argue that warming wouldn't negatively impact living penguins," said Prof Clarke.The _Icadyptes_ fossil is the most complete of any giant penguin yet discovered. But it may be smaller than the largest giant known. _Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi_, Nordenskjoeld' s giant penguin, which is thought to have lived up to six million years ago and whose fossils were found in New Zealand, could have been up to 2 metres high and weighed 100kg.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Rare Lovecraft Article: 1972
The seller states:
LOVECRAFTIMANIA AT BROWN. An Article in BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLY, February 1972 issue, Vol. 72, No. 5. The article is uncredited, and is presumably written by the editors of the magazine. An article on Lovecraft, reproducing his first published photo, the cover of a WEIRD TALES magazine, a photo of the 18th Century Graveyard of St. John's Church, Providence, RI, a photo of the house at 135 Benefit Street (THE SHUNNED HOUSE), and a photo of HPL's house at 66 College St. Prints in full the Lovecraft poem "In a Sequestered Churchyard where Once Poe Walked". , also contains the article "The Day that Lovecraft's House was Moved", and a poem, "The Scene in Providence, by Keith Waldrop. The magazine runs 56 pages, the HPL material is 8 pages in total.
A rare item, I've never seen another one. With the Lovecraft-inspired bookplate of noted collector Douglas R. Vining affixed to the inner front cover. Address label and postmark (no stamps) on rear cover, no folds, very slight wear and a touch loose around the staples. A solid very good copy.
Seller is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada.
A rare item, I've never seen another one. With the Lovecraft-inspired bookplate of noted collector Douglas R. Vining affixed to the inner front cover. Address label and postmark (no stamps) on rear cover, no folds, very slight wear and a touch loose around the staples. A solid very good copy.
Seller is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada.
Friday, June 22, 2007
The Doom That Came to Sarnath, March 1935
Here is a rare item with an original publication of The Doom That Came to Sarnath
Marvel Tales of Science and Fantasy; Vol. 1, No. 4; March-April, 1935
Illustrated by Clay Ferguson and Guy Huey
Publisher: Fantasy Publications, Pennsylvania
Includes
"The Creator" (novelet) by Clifford D. Simak
"The Titan" (pt. 2) by P. Schuyler Miller
"The Nebulae of Death" (reprint) by George Allen England
"The Doom That Came to Sarnath" by H. P. Lovecraft
"The Cathedral Crypt" by John Beynon Harris
"Masters of Matter" by Amelia Reynolds Long
Verse: "Haunted House" by Lovell Hart
"Sanctuary" by Natalie H. Wooley
Magazine measures an unusual 5 inches wide by 8 3./8 inches tall, contains pages 129 through 236, wraps, in very good condition. Defects: Chipped edges, chipped spine.
Illustrated by Clay Ferguson and Guy Huey
Publisher: Fantasy Publications, Pennsylvania
Includes
"The Creator" (novelet) by Clifford D. Simak
"The Titan" (pt. 2) by P. Schuyler Miller
"The Nebulae of Death" (reprint) by George Allen England
"The Doom That Came to Sarnath" by H. P. Lovecraft
"The Cathedral Crypt" by John Beynon Harris
"Masters of Matter" by Amelia Reynolds Long
Verse: "Haunted House" by Lovell Hart
"Sanctuary" by Natalie H. Wooley
Magazine measures an unusual 5 inches wide by 8 3./8 inches tall, contains pages 129 through 236, wraps, in very good condition. Defects: Chipped edges, chipped spine.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
T. Peter Park Reports: H. P. Lovecraft and A Trans-Yuggoth Planet
T. Peter Park just sent this to us:
If H.P. Lovecraft were still alive, would he decide Eris rather than Pluto was Yuggoth?
Maybe astronomers should name the next trans-Plutonian dwarf planet Yuggoth!
Eris is obviously much too small to have any possible relation to the Nibiru of Sumerian mythology!
Link:
Pluto can't seem to catch a break. It was ignominiously demoted to 'dwarf planet' status after astronomers discovered an even larger icy world in the outer solar system. Now, new observations have pinned down the mass of that world, called Eris, revealing it outweighs Pluto by a hefty 27%.
Eris was dubbed the 'tenth planet' when its discovery was announced in 2005. After re-igniting a debate over the definition of a planet, it became the largest "dwarf planet" – a new category of object that included Pluto – when astronomers officially defined the term in 2006.
Caltech researchers Michael Brown and Emily Schaller have observed the moon, called Dysnomia, over seven nights in 2005 and 2006 using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, US, and the Hubble Space Telescope. It appears to be on a 15-day circular orbit. Eris is 27% more massive than Pluto, – spanning 2400 km compared to Pluto's diameter of 2320 km.
"For a long time, Pluto was the only thing out in the outer solar system that was bright enough to study in detail and it was sort of the lonely oddball out there," Brown told New Scientist. "But now we are able to study many more of these new dwarf planets and we are starting to see how the entire family operates."The observations did raise a mystery, however. They did not reveal any other moons beside Dysnomia, which is thought to have coalesced from the debris of an ancient collision in the outer solar system.
Pluto, on the other hand, has three moons – a large one called Charon and two small satellites discovered in 2005. All three of Pluto's moons lie in a circular orbit and are the same colour, suggesting they formed from a single, violent collision involving Pluto and another large body in the early solar system. A big collision is also thought to have spawned the multiple moons orbiting another large, distant body called 2003 EL61.
"That was the biggest surprise – we spent a few hours staring at Eris with the Hubble Space Telescope thinking that we would certainly see additional moons, but nothing showed up," says Brown. "We're still trying to figure that one out."In the next few months, Brown will observe Eris and Dysnomia again with Hubble, in the hopes of learning the composition of Dysnomia. "Our hypothesis is that anything made in a giant collision like this is going to have coalesced out of water ice, and should be a huge ice cube," he says.
Journal reference: Science (vol 316, p 1585)
If H.P. Lovecraft were still alive, would he decide Eris rather than Pluto was Yuggoth?
Maybe astronomers should name the next trans-Plutonian dwarf planet Yuggoth!
Eris is obviously much too small to have any possible relation to the Nibiru of Sumerian mythology!
Link:
Pluto can't seem to catch a break. It was ignominiously demoted to 'dwarf planet' status after astronomers discovered an even larger icy world in the outer solar system. Now, new observations have pinned down the mass of that world, called Eris, revealing it outweighs Pluto by a hefty 27%.
Eris was dubbed the 'tenth planet' when its discovery was announced in 2005. After re-igniting a debate over the definition of a planet, it became the largest "dwarf planet" – a new category of object that included Pluto – when astronomers officially defined the term in 2006.
Caltech researchers Michael Brown and Emily Schaller have observed the moon, called Dysnomia, over seven nights in 2005 and 2006 using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii, US, and the Hubble Space Telescope. It appears to be on a 15-day circular orbit. Eris is 27% more massive than Pluto, – spanning 2400 km compared to Pluto's diameter of 2320 km.
"For a long time, Pluto was the only thing out in the outer solar system that was bright enough to study in detail and it was sort of the lonely oddball out there," Brown told New Scientist. "But now we are able to study many more of these new dwarf planets and we are starting to see how the entire family operates."The observations did raise a mystery, however. They did not reveal any other moons beside Dysnomia, which is thought to have coalesced from the debris of an ancient collision in the outer solar system.
Pluto, on the other hand, has three moons – a large one called Charon and two small satellites discovered in 2005. All three of Pluto's moons lie in a circular orbit and are the same colour, suggesting they formed from a single, violent collision involving Pluto and another large body in the early solar system. A big collision is also thought to have spawned the multiple moons orbiting another large, distant body called 2003 EL61.
"That was the biggest surprise – we spent a few hours staring at Eris with the Hubble Space Telescope thinking that we would certainly see additional moons, but nothing showed up," says Brown. "We're still trying to figure that one out."In the next few months, Brown will observe Eris and Dysnomia again with Hubble, in the hopes of learning the composition of Dysnomia. "Our hypothesis is that anything made in a giant collision like this is going to have coalesced out of water ice, and should be a huge ice cube," he says.
Journal reference: Science (vol 316, p 1585)
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Lovecraft's Legacy: 2003, William Schoell
This writer has assembled a book apparently aimed at young readers.
An excerpt can be found on Amazon Here.
Here are some reviews:
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-Fans of supernatural horror fiction whose favorite authors frequently cite Lovecraft as an important influence on their writing may find this slim volume of interest. A charming sponger who never achieved the success he craved or the critical approval he felt he deserved, Lovecraft suffered through long and repeated bouts of depression throughout his life. Schoell treats all of this, as well as the writer's often-expressed racist and anti-Semitic sentiments, his short-lived marriage, and his erratic literary career. The descriptions of his work may motivate teens to seek out some of his stories (which may prove a challenge for librarians to locate). Small, black-and-white photos appear throughout. Not an essential purchase by any standard, this book will nonetheless be useful where horror fiction is in demand.Elaine Fort Weischedel, Millbury Public Library, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From BooklistGr. 5-8.
Lovecraft cemented his reputation as the master of the macabre with such adult works as At the Mountains of Madness and The Cats of Ulthar . Now comes a volume for young readers that examines the quirky life of the writer himself, and many of the people and events that influenced his dark, surreal tales. Schoell traces Lovecraft's path from the life of privilege he led as a youngster through the deaths of his father and grandparents, which plunged Lovecraft into poverty. He then follows Lovecraft's erratic lifestyle--his numerous attempts at literary acclaim, the generosity of friends and family who periodically housed and sustained him, his brief marriage of convenience to a woman of means, and, finally, the inferior film adaptations of his stories, and resurgent interest in his work during the late 1970s. Concise and well researched, the book also provides a glimpse at the sometimes-torturous creative process and drives home the literal meaning of suffering for one's art. Terry GloverCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
An excerpt can be found on Amazon Here.
Here are some reviews:
From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up-Fans of supernatural horror fiction whose favorite authors frequently cite Lovecraft as an important influence on their writing may find this slim volume of interest. A charming sponger who never achieved the success he craved or the critical approval he felt he deserved, Lovecraft suffered through long and repeated bouts of depression throughout his life. Schoell treats all of this, as well as the writer's often-expressed racist and anti-Semitic sentiments, his short-lived marriage, and his erratic literary career. The descriptions of his work may motivate teens to seek out some of his stories (which may prove a challenge for librarians to locate). Small, black-and-white photos appear throughout. Not an essential purchase by any standard, this book will nonetheless be useful where horror fiction is in demand.Elaine Fort Weischedel, Millbury Public Library, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From BooklistGr. 5-8.
Lovecraft cemented his reputation as the master of the macabre with such adult works as At the Mountains of Madness and The Cats of Ulthar . Now comes a volume for young readers that examines the quirky life of the writer himself, and many of the people and events that influenced his dark, surreal tales. Schoell traces Lovecraft's path from the life of privilege he led as a youngster through the deaths of his father and grandparents, which plunged Lovecraft into poverty. He then follows Lovecraft's erratic lifestyle--his numerous attempts at literary acclaim, the generosity of friends and family who periodically housed and sustained him, his brief marriage of convenience to a woman of means, and, finally, the inferior film adaptations of his stories, and resurgent interest in his work during the late 1970s. Concise and well researched, the book also provides a glimpse at the sometimes-torturous creative process and drives home the literal meaning of suffering for one's art. Terry GloverCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Lovecraft's Legacy: 1975
Here is a tabloid that has some mention of HPL.
The sellers notes are brief:
This is The Monster Times #43, Sept. 1975, with a "Curse of the Demon" cover. This special "demon" issue also includes H.P. Lovecraft, Rosemary's Baby, and an expose on "Captain Kirk: Exorcist" (Star Trek).
The context clearly relates Lovecraft's association to both "monsters" and "demonic posession". In HPL's legacy, this was beginning to be more of a link by "Baby Boomers".
Lovecraft's Legacy: 1941
Chrispy wishes that the text was legible. Alas. And even so, pages 7 & 8 are not scanned.
The seller states:
"Autobiography of Howard Phillips Lovecraft" and "Lovecraft on Poetry Writing"in amateur press paper the BOYS HERALD (October 1941)Printed stapled self wraps. 8 pages. In very good condition. An uncommon item related to H. P. Lovecraft's days in amateur journalism.The text is on pages 7 and 8.
NAPA Report of 1932
The seller states:
Here's a rare and unusual item for the Lovecraft collector. . ."National Amateur Press Association, Report of Vincent B. Haggerty, Secretary, For the Year Ended, July 2, 1932"SIGNED by Haggerty.Bound in leatherette cover. Approximately 100 typewritten unnumbered pages, printed on one side only.The report includes an activity report for each member, with one page devoted to each member, listing their contributions.Lovecraft's page has five items listed -- a couple of which are not recorded in Joshi's BIBLIOGRAPHY of Lovecraft. (The winning bidder will get to see what they are. . .) This is one of probably only several copies, but I haven't seen any other copies.
This is certainly a rare item. This is one of a few things I've seen on ebay that hints that the full scope of Lovecraft is not yet completed by scholars. Maybe these would be minor footnotes, but there have been a few hints that even all of Lovecraft's minor or revisionist stories have not been yet uncovered.
Ernest Edkins, Lovecraft's Friend
There is a long article on Amateur Journalism anecdotes by Paul J. Campbell at (click here).
There was a long and interesting correspondence with Howard Lovecraft, brilliant amateur and writer of weird tales; there were literary contributions to Hyman Bradofsky's peerless amateur magazine, the “Californian”; there was a visit to George Macauley in Grand Rapids, Mich., and with Helm Spink and his father in Washington, Ind., and an all night session with Graeme Davis and a luncheon with Ernest Edkins at the Electric Club in Chicago. There was a wildcat oil trip to East Texas with Herbert P. McGinnis of West Virginia (another of my recruits), on which Sam Schilling and his charming wife were visited in Kansas City, and in 1935 Paul Cook, who shared with me the distinction of being called “a literary blacksmith,” came out to East St. Louis and helped me publish the Canteen News for a year.
There is precious little else I've found on Mr. Edkins. {CP}
There was a long and interesting correspondence with Howard Lovecraft, brilliant amateur and writer of weird tales; there were literary contributions to Hyman Bradofsky's peerless amateur magazine, the “Californian”; there was a visit to George Macauley in Grand Rapids, Mich., and with Helm Spink and his father in Washington, Ind., and an all night session with Graeme Davis and a luncheon with Ernest Edkins at the Electric Club in Chicago. There was a wildcat oil trip to East Texas with Herbert P. McGinnis of West Virginia (another of my recruits), on which Sam Schilling and his charming wife were visited in Kansas City, and in 1935 Paul Cook, who shared with me the distinction of being called “a literary blacksmith,” came out to East St. Louis and helped me publish the Canteen News for a year.
There is precious little else I've found on Mr. Edkins. {CP}
Cats of Ulthar in the Aonian
Cute black cats!
This rarity found on ebay. The seller states:
THE CATS OF ULTHAR by Howard Phillips Lovecraft in the Winter 1943 issue of THE AONIAN.The issue is part of a volume, nicely bound in black cloth, containing all 13 issues of this handsome amateur journal. The original wrappers are bound in, too.Published by Tim Thrift and Ernest A. Edkins (friend and correspondent of Lovecraft). Besides CATS, "The Aonian" also reprinted Lovecraft's essay on amateur journalism's history, "Looking Backward", in two parts. Among the other contents are articles by and about W. Paul Cook (of The Recluse Press), Robert H. Barlow, Rheinhart Kleiner, Samuel Loveman, Arthur H. Goodenough, Edwin B. Hill, etc.
More on Ernest A. Edkins in the next blog entry.
Wow, folks. Chrispy almost missed seeing this one. It's nearly sold at the time of this printing at about $224.00 with over 30 bidders. (Not me.)The seller states:
ENVELOPE (4 X 6.75 INCHES) ADDRESSED BY H. P. LOVECRAFT TO CLARK ASHTON SMITH. LOVECRAFT'S SIGNATURE AND RETURN ADDRESS ON THE REAR OF THE ENVELOPE. BOTH ARE IN LOVECRAFT'S HAND AND ARE GUARANTEED AUTHENTIC. POSTMARKED 1930 IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND. ... ORIGINAL LOVECRAFT SIGNATURE ON AN ENVELOPE ADDRESSED TO ONE OF HIS BEST FRIENDS. BOTH ARE ICONS OF EARLY HORROR LITERATURE. ENVELOPE HAS SOME SMALL TEARS, NONE AFFECTING LOVECRAFT'S HANDWRITING.
Lovecraft's Legacy: Strange Magazibe of 1993
Strange Mag #11 1993
Seller states: H P Lovecraft, Otto Martinussen, Strange Magazine #11 dated spring/summer 1993 in near mint condition. normal wear and tear. articles on or pictures of h p lovecraft, the duende and sisimite of belize, illustrations by otto martinussen: gnomes, deadly pitted windshields by andrew rothovius, winsted wild man, louis timothy stone, bray road beast, ulrich magin, w ritchie benedict, thanassis vembos, curtis a rowlett, book reviews, and more.
*Beast of Bray Road is a wolfish, possible skin wlaker found on the roads of Southern Wisconsin. {CP}
Rare Lovecraft Biography Printing: 1963
This is stated as to have been printed for Arkham House; England; 1963. It's rarity is commanding a price of $225.00 on ebay today.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Lovecraft & Mars: Mars Had Water !
Lovecraft was keenly interested in astronomy and Mars. He frequently wrote of Mars inhis columns in the local newspaper and met Percival Lowell who believed that mars had water. Lovecraft did not.
Now, it seems that 100 years later, we have evidence that there was an ocean on Mars! If so, the eldritch gods walked upon the surface, and perhaps 2 billion yeras ago Cthulhu had a brother under the Martian Ocean !!
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA astrobiologists at the University of California, Berkeley have discovered evidence supporting the presence of large oceans of liquid water on early Mars.
One of the most obvious surface features on Mars is a large plain surrounding the north pole that resembles a sediment-filled ocean basin with shoreline-like features.
The scientists' research is scheduled to be published in the June 14 issue of Nature magazine.
"This work strongly supports the idea that there were large standing bodies of water on the Martian surface," said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., which co-funded the study. "Interpreting this topography as an ancient northern ocean could have a great impact on current and future Mars exploration," he added.
Scientists calculate that on Mars, an initial shift of 50 degrees from today's pole would be sufficient to disrupt the shoreline.
If a flood of water had filled an ocean at the northern pole on Mars about 3 billion years ago, its mass might have been enough to shift the pole 50 degrees to the south. Once the water disappeared, the pole could have shifted back.
Now, it seems that 100 years later, we have evidence that there was an ocean on Mars! If so, the eldritch gods walked upon the surface, and perhaps 2 billion yeras ago Cthulhu had a brother under the Martian Ocean !!
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. - NASA astrobiologists at the University of California, Berkeley have discovered evidence supporting the presence of large oceans of liquid water on early Mars.
One of the most obvious surface features on Mars is a large plain surrounding the north pole that resembles a sediment-filled ocean basin with shoreline-like features.
The scientists' research is scheduled to be published in the June 14 issue of Nature magazine.
"This work strongly supports the idea that there were large standing bodies of water on the Martian surface," said Carl Pilcher, director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., which co-funded the study. "Interpreting this topography as an ancient northern ocean could have a great impact on current and future Mars exploration," he added.
Scientists calculate that on Mars, an initial shift of 50 degrees from today's pole would be sufficient to disrupt the shoreline.
If a flood of water had filled an ocean at the northern pole on Mars about 3 billion years ago, its mass might have been enough to shift the pole 50 degrees to the south. Once the water disappeared, the pole could have shifted back.
Comet Hits Earth: Was Colour Out of Space 13,000 years ago?
Lovecraft fictionalized that a comet hit, disrupted, and left behind aliens who terrorized farmer's family. Now, maybe a real comet hit the Earth and changed our evolutionary tendencies.
***
Sunday May 20, 2007
Scientists presented dramatic evidence that suggests a comet exploded over the Earth nearly 13,000 years ago, creating a hail of fireballs that set fire to most of the northern hemisphere.
Primitive Stone Age cultures were destroyed and populations of mammoths and other large land animals, such as the mastodon, were wiped out. The blast also caused a major bout of climatic cooling that lasted 1,000 years and seriously disrupted the development of the early human civilisations that were emerging in Europe and Asia.
'This comet set off a shock wave that changed Earth profoundly,' said Arizona geophysicist Allen West. 'It was about 2km-3km in diameter and broke up just before impact, setting off a series of explosions, each the equivalent of an atomic bomb blast. The result would have been hell on Earth. Most of the northern hemisphere would have been left on fire.'
The theory reports a layer of microscopic diamonds at 26 different sites in Europe, Canada and America. These are the remains of a giant carbon-rich comet that crashed in pieces on our planet 12,900 years ago. The huge pressures and heat triggered by the fragments crashing to Earth turned the comet's carbon into diamond dust. 'The shock waves and the heat would have been tremendous,' said West. 'It would have set fire to animals' fur and to the clothing worn by men and women. The searing heat would have also set fire to the grasslands of the northern hemisphere. Great grazing animals like the mammoth that had survived the original blast would later have died in their thousands from starvation. Only animals, including humans, that had a wide range of food would have survived the aftermath.'
The scientists point out that archaeological evidence shows that early Stone Age cultures clearly suffered serious setbacks at this time. In particular, American Stone Age hunters, descendants of the hunter-gatherers who had migrated to the continent from Asia, vanished around this time. These people were some of the fiercest hunters on Earth, men and women who made magnificent stone spearheads which they used to hunt animals including the mammoth. Their disappearance at this time has been a cause of intense debate, with climate change being put forward as a key explanation. Now there is a new idea: the first Americans were killed by a comet.
It was not just America that bore the brunt of the comet crash. At this time, the Earth was emerging from the last Ice Age. The climate was slowly warming, though extensive ice fields still covered higher latitudes. The disintegrating comet would have plunged into these ice sheets, causing widespread melting. These waters would have poured into the Atlantic, disrupting its currents, including the Gulf stream. The long-term effect was a 1,000-year cold spell that hit Europe and Asia.
These are the sudden disappearance of the first Stone Age people of America, the disappearance of mammoths throughout much of Europe and America and the sudden cooling of the planet, an event known as the Younger-Dryas period. Various theories have been put forward to explain these occurrences, but now scientists believe they have found a common cause in a comet crash. However, the idea is still controversial and the theory is bedevilled by problems in obtaining accurate dates for the different events.
***
Sunday May 20, 2007
Scientists presented dramatic evidence that suggests a comet exploded over the Earth nearly 13,000 years ago, creating a hail of fireballs that set fire to most of the northern hemisphere.
Primitive Stone Age cultures were destroyed and populations of mammoths and other large land animals, such as the mastodon, were wiped out. The blast also caused a major bout of climatic cooling that lasted 1,000 years and seriously disrupted the development of the early human civilisations that were emerging in Europe and Asia.
'This comet set off a shock wave that changed Earth profoundly,' said Arizona geophysicist Allen West. 'It was about 2km-3km in diameter and broke up just before impact, setting off a series of explosions, each the equivalent of an atomic bomb blast. The result would have been hell on Earth. Most of the northern hemisphere would have been left on fire.'
The theory reports a layer of microscopic diamonds at 26 different sites in Europe, Canada and America. These are the remains of a giant carbon-rich comet that crashed in pieces on our planet 12,900 years ago. The huge pressures and heat triggered by the fragments crashing to Earth turned the comet's carbon into diamond dust. 'The shock waves and the heat would have been tremendous,' said West. 'It would have set fire to animals' fur and to the clothing worn by men and women. The searing heat would have also set fire to the grasslands of the northern hemisphere. Great grazing animals like the mammoth that had survived the original blast would later have died in their thousands from starvation. Only animals, including humans, that had a wide range of food would have survived the aftermath.'
The scientists point out that archaeological evidence shows that early Stone Age cultures clearly suffered serious setbacks at this time. In particular, American Stone Age hunters, descendants of the hunter-gatherers who had migrated to the continent from Asia, vanished around this time. These people were some of the fiercest hunters on Earth, men and women who made magnificent stone spearheads which they used to hunt animals including the mammoth. Their disappearance at this time has been a cause of intense debate, with climate change being put forward as a key explanation. Now there is a new idea: the first Americans were killed by a comet.
It was not just America that bore the brunt of the comet crash. At this time, the Earth was emerging from the last Ice Age. The climate was slowly warming, though extensive ice fields still covered higher latitudes. The disintegrating comet would have plunged into these ice sheets, causing widespread melting. These waters would have poured into the Atlantic, disrupting its currents, including the Gulf stream. The long-term effect was a 1,000-year cold spell that hit Europe and Asia.
These are the sudden disappearance of the first Stone Age people of America, the disappearance of mammoths throughout much of Europe and America and the sudden cooling of the planet, an event known as the Younger-Dryas period. Various theories have been put forward to explain these occurrences, but now scientists believe they have found a common cause in a comet crash. However, the idea is still controversial and the theory is bedevilled by problems in obtaining accurate dates for the different events.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
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