Saturday, July 31, 2010

Tracking the Elusive Lovecraft

Since I began to read about Lovecraft's life sometime in late 2001, I read of "his hidden years".

I used to think, like BigFoot, the elusve Lovecraft would never be found, or perhaps only glimpsed through a glass darkly. Just a whisper from a friend of a friend who once almost saw him.

Most of this year I have been tracking down every shred of data on Lovecraft between 1890 and 1910. I've read old Providence city documents, checked ot the backs of a thousand Ebayeum postcards, looked through hundreds of old weather maps, squinted at postage stamp sized auction images of yesteryear Rhode Island, poured through every Hippocampus and Necronomicon book I could afford, beg, or borrow. I've read ancient fanzines, old paperback book introductions, and some days I fell behind on the blog because I would doze off at the computer after doing Google searches at 2 AM.

I am now convinced.

Those years can (and will) be fully exposited if we apply more diligence and hard work.

The evidence is out there, it just has to be found and connected.

If I may use a mixed-metaphor: Like panning for gold after 1896, all the low hanging fruit has been found. We now need to be extremely creative and use skills that have been given to us by postmodern sociologists, anthropologists, textual critics, and literary scholars.

Kudos to those who came before, those who have worked fatiguing hours, sacrificed family, spent vacations, and even small fortunes, to give us the data we now have. They did what they could do with libraries, museums, crumbling letters, oral histories, and what not. Bless them!

Now onward!

We are tantalizingly close to uncovering the rest of his teenaged and young adult years. And not only that, we are on the verge of a scholarship revolution. I've seen glimpses of it as I have done my own research. In mere months, I personally have uncovered colorful items that have not yet seen print. Some I've even posted (like some of Whipple Phillips' vast business activities). Take today; I found where Annie Gamwell donated children's items to charity in November 1904.

What else is there to find?

I think that more textual analysis of the stories - whcih was pioneered notably by Donald Burleson - will no doubt offer much more for us in the future.

More people need to go read over those old Providence and other documents.

I saw where Mr. Livesay recently found a partial refernce to HPL in an astronomical magazine in early 1906. It was there!

I truly believe there is more. So much more.

I encourage YOU who are the true-blue, completely-addicted-and-without-hope Lovecraftians - Search!

Friday, July 30, 2010

The Great Daylight Comet of 1910 and the Measles

"I saw Halley’s in 1910 — but missed the bright one earlier in that year by being flat in bed with a hellish case of measles!" (to Robert H. Barlow, 23 July 1936)

Chrispy does not know if the exact date of this measles attack has ever seen print. {Chrispy has not yet read every word printed about Lovecraft, but he's trying}. If so, sorry. If not, I believe this comet is the one, see below.

Therefore, Lovecraft had the measles starting about 15 January 1910 and it endured at least through 31 January 1910. Mr. Joshi (A Dreamer and a Visionary) says, "Elsewhere he states that he lost fifty-four pounds during this bout with the measles and nearly died."

The Great Daylight Comet of 1910

Out of the blue, so to speak, some South African miners happened to look up and spot a bright comet on 13 January 1910. It took several days for the wire services to pick up on this. It was as bright as Venus on 18 January, and just as quickly as it appeared it vanished. Gone by 30 January 1910. It was notable for it had a 50 degree long tail.



You should be able to click and see this fully in a new window.

Sky and Telescope article.
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/home/81334422.html

Thursday, July 29, 2010

More Sea Monsters in Rhode Island

http://www.mysterymag.com/theunexplained/?page=article&subID=83&artID=144


(teasers from the article, click the link - CP)

Block Island shrouded by mystery of the deep
By Janet Kerlin, Associated Press writer

NEW SHOREHAM, R.I. -- Some ... have nicknamed it the Block Ness Monster.

Found in a fisherman's net, a mysterious 14-foot serpentine skeleton has taken on a life of its own on Block Island, located 14 miles off the Rhode Island coast. ... "Bones that walk?" ...

... "It's been stolen. Now what?" ...

... Others believe that's a fish story. ...

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Interlude

What's Chrispy been doing?

I just finished Brian Keene's A Gathering of Crows. I'm a Keene fan, and this one was a page turner. It has everything you would expect - the Labyrinthe, great and colorful characters, fast moving plot, death, mayhem, and enough religion, mythology, philiosophy, and political commentary to qualify for a college course. You don't have to know Machen, Lovecraft, and so forth to enjoy the book, but if you do it is a richer experience. I think I detected maybe a bit of Manly Wellman in this one.

Otherwise, I have been cramming like crazy learning about Lovecraft's ancestors, and retracing Whipple Phillips' life. The man deserves a book of his own. You think Lovecraft was colorful - pshaw! Whipple was a dynamo. Reading about him tires me out. Think about it. He was orphaned at 14 and made and lost several fortunes. You'd be stunned to know the enterprises he created - sometimes in a matter of months. Everytime you turn around he was at the legislature forming a new company with his "gang" of powerful venture capitalists. We really don't think enough about him.

Then there are the Lovecrafts. Great googly-woogly, talk about drama! No wonder they were expirtated. One drowned in a sailboat accident, one committed a Tabloid-style suicide, as did his mistress. One was committed as insane. Fortune made and lost. Fires! Gambling! Lawsuits! Hoo boy, were there lawsuits. Winfield came by it natural, me thinks.

And let's not forget the old homestead: Foster, Rhode Island. I never knew the controversy. Shakers! Anti-masonry! Temperance! Swindles! Vampires everywhere! You thought it was just Mercy Brown? Ha! Read Michael Bell's book (Food for the Dead) sometime and get shocked. For more than a century they were digging up bodies and burning hearts. Conversely, the government was struggling to get the farmland reinvigorated to keep rural Rhode Island from depopulating westward, and the Phillips' homesteads were being used for fertilizer experiments.

I tell ya Lovecraftians, what with the hodgepodge of Phillips, and Tillinghasts, and Tylers (Oh My!) it keeps your head spinning to keep it all straight.

From time to time I'll add notes here, but it's astonishing the number of primary documents curently in Google Books. You may like Lovecraft stories, but you will really begin to enjoy them and see how witty, catty, satirical, and flat out jokestery he can be when you get into the history of his ancestors. Scientifiction fans were clueless what he was talking baout when his stories were first published. We still are sometimes.

OK, we'll get back to more Lovecraftian goodies tomorrow.

An Aside: An 1859 Quaker Letter

When I read the seller's excerpts of this letter, it struck me like something out of a Nyarlathotep sequel. And the language was enough to make Lovecraft's long s's swoon.

The writing is tough, but remember, click on the images and they should expand into a new window.

The seller's notes:

1859 PROVIDENCE, [RHODE ISLAND] LETTER - RAILROAD ACCIDENT; STORM - QUAKER - Autograph letter signed, E. A. Sheffield", Providence, 4th mo 3rd [18]59, 3 1/2pp, 5" x 8". Legible ink to cousin Lydia.

Personal content with interesting news on a storm and grim train accidents:

"...the wind blew violently during the day...The New Port boat could not get at the wharf...signs were blown down, empty boxes on the sidewalks were taken up in the air as high as the buildings."

"A man who was walking on the track in the vicinity of Olneyville was fatally injured day before yesterday by the engine of the Hartford Train which knocked him from the track and mangled his body in a shocking manner. He was taken to Dr. Miller's office at six o'clock and died. There was another who was caught under a bridge on Smith Street. His arm was badly hurt. It was amputated by Dr. Beckwith...."







Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Real Life Rhode Island Sea Monster

Just released information was found by Alban. As the news is listed as restricted, I will give a brief synopsis, and the link for you to read the full article.

Fall River residents ... were at a section of Portsmouth Tuesday afternoon when things got a little scary. ... what seemed to be the perfect summer afternoon got turned upside down {by a} scream. ... An unknown ominous sea creature seemed ... -- described as being about 15-feet long, with ... teeth, greenish-black skin and a white belly -- was swimming ... and popping its head out of the water to expose its teeth and hiss ...

More here:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread980/pg1

Monday, July 26, 2010

Lovecraftian- and Movie Star: Will Hart

The wonderous path that Lovecraftians take! Read on ...



This is the British PAL format VHS cover for "The Wizard of Speed and Time."
In the top left picture, it displays (on the right) Will (the non-hooded face), as he was helping friend Chris Coart carry the star of the movie, Mike Jittlov, in the parade sequence for the end of the film, during what took us over 30 or say takes to get just right!

Will goes on to say: This cover was fun for me.

Extraoridinary for movie business, note that Will got more "face space" - more than the face of Philip Michael Thomas, who was the biggest star working on the film.

This was Will's first film to get an on-screen credit; even though he didn't actually go full-time into the "business" until 1991 when he got into S.A.G., A.F.T.R.A (Screen Actor's Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Actors).

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Minions of Cthulhu



HONG KONG (Reuters) – Researchers have discovered four new species of octopus in Antarctica with venom that works at sub-zero temperatures*.

Their discovery, during a six-week expedition to Antarctica in 2007, was published in the journal Toxicon.

Experts have long known there were octopuses in Antarctica, but what surprised Fry and his colleagues was the sheer biodiversity and how natural selection changed the way they hunted and the nature of their venom.

_____

"...venom that works at sub-zero temperatures ..." - well, of course it does!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Would you play this guitar?

This was found by Morgan Scorpion.

I recall Davil Nial Wislon, Jeff Gelb and Bill Mumy, and also Stephen Mark Rainey writing weird guitar horror stories years back.





Link: http://twitpic.com/26s45s
http://twitpic.com/26s6m4

Friday, July 23, 2010

A Lovecraft ... Opera !

Sorry, Lovecraftians, I only found out about this today - read on !



H. P. Lovecraft's very short story "Ex Oblivione" has been turned into a one-act chamber opera by composer and librettist Kyle Gullings. His new opera, Oblivion, runs July 8-25, 2010, as part of the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC. For more info, reviews, and music samples, visit kylegullings.com. Feedback is eagerly welcomed!

--
www.kylegullings.com
gullings.blogspot.com

Great HPL Art






Ballantine, 1970's.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Friendly Aliens: Contents

Thanks to Martin for locating the table of contents !
_____

Friendly Aliens ed. John Robert Colombo (Hounslow Press, 1981, 181pp, hc); Thirteen Stories of the Fantastic Set in Canada by Foreign Authors.

1 · Preface · John Robert Colombo · pr

5 · A Haunted Island · Algernon Blackwood · ss The Pall Mall Magazine Apr, 1899

18 · A Relic of the Pliocene · Jack London · ss Colliers Jan 12 ’01

27 · In Search of the Unknown [“The Harbor-Master”] · Robert W. Chambers · nv

Ainslee’s Aug, 1899

50 · The People of the Pit · A. Merritt · ss All-Story Weekly Jan 5 ’18

65 · Polaris · H. P. Lovecraft · ss The Philosopher Dec ’20; Weird Tales Dec ’37

69 · The Thing From—"Outside" · George Allan England · ss Science and Invention Apr ’23

85 · The Place of Pain · M. P. Shiel · ss The Red Magazine May 1 ’14

94 · Devolution · Edmond Hamilton · ss Amazing Dec ’36

108 · Arctic God [as by Frank Jones] · John Russell Fearn · nv Amazing May ’42

129 · The Thing that Walked on the Wind · August Derleth · ss Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror Jan ’33

139 · The Tattooed Man · Vincent Starrett · ss The Quick and the Dead, Sauk City: Arkham House, 1965

149 · Forever to a Hudson Bay Blanket · James Tiptree, Jr. · ss Fantastic Aug ’72

165 · Swan Song · Chelsea Quinn Yarbro · ss Cautionary Tales, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1978

175 · Whither Canadian Fantasy? · Donald A. Wollheim · ar Uncanny Tales Dec ’42

1981 Book of Lovecraft and other Stories (Canada)



COLOMBO, John Robert (editor) Friendly Aliens Hounslow Press, 1981. Very Good condition. 13 stories of the fantastic set in Canada by foreign authors. Includes Algernon Blackwood, Jack London, H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth and others. Donald A. Wollheim essay from 1942 on Canadian fantastic literature. First Printing.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

7 year old Lovecraft and Jack in the Beanstalk?

This is not dated in the text, but the seller declares it to be 1898. The date begins Monday, 31 December - which does match.


Would 7 year old Lovecraft have enjoyed this production? Mixed thoughts - it was a"kids' show, but he was a kid. He was into all sorts of fantasy, and it did have a bit of the Arabian Night thievery to it.

Such a rare treasure, to have a 112 year old clipping preserved, it must have impressed someone to have held this clipping for so many years. A memory, now cast out to the Ebayeum.

At 7-1/2, I think this would have been tempting for the Phillips - considering Robert Morror lived across the street - to take young Howard, but we shall never know. It warms my heart to think of Howard watching this folderol fantasy, and so I will let that out weight my analytical thoughts and say yes.

Read the details!! (click and it should expand into a new window).



This Robert Morrow has long been misprinted as "Mr Manow" in some HPL letter transcriptions.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Alienness


If Lovecraft stood for anything it was to confront the concept of alien. Of course, to him alien usually was represented by immigrants or what he considered vermin - frogs, octopi, lobsters, and such.

To us, it is far more.

Life is stranger than we can imagine. Read on.

Terrorism doesn't just exist among humans, according to ecologist Mark Moffett, and he has the photos to prove it.

In his new book " Adventures Among Ants" (University of California Press, 2010), Moffett describes — and shows — how some ants will commit suicide in a very dramatic way while taking others out with them ...

... in this photo, "the reddish worker cylindricus ant has detonated — rupturing her body to release a toxic yellow glue that kills her and the enemy instantly."

Just before this picture was snapped in Borneo, Moffett had set a trap at the base of a tree colonized by cylindricus ants. The trap was simply some honey that he drizzled around the tree trunk.


(Link)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38243325/ns/technology_and_science-science/?GT1=43001

Monday, July 19, 2010

A Divergence: Providence 1910 (Mowry)




Lovecraft had a slight bit of Mowry blood, but these 1910 pictures have nothing whatsoever to do with him. They were just too cute not to show.

The seller stated that these were of the Mowry-Inman clan.

I also have a soft spot when old family pictures go on the auction block - like Dicken's Marley, a soul banished to wander: unwanted, unremembered. But not today! We see and remember.

It looks like the date is a hot summer 4th of July as there is a small flag. Oklahom made it in November 16, 1907, so there are probably 46 stars on the flag. Look closely and you will see a tiny fragment of Providence in the background, an awning on some unnamed building.

OK, let's see, I guess Lovecraft was 19 years old when this picture was taken being roughly 7 weeks away from him turning 20. He was starting to think about studying chemistry by correspondence school, otherwise was keeping a low profile and coming out at nights.

What else? Hmm, recently it looks like I came across some information on Edwin E Phillips starting a number of new businesses about this time. I'll post about them one of these days. And, Lovecraft's passing friend, Philbrick, was in college by now - soemwhere I have a clipping where he was a stage manager for some Brown University prodction or other folderol.

Ah, Providence of 1910!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Handicraft Club

You will see below some selected data that gives a pretty full background. Lovecraft and his aunt would have nown much of this from memory, other from reading the Providence Journal over the years.




Handicraft Club

Selected Letters (Arkham) Howard Phillips Lovecraft, - 1976 - 424 pages
It is near the top of the same hill (and on the same side) half-way up which my aunt boarded in 1927 at the Handicraft Club in the old Truman Beckwith house. You doubtless recall that brick edifice and its old-fashion'd terraced garden ...

_____

THE TRUMAN BECKWITH HOUSE

Truman Beckwith acquired the Larger Part of his Estates after he was Seventy Years of Age. John Greene designed the Truman Beckwith house. It will also be remembered that he designed the First Congregational Church the Sullivan Dorr house the Dexter Asylum St John's Church and Mrs John Carter Brown's house on Benevolent Street. When the family of Truman Beckwith learned that he was to build his house at the corner of College and Benefit Streets one of them said I can t see why Truman wants to build up there in the lots. The young merchant knew his own mind and built in the lots. The Handicraft Club occupies the house at the present time. Mr Beckwith whose span of life was from 1783 to 1878 lived most of his life in Providence though in his earlier years mercantile pursuits took him to other cities for several years - to Savannah where he bought cotton. In these interests he built a hundred years ago a cotton warehouse on South Water Street. The following year 1818 he was one of the men who established the Merchants Bank in Providence. Mr Beckwith pursued varied interests. He had some taste for architecture and was on the Building Committee that erected the Dexter Asylum in 1827- 28 and on that of the What Cheer Building in 1851. He was in the cotton business for fifty five years and the larger part of his extensive estate was acquired after he was seventy years of age.

HANDICRAFT CLUB. Providence, R. I.
Alice Peckham, . . . President
Agnes De Wolf, . . . Treasurer.
Mrs. James W. Thornley, First Vice-President.
Mrs. Howard Johnson Greene, Secretary.
Julia Lippitt Mauran, 375 Olney Street, Second Vice-President.

Providence, R I
The Club was organized in 1905 with a membership of ten;
the Year Book for 1911 shows a membership of one hundred and ninety,
of whom eighty are Craftsmen and one hundred and ten Associate members.

The annual meeting is held the first Tuesday in November.
Entertainments are given every Tuesday, followed by teas.
The Club is affiliated with the National League of Handicraft Societies.
Instruction was given in basketry, wood carving and metal work at the club house on four afternoons during February and March for the benefit of the craftsmen members, a nominal fee being charged to pay for the cost of materials.
The annual exhibition and sale was held in the Club rooms November 29 to December 21, 1910. The sales amounted to $511.53. Work of the craftsmen members of the Club was on exhibition and sale in May, 1911.

_____
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF HANDICRAFT SOCIETIES.
42 College Street, Providence, R. I.
Executive Committee.
Huger Elliott, . . . President. Helen Plumb,Providence.

Organized in 1907. The annual meeting is held in May; the fiscal year begins March 1. The membership consists of thirty-five affiliated societies.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Did Lovecraft See a Camel?



Well, OK, it's unlikely. But it is intriguing. This postcard is an image of a camel named or signified as "Holy Moses". Some masonic lodge owned this and paraded it about for kids and others to see. This day when the picture was taken, it was at Roger Williams Park. Would Grandfather Whipple have taken young Howard to see this creature circa 1900? Notice the bicycle in the picture - a bicycle like which HPL first obtained on his birthday 20 August 1900?

Chripy found this small blurb in an old book dating to 8 February 1902 (The School Journal Vol 64):





Somerville Mass Miss Roxbury principal of the Davis school has been invited to a position in the Rhode Island normal school at Providence and has resigned Miss Mary A Holt has been promoted to fill the vacancy and Miss Gertrude D Goodale has been elected second assistant in the school Tufts college has lately received several valuable specimens for the museum from Frank C Bostock who has an animal show in Boston Among these was the great camel known as Holy Moses and a number of rare snakes The last and perhaps the most valuable gift was an exceedingly fine specimen ot the Wapiti deer the largest ever exhibited Alive it was as large as a good sized ox and its horns measure more than six feet from tip to tip

Friday, July 16, 2010

Interlude: Use Google to Find Cool Lovecraft Factoids

If you've followed the blog for any length of time, you know that Ebay is a trove of seredipitous finds. You can pick up a cheap copy of Lovecraft stories, or ancient (and sometimes expensive) icons of Lovecraft. For instance a postcard for $3000.00.

But one neglected source of data is Google Books. Each day, Google - through it's shear power - coerces musty old documents off library shelves and adds those scans. The dynamism of their search engines is awe inspiring. Every word in every sentence, advertisement, footnote, appendix, table of contents, and so forth is searchable and within seconds your request appears.

You do it precisely like any other search, except you search under the "Book" or "Scholar" format. I usually choose "book".

Then you have four events.

(1) nothing. nada. *tilt* so yo sigh and choose another combination of words.
(2) it comes up, but sadly you do not have access - probably due to Google slogging it out in court with copyright attorneys.
(3) it comes up but you get a limited preview. Don't despair. My friend, J, coerced most of an entire story out of an Eleanor Blaisdell book by working tirelessly for three hours getting about 300 characters at a time out of the search.
(4) YOU WIN! The entire text is "Full View" and that then gives you yet more options.

Once you have the document or book you want with jsut the right search word(s), you then can have a second choice of searching within that document in a variety of ways. It's better to try it, experiment, trial and error, than have me tell you these options. It's easy.

Then if you're very lucky, you can download the pdf to your computer files. However, doing so may lose searchability, as the document reverts back to image mode.

OK, say you want to find Susan Lovecraft's tax bill from some year. Just type in something like "Susan Lovecraft" -Howard" Providence Tax City, which eliminates the clutter of her famous son. With a little change in choices like removing the quote marks or making is S Lovecraft or whatever, you may find your gold at the end of Da Google's rainbow.

Some treasures occur when you have anyone associated with Brown University, anyone impacted by significant lawsuits, those who might be in an extant city directory, someone who has filed a patent or started a company, or has published an article or letter in a book or magazine, a genealogy, or is buried in a cemetery of prominence.

Then like young Howard and his Providence Detective Agency cohorts, start fitting the jigsaw puzzle pieces together. Grab up your reference books and then determine how your new data fits in with the scholastic legacy that those giants of the 20th century left us.

The greatest thing of all is that it's absolutely free. All you need is time, patience, and perseverence.

Good searching.

(And if you find something cool for the blog, drop me a note!)

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Dunwitch Horror (Part Two)

This in from Michelle:

If anyone is trying to distinguish between the first three printings, there are some details in "Horrors and Unpleasantries" that help figure out edition points:

1. First printing ($5.00 price). Photo of HPL on back of dj measures 92mm x 111mm. Back dj flap lists Arkham House titles by HPL. No headbands on either end of spine.
2. Second printing ($6.50 price). Photo of HPL on back of dj is 92mm x 120mm this time. Back dj flap same as 1st. However, spine has cloth headbands in black and white thread, 14 or 15 sections of each color, alternating.
3. Third printing ($6.50 price). Photo of HPL same size as 2nd printing. However, instead of listing HPL's other Arkham titles on back flap of dj, instead there is a brief factual note about HPL. This printing also has headbands, but the alternating sections of black and white are fewer, about 9 or 10.

_____

Don't forget if you're in Maine:

Michelle owns:
The Green Hand Bookshop
661 Congress Street
Portland, ME 04101
Email her here:
michelle.souliere@gmail.com
Her blog:
http://greenhandbooks.blogspot.com

The Dunwitch Horror

Dave just dropped me a note with some interesting information.

... found this info on the Dunwitch Horror books and the printings which a nice seller posted:

"The Dunwich Horror and Others" which was originally published in 1963 with a cover price of $5 and there were 3133 copies printed.

a second printing in 1966 ,2990 copies ,cover price $6.50

a third printing in 1970 ,4050 copies ,price still $6.50

a fourth printing in 1974 ,4978 copies ,price $7.50

a fifth printing in 1981 of 3084 copies at $10 which was also price stickered over at $12.95.

In 1984 there was a revised {by STJ - CP} and corrected edition issued which had new cover art (AH #169) which had a first ,second and at least third printing (printing numbers unavailable).

Marius S Daniels of "The Snake River Company"

On 29 May 1884, Rhode Island accepted the corporation of The Snake River Company which was partnered by:

Whipple V Phillips
Eugene Howard
Marius S Daniels
Christopher A Peirce (correct spelling of Peirce)
Albert J Robinson
Joseph Voshay
Lafayette Aspinwall.

I spent a few hours with my fried "Da Google" and you'd think that names like Lafayette Aspinwall and Voshay would jump off the search engine. Aspinwall shopwed up, but impossibly, since the death is decades too early for our candidate. Alas. The others also were more obscure in the current crop of scans in Google's archives. We may have to wait a few more years.

However, there are lengthy transcriptions of a tedious lawsuit. DANIELS v. ALMY et al. (Supreme Court of Rhode Island. April 19, 1893.) The key passage for this researcher was a simple, "This is a petition for a new trial of issues sent to a Jury in the suit in equity now pending in this court, wherein Marius S. Daniels, now deceased...".

Daniels, thus, disappears in less than a decade from the group who formed the company. The suit, which extended after his death, involved about forty feet of property on Custom House Street that was debated about being a public way or private property.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

A Providence Lawyer (1905)




(More Images below text)

I'm adding this item from Ebay scans because - well, it may one day have Lovecraft significance. In the last month, I've seen names connected by one, two, or three degrees of separation that I never expected to be connected tangentially to Lovecraft and his family.

The price prohibited me from bidding, and it is still up for bod for you Providence historians, but I can't. Two images are scans of the same page.

1905 Diary Logbook Rhode Island Lawyer Marquis DL Mowry

The seller's notes:
Diary of Marquis De Lafayette Mowry

1905 Diary & Notebook of daily activities – Family and Weekly Work as a lawyer in Providence

Every day is filled in – the temperatures and weather is noted for each day of the year - he fills out his entire day's activities and who he saw with any legal notes. One of the pages copied notes the death of Arlon Mory on March 8, 1905 at 1:00 am and Arlon was born on February 23, 1833. So he might have written other family dates into the diary if they occurred in 1905.

More notes and his signature is written many times in the back pages of this book after December 31st page.

His signature is verified in a Genealogy History of the Mowry family found in the book entitled , “The Descendants of John Mowry of Rhode Island by William A. Mowry (Providence, RI: Preston & Rounds Co.,1909).* Copy is kept at the New England Historic Genealogical Society. I have scanned the genealogical information of Marquis De Lafayette Mowry from this book and will be included with auction. I also copied several of the census records of his man and his family. This will be listed below.

* Marquis D L Mowry as born on September 17, 1838, married (1) Laura J. Kimball and (2) Sarah Arnold, died on December 11, 1914. His father and mother were Richard Mowry (1809-1870) and Lavina ____ (1803-1842). Marquis’ great grandfather was Arnold Mowry (1784- ) and great grandmother was Mercy Barnes. His great-great grandfather was Richard Mowry (1749-1835) married to Hannah Arnold.

An important note is that Marquis lived in the home of his great-great grandfather Richard Mowry (home built in 1819) at the time this book was written so this would be the home he lived in when he was writing this Diary. See the scanned picture.

The Mowry book follows the family back several more generations to Roger Mowry (born in England-died in Providence Rhode Island on 5 Jan 1666). It is very interesting history and I copied the direct ancestors of Marquis. The rest of the book can be seen online and copied as you wish.

I have scanned here the picture of Marquis De Lafayette Mowry and the home he lived in from the book. Also copied the signature from the book and the diary.

The diary is not that easy to read but after looking at it for a while you can get used to the handwritten and make out quite a bit. I found these names mentioned on several pages but there are many more names written: A. J. Curley, Martha E Laurence, Clarence A. Smith, Niles H. Arnold, Bert Smith, Walter L. Brin, Wilson & Mory, Miss Pry, Mr. Boyles, Mr. Cornell, Eliakin Mory, Sarah L. Winfield, Wilson O. Mory, and many Mory (sic) family members.

Marquis De Lafayette Mowry's law business was located at 13 Market Square Room 6. Copy of the Directory page will be included.

Other facts found on the internet are these: Marquis and Sarah are buried in Union Cemetery in North Smithfield Rhode Island. He died on 11 Dec 1914 [Wikipedia – north Smithfield RI]. There is a large monument to the Mowry family in this cemetery. There is a book of it with pictures and another family genealogy at the www.archives.org website.

I am selling this diary as is. The cover is worn on the edges as shown. The ink is darker on the front pages and lighter on the back pages. I have scanned pages from the front and the back of the book. Please let me know if you have any questions.





Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The Minions of Cthulhu Know All



Octopus oracle picks Spain to win World Cup

BERLIN (AP)—Eyes around the world were on Germany’s octopus oracle Paul on Friday as he made his biggest prediction yet in the World Cup: Spain will beat the Netherlands in the final.

Paul’s prescient picks in the World Cup—he has yet to predict a match wrong—have propelled him to international fame from obscurity in an aquarium in the western city of Oberhausen.

TV stations in Germany, Great Britain, Taiwan and elsewhere broadcast live pictures, complete with breathless commentary, of his final decision.

Millions watched as the eight-legged oracle descended upon on a tank marked with a Spanish flag, sitting for only a few minutes before grabbing a mussel and devouring it, while completely ignoring the Dutch tank—indicating a Spanish victory in Sunday’s final match in Sunday’s final.

It was the first time the 2 1/2-year-old floppy octopus had been tasked to pick a game in which Germany wasn’t involved, as the Oberhausen Sea Life aquarium bowed to demand. He correctly called Germany’s wins over Argentina, England, Australia and Ghana and the country’s loss to Spain and Serbia.

He also predicted Friday that Germany will win over Uruguay in Saturday’s match for third and fourth place.

Paul first developed his abilities during the 2008 European Championship in which he predicted five out of six games involving Germany correctly. But while he had only a community of local fans two years ago, his World Cup prognostications have brought him something like stardom. He has his own Facebook fan pages and a list of admirers that includes the Spanish leader.

His handlers say he is coping with fame well.

Monday, July 12, 2010

William Scoresby's mirage and HPL

Michael, I'm sorry it's been so long on this one. Michael contacted me some time ago pointing this one out.

William Scoresby's Journal of a Voyage to the Northern Whale Fishery has a mirage in it. William Scoresby (1789-1857) undertook yearly voyages to Greenland between 1803 and 1822 and wrote many books. It's known that HPL was an avid fan and follower of polar exploration as a kid.

H P Lovecraft refers to William Scoresby's illustrations when describing an antarctic mirage in the story 'At The Mountains Of Madness.

For instance:

Of all the appearances witnessed by Captain Scoresby one to which he has given the very appropriate name of the Enchanted Coast was by far the most remarkable it was seen when the sky was clear and the air filled with a transparent tremulous vapour

We subjoin the description in his own words: The general telescopic appearance of the coast was that of an extensive ancient city abounding with the ruins of castles obelisks churches and monuments with other large and conspicuous buildings Some of the hills seemed to be surmounted by turrets battlements spires and pinnacles while others subjected to one or two reflections exhibited large masses of rock apparently suspended in the air at a considerable elevation above the actual termination of the mountains to which they referred




Sunday, July 11, 2010

Old Providence (c. 1870)


This is more the Providence of Whipple Phillips and his children. Lovecraft would have only heard about it as Providence was doubling its population roughly every generation through all the way until HPL's death in 1937.

This was the Providence that was still small and village-like. Look at all the church steeples in the background. The large reservoir. This was what Lovecraft felt in his quiet Angell Street neighborhood even though Providence had exploded past that stage even when he was a little, little boy.


... antique engraving dated 1872 of The City of Providence From Prospect Hill on heavy quality paper ...

From this book ...

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Postcards

I suppose that Lovecraft is known for his microscopic scrawl across postcards filling up every space. We think this is "Lovecraftian". In fact, it was the norm in his day as a youth.

In the early days, people wrote on the front of cards only. Then the postal regulations laxed and people could write on the back, and that's when they became "divided". Later, all rules went out the window and our "Lovecraft style" writing appeared.

Chrispy has posted numerous examples of circa 1905 postcard writing on the blog. For the most part, people used Waterman or other ink pens that one dipped in ink wells and refilled by some mechanical means. No "ball points"!

In those days, postal service in large cities could be four or more deliveries per day. Therefore, a card at 8 AM would get to the recipient at noon, for instance. "Coming over for supper" or "Meet me at Luigi's" might be a fictional comment on a card - all for a penny.

Now Lovecraft did tend to write more than many people did.

A usual card in those days was, "I just visited here, and the card doesn't do it justice", or "I hope grandmother is feeling better; will try to be there this weekend."

This was much cheaper than a telegram.

However, some people did write a "letter" upon the postcard, and this is precisely what Lovecraft did. Instead of a formal letter, he wrote on a card, and the longer he wrote the smaller and more cramped he made the writing to fit his vast thoughts upon it. He would rotate it, write on corners, back, and had he a way to write on the edge, he would have tried that!

It amused - and perplexed - his younger friends of the 1920's or 1930's, as he preserved this circa 1905 style his whole adult life. Long after others had abandoned it.

Below I added some selected Ebayeum images to illustrate the "Lovecraft style" or postcard writing by other folks. He was a man, and he was a man of his era.



(card #2004, 10 December 1907, not year 2004!)

Friday, July 09, 2010

Samuel Loveman in the New York Times

Samuel Loveman in the New York Times. Fragments found online.
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Mr Sterling and Minor Poets
Published 4 June 1911

The New York Times Review of Books

It seems a singular anomaly that a poet of Mr. George Sterling's rank and responsibility should be referred to as a minor poet, and still more so that Mr. William Watson should be mentioned in the same connection. Mr. Sterling is not only a great poet, but inconceivably the greatest living, in either England or America. The sense of his art as a divine mission –

Remiss the ministry they bear
Who serve her with divided heart;
She stands reluctant to impart
Her strength to purpose, end, or share –

- stamps the high seriousness of one whom Shelley, Poe, and even Keats would have been the first to welcome. Let us honor the living as well as the dead.

Samuel Loveman.
Cleveland, Ohio, May 20.

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Latest Books: Published NYT 22 October 1922
"History and Biography"

Twenty-One Letters of Ambrose Bierce. By Samuel Loveman. 12 mo. Cleveland, George Kirk.

A series of unpublished letters addressed to Robert Loveman of Dalton, Ca., commencing with Oct. 17, 1908 and endng with Sept. 10, 1913.

{Note: Ambrose Bierce disappeared into Mexico after one last letter was sent on December 26, 1913 – CP}

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Hart Crane
Samuel Loveman

August 10, 1969, Sunday

Section: Book Review, Page BR22, 95 words

Though I am not given credit for having done so, I took the photograph of Hart Crane illustrating Helen Vendler's admirable front-cover review of John Unterecker's "Voyager," in your July 20 issue.
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TV: Making the Rounds With a Poet's Biographer; Cannel 13 Eavesdrops on Search for Crane 90-Minute Show Mixes Sounds and Sights
By JACK GOULD

September 23, 1966, Friday

Page 75, 382 words

AN unusual union of the literary and television worlds was demonstrated by National Educational Television last night on Channel 13. Prof. John Unterecker, a member of the English department in Columbia University's Graduate Faculties, is preparing a biography on Hart Crane, the poet, and N.E.T. hit upon the happy notion of having camera crews accompany him on his interviews. … Among those with whom Professor Unterecker talked were Malcolm Cowley, Samuel 'Loveman, ...

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Deaths; Cards of Thanks

October 10, 1937, Sunday

Section: GENERAL NEWS, LOST AND FOUND, PUBLIC NOTICES, SHIPPING AND MAILS, EDUCATION, OBITUARIES, WILLS, ESTATES, ARMY ORDERS, Page 29, 3985 words

…after a lingering Illness, Louis, Beloved husband of Marie (nee Burger) and devoted father of Joe, Sam, Malvani Loveman, Ben and Harry …

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SAMUEL LOVEMAN, 89, A POET,BOOK DEALER

May 18, 1976, Tuesday

Page 29, 155 words

Samuel Loveman, a retired book dealer and poet who was a youthfu protege of the writer Ambrose Bierce and a lifelong friend of the poet Hart Crane, died Friday in the Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged. He was 89 years old.

Thursday, July 08, 2010

Charles D. Hornig ... October 23, 1933

Text of recent auction:

This is a postcard from H.P. Lovecraft to Charles D. Hornig postmarked 4:30 PM Oct 23, 1933, Providence RI. Charles D. Hornig was editor of Fantasy Fan magazine, published a Lovecraft Memoir, edited Gernsback's Wonder Stories and Fantasy Magazine. The handwritten note from Lovecraft includes references to Fantasy Fan, (Clark Ashton) Smith; (Forrest James) Ackerman; (Robert H) Barlow; and his own article. It is signed HPL.

Smith (1893-1961) was author of Lost Worlds, Abominations of Yondo, Tales of Science and Sorcery etc. Ackerman (1916-2008) was one of science fiction's biggest collectors and promotors, editor, writer and agent who is credited with coining the term Sci-Fi. Barlow (1918-1951) was author, anthropologist, historian and longtime friend of Lovecraft and Robert Howard. He was Lovecraft's literary executor.

Howard Philips Lovecraft (1890-1937) was probably the most influential horror writer of the 20th century. The postcard is from the science fiction-horror collection of Joseph F. Hartdegen.

The postcard has the word General printed in ink at the left margin; the postmark surrounds and partially overlaps the HPL signature; otherwise
EX condition.

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

George W Kirk, Obituary NYT (1962)

GEORGE KIRK, 63, SOLD BOOKS HERE; Owner of Chelsea Shop in 'Village' 1927-39 Is Dead

March 23, 1962, Friday

Page 33, 265 words

PELHAM, N.Y., March 22-- George Willard Kirk of 1 Hillside Avenue, former owner of the Chelsea Bookshop on West Eighth Street, New York, and in recent years an electronics mechanic, died today of cancer at Manhattan General Hospital in New York. He was 63 years old. ...

Charles D. Hornig ... January 20, 1934

Text of recent auction

RARE Holographic Postcard H.P. LOVECRAFT to Charles D. Hornig (Editor The Fantasy Fan), January 20(?), 1934, "JOHN HAY MEMORIAL LIBRARY, Brown University, Providence R.I." Signed "HPL" UNPUBLISHED, Includes ARROW & NOTATION By Lovecraft Pointing To Court Behind Library Where HPL Lived (Samuel B. Mumford House, 65 Prospect St.), His Last Place of Residence


H.P. LOVECRAFT LETTERS & POSTCARDS: Truly a magnificent H.P. Lovecraft item. For those that know the Old Gent, they understand what a great epistolarian he was. In fact, one would find it difficult to find someone of any note that wrote as many letters as Lovecraft. Experts believe that he wrote over 100,000 letters during his lifetime, many of great length (a 50,000 word, one-hundred page letter was not unheard of). It is also surmised that fewer than 10,000 of the letters still survive. Of those, a vast majority are held in Brown University's H.P. Lovecraft collection at the John Hay Library (the Subject of this Postcard!). In fact, their aggressive acquisitions program for Lovecraft's manuscripts, letters, and postcards was (and is) so intense, that few remain in the hands of private collectors. Some believe that less than two hundred letters and postcards are still left in private hands, of these, few rarely show up for sale. Considering that writing (postcards and letters) was Lovecraft's favorite form of communication, and that each communication is a thoughtful tome in and of itself, an actual letter or postcard can be considered the cornerstone of a Lovecraft collection. We here at Arkham Books now offer that very cornerstone. Since letters typically run into the thousands ($4000.00 and up is quite common for a one or two pager), a postcard is a more affordable way to own a piece of Lovecraftian history. In the last six years on Ebay and at various Rare Books Shows we have sold two letters and a number of postcards, and they go quick (moreover, because of Brown University's voracious acquisition program, they are getting much harder to find -- a worn out cliche, but oh so true!) The postcards typically go between $900 and $1500, depending on the number of words (the highest price we have received for an HPL holographic postcard, was $1750.00 at World Horror Con 2008, and it had been written to weird tale author E. Hoffman Price). This will be the highest we have ever offered a postcard for, due to the association value. It is one that I had intended on keeping in my collection (buried with? Lovecraftian, no?), but medical bills seem to be a bit more pressing at the moment. As of this writing, we also have a less expensive card up in our Ebay store.


ADDRESSED TO: This postcard was written to Fantasy Fan Editor Charles D. Hornig. Hornig started The Fantasy Fan when he was just 17 years of age, in September of 1933, so this postcard is dated the same month and year. Two of Lovecraft's stoires were first published in the fanzine: "The Other Gods" (the third issue, November 1933) and "From Beyond" (in the tenth issue, June 1934). Moreover, and most significant, is the fanzine/magazine began a serialization of Lovecraft's essay on "Supernatural Horror in Literature," incorporating corrections and slight revisions to the text that appeared in The Recluse. Lovecraft maintained a fairly regular correspondence with Hornig, offering support, ideas, and corrections. Lovecraft's suggestions are frequently taken up with mechanical details concerning literary business, showing Lovecraft as conscientious and sometimes obsessive. Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi, in his book "H.P. Lovecraft A Life", wrote this about The Fantasy Fan: "This is, canonically, the first 'fan' magazine in the domain of weird/fantastic fiction, and it inaugurated a very rich, complex, and somewhat unruly tradition--still flourishing today--of fan activity in this realm."

THIS POSTCARD: This postcard is postmarked January 20 (?), 1934 at 7:30pm (most likely dropped off late at night by Lovecraft on one of his famous nighttime walks through the streets of Providence, where he was an oft seen shadow in the dark). I put a question mark next to the 20th, as the postmark is a bit light, and over Lovecraft's writing, so that is what it appears to me (could possibly be the 29th). Also, I am only about 95% sure on the 1934, as it has the same issue (since Lovecraft moved into this home in 1933, after January, I am pretty sure 1934 is the correct date). Has the one cent Ben Franklin stamp of the day, complete with HP Lovecraft DNA on the reverse side (yes, you too can clone Mr. Lovecraft -- a concept right out of Re-Animator ... or sort of). Oddly, the postmark is from Providence, Rhode Island (odd, because typically the postcards we have seen are postmarked from the Brown University Station -- perhaps there is some pattern to Lovecraft's mailing madness). One LOONNNGGG paragraph and approximately 198 words (I counted them, as with all of Lovecraft's writing, it is so diminutive and he uses every space possible, this is a give or take of 10 words -- the address is not counted in that 198 -- ALSO, there are 15 words, plus one arrow, on the front of the card). The content is unpublished.

POSTCARD LOCATION: Easily, the coolest HPL postcard we have seen or sold! Image on the front of the postcard is the John Hay Memorial Library in Lovecraft's beloved Brown University. Ironic, as this library would become the number one repository of Lovecraft's work, and easily has the premiere collection in the entire cosmos on the Ol' Gent from Providence. Lovecraft lived in relative obscurity, save for a few close friends, would be rolling in disbeliefe in his current Swan Point residence if he were to to know that the very Library that he worshipped and looked out his window to see each day, now rests much of its fame on the Starry Wisdom and Knowledge of HPL! What makes this card truly Cyclopean, is that Lovecraft's final residence, 65 Prospect Street (also known as the Mumford House), was right behind the John Hay Library--so close that Lovecraft claimed that from the kitchen of the Mumford house he could look into the stacks of the library!

65 PROSPECT STREET, LOVECRAFT'S FINAL RESIDENCE, THE SAMUEL B. MUMFORD HOME: On the front of this postcard, in the left margin, HP Lovecraft has drawn an error pointing to a location right behind the Hay Library. He has added the note "Entrance to the quaint court where I live." This was the entrance to 65 Prospect St., the final residence of Lovecraft, from 1933 until his death in 1937. The house still exists, but in 1959 was moved (the pictures included are from its current location). The John Hay Library was named after the Brown University graduate who was Assistant Secretary of State to Abraham Lincoln, and Secretary of State under President McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. It's address was, and still is, 10 Prospect Street where it has been since 1910. Among many things, it is most noted for housing the world's largest collection on H.P. Lovecraft and his work.


LOVECRAFT'S HOME IN "THE HAUNTER OF THE DARK": As HP was oft to do, he made use of his surroundings for his stories. In "The Haunter of the Dark" he described this home as the home of Robert Blake. The following quote from the story describes this home: "Young Blake returned to Providence in the winter of 1934-5, taking the upper floor of a venerable dwelling in a grassy court off College Street—on the crest of the great eastward hill near the Brown University campus and behind the marble John Hay Library. It was a cozy and fascinating place, in a little garden oasis of village-like antiquity where huge, friendly cats sunned themselves atop a convenient shed. The square Georgian house had a monitor roof, classic doorway with fan carving, small-planed windows, and all the other earmarks of early Nineteenth Century workmanship. Inside were six-paneled doors, wide floor-boards, a curving colonial staircase, with Aram-period mantels, and a rear set of rooms three steps below the general level. Blake’s study, a large southwest chamber, overlooked the front garden on one side, while its west windows—before one of which he had his desk—faced off from the brow of the hill and commanded a splendid view of the lower town’s outspread roofs and of the mystical sunsets that flamed behind them..."

CONTENTS INCLUDE: The most notable comment, is obviously the aforementioned comment and arrow from the front. In the other margin of the front (right) he has written: "I live next door to this building." Easy to see how fond HPL was of this library. HP also maentions that he couldn't get in touch with "you" (Hornig) while in New York (Hornig lived in New Jersey, and HPL had hope to get out to see him). HPL continues, "...but I was utterly swamped by engagements (it happens that a large majority of my friends live in the N.Y. area..." (which of course, were many of the Weird Tales authors he had cultivated friends with while living in New York City--Frank B. Long, et al.). HPL also mentions the Library, mention that he lives "...in the university section ... the college library (see over) ...is a quiet old town like Elizabethtown--I thing you'd find it quite at home here!" (Hornig lived in Elizabethtown, New Jersey.) HPL also makes mention of where he lives, almost in tones from a weird tale: "I live almost on the crest of the preciptous hill which separated the residences from the ???? district--in the university section, next the college library" Does invite Hornig to visit him in Providence. (Quotes are as exact as I can make them, but sometimes Lovecraft's writing style is difficult to decipher ... at least for me, I am sure S.T. Joshi could have it done in seconds!). Signed "Best wishes, HP" (Not HPL as normal, rare for just HP).


CONDITION: Overall, nice condition. Each of the corners have a minimal bump, but none actually go into the writing/text. Back side (the one written on) has a touch of dust soiling, but most of the writing is clear and free from rubbing. The postmark is a bit smudged (see the scan), and more than half of the postmark is included in with Lovecraft's writing. Protected in a hard plastic sleeve.

$2100 ask

Tuesday, July 06, 2010

1977 Rare Article (Vermont Horror)


(Professor Wheelock on left)



The seller states: FALL 1977, V. 45#4 HAS ARTICLE "DARK MOUNTAINS: H.P. LOVECRAFT AND THE VERMONT HORROR BY ALAN S. WHEELOCK

A bio on Professor Wheelock (link below)

Alan Wheelock

According to English department chair Terence Diggory, Alan Wheelock has an “infectious desire to imagine a world as fully as possible” —something, Diggory adds, that “takes a lot of hard work.” A visiting associate professor of English, Wheelock earned degrees from Queens College (A.B.), Hunter College (A.M.), and SUNY-Albany (Ph.D.). His specialties include American literature, film, and science fiction. He devised and taught the Liberal Studies courses “Radical Visions and American Dreams: The 1930s” and “The Aesthetics of Science Fiction.”

A man of many interests, Wheelock has given lectures on topics as varied as world’s fairs in the Great Depression, hang-gliding on Mount Greylock, and witchcraft in literature. He has also served as a consultant and collaborator on a number of film-related projects, including Divided Highways, the book and PBS documentary on the U.S. highway system written by Thomas Lewis, Skidmore’s Quadracci Professor of Social Responsibility.

While at Skidmore Wheelock directed the Educational Leadership Corps, a mentoring program launched by the Hudson Mohawk Association of Colleges and Universities and designed to encourage students from culturally diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in higher education.

During 1993–94, while teaching at Qufu Teachers University in Shandong Province, China, Wheelock kept in touch regularly with Skidmore through the student newspaper, submitting “Letters from China”—a series of colorful anecdotes and observations. Upon his return to the United States, Wheelock (who was named Model Foreign Teacher of the Year by Shandong provincial authorities) presented to a variety of audiences a talk and slide show based on his experiences in China.

In summing up Wheelock’s contributions to Skidmore, colleague Diggory says, “He has worked tirelessly inside and outside the classroom to bring the English department closer to being the kind of intellectual community we all would like to imagine.”

http://www.skidmore.edu/scope/spring2002/faculty/retire.html

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PS: Check out this link, a bibliography of Lovecraft citicism.

http://www.thesicklytaper.com/LOVECRAFT.html

Monday, July 05, 2010

Ben Indick (1975)


INDICK: GENTLEMAN FROM PROVIDENCE - Pens a Letter
The seller states: “A Gentleman from Providence Pens a Letter,” by Ben P. Indick, a Cthulhu Mythos story in the form of a letter from H. P. Lovecraft. Published by The Strange Company in 1975, this is their “Folio No. 1” and is limited to 100 copies; it consists of six 8.5 x 11 inch leaves laid into a printed paper folder.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Is this Mrs. Wood?


Happy 4th of July !!!
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Chrispy wondered, as he trolled the ancient documents of Da Google, if this was the Mrs. Wood? There are uncanny matches. There is also a minor disagreement that she was 100 in 1895, and lived in Worcester, MA at her end days. Foster, RI is some miles (more than Providence is to Foster, I think) from Worcester. However, HPL's recollection seemed to be her canned spiel to curious folks. Holmes' memory matches Lovecraft's closely. See specifically the bold sections of the two memories below.

However, an alternate interpretation is that Foster was but one stop on the "1896 vacation" tour and that the Lovecrafts also made it into Worcester? Alternatively, Mrs. Wood might have been carted about receiving various honors?
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HPL to August Derleth 9 September 1931

In 1896, when I was six years old, I was taken to visit in the Western Rhode Island region whence my maternal stockcame; and there met an ancient gentlewoman - a Mrs. Wood, daughter to a rebel officer in the late unfortunateuprising against His majesty's lawful authority - who was celebrating with proper pride her hundredth birthday. Mrs. Wood was born in the year 1796, and could walk and talk when Genl. Washington breath'd his last. And now, in 1896, I was conversing with her - with one who had talked to people in periwigs and three-cornered hats, and had studied schoolbooks with the long s! Young as I was, the idea gave mea tremendous feeling of cosmic victory over time.
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From: On the lineal descendents of William Wood who settled in Concord, Massachusetts in 1638. Compiled by Clay W Holmes of Elmira, NY (1901)

Nancy Wood, born Westminster, July 12, 1795. Married Nov. 12, IHIG to William Kilburn, son Calvin Kilburn of Princeton, born Sept. 29, 1789. He died in Holden, Oct. 21, 1867. She died July 4, 1898. To Nancy Wood belongs the distinction of having outlived any other member of the Wood race, so far as is known. Her early years were spent in Westminster. Immediately after her marriage they settled in Chaffinville, Holden. Here her married life was spent, seven children born. After nearly half a century her husband died and the remainder of her life was spent with her children in Michigan and Worcester, the last eight years with her daughter Myra Davis in Worcester. She celebrated her one hundredth birthday in 1895, and her portrait herewith presented is from a photograph taken on that day. At that time she retained her faculties to a wonderful degree. While her hearing and sight and powers of locomotion were impaired to a considerable degree, they were quite as good as with many of less years. Her memory of past events however was phenomenal, and conversation with her on early times was extremely interesting. She had lived under every president and remembered distinctly the impression produced on the country by the death of Washington, also the fact that her father and others wore crape at that time. She and her husband were passengers on the first railroad train from Worcester to Boston in 1835. At the period of her centennial, her direct descendants included eleven grand children and seven great grand children. Up to her 96th year she could walk comfortably on the street. She joined the Congregational Church early in life and continued a faithful member to the day of her death. She lacked but eight days of being one hundred and three years old at her death, which occurred at the home of her daughter Myra, in Worcester, July 4, 1898.
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So, she was born in 1795 and Lovecraft met her at six years old. It has now been 120 years since he was born! Dear Heavens! It's surrealistic! Have a Happy 4th of July, dead US compatriots. To all others, pray that our old red, white, and blue will strive to act more honorably in the future than we have in our past.

Saturday, July 03, 2010

A Piece of Vintage High School Ephemera (1911)



Not Lovecraftian, but shows a similar High School and a special speaking program. Undoubtedly Hope Street High School would not have been shown up by this school, so Lovecraft could have availed himself of a little "culture" had he wanted to do so.

Friday, July 02, 2010

Some Providence Theaters in HPL's era

These were examples of theater that HPL could have visited.
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1926 The Judge's Husband Providence Opera House
ITEM: A four page theatre handbill for William Hodge in The Judge's Husband. Performing at The Providence Opera House ///// DATE : The week of Monday April 26th. ///// SIZE: 8 by 5 inches ///// COMMENTS: Produced by Lee Shubert.

(no images available)

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1925 Theatre Program The Modern Theatre
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1923 Providence Opera House Handbill "Molly Darling"
4 1/2 By 6 Inches /// COMMENTS: Handbill for "Molly Darling" Starring Jack Donahue, Mary Milburn, Clarence Nordstrom, Jay Gould. beginning Monday April 30th.

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