Let's Learn More About J C Henneberger Part 3a

Previous posts on Henneberger are here and here. You can also search the blog for many other salient anecdotes. Soon, Chrispy will post an index to the Lovecraft-Houdini-Henneberger-CM Eddy connections.

Today we will see another interesting anecdote from September 1925.

Recall that C M Eddy was in correspondence separately with Lovecraft, Houdini, and Henneberger. We know that he met Lovecraft in person at least by August 1923, and almost immediately things began to happen - almost in a whirlwind around the new pulp Weird Tales.

We read (1) in Joshi's Biography that ... in September {1924} an old freind reappeared on the scene - J. C. Henneberger.

(2) HPL writes to Aunt Lillian ... Am ceasing answering advts {adverts/advertising for a job} for a while, to give Henneberger a chance to prove his business sincerity. He has - or says he has - hired me for his new magazine at a salary beginning at $40.00 per wk & later going up. (HE SAYS) to $100. I'll have to give him my undivided time, of course, but I'll lose nothing thereby, since at the moment he stops paying I can stop working. First payment - a week from tomorrow. His plans sound more businesslike than ever before.

(3) Joshi is sure this does not refer to Weird Tales, though. He refers to the 7 Sept. meeting with Henneberger ... (4) ... he {Henneberger} told ne of the new lease of life achieved by Weird Tales and of the fine job he had in store for me.

Joshi (3) believes that Farnsworth Wright had already been appointed as editor of Weird Tales since his first edition under his direction was November 1923 - appearing in October.

Joshi believes that once Weird Tales had settled, he would create a new pulp Magazine of Fun (5) and Henneberger telephoned Lovecraft (6) ... wanting me to turn out some samples of my adapting jokes for his proposed magazine. It was on the basis of these samples that Henneberger hired HPL.

Henneberger either did not have the resources to start the pulp or HPL and henneberger subsequntly could not agree on some particular. The pulp did not appear and HPL had no job.
The salary ended up being a $60 credit at the Scribner Book Shop and so finally he and Long went to the store on 9 October to buy four books by Dunsany, seven by Machen, five on colonial architecture, and a present for Long - The Thing in the Woods. (7) Long interprets it as a payment for Weird Tales stories accepted.

... to be continued ...


1. S T Joshi, H P Lovecraft: A Life, Necronomicon Press, 1999, p. 337
2. ibid. p. 337 and n.50 = p. 670; HPL to Lillian D Clark, 18 September 1924, postcard, ms. John Hay Library.
3. Ibid. p. 338
4. Ibid. p. 338, n. 51 = p. 670, HPL to Lillian D. Clark, 29-30 September 1924, ms. JH Library.
5. p. 3338, n. 52 = p. 670, Robert Weinberg in Science Fiction Fantasy and Weird Fiction Magazines, ed. Marshall Tynn and Mike Ashley Westport CT Greenwood Press, 1985, p. 727
6. Ibid. p. 338, n. 53 = p. 670, HPL to Lillian D. Clark, 29-30 September 1924, ms. JH Library.
7. Ibid. p. 338, n. 54 = p. 670, Dreamer on the Nightside, pp. 80-82.