Happy Halloween (1911)

We know a few things about the 21 year old Lovecraft in 1911. He loved cats, especially black cats. He would have been appalled at any hint of superstition, magic, or that Halloween was anything special.

It's fascinating to see that 1911 was the year of the "witch in red". Here are several examples, all from 1911.

April 1922: The Woodbee

The seller epegana once again pulls a rarity out of thin air. Read:
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Description:
"THE WOODBEE" - April, 1922
Edited & Published by Leo Fritter
"Mr. Lovecraft makes our case!" - Leo Fritter

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was a very big fish in the pond of Amateur Journalism and it has always astounded me {Terrence McVicker} why he continued to participate in Amateur Journalism virtually until the day he died; this bone of contention is one example. The editor and former president of the United membership Leo Fritter, engaged in a multi-issue criticism of Lovecraft's snubbing of amateur writings except those of himself and his friends.."monopoly is Mr. Lovecraft's own child, conceived and born of his arbitrary methods in passing upon the manuscripts submitted to him...he rejects much good material, simply because it does not suit his tastes" . Lovecraft had responded by stating that he was attempting to "raise the literary standards" but Fritter responded by saying "the standards are so high that only a few gifted members can qualify...Mr. Lovecraft is out of tune ...he travels so high that only a few can live in the rare atmosphere upon which he seems to thrive!...Just where Mr. Lovecraft did you get your self-assumed....Grand Mogul and High Priest...receive your appointment...and from whence comes your right to thus speak as the Supreme Court of Amateur Journalism?" - Leo Fritter

Certainly this is pretty strong stuff! Three pages of criticism of HPL & his policies. These attacks by Leo Fritter are noted in Joshi's biography of Lovecraft.

Nice copy of this slick-papered 'zine stapled.

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From Joshi (HPL: A Life} p,.181, Leo Fritter had been supported by HPL in 1915 for president. Fritter expressed a widely held sentiment that HPL was being too strict in his selection. Lovecraft concluded, "The question is one which should ultimately be decided at the polls." {CP}

Lin Carter on Lovecraft (1957)

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Lin Carter - HP Lovecraft: The Books , Omissions , Corrections , and Errata
Lin Carter - HP Lovecraft: The Gods
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Inside Science Fiction (please note by this time , the magazine reverted back to the original issue #'ering ) 64 pages, cover Jerry Prueitt {Robbie the Robot homage}, interior artwork by Roy Hunt , Jerry Prueitt , Roy Hunt , Cindy , others

highlights:
features:

Lin Carter - HP Lovecraft The Books , Omissions , Corrections , and Errata
Lin Carter - HP Lovecraft The Gods
Dave Foley - Resounding Science Fiction
James Gunn - Writing Of Science Fiction
Bob Leman - Conformity In Science Fiction
Jeanne Davis - The Heiresses ( fiction )
+ many many book reviews ( Bester , Blish , Walt Kelly "Pogo's Sunday Punch" , Arthur C Clarke , Isaac Asimov , and many many more )
+ a letter column
editorial content , cartoon gags
+ much more

New Edition of "Supernatural Horror in Literature"

H. P. Lovecraft's "Supernatural Horror in Literature," first published in 1927, is widely recognized as the finest historical survey of horror literature ever written. Beginning with instances of weirdness in ancient literature, Lovecraft proceeds to discuss horror writing in the Renaissance, the first Gothic novels of the late 18th century, the revolutionary importance of Edgar Allan Poe, the work of such leading figures as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ambrose Bierce, and William Hope Hodgson, and the four "modern masters" -- Arthur Machen, Lord Dunsany, Algernon Blackwood and M. R. James. This edition includes extensive footnoting by S. T. Joshi, a bibliography of the works of the authors cited, and an index, making this edition truly an effective research tool.

Contents

Preface, by S. T. Joshi
Introduction, by S. T. Joshi
Supernatural Horror in Literature
Introduction
The Dawn of the Horror-Tale
The Early Gothic Novel
The Apex of Gothic Romance
The Aftermath of Gothic Fiction
Spectral Literature on the Continent
Edgar Allan Poe
The Weird Tradition in America
The Weird Tradition in the British Isles
The Modern Masters
Appendix
The Favourite Weird Stories of H.P. Lovecraft
Notes
Bibliography of Authors and Works
Index

Cthulhu Mythos (2008)

THE CTHULHU MYTHOS ENCYCLOPEDIA by Daniel Harms
This is the third edition of his popular and extensive encyclopedia of the Cthulhu Mythos. Updated with more fiction listings and recent material, this unique book spans the years of H.P. Lovecraft influence in culture, entertainment, and fiction. The voluminous entries make The Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia invaluable for anyone knowledgeable about the Cthulhu Mythos and necessary for those longing to learn about the Cosmic Horrors from past and present decades.
There are 2 edition of this available:
Signed Trade Paperback
200-copy Signed and Numbered Hardcover

The Fantasy Fan of August 1934

The seller states: An original vintage August 1934, Vol. 1 #12 issue of the early science fiction, digest-sized fanzine, “The Fantasy Fan” edited by Charles D. Hornig. Inspired by the professional fantastic themed magazines of the era (“Amazing Stories”, “Astounding” and “Weird Tales”) this 16 page issue features current news by Julius Schwartz (later of DC comics fame) and Mortimer Weisinger and Part 11 of “Supernatural Horror in Literature” by the great H.P. Lovecraft making it a rarity for H.P. Lovecraft collectors. The magazine is complete but because of the fragile nature of the browning pulp paper there are several chips out, none of which effect the text of the articles.

Crypt of Cthulhu 58

"CRYPT OF CTHULHU" - #58 , Vol. 7, No. 8
A Critical Commentary on the Necronomicon
Edited by Robert M. Price
This issue of "COC" devotes its entirety to an exhaustive study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's most infamous creation, his "Necronomicon" by the mad Arabic author, Abdul Alhazred. This issue is entirely written by Dr./Reverend Price and contains extensive footnoting and bibliography.

1923: A Lovecraft Invitation

The seller states: An Announcement card from H. P. Lovecraft, President - July, 1923 // Howard Phillips Lovecraft was only a scant few months away from having his work appear in "Weird Tales" magazine, and presiding over the National Amateur Press Association had to be the furthest-most task on his mind. However with William Dowdell's being "impeached" and voted out of office (HPL said later for "running off with a chorus girl") he was forced to once again assume the mantle of "President", if only for a few months. The Forth-Eighth Annual Convention of the National Amateur Press Association took place in Cleveland, Ohio July 2-4, 1923. HPL did not attend but he did hold office long enough to have his name printed on the invitation card.

Frank B Long and Arkham

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Seller's notes:
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Description:

"Dear Frank" - Signed letter from August Derleth to Frank (Belknap Long) - 18 February, 1961

re: "The Horror from the Hills"

A brief but interesting note from A.D. to his friend and friend to Howard Phillips Lovecraft - Frank Belknap Long, requesting of him a manuscript copy of "The Horror From the Hills". to prepare it for publication from Arkham House. Now unfortunately I do not have the follow up correspondence regarding the $50 fee for having the manuscript retyped, but I would assume (knowing Long's constant financial deprivation) that Long no doubt retyped it himself!

Letter is signed with Derleth's customary squiggle. Light staining as this was housed in Long's unkempt apartment for years.

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Description:


"Dear Mr. Squires" - Signed letter from James Turner to Roy A. Squires - 3 December, 1975

upon Arkham House stationary

Following the death of August Derleth in 1971, Arkham House spiraled nearly out of control for a few years. James Turner became managing editor and indeed "managed" to right the ship, bringing on board some major talents from the pool of younger modern writers and artists, and at the same time keeping the older more traditional Arkham House scriviners on board. This letter to noted bookseller, publisher, printer and bibliographer Roy Squires, brings to light the early negotiations with author Frank Belknap Long regarding his book "In Mayan Splendor".

Letter is signed by James Turner.

Ed Lee's short story project announced

{Chrispy is an Ed Lee fan.}

... I'm GIDDY at the prospect. I'll start the GAST rewrite in about a month; until then I'm working on a 15000-word short story (I believe I've mentioned this in the past) that's believe it or not, ANOTHER Lovecraftian project. The story's called "Trolley No. 1852"; any HPL-philes out there might recall that designation from notes that HPL wrote in 1934 detailing one of his nightmares; he entitled the notes "The Thing in the Moonlight." August Derleth estimated that Lovecraft wanted to incorporate this nightmare into a bonafide story but he could never come up with any ideas before he died. Well, I HAVE come up with an idea, and it's pretty off the wall. In my story, HPL is invited to write a porn story pseudonymously for a subversive privately circulated erotica mag. In it I will be putting HPL's nightmare images to good use. So far I'm only 2000 words into it but it's going well (though trying to imitate Lovecraft's style is a bit inhibiting!) I hope he approves...

Anyway, that's my latest news. Thanks all for your continued support!

Best,
Edward Lee

Not HPL but cool Utpatel Illo.

OK, OK, this has nothing to do with Lovecraft, but it's a cool image from a great artist. Also a chance to get a little Derleth, Bloch, and van Vogt in the blog. :)
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THE PONTINE DOSSIER - Annual Edition,Vol. 1, No. 1971 // "The Pontine Dossier" was a booklet for those interested in Sherlock Holmes, Solar Pons, Fu Manchu, Nayland Smith and all detectives of the nineteenth century. It attracted the likes of Robert Bloch (here represented with a poem "Crumbs For A Toast For Solar Pons"), and A. E. Van Vogt ("Secret Deductive Systems" (Of Holmes & Pons)). Also includes excellent poetic tips-of-the-hat to "Fu Manchu" , and "Jack the Ripper" by Edward Lauterbach.Handsomely printed with stiff-paper covers featuring a terrific Frank Utpatel illustration of a deer-stalkered detective

Lovecraft and Franklin Roosevelt (1936)

Lovecraft and politics? Lovecraft in crowds of maddening, sweaty people? Well, apparently. This is a very different Lovecraft than we sometimes think of, a man who gets out and doesn't mind the hoi poloi.

{To Barlow, 30 November 1936 in O Fortunate Floridian} On Oct. 20 I had my first sight of Pres. Rooselvelt, who was in town in the morning & who spake from the terrace of our marble state-house. Despite the crowds {see article below, highlight}, I obtained several close & excellent glimpses of the distinguished visitor whose coming triumph was so obvious - my third sight of a chief executive; T R & Big Bill Taft constituting the others. The subsequent election was satisfying enough! ... Arounf election-time I came damn near having a family feud on my hands! Poor old ostriches.

Yes this is certainly a different Lovecraft than we have in our mind's eye.

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Time Magazine of Monday, Nov. 02, 1936

Frenzy in New England

In the long hot weeks of summer Franklin Roosevelt looked down his nose, disparaging the idea that he should campaign for reelection. When late in droughty August he began making "nonpolitical" campaign speeches newshawks plagued him with demands for the date of his first political speech. "About Jan. 4," he jibed. But last week when New England's birches were yellow, her maples orange, her oaks red, Franklin Roosevelt had lost his coyness about campaigning. He was out on the stump with other politicians, waving his hat at the electorate. His weekdays and nights were full of political speeches, bis Sundays with going to church, his face with smiles, his mouth with greetings to "my old friend. . . ."

At the last moment he considered making a trip back to Ohio and Indiana, later reconsidered, deciding it would be an admission of nervousness about the election outcome. For this week, the last of the campaign, he dated himself up for a series of speeches that would take him from the Statue of Liberty to his polling place at Hyde Park by way of Wilkes-Barre. Harrisburg, Camden, Wilmington, Washington, Brooklyn. Madison Square Garden and a microphone in Poughkeepsie. Only sense in this zig-zag itinerary was that it would take him through a maximum number of places where the New Deal needed votes.

Not so far fetched but equally fabulous was his campaigning last week when with the same urge that drove Alf Landon to invade New Deal California, the President took a swing through anti-New Deal New England. One fair autumn morning he woke up aboard his special train in Providence, and began greeting people: Mrs. Roosevelt who had arrived before him, Rhode Island's Governor Green and a fine figure of a man in a cutaway and topper.

"Jim, how are you?" said the President. "I'm glad to see you." Governor James Michael Curley of Massachusetts beamed. Although there is little love lost between them, Franklin Roosevelt cannot afford to have Boss Curley's machine knife him in Massachusetts and Boss Curley needs all of Franklin Roosevelt's popularity that he can borrow if he is to be elected to the U. S. Senate.

One more greeter appeared before the President left the railroad yards, an old Negro.

"Will you," he asked, "shake this black hand?"

"You bet I will!" said Franklin Roosevelt, and did.

To the 30,000 greeters who stood before the Rhode Island Capitol, men, women and plentiful numbers of children Franklin Roosevelt made the first of many speeches. Afterward, with Governor Green beside him, he drove the short distance to the place where Rhode Island ends and Massachusetts begins. There began one of the most frenzied episodes of the campaign. From town to town the Democratic procession roared down broad highway No. 6, past great "Roosevelt & Curley" posters, sometimes racing three abreast. Questions of precedence were settled by stepping on the accelerator. Moving vans and beer trucks joined in the careening motorcade. Newshawks' hair stood on end but Governor Curley is used to fast driving and there were no accidents.

Real Science Meets Lovecraft's Imagination: Nyarlathotep

The Black Band of Nyarlathotep?

Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become ... Song by Toto

Really Cool History
By Janet Raloff
Web edition
Friday, October 17th, 2008
{excerpts -CP}

... Lonnie Thompson and his colleagues at Ohio State University {keep specimens} quite cool, as in frigid. But that’s the price these scientists pay to preserve some 7,000 ice cores — archives of regional environments around the world, some depicting conditions that existed more than 10,000 years ago.

One core that particularly captured my attention was collected atop Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro. The glacier there is rapidly evaporating. But Thompson’s crew has extracted one core from the site that contains ice that at its bottom dates back 11,700 years. And at a depth corresponding to 4,200 years ago, this core exhibits a curious 3 millimeter black band. It’s dust, Lonnie explains, and appears to help corroborate some ancient archeological records from Egypt, half a continent away.

Egyptian history archived in ice atop a 15,000-foot glacier in central East Africa? Yep. Not far-fetched at all, he says. Indeed, by marrying physical data from ice cores to anthropological records, Thompson says, “we can start to figure out the role that climate and environment played on the rise and fall of cultures.”

There’s no written records of what settlements in East Africa and the Andes were experiencing at that time. But there is such a record from Egypt, Lonnie says. “And you find that this period corresponds to the fall of the Old Kingdom, which is when the pyramids were built, and the rise of the Middle Kingdom.”

Enscribed onto the tombs of pharaohs are tales describing the history of their realm. “These are usually glowing tales of conquests and expansion,” Lonnie explains — much like you often hear politicians crow about today.

Except there was one period in Egypt — 4,186 years ago — when the news was anything but upbeat. Hieroglyphic accounts reported tales of people migrating north and south in a search for food. The stories describe sand dunes crossing from one side of the mighty Nile to the other. Horror stories recounted episodes of mass starvation. Further north, in the Middle East, archeologists have unearthed evidenced of huge cities that came to an abrupt end 4,200 years ago.

The Kilimanjaro black-dust band: “We believe it comes from the Middle East and Africa,” he says. “It appears to record a 300 year drought that impacted the entire region.” And some of that telltale dust appears to have traveled across and up into the Andes.

The question, Thompson says, is how widespread this drought was. Because he also finds markers of it in ice cores he’s brought back from Tibet.

The number and geographic distribution of cores exhibiting the black band allow scientists to probe such apparently devastating events — and show that they can be wide scale and last centuries.

Keep in mind, Thompson says, these were natural climate anomalies. {Or was it the terror of Nyarlathotep?? - CP}

Citation: http://www.sciencenews.org/index/generic/activity/view/id/37643/title/Really_Cool_History

Yig: Found?

{Real Life Science Continues to meet HPL's imagination.}

But the whisperers said that Dr. McNeill could shew me a very terrible relic and tell me all I wanted to know. He could explain why Yig, the half-human father of serpents, is a shunned and feared object in central Oklahoma, and why old settlers shiver at the secret Indian orgies which make the autumn days and nights hideous with the ceaseless beating of tom-toms in lonely places.

Fossil find may document largest snake
By Sid Perkins
Scince News, Web edition

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

CLEVELAND — Rocks beneath a coal mine in Colombia have yielded fossils of what could be the world’s largest snake, a relative of today’s boa constrictor that was12.8 meters long and weighed more than a ton.

Few of today’s snakes exceed 9 meters in length, says Jonathan Bloch, a vertebrate paleontologist at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Some of the snakes that lived about 60 million years ago, however, would have dwarfed their modern kin, he reported Wednesday in Cleveland at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.

At a site in northern Colombia, Bloch and his colleagues unearthed the partial remains of an ancient snake. Each of the dozen or so vertebrae in that body segment measured about 10 centimeters across. That’s about twice the width of the largest vertebra taken from a 6-meter–long, modern-day anaconda, another modern relative, Bloch notes.

None of the ribs included in the fossil are complete, but the size and curvature of the fragments that remain indicate that the snake “would have had trouble fitting though the door into your office,” he adds. The gargantuan fossils represent an as yet unnamed species.

Estimating a snake’s length from fragmentary remains is difficult because most of the creature’s vertebrae differ only in their size, not in their proportions. Bloch and his colleagues can’t readily determine whether the segment that they unearthed came from the thickest portion of the snake, so their estimates of the snake’s size and weight are minimum values. The researchers contend that the ancient snake they discovered would have stretched at least 12.8 meters and weighed at least 1.27 metric tons.

Even one complete vertebra can enable scientists to make good estimates of a snake’s minimum length, says S. Blair Hedges, an evolutionary biologist at Penn State University in University Park. “This [snake] is definitely bigger than any modern-day snake,” he notes. The record length for a living species belongs to a reticulated python that measured 10 meters long.

The rocks that once entombed the snake remains had been laid down as clay-rich sediments on floodplains near a coastline about 60 million years ago, Bloch says. Other fossils excavated from the same layers include an aquatic turtle whose shell was 2 meters across and whose skull was the size of a dinner plate. So far, the paleontologists haven’t unearthed any mammal fossils at the site, so it’s a mystery as to what these creatures preyed upon.


The Curse of Yig can be found: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Curse_of_Yig

Science versus Charlatanry (1979)

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Kind of a different book. This tends to show the energy Mr. Joshi was putting into scholarly and reference work for Lovecraft in the late 1970's and onward.
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Science versus Charlatanry
Essays on Astrology by H.P. Lovecraft & J.F. Hartmann
edited by S.T. Joshi & Scott Connors
The Strange Co.

Science versus Charlatanry: edited by S.T. Joshi & Scott Connors. The Strange Co., 1979, Paperback, 53 pages. Limited to 200 copies, this is copy 119. UNREAD, clean covers & pages, very tight square binding, no previous owner bookplates or signatures. Contains essays on astrology by H.P. Lovecraft & J.F. Hartmann (see list below). Scarce.

“Recently a quack named Hartmann, a devotee of the pseudo-science of Astrology, commenced to disseminate the usual pernicious fallacies of that occult art through the columns of The News, so that in the interest of true Astronomy I was forced into a campaign of invective and satire. I began seriously, with Science versus Charlatanry, which I followed up with The Falsity of Astrology, but eventually the stupid persistence of the modern Nostradamus forced me to adopt ridicule as my weapon. I thereupon went back to my beloved age of Queen Anne for a precedent, and decided to emulate Dean Swift’s famous attacks on the astrologer Partridge, conducted under the nom de plume of Isaac Bickerstaffe (or Bickerstaff—I have seen it spelled both ways). Accordingly I published a satirical article wherein I gave with an air of solemn gravity the most nonsensical collection of wild prophecies that my brain could conceive; the whole entitled Astrology and the Future, and signed ‘Isaac Bickerstaffe, Jr.’ I there ‘predicted’ the end of the world by an explosion of internal gases in the year 4954. Hartmann scarce knew whether or not to take me seriously, and kept up his mountebank performances, so I prepared another Bickerstaffe paper whose ridicule should become more open toward the end. In this final effort, Delavan’s Comet and Astrology, I explained how the human race shall be preserved after the destruction of the earth, by transportation to the planet Venus! Even the obtuse intellect of the charlatan must have discovered the sarcastic nature of this ponderous prophecy, for he has now quietly ceased to inflict his false notions on a gullible public.” (to Maurice W. Moe, 8 December 1914)

Science versus Charlatanry includes:
Introduction - Scott Connors & S.T. Joshi
Astrology and the European War - J.F. Hartmann
Science versus Charlantanry - H.P. Lovecraft
(Letter to the Editor) - J.F. Hartmann
The Falsity of Astrology - H.P. Lovecraft
Astrology and the Future - Isaac Bickerstaffe, Jr.
The Science of Astrology - J.F. Hartmann
Delavan's Comet and Astrology - Isaac Bickerstaffe, Jr.
A Defense of Astrology -J.F. Hartmann
The Fall of Astrology - H.P. Lovecraft
(Isaac Bickerstaffe's reply) - Isaac Bickerstaffe, Jr.

2008 Barnes and Noble Edition

Martin was kind enough to send an alert on this edition.
Thanks, Martin!!





Synopsis
In the 1920s and ‘30s, H.P. Lovecraft pioneered a new type of weird fiction that fused elements of supernatural horror with the concepts of visionary science fiction. Lovecraft’s tales of cosmic horror revolutionized modern horror fiction and earned him the reputation as the most influential American writer of weird tales since Edgar Allan Poe.

This omnibus collects for the first time in a single volume all of Lovecraft’s groundbreaking fiction: “The Call of Cthulhu,” “The Dreams in the Witch House,” “The Haunter of the Dark,” “At the Mountains of Madness,” “The Shadow out of Time,” “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” the full-length novels The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath, and many others.

H.P. Lovecraft: The Fiction is part of Barnes & Noble’s Library of Essential Writers. Each title in the series presents the finest works—complete and unabridged—from one of the greatest writers in literature in magnificent, elegantly designed hardback editions. Every volume also includes an original introduction that provides the reader with enlightening information on the writer’s life and works.

1959: Derleth on Lovecraft

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At about 22 years after Lovecraft's passing, Mr. Derleth continued to promote Lovecraft's memory.
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Seller;s Notes: Up for auction is the Arkham House chapbook "Some Notes On H.P. Lovecraft" by August Derleth, and published in 1959 with an edition of only 1044 copies. The book provides an examination, by Derleth, of some HPL myths, as well as explanations of unfinished manuscripts; HPL in Florida visiting Robert Barlow and four letters to Derleth from Lovecraft.

James Schevill's "Lovecraft's Follies" (1971)

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Foundation for Repertory Theater of Rhode Island Production. 33 years after Lovecraft's death, his legend grows.
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Seller's Notes: Up for auction is a copy of the scarce hardcover edition of James Schevill's, "Lovecraft's Follies". This was a surrealist play centering around Lovecraft. The book was published by the Swallows Press in 1971. It sports a Margaret Brundage Weird Tales cover dust jacket. This book is listed in the Joshi biblio. as # III-G-iv-6. Along with the book is a rare copy of the actual playbill for the play, which had it's world premiere March 10, 1970, in Providence Rhode Island. The cover of the playbill shows the unaltered 'Weird' cover.

Lovecraft and Music

Here is a representation of Lovecraft's Legacy - and his circle of colleagues - roughly 40 years after his decease.
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Seller's Notes: Up for auction are three issues of "The Romantist" an annual publication of the F. Marion Crawford Memorial Society. The editors are John C. Moran, Don Herron and Steve Eng. The issues present are #1, #2, & #4-5. These were published between 1977-1981. The print run of each issue of this beautiful 8 1/2" x 11" perfect bound fanzine was only 300 copies. All copies have been hand numbered. This 'zine' ran from 75 to over 100 pages. Contributors include, as well as the editors, H. Warner Munn, Donald Sidney-Fryer, Charles K. Wolfe, Kenneth W. Faig, Dirk W. Mosig and others. Issue #4-5 was devoted to the now deceased, Munn, but also included an article on Sheridan Le Fanu, composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold (think Robin Hood & The Sea Hawk...), and a Lovecraft article, "Lovecraft and Music" by August Derleth and S.T. Joshi and much, much more. A great publication. Condition varies from VG/VG+. All issues are still square but the Munn issue (#4-5) has a cover corner bump and some binding wrinkles on the spine. Issue #2 has 2'' frayed edge on the spine and #1 is a little soiled on the lower left front cover. Overall the issues are pretty nice. See pictures. This is now an uncommon publication and here is a chance to pick them up cheap.

Lovecraft's Legacy in Australia (1955)

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Nearly 18 years after Lovecraft's death, Australian fans recalled Lovecraft in this commemorative. The Weird Tales writers - fictioneers as E Hoffmann Price called them - were fondly remembered.

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The seller (epegana) states: "THE FOURTH AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION" - Mar. 18-20, 1955 // In memory of Stanley G. Weinbaum, Abraham Merritt, Howard P. Lovecraft, Robert E. HowardI offer the official "Souvenir Booklet of The Fourth Australian Science Fiction Convention" held in 1955 in Sydney, Australia. The booklet is twenty-four pages in length with stiff-paper stapled covers and lists all committee members, all programming for the Convention, and a page for autographs.This was Roy A. Squires' copy and bears his signature. Squires did not attend but did place an advertisement in the booklet for his publication "The Science Fiction Advertiser".

The Picture in the House Inspiration

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This is a few generations removed from Lovecraft's copy (probably) but it's still interesting to contemplate him perusing a book like this and getting a weird spark of imagination. The images aren't terrific. I included a better one. The entire text can be read at http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE7/NatHis.html.
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Sellers's notes: This is a great volume for all fans of Weird Fiction Master H.P. Lovecraft. In Lovecraft's classic horror story "The Picture in the House" the protagonist finds an old copy of the Regnum Congo by Filippo Pigafetta which contains a description of the cannibalistic Anzique tribe of Africa and an old illustration of an Anzique version of a butcher's shop with a human being cut up for sale (this illustration being THE "picture in the house"). This volume is the source for Lovecraft's information about the Regnum Congo, including the information on the Anziques and the infamous illustration itself! This is an old (undated, but seemingly 1940s) hardcover edition of the volume Man's Place in Nature by Thomas Henry Huxley which includes his lengthy essay "The Man-Like Apes" which included the information which Lovecraft used to create one of his most effective tales of Horror.

This volume includes reproductions of some of the DeBry illustrations contained in the original edition as well as all the information which Lovecraft himself had about the infamous text Regnum Congo. Truly a "must have" for any Lovecraft collection. 330 pages, well illustrated.

January 1934 Fantasy Fan

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An original vintage January 1934, Vol. 2 #5 issue of the early science fiction digest-sized fanzine, “Fantasy Magazine” which was edited by Conrad H. Ruppert, Julius Schwartz (later of DC Comics fame), Raymond Palmer, Mortimer Weisinger and Forrest J Ackerman who would go on to later edit “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine. This issue contains Part 1 of “The Vortex World” by Raymond Palmer, “An Experiment with Time”, a short story by Forry Ackerman and Francis Flagg (creator of Buck Rogers), Edmond Hamilton on himself, reviews by Schwartz of the Universal James Whale classic, “The Invisible Man” and by Ackerman on an unproduced Paramount sf film of the future to be titled “Frigidaired for the Future”. Magazine contains 36 pages, slick paper cover and back cover with pulp paper interior pages and is in overall good/very good condition with back cover chipped and detached. An early sf magazine for collectors of “Amazing Stories” and “Weird Tales”.

February 1934 Fantasy Fan

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No Lovecraft in this issue to my knowledge, but he would have read it.
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An original vintage February 1934, Vol. 2 #6 issue of the early science fiction digest-sized fanzine, “Fantasy Magazine” which was edited by Conrad H. Ruppert, Julius Schwartz (later of DC Comics fame), Raymond Palmer, Mortimer Weisinger and Forrest J Ackerman who would go on to later edit “Famous Monsters of Filmland” magazine. Inspired by the professional magazines of the time, such as “Amazing Stories” and “Weird Tales”, this issue contains Part 2 of the Raymond Palmer story “The Vortex World”, “Scientific Hoaxes” by Schwartz and Milton Kaletsky, “The Ether Fibrates” by Weisinger, and “Scientifilm Theme Songs” in which Ackerman suggests the utilization of popular songs of the time with then current sci-fi and fantasy films and a long review of the Fredric March version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Forry Ackerman. This 36 page magazine is in very good condition.

August 1934 Fantasy Fan

The seller (hollywoodmovieposters) states: An original vintage August 1934, Vol. 1 #12 issue of the early science fiction, digest-sized fanzine, “The Fantasy Fan” edited by Charles D. Hornig. Inspired by the professional fantastic themed magazines of the era (“Amazing Stories”, “Astounding” and “Weird Tales”) this 16 page issue features current news by Julius Schwartz (later of DC comics fame) and Mortimer Weisinger and Part 11 of “Supernatural Horror in Literature” by the great H.P. Lovecraft making it a rarity for H.P. Lovecraft collectors. The magazine is complete but because of the fragile nature of the browning pulp paper there are several chips out, none of which effect the text of the articles.

October 1934 Fantasy Fan

These are getting prettys rare these days.
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The seller (jwhitebooks) states: The OCTOBER 1934 issue (Dedicated to H. P. LOVECRAFT) of the fanzine THE FANTASY FAN, Volume 2 Number 2 (Whole Number 14), featuring:
Our Readers Say (H. P. LOVECRAFT, Richard F. SEAFIGHT, Robert NELSON, Fred John WALSEN, Duane W. RIMEL, Bob TUCKER, R. H. BARLOW, H. KOENIG, J. Sam SMART, F. Lee BALDWIN)
Within the Circle (by F. Lee BALDWIN)
Supernatural Horror in Literature (part 13, by H. P. LOVECRAFT)
The Favorite Weird Stories of H. P. LOVECRAFT (courtesy of H. KOENIG)
Weird Whisperings (by SCHWARTZ and WEISINGER)
Fungi From Yuggoth (I. The Book; II. Pursuit, by H. P. LOVECRAFT – these verses have never before been published)
Beyond the Wall of Sleep (by H. P. LOVECRAFT)
Editor, Charles D. HORNIG (137 West Grand Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey)
A NEAR FINE-FINE copy, slight darkening around the edges. Digest-sized.

A Day in the Life of Lovecraft: 7 October 1934

{To Barlow} Saw cinema of Treasure Island last week - splendid atmosphere of 18th century & the sea!

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17 August 1934 (USA) release date, so Lovecraft took about 6 weeks to get around to seeing this. Here are vintage images that Lovecraft might have seen in magazine ads and show scenes from the movie. One wonders that Lovecraft would be all that enthralled with the sea, but the 18th century would have set his imagination aglow.

Crypt of Cthulhu # 42 (1986)

The seller states: 72 page softcover horror fanzine is titled "Crypt of Cthulhu #42" and is dated Michaelmas 1986. Fanzine is published by Cryptic Publications, Bloomfield, NJ, and is copyright 1986. This issue is a special Frank Belknap Long Issue and has 6 different horror stories by Frank Belknap Long reprinted from 1920's and 1930's pulp magazines, including "Weird Tales", "Strange Stories", "Thrilling Mystery", etc. This issue also has several articles about Frank Belknap Long by H.P. Lovecraft and others. Front cover artwork is by Allen Koszowski.

Crypt of Cthulhu # 14 (1983)

52 page softcover horror fanzine is titled "Crypt of Cthulhu #14" and is dated St. John's Eve 1983. Fanzine is published by Cryptic Publications, Bloomfield, NJ, and is copyright 1983. This issue has numerous articles about H.P. Lovecraft and the Horror Genre in general. Articles are by Will Murray, Brian Lumley, Lin Carter, Charles Hofffman and others.

Crypt of Cthulhu # 41 (1986)

72 page softcover horror fanzine is titled "Crypt of Cthulhu #41" and is dated Lammas 1986. Fanzine is published by Cryptic Publications, Bloomfield, NJ, and is copyright 1986. This issue is a special Henry Kuttner Issue and has 8 different horror stories by Kuttner reprinted from 1930's "Weird Tales" and "Strange Stories" Pulp Magazines. Front cover artwork is by Robert H. Knox.

Crypt of Cthulhu # 23 (1984)

60 page softcover horror fanzine is titled "Crypt of Cthulhu #23" and is dated St. John's Eve 1984. Fanzine is published by Cryptic Publications, Bloomfield, NJ, and is copyright 1984. Book has 12 different stories by well known horror story authors. Stories are "The Necronomicon" by Frank Belknap Long (John Dee's translation), "The Revelations of Glaski" by Ramsey Campbell, "Cthaat Aquadingen" by Brian Lumley, "The Third Cryptical Book of Hsan" by Gary Myers, "The Necronomicon: Concerning Them From Outside" by Lin Carter, "The Book of Eibon: The Unbegotten Source" by Lin Carter, "Confessions of The Mad Monk Clithanus: The Incantation of The Elder Sign" by Lin Carter, "The Necronomicon - The Origin of A Spoof" by Colin Wilson, "Preface To The Necronomicon" by L. Sprague deCamp, "The Case of Simon's Necronomicon" by Robert C. Carey, "Lovecraft's Necronomicon: An Introduction By Robert M. Price, "Reconstructing DeVermis Mysteriis" by Robert M. Price, "Some Notes On The Eltdown Shards" by Robert M. Price, "The Pnakotic Manuscripts: A Study By Robert M. Price and "Prehuman Language In Lovecraft" by Will Murray. Front cover artwork is by Peter H. Gilmore. Interior artwork is by Mike MacKenzie and Rodolfo A. Ferraresi.

Crypt of Cthulhu # 17 (1983)

The seller states: 56 page softcover horror fanzine is titled "Crypt of Cthulhu #17" and is dated Hallowmas 1983. Fanzine is published by Cryptic Publications, Bloomfield, NJ, and is copyright 1983. This issue has 8 different articles and horror stories which are as follows: "Self-Parody In Lovecraft's Revisions" by Will Murray, "On 'The Loved Dead" by David E. Schultz, "New Clues To Lovecraft's Role In 'Out of The Eons' and 'The Crawling Chaos'" by Robert M. Price, "Mysteries of The Hoggar Region" by Will Murray, "Lovecraft's Contribution To 'Till A' The Seas'" by S. T. Joshi, "Irony" by William Shepherd, "The Wanderer's Return" by H.P. Lovecraft and "Lost Revisions" by Robert M. Price. Cover artwork is by Robert M. Price.

Crypt of Cthulhu # 10 (1982)

The seller of this item states: 60 page softcover horror fanzine is titled "Ashes And Others" by H.P. Lovecraft and divers hands and is dated 1982. Fanzine is published by Cryptic Publications, Bloomfield, NJ, and is copyright 1982. This issue has no number and has upcoming contents of Crypt of Cthulhu #11. I {the seller} have had virtually every issue of Crypt of Cthulhu and have never seen an issue numbered #10. I would assume this to be the #10 issue. If I am wrong please let me know. This issue has 9 different horror stories which are as follows: "Ashes" by C.M. Eddy, Jr. and H.P. Lovecraft, "The Sealed Casket" by Richard F. Searight, "The Sorcery of Aphlar" by Dwane {Duane} W. Rimel and H.P. Lovecraft, "Dreams of Yith" by Dwane W. Rimel and H.P. Lovecraft, "Dreams of Yid" by Dwane W. Rimel, "The Diary of Alonzo Typer" by William Lumley, "The Automatic Executioner" by Adolphe deCastro, "A Sacrifice To Science" by Adolphe deCastro and "The Lord of Illusion" by E. Hoffmann Price.