1929 A Hundred Years The Providence Journal Supplement

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1929 A Hundred Years The Providence Journal Supplement

1929 A Hundred Years The Providence Journal Supplement

1929 A Hundred Years The Providence Journal Supplement

1929 A Hundred Years The Providence Journal Supplement

Long, Cook, Derleth: 1929

Long, Frank Belknap. TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS). 1 1/2 pages on letter-size paper (with 1 1/2 inches trimmed from bottom), signed in black ink, "F. B. Long, Jr.", with five-line handwritten postscript, dated 8 October 1929, to "Dear Mr. Derleth" [August Derleth]. Long's first letter to Derleth, written in reply to one from Derleth. As Long mentions here, he had heard about Derleth from H. P. Lovecraft (whom he had known at this point for almost ten years; he would remain one of HPL's best friends) and says here that he had occasionally thought of writing him "but during the past few months I've been too morbidly depressed to enter into an extended correspondence with anyone." Promising to "discuss the tales you mention at length in a few days" -- tales by Long? by Derleth? by others? -- he mentions the demands of other work, including "a series of articles that I very unwisely agreed to undertake for a vile subway magazine on a commission basis." In his postscript he agrees to send Derleth a copy of his book, THE MAN FROM GENOA, a 31-page collection of poems published in 1926 by Paul Cook in Athol, Mass. (famous also as the publisher, or at least printer, of Lovecraft's THE SHUNNED HOUSE). "I would gladly give you a copy, but I still owe the publisher a substantial commission on all sales. It retails for a 1.25 -- but you may merely send me a dollar." "The writing style is both formless and inflated, very much the work of a young man still looking for his own voice and under the influence of Lovecraft, who, at this point, tended towards a stilted tone in his letters. Nevertheless, an interesting document by one of the more important spokes in the Lovecraft circle. If HPL was its center, then Derleth, in his later capacity as publisher at Arkham House, formed its circumference." - Robert Eldridge. Faint fold creases and minor edge nicks, very good overall. (#116740)

1929 Providence, RI & Vicinity Telephone Directory: 4 (Last)

Undoubdtedly, Lovecraft's Aunt would have had one of these. Sadly, the book was not turned to the "Lovecraft" or "Gamwell" page. Still, it's fascinating, and might have intriguing story or gaming possibilities.

He dashed to look up the number.

He dialed.

"I just saw it! I just saw the THING again. ... Do you hear something on the line? A clicking noise ... like lobster claws clicking as it seizes its prey? Oh, my God! That sound! It's in the wires. They're everywhere!"

1929 Providence, RI & Vicinity Telephone Directory: 3

1929 Providence, RI & Vicinity Telephone Directory: 2

1929 Providence, RI & Vicinity Telephone Directory: 1

Rare Charles Lamb Book Recently Auctioned

At the beginning of one The Dunwich Horror the following quotation:

"Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimaeras- dire stories of Celaeno and the Harpies- may reproduce themselves in the brain of superstition- but they were there before. They are transcripts, types- the archetypes are in us, and eternal. How else should the recital of that which we know in a waking sense to be false come to affect us at all? Is it that we naturally conceive terror from such objects, considered in their capacity of being able to inflict upon us bodily injury? O, least of all! These terrors are of older standing. They date beyond body- or without the body, they would have been the same... That the kind of fear here treated is purely spiritual- that it is strong in proportion as it is objectless on earth, that it predominates in the period of our sinless infancy- are difficulties the solution of which might afford some probable insight into our ante-mundane condition, and a peep at least into the shadowland of pre-existence."

The mysterious and Arcane quotation above is taken from this volume Witches and Other Night-Fears by Charles Lamb, this is a 1929 edition.





(Starting Bid was $55.50)

A Meteor Report: 1929

Lovecraft would have no doubt spotted this article in the NYT. It comes from the very cool site: Water UFO: http://www.waterufo.net/nodate.php?date=1067_1946

_____

June 11, 1929

SEES GIANT METEOR FALL
Prospector Reports One “Big as a Ship” Hitting Lake Superior.

SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. June 18 (Canadian Press). -- A strange tale was brought down to “The Soo” today from Michipicoten Island by Frank Kushick, a prospector, who said a huge meteor "about the size of a ship" fell into Lake Superior close to the island about 10 o'clock on the night of June 11. The meteor illuminated the island brilliantly and created a rumbling noise which was heard at Puckasaw and Pipe Rivers, twenty and twelve miles away, respectively, for two minutes after it fell.

Kushick’s story is supported by his brother Gordon and Augusta Weidman, camped about two miles away on the island.

The meteor fell between the island and the mainland, and there appeared to be two balls of fire, either following the meteor closely or attached to it. The air was full of sparks, he said. Quite a sea arose after the meteor struck the water. The rumbling noise is believed to have been caused by boiling water.
This is the original reference: N.Y. Times, June 19, 1929, p. 14

Call of Cthulhu in 1929's Deware After Dark

Here are a few anecdotes about this book. First up, the Brown University Library Shows this information:

The Howard P. Lovecraft Collection
Macaulay Company Publishers
Macaulay Company Publishers to Lovecraft, Howard P 1929 Aug 14 Box: 25 accession Number: A32500 [2h] 1 p.
Enclosing $15.00 check for publishing "The Call of Cthulhu" in Beware after Dark. On verso of HPL Fiction: The Whisperer in Darkness (ADfS), 22.

***

Then there's this:

Letter to Lester Anderson From Clark Ashton Smith
Auburn, Cal.July 31st, 1934

...I must confess that I failed to overenthuse over that yarn myself. After reading Creeps by Night, I came to the conclusion that my literary tastes were almost directly opposite to those of Dashiell Hammett. Harre's Beware after Dark is still unapproached in my opinion, as an anthology of weirds.

Cordially,
[s] Clark Ashton Smith

***

When it appeared in Weird Tales, "The Call of Cthulhu" impressed many of that magazine's readers, including Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan, who was moved to write to "The Eyrie," the Weird Tales letters column: "Mr. Lovecraft's latest story, 'The Call of Cthulhu,' is indeed a masterpiece, which I am sure will live as one of the highest achievements of literature. Mr. Lovecraft holds a unique position in the literary world; he has grasped, to all intents, the worlds outside our paltry ken. His scope is unlimited, and his range is cosmic."The tale also attracted the attention of an anthologist, T. Everett Harré, who reprinted it in a volume entitled Beware After Dark! (1929). (The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft, S T Joshi)

***

Finally, as seen on ebay: "BEWARE AFTER DARK!", PUBLISHED by MACAULAY COMPANY, FIRST EDITION, 1929 - One of the scarcest and most frequently overlooked of early horror anthologies, this lovely 460+ page hardcover was edited by T. Everett Harre, popular author of 'Behold the Woman' and 'One Hour - And Forever'. With a wonderful subtitle - "The World's Most Stupendous Tales of Mystery, Horror, Thrills and Terror" - it was the first major American publisher to anthologize H.P. Lovecraft, featuring 'The Call of Cthulhu'. Also included is Edmond Hamilton's first story, 'The Monster-God of Mamurth', as well as stories from E. F. Benson, Gouverneur Morris, Cynthia Stockley, Irvin S. Cobb, Lafcadio Hearn, Ellen Glasgow, Edward Lucas White, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Leonid Andreyeff, S. Carleton, Arthur Machen, Bassett Morgan, Robert Louis Stevenson, George W. Bayly, E. Philllips Oppenheim, Beatrice Grimshaw, M.P. Shiel, John Fleming Wilson and Gertrude Atherton. Eclectic and fascinating lineup. The book is complete; binding is solid, paper quality remains good; very minor spine lean; wear at extreme top/bottom of spine/cover corners; thin strip of shadowing along extreme right side of front of cover. Some nicks to page edges; overall light wear. Not mint, but quite solid - and very difficult to find. (Starting Bid $19.99)

The Tryout September 1929

TRYOUT, THE. September 1929 (volume 13, number 2). Edited by C. W. Smith. Haverhill, Mass.: C. W. Smith, September 1929 (volume 13, number 2). Small octavo, single issue, self wrappers, sewn. H. P. Lovecraft is briefly mentioned in this issue, including a notice that two of his stories would appear in forthcoming anthologies. No Lovecraft contributions to this issue. A fine copy. (#108462) Price: $25.00