LOVECRAFT COLLECTORS LIBRARY

The covers are all nondescript, each with a different color paper cover.

LOVECRAFT COLLECTORS LIB V.1-7 STRANGE PRESS

Book Condition: Very Good. An offset reprint of the complete set of 7 volumes originally printed by SSR Publications between 1952 - 1955 in limited editions of 75 numbered copies each. All volumes in this set are reproduced from copy #70 of the originals, and while undated, this reprint series was apparently done in the 1970s, possibly for EOD mailings & is not listed in Joshi's bibliography. Some light dust soiling / age-tanning to covers, else all 7 are in very good condition Joshi I-A-28-a, III-B-35, and II-C-27.
per Indicks history of the Esoteric Order of Dagon
"EOD's lucky 13th (1975-76?) contained 847 pages. Of these, 227 pages consisted of generous reprint by two acolytes, Scott Connors and Randy Everts, of a classic Lovecraftian lode of information, namely George Wetzel's long out of print Lovecraft Collectors Library, which had originally been a seven-volume mimeographed set. In that same mailing, Everts also contributed a 34 page wraps/bound reprint of a 1910 book about Ambrose Bierce, and Connors added his own 3 page Dagonzine".

Volume I:
SELECTED ESSAYS I HOWARD PHILLIPS
LOVECRAFT I VOLUME ONE I THE
LOVECRAFT COLLECTORS LIBRARY I EDITED
BY GEORGE WETZEL I [publishers device] 1952 I
SSR PUBLICATIONS I North Tonawanda New
York
”Idealism and Materialism—A Reflection"; 19-
22: “A Confession of Unfaith“; 23-26: ”Nietscheism [sic] and
-Realism”; [27-28]: blank.

Volume ll:
SELECTED ESSAYS I HOWARD PHILLIPS
LOVECRAFT I VOLUME TWO I THE
LOVECRAFT COLLECTORS LIBRARY I EDITED
BY GEORGE WETZEL I [publisher's device]
1953 I SSR PUBLICATIONS I North
Tonawanda New York ·
“A Descent to Avernus"; 11-12: ”The Brief
Autobiography of an Inconsequential Scribbler"; 13: ”Anglo-
Saxondom"; 15-16: ”Revolutionary Mythology”; 17-18: ”The
Trip of Theobaldf; 19-[2s]; A; [26-28]: blank.

Volume III:
SELECTED POETRY I HOWARD PHILLIPS
LOVECRAFT I VOLUME THREE I THE
LOVECRAFT COLLECTORS LIBRARY I EDITED
BY GEORGE WETZEL I [publisher’s device]
1953 I SSR PUBLICATIONS I North
Tonawanda New York
”Bells"; 7-8: “The Voice"; 9-10: ”On the Death of a Rhyming
Critic"; 11: “Monos: An Ode"; 12: "lnspiration”; 13-17: "Hylas
and Myrrha, a Tale"; 17: "Ambition"; 18-20: ”The Bookstall";
20: “On Receiving a Picture of Swans"; 21-22: "To Edward John
Moreton Drax Plunkett, Eighteenth Baron Dunsany"; 23: "To
Mr. Lockhart, on His Poetry"; 24-25: “Autumn"; 26: “lterum
Conjunctae"; 26-27: [Editor’s note on Lovecraft’s "Archibald Maynwaring" pseudonym]; 27: "To the Eighth of November";
‘ 2.8: "The Pensive Swain"; [29-30]: blank

Volume IV:
SELECTED POETRY I HOWARD PHILLIPS
LOVECRAET I- VOLUME IV I THE LOVECRAET
COLLECTORS LIBRARY I EDITED BY GEORGE
WETZEL I [rule] I SSR [acknowledgments page:]
March, 1955
"A Cycle of Verse" (includes "Oceanus," p. 5; "Clouds," p. 5; "Mother
Earth," p. 6); 7-9: "Ver Rusticum"; 10: "Earth and Sky"; 11:
"Prologue" [to "Fragments from an Hour of Inspiration" by
Jonathan E. Hoag]; 11-12: "Solstice"; 12: "The Garden" (i.e., "A
Garden"); 13-15: "Nathicana"; 15: "The Poet of Passion"; 15-17:
“Lines for Poet’s Night at the Scribblers’ Club"; 18: "Cindy:
Scrub Lady in a State Street Skyscraper"; 18-19: "The Dead
Bookworm"; 20-21: "Ave atque Vale"; 22-23: "The Dream"; 24-
25: "Ye Ballade of Patrick von Flynn"; 2.6: "Pacifist··War Song-
191’7"; 27: "The Nymph's Reply to the Modern Business Man";
27-28: "Grace" (with introductory paragraph entitled “Ward
Phillips Replies"); 28-30: "To Greece, 191'7"; 30-32: "Lines on
the 25th Anniversary of the Providence Evening News, 1892-
1917"; 32: "Fact and Fancy"; [33-34]: blank.

Volume V:
THE AMATEUR JOURNALIST I HOWARD
PHILLIPS LOVECRAET I VOLUME FIVE I THE
LOVECRAFT COLLECTORS LIBRARY I EDITED
BY GEORGE WETZEL I I1‘ul€l I SSR I 1955
"The Simple Spelling Mania"; 7-10: "President's Message" (from The National
Amateur, Iuly 1923); 11-12: "Amateur Criticism"; 13-14: "The ·
Symphonic Ideal"; 15-17: "The Professional Incubus"; [18]:
blank; 19-20: "A Reply to The Liagerer"; 21: "Concerning
'Persia-—in Europe' "; [22]: blank; 23-24: ”L.·2s Mouckos
Pontostiques"; 25-33: ”Looking Baclward" (abridged); [34-36]:
blank.5.
Volume Six: COMMENTARIES. North Tonawanda, N.Y.:
SSR Publications, 1955. iii, [4-].37 pp.
Contains: E. A. Edkins, "idiosyncrasiesies of HPL," pp. 5-7;
james F. Morton, “A Few Memories,” pp. 8-9; Edward H. Cole,
"Ave atque Vale!” pp. 10-17; George Wetzel, “The Cthulhu _.,
Mythos: A Study,” pp. 18-27; Matthew H. Onderdonk, "'The
Lord of R’lyeh,” pp. 28-37.
THE BIBLIOGRAPHIES HOWARD
PHILLIPS LOVECRAET I VOLUME FIVE I THE
LOVECRAFT COLLECTORS LIBRARY I EDITED
BY GEORGE WETZEL SSR I 1955
Contains: George [T.] Wetzel, “Amateur Press Works," pp. v-
17; Robert E. Briney, “Professional Works and Miscellany," pp.
18-42.
A landmark in Lovecraft bibliography, giving the first
extensive listing of Lovecraft’s amateur press works. The
foundation for all subsequent work in the field.
See also lll—G-26.

H. P. LOVECRAFT:MEMOIRS, CRITIQUES & BIBLIOGRAPHIES '55

The cover is posted as just plain paper, so no point in posting an image. The description by the seller (starting bid $129) is below.

SSR Publications, North Tonawanda, N. Y., 1955. Soft Cover. Book Condition: Near Fine. Limited. Size: 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall. A fragile and rare book about a legend in the science fiction and fantasy genres, Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Memories, Critiques, & Bibliographies, published by SSR Publications, North Tonawanda, NY, 1955, edited by George Wetzel, 83 pages. Stapled manila wraps, mimeographed from typewritten copy, 8.1/2" x11" with title on right side of front cover running from bottom to top. This is one of 200 copies: "The majority of the material in this book is being simultaneously published as Volumes VI & VII of the Lovecraft Collector’s Library. The version of the Introduction in the Lovecraft Collector’s Library printing is extremely shortened and edited. It appears here in its original form. This volume has been published in an edition of 200 copies, in August 1955." Critiques include articles written by George Wetzel, Matthew Onderdonk, and Lin Carter. Memoirs include articles by E.A Edkins, James F. Morton, and Edward H. Cole. This version adds "HPL: The History" by Lin Carter and "The Research of a Biblio," an expanded version of the introduction by editor George Wetzel. Wetzel's bibliography (collected here) is "a landmark bibliography. The foundation for all subsequent work in the field." - Joshi III-B-35. Joshi III-C-26. Burgess, Reference Guide to Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror 372. A fine copy. Quite scarce. This is an excellent copy, clean and tight with only a few minor defects: corners creased a little, green endpapers yellowed around edges, and three darker stripes down the left side of the cover. This last is defect found in all copies as other descriptions I have read of copies for sale note this stripe.

George Wetzel to Derleth on HPL

Wetzel, George T. TYPED LETTER SIGNED (TLS). 1 page on letter-size paper with a Baltimore address, signed "George T. Wetzel," undated (circa 1955?) to "Dear Mr. Derleth" [August Derleth]. Introduces himself as a Lovecraft collector. Notes a recent visit to the Amateur Journalism Library at Philadelphia's Franklin Institute where he identified a pseudonymous poem by Lovecraft "which I think conatins [sic] some very striking imagery and which you have not previously published." He notes, "The first and third portions of the opus I omitted [from an enclosed copy evidently] because it is very mediocre, the middle section only containing anything worth while." The letter, with all its minor illiteracies (and major enthusiasm), illustrates the unpolished and largely underground nature of HPL scholarship (as well as fantasy & science fiction scholarship in general) up until the late 1950s and early 1960s when such studies began to acquire some measure of academic respectability. Faint fold creases and minor rumpling, near fine overall. (#116744)

Derleth Memorandum Surfaces

Recently seen for auction, a memorandum by DerlethNEW HORROR ANTHOLOGY proposal. It's said to include a Lovecraft story. (No images available).

The details: TYPED MANUSCRIPT (TMs). Single sheet of standard letter-size paper, written on recto only. Undated, circa 1955. Rough draft with pencil additions and amendments.

LW Currey editors write: Contents of proposed but never published untitled "new horror anthology." Derleth edited some twenty anthologies of supernatural horror, but this one does not seem to have made it off the drafting table. The contents do not correspond exactly, or even very closely, with any known anthology. Some titles are starred with asterisks, some crossed out in pencil, some checked off, some accompanied by word counts. The authors include usual suspects such as Lovecraft, M. R. James, Margery Lawrence, Shiel, Whitehead, Buchan, and others. Lesser lights include Elizabeth Enright and Hazel Heald. Not signed, but authorship known from provenance and from comparison to other documents known to have been typed on Derleth's typewriter. A curiosity and, yes, suitable for framing. Short edge nicks and tears mostly along right side, otherwise very good.

Provenance: The Derleth Papers.

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".

Clark Ashton Smith about 1955

CLARK ASHTON SMITH ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH
circa 1950's

Epegana, the seller states: This original photograph of Clark Ashton Smith was taken by Smith's friend & publisher Roy A. Squires I believe during a visit to Smith in 1955. // The photo measures 5" x 7" and is in perfect condition. Nice image of Smith getting ready to ride in Squires' Austin Healey.