Glimpses Inside 1947 Arkham House

There are great images (Derleth, Hodgson & Bradbury), a Derleth poem, and some historic texts below, including the announcement of "Arkham House Samples" in the following year.

The seller states:
BOOKS FROM ARKHAM HOUSE 1947-48. AUGUST DERLETH.
Book Description: Arkham House, Sauk City, WI, circa 1946-47. 40 pages. Chap book / Pamphlet. Original blue grey paper wraps, stapled binding. Book Condition: Near Fine. First Edition. No Jacket as issued. A excellent copy, tight and solid, very, very rare in this condition. Light sunning/ slight discoloration. Typed by hand on cover 'See pages 1 and 9." and there is a price crossed out in ink and corrected to read $4.00 could possibly be attributed to Derleth. This was after all a DIY operation! An essential reference book which catalogs all of the Arkham House books up to 1948! Includes Poem by Derleth titled ‘Book Review‘and 4 pages of photos and art. A tough book/ pamphlet to find in collectible condition. Comes with a genuine vintage passport plastic sleeve! This was sent to a subscriber & Arkham House collector. Uncommon. Extremely scarce!
“PATRONS WILL OBSERVE THAT OUR NEW CATALOG IS DESIGNED TO COVER THE PUBLISHING ACTIVITIES OF ARKHAM HOUSE, MYCROFT & MORAN, AND STANTON & LEE UP TO 1949...”

Lovecraft's Legacy: 1949

I was able to obtain a copy of The Arkham Sampler of Winter 1949.

It's now weakly bound, so I almost hate to read it. That's one reason I sometimes shun buying a relic because I like to read things and share them, but if I wreck it by scanning or have an accident, I feel guiilty. :\

Anyway, here's what David H Keller says: At the Mountains of Madness ... currently available in Strange Ports of Call, ed. August Derleth ... one of the few science-fiction tales by Lovecraft. The Old Gods come from a distant planet to the Earth and create new forms of life. These work for a while as slaves, but finally rebel and drive their former masters into the ocean. These Old Gods also create man and start him on his heroic, though hectic career. Here is the struggle of good and evil; it can be considered the beginning of Lovecraft's thesis that forces of evil are very terrible and would destroy mankind if ever liberated. As this story tells of the creation of the human race, it is chronologically one of the earliest time-backward tales.

Wow. It is Derleth's magazine, but I'm astonished that in just 12 years, the dualism of Mythos was so firmly entrenched. In no way do I read this kind of thing into Lovecraft, however, Keller certainly had a strong opinion - the dominant one today.

While many mention Lovecraft in this same long article (A Basic Science-Fiction Library), only Wandrei also speaks at length about Lovecraft. The Outsider and Others, by H P Lovecraft, Lovecraft's tales are unique, in that while nearly all emphasize a mood of fantasy or horror, they are based on scientific fact or principle, the violation of which forms the story-theme. Lovecraft is the most distinguished literary name among the writers who could be classified equally well among science-fiction or fantasy. His short novel At The Mountains of Madness, is the only work whose cosmic-mindedness rivals {Olaf} Stapledon's, and whose prose style is superior.

Many mention John Campbell's Who Goes There as an instant classic. Not one hint at it's nearly identical concept and theme as Lovecraft's Mountains. I have been struck by it for years, now. The idea of an alien landing in Antarctica is so similar to Lovecraft, they could be twins. Often Who Goes There is considered the third of the trilogy with Poe's Gordon Pym and Lovecraft's Mountains.

Anyway, those are some interesting excerpts from near-60 years ago.

Autumn 1948 Arkham Sampler

The seller states: THE ARKHAM SAMPLER. Autumn, 1948. Sauk City, Wisconsin. Arkham House Publishers. Edited by August Derleth. 100 pages ( complete). Bound in original stiff wrappers. In Very Good Condition with the usual rust spots from the staples . The small stains ( pictured in my scans). Only appear on the gutters inside the front cover and in the gutters on back of the title page, the rest of the publication is free of them. The Covers have not faded and are clean.

Only 8 Numbers of this important magazine were published by Arkham House from 1948 to 1949. This is Volume One, Number Four. It contains the conclusion of the DREAM-QUEST OF THE UNKNOWN KADATH, written by H.P. Lovecraft. It also has works by Robert Bloch, Lord Dunsany, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith and others ( see my photo scan for the front of the title page. In addition there are sections on Editorial Comments and Books of the Quarter ( good reviews of works by Arthur Machen, John Campbell and others).

Arkham Sampler Spring 1948

ARKHAM SAMPLER Spring, 1948 - 2nd issue Begun by August Derleth to fill the sometimes lengthy gaps between book publications of his publishing firm Arkham House, "The Arkham Sampler" was a noble effort encompassing both Fantasy & Science Fiction. "TAS" lasted only eight issues either because it was not as successful as Derleth had hoped or had he simply become too busy with his own writings. Regardless, as exemplified by this issue, "TAS" brought some of Arkham House's finest writers together. This issue devoted to H. P. Lovecraft contains "A Memoir of Lovecraft" by Rheinhart Kleiner, part 2 of HPL's Dunsanian fantasy - "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", fragments of ten letters written by HPL to Clark Ashton Smith, Richard Ely Morse and others. Additionally is poetry by Clark Ashton Smith, an article on fantasy by Fritz Leiber, and a tale by August Derleth under his pseudonym of Stephen Grendon. Small chip on front cover as pictured in the scan, the spine has a 1/2" chip and shows wear, with a tiny chip on the rear cover. Very good - or good + +.

Arkham Sampler of Winter 1949

{CAS copy directly above}

Two copies have recently surfaced of this notable item. Here are some gleanings and notes listed by the two sellers: Begun by August Derleth to fill the sometimes lengthy gaps between book publications of his publishing firm Arkham House, "The Arkham Sampler" was a noble effort encompassing both Fantasy & Science Fiction. "TAS" lasted only eight issues either because it was not as successful as Derleth had hoped or had he simply become too busy with his own writings. Regardless, as exemplified by this issue, "TAS" brought some of Arkham House's finest writers together. This issue featured an uncollected "Martian" story by Ray Bradbury entitled "The Spring Night", the poem "Avowal" by Clark Ashton Smith, and a symposium of SF writers including Theodore Sturgeon, Lewis Padgett, A. E. Van Vogt and others on "Building a Science Fiction Library". Other contributors include Robert Bloch, Fritz Leiber, Jr., and others. Additionally, this copy was once owned by Clark Ashton Smith as there is a word correction to his poem in his hand. {The better of the two images - CP} Sauk City:Arkham House Volume 2, number one (whole number five). Covers are soiled and worn, one. Interior clean and tight. 100 pages. All science fiction. Includes works by Ray Bradbury and Jules Verne. Condition:Fair