In Great Untold Stories of Fantasy and Horror (1), Sam Moskowitz introduces a story byCount Leigh de Hamng: A Study of Destiny. While this 1897 story is of passing interest as a morality play set in Egypt, there is a close Lovecraft connection.
Moskowitz states, "... In the January 1926 issue of Weird Tales ... Muriel E. Eddy ... commenting on {a story named} Lukundoo by Edward Lucas White which had appeared in the November 1925 issue ... said, 'It calls to my mind a story I read years ago (by a titled Englishman) entitled The Hand of Fate,' {Muriel says, and then Moskowitx continues that she} goes on to give a description of the plot which is close to A Study of Destiny."
Moskowitz - always a keen student of the history of horror - goes on to say that she probably remembered the title of a book titled The Hand of Fate in 1898 and is probably the American edition of this story.
What is interesting for our part is several fold.
1. Despite the concerns scholars have of her 1960's memoir of Lovecraft, in her day she obviously was a student of the genre. Her - and CM Eddy's - credentials as a fan of horror seem in tact and facile.
2. Lovecraft would have met them in 1923 and perceived a family that was interested in the same things as he - though he would have had a higher threshhold of what was horrific.
3. This is one more element of the Eddys being intimately connected to Weird Tales. Baird (or Wright) would immediately noted the letter and published it as insightful, and a bit of a free publicity to fans of the Eddys in Providence.
4. Since this is during Lovecraft's sojourn in New York (November 1925) the Eddys were still explicitly active with Weird Tales independent of HPL. Their controversy from the May, June, July 1924 issues on the Loved Dead would still be fresh in the fans' minds, too.
Lovecraft actually mentions the November issue, and indicates a very intimate knowledge if what is hapening. He says "The Wells tales (2)- so far very mediocre, as I view them - are very early work ... in the 90's {1890's - CP} ... so Wright thought them a good investment {since they were unpublished in the US} ... when Weird Tales London agent brought them to his notice." He mentions the Lukundoo, "The Edward Lucas White tale appears to have been a regular contribution - whether or not through a literary agent I can't say...". (3)
While it seems unlikely Lovecraft and the Eddy's mentioned it to one another but they were obviously in intimate contact ... (4) Lovecraft says, "ever since the Indiana senate took action about poor Eddy's "Loved Dead", he has been in a continual panic about censorship."
Interesting HPL says 'Eddy's Loved Dead', when it was obvious he wrote a good portion of it.
1. 3rd edition 1970, pp.10-11.
2. The Stolen Body was originally in Strand November 1898 and Weird Tales November 1925; and The Valley of Spiders was originally Pearson's magazine March 1903 and Weird Tales December 1925.
3. Letters From New York, p. 242, to Lillian D. Clark on 7 November 1925.
4. Letters From New York, p. 252, to Lillian D Clark on 13 December 1925.
Showing posts with label Baird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baird. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Houdini and Lovecraft: Testimony of Muriel Eddy (1961) Part 5
In our last installment of our investigation into Muriel Eddy's testimony - this next pericope seems very true. (1)
When Harry Houdini came to Providence {20 September 1925} for the last time, we made up a theater party and attended the performance. It was a big production, and his wife Beatrice assisted him in his magic tricks and illusions. A niece, Julia, also was an assistant on the stage.
After the show, Houdini suggested that we go to lunch at a Waldorf restaurant. It was very late, and at the midnight hour we sat at a long table together, with Beatrice Houdini’s pet parrot perched demurely on her shoulder. Lovecraft got quite a kick out of watching the parrot … named Lori … sip tea from a spoon and nibble daintily at toast held by his polite mistress!
I remember that H.P.L. ordered half a cantaloupe filled with vanilla ice cream, and a cup of coffee. He was in great spirits and bubbled over with good humor, talking a blue streak about everything under the sun. Harry Houdini gazed at him admiringly. I am sure he liked H.P.L. as much as almost everybody did who had a chance to study and know him.
We know that Julia Sawyer (Houdini's niece) assisted not only with the show but as an undercover agent. (2) Prior to November 1925, Julia was dispatched to Lilly Dale - upstate New York - to discover information on Pierre Keeler a fraud and slate writer in residence there.
As to the parrot, this element is verifiable (3).
The Waldorf Restaraunt is a unique and verifiable element - and one that would only be relevant if she had truly been there. After some heavy research, Chrispy found (4) that the original Providence Bijou was razed in 1925 and immediately replaced by a concrete building which held a Waldorf Restaraunt franchise for years.
Lovecraft's love of ice cream is legendary, so that certainly seems correct. That he loved coffee (5) to this all his friends attested.
So, if we take this anecdote as factual, and there is every reason to do so, the implications are fascinating. Julia spent mid to late 1925 undercover in Lily Dale, NY. Muriel says C M Eddy did undercover work at Lake Pleasant, MA. We know that C M Eddy met (or told Lovecraft that he would meet) Houdini as early as 10 February. This is the height of Houdini's desire to go on the attack of the spiritualists. (6)
The distance of time gives us the question of who knew Houdini first - Lovecraft or C M Eddy. They both knew Baird and Henneberger and met Houdini within the same space of time. We can trace much of Lovecraft's contact with Houdini, and some of C M Eddy's contacts. Lovecraft was impoverished, and C M Eddy was more impoverished - exactly the kind of people that Houdini needed and had a passion to assist with his enormous wealth. Did HPL send work to C M Eddy form Houdini - or was it a natural progression of both men being cultivated by Houdini and C M Eddy having the broader amount of time to help?
Whatever the start of the game HPL and CME were at the end of it friends and there were few secrets from them that Houdini had created an espionage network. However, it seems that Lovecraft did not have the temperament to follow through as CM Eddy did.
***
1. The Gentleman From Angell Street: Memories of H. P. Lovecraft, Muriel E. Eddy & C. M. Eddy, Jr., ed. Jim Dyer, Fenham Publishing, Narangasett, R.I., 2001. “The Gentleman From Angell Street”, Muriel Eddy, 1961.
2. The Secret Life of Houdini, Kalush and Sloman, p. 465, "For three dollars, Julia got messages from a dead sister who never existed and from the spirits of two of her still-very-much-alive relatives." On line notes refer to "Central City Assembly No. 14, S.A.M., Syracuse, N.Y.", The Sphinx, November, 1925, 270.
3. THE NEW YORK TIMES • July 9, 1938 • Page 14, Column 7 HOUDINI’S PET PARROT PICKS CAGE LOCK, ESCAPES (Special to The New York Times. ) HOLLYWOOD, July 8 – Pat Houdini, 25-year-old parrot and former stage companion of Harry Houdini, emulated his dead master today by picking the lock to his cage and disappearing into the Hollywood hills.
Pat was reported to be “singing” as he soared away. // Edward Saint, who was Houdini’s manager, says the parrot learned to pick locks while watching his master during his escape acts with which Houdini fascinated audiences for years. // A few days ago Mrs. Houdini went East. She left the bird at a boarding home for pets, forgetting to tell them of Pat’s propensity for picking locks.
4. From www.http://cinematreasures.org/theater/26 , we read the following recollections: http://cinematreasures.org/theater/6598 Roger Brett wrote in Temples of Illusion about Spitz and Nathanson's Bijou Theatre: // "With its unveiling on March 28, 1908, Abe and Max became the city's first showmen to operate three theatres at once. This was the original Bijou at the corner of Westminster and Orange Streets, nestled against the big UnionTrust Building. A rarity among Providence Theaters, it had only one name and policy, movies, from its inception until its closing in July of 1925. // "Like the short-lived Lyric, it was a converted store and took up the entire ground floor of a high-ceilinged wood framed building dating from the early 1800's. It was razed in 1925 and the present [1976] concrete building, for many years occupied by a Waldorf Restaurant, immediately replaced it. (...) When it became a theater a huge false front was erected and the roof appeared to be flat when viewed from Westminster Street." // In style, this façade can best be described as 'High Coney Island.' It was elaborate in the extreme, painted white, and contained 2000 light bulbs. These were not in a sign but were actually mounted on the woodwork and traced the curves, arches, and parapets in brilliant relief for the benefit of evening crowds. Grime, generated by the city's traffic and chimneys in the early 1920s, forced the management to abandon white paint in favor of green and the Bijou lost some of its amusement park glamour towards the end. // "The Bijou sat 407, all on one level. From the beginning the theater was very popular and consequently very sucessful. Although the term was not in use at the time, the Bijou, along with the Nickel, were Providence's first-run movie houses. Abe Spitz, improving upon Charlie Lovenberg's initial booking arrangements, had the necessary contacts with the right people to insure getting the very best films for his theaters. The policy here, as at the Nickel, was always movies and illustrated songs, but no vaudeville." // posted by Gerald A. DeLuca on Jun 26, 2005 at 6:50am
5. Sam Moskowitz, Worlds of Weird, Jove, 1965, "I called on him a few months before his death ... if liquor was the cause of the early demise of Dylan Thomas ... black coffee loaded with sugar surely helped Howard to an early end."
6. p. 454, The Secret Life of Houdini, Ibid. Vacca and Houdini met in 1921 in Chicago. He was put on staff in 1923. He did advance work for Houdini and filed reports to him prior to any engagement. p. 460, Houdini hired Rose Mackenberg and filed detailed reports on hundreds of seances. Also, Alberta Chapman, a showgirl was a spy. A friend, not on the payroll, filed reports. This was Robert H. Gysel. (p. 461). He also enlisted law enforcement professionals, Detective Joseph Greene and policewoman Elizabeth Michaels in Manhattan. In Cleveland, he and a reporter broke up George Renner's racket.
When Harry Houdini came to Providence {20 September 1925} for the last time, we made up a theater party and attended the performance. It was a big production, and his wife Beatrice assisted him in his magic tricks and illusions. A niece, Julia, also was an assistant on the stage.
After the show, Houdini suggested that we go to lunch at a Waldorf restaurant. It was very late, and at the midnight hour we sat at a long table together, with Beatrice Houdini’s pet parrot perched demurely on her shoulder. Lovecraft got quite a kick out of watching the parrot … named Lori … sip tea from a spoon and nibble daintily at toast held by his polite mistress!
I remember that H.P.L. ordered half a cantaloupe filled with vanilla ice cream, and a cup of coffee. He was in great spirits and bubbled over with good humor, talking a blue streak about everything under the sun. Harry Houdini gazed at him admiringly. I am sure he liked H.P.L. as much as almost everybody did who had a chance to study and know him.
We know that Julia Sawyer (Houdini's niece) assisted not only with the show but as an undercover agent. (2) Prior to November 1925, Julia was dispatched to Lilly Dale - upstate New York - to discover information on Pierre Keeler a fraud and slate writer in residence there.
As to the parrot, this element is verifiable (3).
The Waldorf Restaraunt is a unique and verifiable element - and one that would only be relevant if she had truly been there. After some heavy research, Chrispy found (4) that the original Providence Bijou was razed in 1925 and immediately replaced by a concrete building which held a Waldorf Restaraunt franchise for years.
Lovecraft's love of ice cream is legendary, so that certainly seems correct. That he loved coffee (5) to this all his friends attested.
So, if we take this anecdote as factual, and there is every reason to do so, the implications are fascinating. Julia spent mid to late 1925 undercover in Lily Dale, NY. Muriel says C M Eddy did undercover work at Lake Pleasant, MA. We know that C M Eddy met (or told Lovecraft that he would meet) Houdini as early as 10 February. This is the height of Houdini's desire to go on the attack of the spiritualists. (6)
The distance of time gives us the question of who knew Houdini first - Lovecraft or C M Eddy. They both knew Baird and Henneberger and met Houdini within the same space of time. We can trace much of Lovecraft's contact with Houdini, and some of C M Eddy's contacts. Lovecraft was impoverished, and C M Eddy was more impoverished - exactly the kind of people that Houdini needed and had a passion to assist with his enormous wealth. Did HPL send work to C M Eddy form Houdini - or was it a natural progression of both men being cultivated by Houdini and C M Eddy having the broader amount of time to help?
Whatever the start of the game HPL and CME were at the end of it friends and there were few secrets from them that Houdini had created an espionage network. However, it seems that Lovecraft did not have the temperament to follow through as CM Eddy did.
***
1. The Gentleman From Angell Street: Memories of H. P. Lovecraft, Muriel E. Eddy & C. M. Eddy, Jr., ed. Jim Dyer, Fenham Publishing, Narangasett, R.I., 2001. “The Gentleman From Angell Street”, Muriel Eddy, 1961.
2. The Secret Life of Houdini, Kalush and Sloman, p. 465, "For three dollars, Julia got messages from a dead sister who never existed and from the spirits of two of her still-very-much-alive relatives." On line notes refer to "Central City Assembly No. 14, S.A.M., Syracuse, N.Y.", The Sphinx, November, 1925, 270.
3. THE NEW YORK TIMES • July 9, 1938 • Page 14, Column 7 HOUDINI’S PET PARROT PICKS CAGE LOCK, ESCAPES (Special to The New York Times. ) HOLLYWOOD, July 8 – Pat Houdini, 25-year-old parrot and former stage companion of Harry Houdini, emulated his dead master today by picking the lock to his cage and disappearing into the Hollywood hills.
Pat was reported to be “singing” as he soared away. // Edward Saint, who was Houdini’s manager, says the parrot learned to pick locks while watching his master during his escape acts with which Houdini fascinated audiences for years. // A few days ago Mrs. Houdini went East. She left the bird at a boarding home for pets, forgetting to tell them of Pat’s propensity for picking locks.
4. From www.http://cinematreasures.org/theater/26 , we read the following recollections: http://cinematreasures.org/theater/6598 Roger Brett wrote in Temples of Illusion about Spitz and Nathanson's Bijou Theatre: // "With its unveiling on March 28, 1908, Abe and Max became the city's first showmen to operate three theatres at once. This was the original Bijou at the corner of Westminster and Orange Streets, nestled against the big UnionTrust Building. A rarity among Providence Theaters, it had only one name and policy, movies, from its inception until its closing in July of 1925. // "Like the short-lived Lyric, it was a converted store and took up the entire ground floor of a high-ceilinged wood framed building dating from the early 1800's. It was razed in 1925 and the present [1976] concrete building, for many years occupied by a Waldorf Restaurant, immediately replaced it. (...) When it became a theater a huge false front was erected and the roof appeared to be flat when viewed from Westminster Street." // In style, this façade can best be described as 'High Coney Island.' It was elaborate in the extreme, painted white, and contained 2000 light bulbs. These were not in a sign but were actually mounted on the woodwork and traced the curves, arches, and parapets in brilliant relief for the benefit of evening crowds. Grime, generated by the city's traffic and chimneys in the early 1920s, forced the management to abandon white paint in favor of green and the Bijou lost some of its amusement park glamour towards the end. // "The Bijou sat 407, all on one level. From the beginning the theater was very popular and consequently very sucessful. Although the term was not in use at the time, the Bijou, along with the Nickel, were Providence's first-run movie houses. Abe Spitz, improving upon Charlie Lovenberg's initial booking arrangements, had the necessary contacts with the right people to insure getting the very best films for his theaters. The policy here, as at the Nickel, was always movies and illustrated songs, but no vaudeville." // posted by Gerald A. DeLuca on Jun 26, 2005 at 6:50am
5. Sam Moskowitz, Worlds of Weird, Jove, 1965, "I called on him a few months before his death ... if liquor was the cause of the early demise of Dylan Thomas ... black coffee loaded with sugar surely helped Howard to an early end."
6. p. 454, The Secret Life of Houdini, Ibid. Vacca and Houdini met in 1921 in Chicago. He was put on staff in 1923. He did advance work for Houdini and filed reports to him prior to any engagement. p. 460, Houdini hired Rose Mackenberg and filed detailed reports on hundreds of seances. Also, Alberta Chapman, a showgirl was a spy. A friend, not on the payroll, filed reports. This was Robert H. Gysel. (p. 461). He also enlisted law enforcement professionals, Detective Joseph Greene and policewoman Elizabeth Michaels in Manhattan. In Cleveland, he and a reporter broke up George Renner's racket.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Houdini and Lovecraft: Testimony of Muriel Eddy (1961) Part 2
We turn to Muriel Eddy's 1961 memoir (1) to see what we may learn - and discern - of how C M Eddy and Lovecraft met and worked together - and their unique relationships with Henneberger and Houdini.
In August 1923, after some kind of series of phone calls and correspondence, Lovecraft walked over to the Eddy's house; they met; hit it off, and established a friendship.
She states:
Shortly after his visit, we moved again, this time to a cottage on Pennsylvania Avenue. H.P.L. came over often, and gave my husband a note of introduction to Harry Houdini, who was then playing at a Providence theater. Houdini wanted someone to do a little ghost-writing for him, also to help him expose fake spiritualists or mediums. Lovecraft thought (correctly) that Mr. Eddy would fit right in, in this category. H.P.L. at this time was bogged down with countless revisions to do for people via mail, and he admitted he had no time to ghost-write Houdini’s somewhat rambling manuscripts.
Let's deconstruct this paragraph.
We find that Muriel says
(A) Lovecraft gave to CM Eddy a note of introduction to Houdini.
(B) This happened when Houdini was playing at a Providence theater.
(C) Houdini wanted someone to ghost write.
(D) Houdini wanted someone to expose spirtualists.
(E) Lovecraft felt that C M Eddy was perfect for both jobs.
(F) Lovecraft was busy doing revision work by mail.
(G) Lovecraft had not timeto write a Houdini story.
Some of this (A) & (E) (see 4, 5, 6) we have no evidence to weigh in on the veracity of the statements. We are sure that HPL had revision work [Bush, for instance]. He may have been busy (F, G) (5)- but he had time to rewrite C M Eddy's stories in late 1923.
However, it is (D) we want to focus upon. Clearly Muriel states that Houdini wanted a spy. She also says that it is Lovecraft who recruits C M Eddy. Howard Lovecraft writes a letter of introduction for C M Eddy !!
In August 1923, after some kind of series of phone calls and correspondence, Lovecraft walked over to the Eddy's house; they met; hit it off, and established a friendship.
She states:
Shortly after his visit, we moved again, this time to a cottage on Pennsylvania Avenue. H.P.L. came over often, and gave my husband a note of introduction to Harry Houdini, who was then playing at a Providence theater. Houdini wanted someone to do a little ghost-writing for him, also to help him expose fake spiritualists or mediums. Lovecraft thought (correctly) that Mr. Eddy would fit right in, in this category. H.P.L. at this time was bogged down with countless revisions to do for people via mail, and he admitted he had no time to ghost-write Houdini’s somewhat rambling manuscripts.
Let's deconstruct this paragraph.
We find that Muriel says
(A) Lovecraft gave to CM Eddy a note of introduction to Houdini.
(B) This happened when Houdini was playing at a Providence theater.
(C) Houdini wanted someone to ghost write.
(D) Houdini wanted someone to expose spirtualists.
(E) Lovecraft felt that C M Eddy was perfect for both jobs.
(F) Lovecraft was busy doing revision work by mail.
(G) Lovecraft had not timeto write a Houdini story.
Some of this (A) & (E) (see 4, 5, 6) we have no evidence to weigh in on the veracity of the statements. We are sure that HPL had revision work [Bush, for instance]. He may have been busy (F, G) (5)- but he had time to rewrite C M Eddy's stories in late 1923.
However, it is (D) we want to focus upon. Clearly Muriel states that Houdini wanted a spy. She also says that it is Lovecraft who recruits C M Eddy. Howard Lovecraft writes a letter of introduction for C M Eddy !!
The problem with this is that Lovecraft gets a commission from Houdini from Henneberger at the end of 1923. C M Eddy already knows Edwin Baird - and likely J C Henneberger - prior to Augist 1923. Henneberger surely knows Houdini - he is soliciting an article and a story.
A 14 February 1924 letter to Long states (2) "Yes, child, WEIRD TALES is certainly shovin' a lot of work at your aged Grandsire! Entire new job - to rewrite a strange narrative which the magician Houdini related orally to Henneberger; a narrative to be amplified and formulated to appear as a colalborated product - 'By Houdini and H. P. Lovecraft'.
We lastly examine (B). I can only find two significant incidences of Houdini playing Providence. Lovecraft alluded that he saw Houdini perform in 1898 (when HPL would have been 8 and Houdini 24) (3) and most importantly the week of 26 September 1926. Chrispy will continue to research if there were other opportunities to explain when HPL would have passed a note to C M Eddy from Houdini during a performance engagement in Providence.
At this point, without further evidence, the statement seems to be either apocryphal, conflated by poor recollection, or deflective for some reason. (4, 5, 6) It seems clear that Houdini and C M Eddy knew each other no later that 2 February 1925. (6)
...continued ...
1. The Gentleman From Angell Street: Memories of H. P. Lovecraft, Muriel E. Eddy & C. M. Eddy, Jr., ed. Jim Dyer, Fenham Publishing, Narangasett, R.I., 2001. “The Gentleman From Angell Street”, Muriel Eddy, 1961.
2. Lord of a Visible World, ed. Joshi, Ohio University Press, 2000, p. 124.
3. p. 105, Letters From New York, ed. Joshi, Night Shade Books, 2005, "I joined S{onia} H at the Hippodrome - a pleasantly immense house -$ saw Houdini go through the same tricks he shewed {sic} in Providence about 1898."
4. While this is not meant to be rude, HPL had a clear opinion of C M Eddy at this time of his life. In frankness, he seemed to be friendly with C M Eddy, yet held him at arm's length. On p. 99 (Ibid. Letters from New York)dated 29 November 1924, "{crossword puzzles} the first I heard of them was just a year ago, when honest (more or less honest) Eddy shew'd {sic} me one in the Boston Post.
5. p. 102, (Ibid. Letters From New York) dated 29 November 1924, "All litterateurs have their troubles. Poor Eddy is down & out again, as you may see by the enclosed epistle - which you might return, since I haven't answered it. He has his "Deaf, Dumb & Blind" back without any revision from me - in answer to the very peremptory telegram which I emclose for your amusement. A tough case, these easy-going tassels on the fringe of literature!"
6. p. 108, 109, (Ibid. Letters From New York)dated 2 February 1925, "P.S. C. M. Eddy, Jr. has just blown in! On business in N.Y. to see Houdini & some editors."
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Houdini and Lovecraft: Testimony of Muriel Eddy (1961) Part 1
In the pursuit of whether Harry Houdini pursued Lovecraft to assist with espionage on spiritualists, our attention continues to focus on Clifford M. Eddy, Jr. How did Lovecraft meet C M Eddy? The answer is far from clear.
Muriel Eddy wrote two memoirs of Lovecraft - one in 1945 and the other in 1961. The latter mentions Houdini and how the Eddys met Lovecraft. S T Joshi questions the historicity of the claims.
He states (1) , "The first memoir seems on the whole quite reliable; the second, written in a gushing and histrionic manner makes many statements not found in the first, including the claim {that Susan Lovecrat and Grace Eddy (CM's mother) met at a suffrage group meeting}. ... I am frankly sceptical of it. ... Lovecraft does not .... mention the Eddy's in correspondence prior to October 1923 at which time he refers to Eddy as 'the new Providence amateur'. (2) My feeling, then, is that the whole story {about the early connections} is a fabrication, made by Muriel so as to augment the sense of her and her husband's importance in Lovecraft's life."
This does not gain Mr. Joshi points with the Eddy family. However, when the veracity of of one element of a memoir is claimed to be apocryphal, we must tread cautiously with all of it.
So, in this series of posts, we will explore the testimony of Muriel Eddy for insight for evidence that HPL might have been persued by Houdini for more than revisionist writing and scholarly conversation. Did Lovecraft meet Houdini (directly or indirectly) through Eddy and Henneberger?
1 A Dreamer and a Visionary: H. P. Lovecraft And His Time, S T Joshi, Liverpool University Press, 2001. p. 172,173.
2. Ibid. p. 401, quoting from a letter from HPL to Frank Belknap Long of 7 October 1923. Original citation Select Letters I.254
3. The premier Lovecraft scholar, Joshi, states (1), "C. M. Eddy was already a professionally published author by this time ... working on stories to submit to Weird tales {and already knew} Edwin Baird. Therefore we are safe to say that C M Eddy - who knew Edwin Baird and probably J C Henneberger - had a possoble peripheral connection to Houdini prior to meeting Lovecraft in person.
Muriel Eddy wrote two memoirs of Lovecraft - one in 1945 and the other in 1961. The latter mentions Houdini and how the Eddys met Lovecraft. S T Joshi questions the historicity of the claims.
He states (1) , "The first memoir seems on the whole quite reliable; the second, written in a gushing and histrionic manner makes many statements not found in the first, including the claim {that Susan Lovecrat and Grace Eddy (CM's mother) met at a suffrage group meeting}. ... I am frankly sceptical of it. ... Lovecraft does not .... mention the Eddy's in correspondence prior to October 1923 at which time he refers to Eddy as 'the new Providence amateur'. (2) My feeling, then, is that the whole story {about the early connections} is a fabrication, made by Muriel so as to augment the sense of her and her husband's importance in Lovecraft's life."
This does not gain Mr. Joshi points with the Eddy family. However, when the veracity of of one element of a memoir is claimed to be apocryphal, we must tread cautiously with all of it.
So, in this series of posts, we will explore the testimony of Muriel Eddy for insight for evidence that HPL might have been persued by Houdini for more than revisionist writing and scholarly conversation. Did Lovecraft meet Houdini (directly or indirectly) through Eddy and Henneberger?
1 A Dreamer and a Visionary: H. P. Lovecraft And His Time, S T Joshi, Liverpool University Press, 2001. p. 172,173.
2. Ibid. p. 401, quoting from a letter from HPL to Frank Belknap Long of 7 October 1923. Original citation Select Letters I.254
3. The premier Lovecraft scholar, Joshi, states (1), "C. M. Eddy was already a professionally published author by this time ... working on stories to submit to Weird tales {and already knew} Edwin Baird. Therefore we are safe to say that C M Eddy - who knew Edwin Baird and probably J C Henneberger - had a possoble peripheral connection to Houdini prior to meeting Lovecraft in person.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Letter to Edwin Baird: Testimony Through Willis Conover
We find these tantalizing bits from: Lovecraft At Last: The Master of Horror in His Own Words, H. P. Lovecraft and Willis Conover, 1972, 2002, Cooper Square Press, NY
{25 January 1936} Dear Ech-Pi-El: ...a friend of mine ... sent me a letter that you write to Edwin Baird in 1924 ... J. C. Henneberger ... sent it to me.
{3 February 1924} My Dear Baird: I was delighted to receive your two communications ... that you like Nemesis ... {but HPL received a} sensation of gastric distress ... that "Arthur Jermyn" is going to press as "The White Ape". I wish I could convert you ... regarding the annoying literalness and flaccidity of the latter title ... Glad that Hypnos is coming. Are you giving me a vacation for March or are the "Rats" to gnaw their uncanny course through that issue?
Yes indeed I have heard from Mr. Henneberger! Cheque? Bless me, no! Such details are so vulgar. ...I am told that the twin ventures Detective and Weird Tales have reduced the Henneberger capital from plus eleven thousand dollars to minus forty thousand dollars ... Henneberger seems determined to hang on to his venture till the last ditch, and shows a rugged pluck I can't but admire. He spoke of coming reorganisation {sic} to include work from the magician Houdini ...At any rate, Henneberger has the right idea in savage unrestraint and departure from the conventional point of view ... I'll bet he'll snap up that Eddy yarn, "The Loved Dead", which is presenting such a doubtful case! But I should hardly say that H. made me any proposition, as he intimated to you that he might. The only part of his letter that brought me in was a request of a novel of 25,000 words or over, which I shall be happy to send when I finish it.
... I experimented a bit with the novel form, and have an idea partly shaped which will probably suit Mr. H's requirements. It is a hideous thing ... "The House of the Worm" ... By the way, I felt complimented when Henneberger expressed his opinion that my "Rats" is the best tale W. T. has ever received.
H's curiosity about my age, habits, and personality is quite interesting ... {a long autobiography follows which is partially a resume}.
***
{Lovecraft replies to Connover} ... Where on earth did you ever run into that chap Henneberger? Don't let him rope you into any professional proposition, for although he means well his ventures always explode and leave not only himslef but his colleagues holding the proverbial bag. If you don;t believe me, ask Long!
{25 January 1936} Dear Ech-Pi-El: ...a friend of mine ... sent me a letter that you write to Edwin Baird in 1924 ... J. C. Henneberger ... sent it to me.
{3 February 1924} My Dear Baird: I was delighted to receive your two communications ... that you like Nemesis ... {but HPL received a} sensation of gastric distress ... that "Arthur Jermyn" is going to press as "The White Ape". I wish I could convert you ... regarding the annoying literalness and flaccidity of the latter title ... Glad that Hypnos is coming. Are you giving me a vacation for March or are the "Rats" to gnaw their uncanny course through that issue?
Yes indeed I have heard from Mr. Henneberger! Cheque? Bless me, no! Such details are so vulgar. ...I am told that the twin ventures Detective and Weird Tales have reduced the Henneberger capital from plus eleven thousand dollars to minus forty thousand dollars ... Henneberger seems determined to hang on to his venture till the last ditch, and shows a rugged pluck I can't but admire. He spoke of coming reorganisation {sic} to include work from the magician Houdini ...At any rate, Henneberger has the right idea in savage unrestraint and departure from the conventional point of view ... I'll bet he'll snap up that Eddy yarn, "The Loved Dead", which is presenting such a doubtful case! But I should hardly say that H. made me any proposition, as he intimated to you that he might. The only part of his letter that brought me in was a request of a novel of 25,000 words or over, which I shall be happy to send when I finish it.
... I experimented a bit with the novel form, and have an idea partly shaped which will probably suit Mr. H's requirements. It is a hideous thing ... "The House of the Worm" ... By the way, I felt complimented when Henneberger expressed his opinion that my "Rats" is the best tale W. T. has ever received.
H's curiosity about my age, habits, and personality is quite interesting ... {a long autobiography follows which is partially a resume}.
***
{Lovecraft replies to Connover} ... Where on earth did you ever run into that chap Henneberger? Don't let him rope you into any professional proposition, for although he means well his ventures always explode and leave not only himslef but his colleagues holding the proverbial bag. If you don;t believe me, ask Long!
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