Letters

[starrysothoth]

I know for certain that S. T. and David plan to bring out all extant Lovecraft letters on cd-rom. When that will happen, of course--only Yaddith Knows. I probably won't get it, as I love those thick handsome book editions, love dipping into them and drinking in the texts, the history, the passions and prejudices.

Interesting. I'm not opposed to a CD, but it strikes me as odd, unless the CD-ROM is intended to have special features like an extensive search engine. It just seems weird to bring these letters out on what is rapidly becoming an outdated technology, rather than publishing it through a platform like the Kindle.

I imagine going the e-book route would reach more people and generate more money too.

 

[Knygathin]

What about the first of Hippocampus's letter volumes, Letters to Alfred Galpin (or the expanded edition)? There are very few letters to Galpin in the Arkham House Selected Letters, and most are fragmentary. A large stash indeed must have been found to fill this volume. Galpin supposedly also destroyed several letters. And he didn't seem very interested in supernatural fiction, or moody horror. And then suddenly he moved to Europe to nurture his classical tastes. Could Lovecraft really bounce his outre ideas with this man, whose intelligence and normal social abilities he (perhaps overly) respected? The letters to Galpin I have read in Selected Letters, are easy and chatty, and cheerful, concerning daily episodes, and joyful things like cats. Nothing particularly challenging, although delightfully entertaining.

Does Lovecraft in this Hippocampus volume hold significant expositions about art and literature, writing, and weird fiction principles, ... unique to these letters?

 

[Knygathin]

The joint correspondence of Lovecraft and Long is in the works: A Sense of Proportion: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Frank Belknap Long

 

[Knygathin]

What about the first of Hippocampus's letter volumes, Letters to Alfred Galpin (or the expanded edition)? ...

Does Lovecraft in this Hippocampus volume hold significant expositions about art and literature, writing, and weird fiction principles, ... unique to these letters?

Well, in all consideration, I have come to the conclusion than none of Lovecraft's letters can be ignored! They are all too brilliant and interesting.

Having studied Galpin's background and intellectual relation to Lovecraft, I have finally decided to add this collection to my other carefully chosen volumes. For practical reasons there is no way I can read all of the Hippocampus letter volumes, unless I give up other literature, so I still need be selective; for I am no completist, and don't buy books to have them simply standing unread on my bookshelf.

But together, all of these volumes will be an invaluable reference work for the future, and hopefully, with inspiration from Lovecraft's infinite wisdom, and social refinement and artistic integrity, western society will get back on elevated track again.

 

[Robin Davies]

Has anyone received A Sense of Proportion: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Frank Belknap Long yet?
Apparently it is now "In stock and shipping immediately".

​

 

[Ligrotesque]

Thanks for the heads up. I purchased this a longish while ago and am really waiting to check out the volume. Not to brag but I now have all HC volumes, including the Arkham vols, and the SC volumes that were never printed in HC. I wonder if eventually all of the Hippocampus volumes might eventually come out in HC? Probably not.

 

[Knygathin]

I have only bought select volumes of the Hippocampus set that I know I will be particularly interested in reading. I like both the hardcovers and the really nice uniform white paperbacks; I think they complement and enhance each other on the shelf.
My least favorite cover design is the correspondence with Robert E. Howard; I have not bought those two volumes, partly because most reviews describe the conversation as being repetitive, and partly because of the clunky design; but also because I already have much of Lovecraft's side in the Arkham House volumes, and Howard's side in the Necronomicon Press volumes.

S. T. Joshi wrote an essay for Crypt of Cthulhu in the 1980s, saying the correspondence to Long may be the greatest Lovecraft ever wrote.
I have not received an email yet about my pre-order, but everyone is urged to be patient.

How much of the Hippocampus Press letter volumes have you found time to read?

 

[Knygathin]

I'm generally more interested in Lovecraft's thoughts on literature and philosophy than on the particulars of his life, ...

If it's his thoughts on literature and philosophy you're after, I'd suggest "Miscellaneous Writings" ...

I would also recommend Collected Essays Volume 2: Literary Criticism, and Volume 5: Philosophy Autobiography & Miscellany.

 

[Knygathin]

The introduction to A Sense of Proportion mentions that Loveman had in his possession some 500 pages (or sheets) of Lovecraft's letters, that were sold at an auction in 2006 to L. W. Currey. Were all of these addressed to Frank Belknap Long?

 

[MorganScorpion]

I'm interested in a collection of Lovecraft's letters, but I have no idea where to start. A brief search on amazon showed what seemed like dozens of volumes, most of which were either volume 3 of 72, extremely expensive, or very focused. Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors, and I enjoyed Joshi's biography of him, but I'd like, at least to start, something more manageable than spending every dollar I have on the Arkham volumes, and picking one at random seems unlikely to lead to a good overview. So, basically, for a letter neophyte, what's a good collection to get? I'm generally more interested in Lovecraft's thoughts on literature and philosophy than on the particulars of his life, but I'm not disinterested in the man himself. As for cost, affordability is nice, though, if it's for a truly worthwhile edition, I would save up for it if it's reasonable (IE, under, say, fifty dollars).

There is available A Sense of Proportion: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Frank Belknap Long, from the H P Lovecraft Historical Society. It's expensive, especially to have it shipped to the UK. There's only 500 copies printed. At least one has been purchsed.

 

[Knygathin]

The introduction to A Sense of Proportion mentions that Loveman had in his possession some 500 pages (or sheets) of Lovecraft's letters, that were sold at an auction in 2006 to L. W. Currey. Were all of these addressed to Frank Belknap Long?

I had forgotten, the answer is on the first page of this thread. Yes, the whole chunk of the letters were to Long.

 

[Knygathin]

I hope A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard will be reprinted with an improved cover design.

 

[Knygathin]

The five volumes of The Selected Letters from Arkham House are very enjoyable, but just too expensive for most mortals. For someone starting out, or only wishing to have one single volume of Lovecraft's letters, I recommend again Lord of a Visible World: An Autobiography in Letters now available in a paperback edition from Hippocampus Press. It is interesting and varied. And doesn't have to be read all at once, but can be picked up at any time, continuing from where you left off, whenever so inclined. Reading the other volumes of collected letters to specific individuals, is a much more focused and massive undertaking. It is also possible to read several of Lovecraft's original letters scanned at the Brown University Library website.

 

[Knygathin]

I have not taken time to read A Sense of Proportion yet, except looking up on particular subjects; Lovecraft is delightful as always. Long's letters are also interesting to see, the very enthusiastic boy, with sense for literary aesthetics and proportion (except in drawing. Lovecraft's pithy drawings are genius in comparison; if he had chosen to walk down that path, instead of literature, I think he might have become an interesting talented artist).
The book is a smooth production, nice to handle. The binding is unfortunately not of the same high quality as Dawnward Spire, Loney Hill. The boards draw moisture and warp; many books do today.

 

[paeng]

Lovecraft-Letters/19370207-Catherine-L-Moore.md at master · punchmonster/Lovecraft-Letters

transcripts of Lovecraft's letters. Contribute to punchmonster/Lovecraft-Letters development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

But the real joke of course is, that all this isn't a matter of choice anyhow! Capitalism is dying from internal as well as external causes, & its own leaders & beneficiaries are less & less able to kid themselves. I'm no economist, but from recent reading I've been able to form a rough picture of the dilemma—the need to restrict consumers' goods & to pile up a needless plethora of producing equipment in order to maintain the irrational surplus called profit—which has caused orthodox economists like Hayek & Robbins to admit that only starvation wages & artificial scarcity could stabilize the profit system in future & avert increasing cyclical depressions of utterly destructive scope. Laissez-faire capitalism is dead—make no mistake about that. The only avenue of survival for plutocracy is a military & emotional fascism whereby millions of persons will be withdrawn from the industrial arena & placed on a dole or in concentration-camps with high-sounding patriotic names. That or socialism—take your choice. In the long run it won't be the New Deal but the mere facts of existence which will be recognised as the real & inevitable slayer of Hooverism. Nobody is going to "destroy the system"—for it has been destroying itself ever since it evolved out of the old agrarian-handicraft economy a century & a half ago.

 

[Knygathin]

Lovecraft-Letters/19370207-Catherine-L-Moore.md at master · punchmonster/Lovecraft-Letters

transcripts of Lovecraft's letters. Contribute to punchmonster/Lovecraft-Letters development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Lovecraft was widely read and understood a lot of things. And he had a great general taste and judging of subtle occurrenses. But no, Lovecraft was no economist. He could not understand the full implication of capitalism, because there was no information available that revealed it. And no, contrary to what he says, capitalism is definitely not dying, ... not yet, anyway. There is no indication of that. Capitalism controls both capitalism and socialism, even controls and initiates "working-class revolutions" including the Russian Revolution 1917.

I think Lovecraft would have found the following documentary very interesting. The Money Masters was released on VHS in 1996, and is a 3,5 hours long history lesson about capitalism. It tells the devastating truth of how the world is run. It is difficult to watch all of it in one sitting, because it is so compact. Better to view in 15 minute long doses or so. The Money Masters

 

[Knygathin]

I think Lovecraft would have found the following documentary very interesting. The Money Masters was released on VHS in 1996, and is a 3,5 hours long history lesson about capitalism. It tells the devastating truth of how the world is run. It is difficult to watch all of it in one sitting, because it is so compact. Better to view in 15 minute long doses or so. The Money Masters

It is a pity that people are not willing to learn about this. Thomas Ligotti was on to the Illuminati in stories such as "The Mystics of Muelenburg" and "Teatro Grottesco".

 

[Knygathin]

The Money Masters. It is a pity that people are not willing to learn about this. ...

The whole absurdity and enormity of it is so vast, that people cannot even begin to take it in. The closest comparison I can think of from a literary perspective, is the groundwork in Philip K. Dick's The Penultimate Truth. The whole thing has a slow, dreamlike, heavy quality to it, as if trying to talk under water; as if a great weight fills us all.