REH Bookshelf - L

compiled by Rusty Burke

Lamarre, Joseph

The Passion of the Beast

Boston: The Stratford Co., 1928. 30611; PQ3; GL; TDB.

An unusual novel, about the strange hold a gorilla exerts on an aristocratic French family. In Paris, William St. Clair meets Armand Dumesnil, who presently asks the American to accompany him to his family estate. There St. Clair meets Armand's beautiful sister, Yvonne, and learns that there is some mystery surrounding the family. He comes to learn that their father, Hippolyte Dumesnil, while on safari, had seen a female gorilla and her children killed by his bearers. He prevented them from killing her mate, whom he captured and named Melek. Melek soon thereafter saved Dumesnil's life, and was brought to live on the family estate. Dumesnil had come to believe that the lives of his own children, Armand and Yvonne, were owed to the ape, who proved to be extremely jealous of any attentions to Yvonne. Armand has brought St. Clair to the estate in hopes he can help them break Melek's psychological hold on the family. St. Clair, of course, falls in love with Yvonne, and his efforts to rescue her from this strange captivity culminate in a chase through the south of France.

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. March 1929, includes a satiric cast listing: "The line up for The Fashion of the Cheese. | The Whoreson – William | His Friend – Edmund | The Bastard – Hippolyte Dumesnil | His Son – Armand | His Daughter – Yvonne | The Blistering Damn Monkey – Melek"

Lamb, Harold Albert

(1892-1962)

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. December 1932: Lamb is listed among those Howard refers to as "my favorite writers."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. May/June 1933 [SL 2 #67]: "I do not possess an indiscriminate antipathy for intellectuals; for such men as, for instance, Harold Lamb, I have only respect and a keen admiration."

The Crusades

The Whole Story of the Crusades Originally Published in Two Volumes as Iron Men and Saints and The Flame of Islam. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1930, 1931. 30687; PQ3; GL; TDB.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 22 September 1932 [SL 2 #64]: "Lamb, writing on the crusades, seems to discount the theory of trade-routes, at least in connection with the First Crusade. As near as I can learn, he maintains that movement was begun by Urban for his own particular purposes..."

Tamerlane

the Earth-Shaker. Fourth printing. New York: Robert M. McBride & Co., 1930 [originally published 1928]. 30621; PQ1; GL; TDB. Still in HPU holdings.

Note in PQ1: Stamped on title page, "A.F. Von Blon | Rare Book Dealer | Waco, Texas."

“The Three Palladins.”

Adventure, July 30, 1923 (Part I); August 10, 1923 (Part II); August 20, 1923 (Part III).

“The Department of Weapons: The Sword,” in “The Golden Caliph”: “I quote Harold Lamb, in ‘The Three Palladins’, ‘Mukuli Khan’s sword was a two-handed affair, a hundred pounds in weight.’”

Lane-Poole, Stanley

(1854-1931)

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932: Lane-Poole is listed among those Howard refers to as "my favorite writers."

Saladin

and the Fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1898. 30691; PQ4; GL; TDB.

Turkey

By Stanley Lane-Poole, Assisted by E.J.W. Gibb and Arthur Gilman. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1888. 30618; PQ3; GL; TDB.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. 9 August 1932: "...do you know what year the Danube Canal was constructed...?...Evidently it existed in 1683, because Stanley Lane-Pool speaks of 'the island suburb of Leopoldstadt'..." The same source has: "Even Stanley Lane-Pool deplores the action of Milosh Kabilovitch..."

Both references are to this book. The first is to p. 228: "The island suburb of Leopoldstadt soon fell into the hands of the Turks, and became a smouldering pyre." The second is to p. 45: "Milosh Kobilovich, for this treacherous assassination, has ever since been regarded as a Serbian hero….the igonominy of betrayal has been absolved by posterity in consideration of the utility of the result. An assassin thus becomes a sort of inverted hero."

Lanier, Sidney

(1842-1881)

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, 21 August 1926: "I've about decided that the only American poets worth much are Sidney Lanier, Poe and [George Sylvester] Viereck; they are equal to any England ever produced."

REH to Robert W. Gordon, 2 January 1927: "How many really classical poets have we produced? Lanier, Poe, Viereck – and who else."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932: Lanier is listed among a number of poets Howard likes.

"Barnacles."

(1867)

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, 6 August 1926: "Say, Weird Tales is publishing some fine poetry, reprints, you know. This last issue they published... 'Barnacles' by Lanier."

Lardner, Ring[old Wilmer]

(1885-1933)

One Who Walked Alone, p. 200: "'Did you ever read any of Ring Lardner's baseball stories?...Well, I'll tell you,' Bob said, 'what he did for the baseball players ought to be done for the American cowboy.'"

Larson, Laurence M[arcellus]

(1868-1938)

History of England and the British Commonwealth

New York: Henry Holt, 1924. 30901; PQ3.

Lawrence, T[homas] E[dward]

(1888-1935)

Revolt in the Desert

Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1927. 30767; PQ2; GL; TDB. Still in HPU holdings.

Ledwidge, Francis

(1891-1917)

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932: "Francis Ledwedge" is listed among a number of poets Howard likes. [An Irish poet, discovered and sponsored by Lord Dunsany, he had two volumes of poetry published during his lifetime. He was killed in Flanders during WWI.]

Lehmann, Herman

(1859-1932)

Nine Years Among the Indians: the story of the captivity and life of a Texan among the Indians, edited by J. Marvin Hunter. Austin, Texas: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1927. Still in HPU holdings.

Lehmer, Derrick Norman

(1868-1938)

Fightery Dick and Other Poems

A Book of Free Ballads. New York: The Macmillan Co., 1936. Still in HPU holdings.

This book was not included in previous listings of Howard's library, and is not found on the Howard Payne accessions list, but has the bookplate of the REH Memorial Collection. Publication date was February 1936. It is possible the book was donated to the collection, though there is no inscription.

Leslie, A.

[pseudonym of Leslie Scott (1893-1975)

"Cravetheen the Harper."

Weird Tales, September 1928.

REH to Harold Preece, ca. August 1928: "I have a rime in this month's Weird Tales which you might like, and tucked away in the back of the magazine is a real poem by Leslie – a better verse than I'll probably ever write."

[Scott also wrote westerns under his own name, and as "Bradford Scott" and "Jackson Cole."]

Lewis, Sinclair

(1885-1951)

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932 includes Lewis among a group of writers of whom Howard says, "...three ringing razzberries for the whole mob....they're all wet smacks."

One Who Walked Alone, p. 226: [referring to an unnamed Lewis book which Truett Vinson had given to Novalyne Price] "Bob read the page and began talking about what a damn fool Sinclair Lewis was! Said he'd call Lewis a jackass, if he were sure my grandmother were out of earshot."

Babbitt

New York: Harcourt & Brace, 1922.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. May-June 1933 [SL 2 #67]: "All in all, I qualify, according to the standards of the 'professional intellectuals' as a Babbitt...."

Lewis, Sinclair

[Main Street]

The Story of Carol Kennicott. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Howe, 1920. 30555; TDB

I believe it is questionable whether this title was part of the Howard collection. It appears on the accessions list immediately before the the listing of multi-volume sets, with which I believe the cataloging of the Howard collection begins.

Lhuyd, Edward

(1660-1709)

REH to Farnsworth Wright, ca. June 1930 [SL 1 #38]: "And I note from the fact that Mr. Lovecraft has his character speaking Gaelic instead of Cymric, in denoting the Age of the Druids, that he holds to Lhuyd's theory as to the settling of Britain by the Celts. ¶ "This theory is not generally agreed to, but I scarcely think that it has ever been disproved, and it was upon this that my story 'The Lost Race' was based..."

[Lhuyd was the author of Archæologia Brittanica; giving some account additional to what has been hitherto publish'd, of the languages, histories and customs of the original inhabitants of Great Britain; from collections and observations in travels through Wales, Cornwal, Bas-Bretagne, Ireland and Scotland. Oxford, 1707. Lhuyd may also have contributed to, or been a source for, William Baxter's Glossarium Antiquitatum Britannicarum (q.v.). Howard may have learned of him from O'Reilly and O'Donovan's Irish-English Dictionary (q.v.). For instance, in Bishop O'Brien's (q.v.) "Remarks on the letter A," p. 6: "...the first Celts who came to Ireland (whether they arrived there immediately from Gaul, or rather after remaining for some tract of time in the greater British Isle, as Mr. Lhuyd gives good grounds to think...." And in "Remarks on the letter P," p. 400: "If the old Brigantes were really of the first inhabitants of Britain, it would follow that they were a part of the Guidelian or Gaulish colony, who went over to Ireland, and whom Mr. Lhuyd evidently proves to have been the first inhabitants of all that part of Great Britain which now comprehends England and Wales."]

The Life and Battles of John L. Sullivan

Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, p. 40: "Steve [Costigan = REH] yearned for The Life and Battles of John L. Sullivan which was just being published, but he felt that he could not afford the $4.00 which it cost."

No book of this title is found in the National Union Catalog. This may refer to a reprint edition of John L. Sullivan, the Champion Pugilist. His Life and Battles, with a full history of his great battle with Paddy Ryan. (New York: R.K. Fox, 1882. The Police Gazette (q.v.) (of which Fox had been Sporting Editor) published several books with the title "Life and Battles of..." during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and may have offered reprintings to readers, but the N.U.C. lists only Jack Johnson, James J. Corbett, Joe Collins (Tug Wilson), John Morrissey, and Yankee Sullivan (no relation to John L.).

Lillie, Gordon W[illiam]

(1860-1942)

Buffalo Bill

30747 (as "Little, W. Gordon"); PQ3 (same as accessions list); GL (same as accessions list); TDB.

[Note in TDB: "Memoir of Cody's rival and later partner, 'Pawnee Bill'; not in Natl. Union catalog, this could be Life Story of Pawnee Bill, 1926." ] This could also be Thrilling Lives of Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill, by Frank Winch (New York: S.L. Parsons & Co., 1911). The title page of this book is so laid out that an inattentive librarian might take Pawnee Bill for the author and Buffalo Bill for the subject.

Lippman, Walter

(1889-1974)

A Preface to Morals

New York: Macmillan, 1929. 30826; PQ3; TDB.

Little Blue Books

Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius Co.

"The Fastidious Fooey Mancucu" (parody, included in REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. October 1927): "I suspect Fooey of a plot to buy up all the Little Blue Books and plunge the civilized race into ignorance."

Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, p. 76: "Grotz ["Hubert Grotz" = Herbert Klatt] lived on a farm and was handicapped by a lack of proper books, and the continuous necessity of hard work, but he was struggling. ¶ To such youths, as to Steve [Costigan = REH], the Little Blue Books were a godsend."

[See "Haldeman-Julius, E[manuel]," "Fielding, William," "McCabe, Joseph," "Markun, Leo," "Swinburne, Algernon Charles," "Viereck, George Sylvester," etc.]

There is a complete listing of Little Blue Books online at the Pittsburg State University library's EHJ page.

Logan, James

(1794?-1872)

The Scottish Gael

or Celtic Manners, as preserved among the Highlanders, being an historical and descriptive account of the inhabitants, antiquities, and national peculiarities of Scotland; more particularly of the northern, or Gaelic parts of the country, where the singular habits of the aboriginal Celts are most tenaciously retained. London: Smith, Elder, 1831?.

REH to Wilfred B. Talman, ca. March 1932: "I was much interested in your remarks concerning that book The Scottish Gael. I was not aware that such a document was in existence. I'm sure it must be very interesting. Really authentic books on Celtic subjects are rare. If written by English authors, they are usually prejudiced against their subject, and if by Irish authors, they are often rabidly biased. As a rule, German historians are the most reliable. And there's been more study of Celtic history by Germans than one would think."

REH to Wilfred B. Talman, ca. July 1932: "About An Albanach Goidhel, I would indeed like to read it, though it seems pretty much of an imposition on you, especially in light of the new postage rates."

London, Jack

[John Griffith London] (1876-1916)

“The Dominant Male” (unpublished): “'Oh, damnation.' Mike sighed, 'Why don’t you read Jack London?'”

Mentioned in "King Hootus" (parody, included in REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. January 1928) as "Jack Lunding."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. 20 February 1928 [SL 1 #10]: "Yet a man's mind must strive after GREATNESS and when he has progressed to the point where no commonplace human thought is really great in scope consistently, he must look beyond the human and if he finds nothing there – Jack London died because he could not untwine the Human from the Cosmic."

The same source has:

"I have carefully gone over, in my mind, the most powerful men – that is, in my opinion – in all of the world's literature and here is my list: Jack London, Leonid Andreyev, Omar Khayyam, Eugene O'Neill, William Shakespeare. ¶ "All these men, and especially London and Khayyam, to my mind stand out so far above the rest of the world that comparison is futile, a waste of time. Reading these men and appreciating them makes a man feel life is not altogether useless."

In an untitled scenario included in this same letter, Howard has "Mike" (the protagonist, apparently his viewpoint character) say:

"What is London, what is Gorky, what is Tolstoy to the average man - even the man who reads them? The great writers die and fade into the dust of their works. Their books become their bones and their volumes range the shelves of fools, like withered mummies."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. March 1928 [SL 1 #11]: "I remember Jack London said something about monism being metaphysics."

Mentioned in "The Rump of Swift" (parody, included in REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. June 1928).

Mentioned in "A Fable for Critics." Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, p. 36: "His [Lars Jansen = Fowler Gafford] fiction was limited to O. Henry, Zane Grey, and Jack London; and Steve [Costigan = REH] always felt it was from the latter that Lars drew his inspired desire to write."

Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, p. 39: Lars Jansen [Fowler Gafford] says, "If I could just let it slide off free and easy like old Jack London! He uses the simplest language I ever seen, and yet he makes his ideas perfectly clear."

Post Oaks and Sand Roughs, p. 48: Lars Jansen says, "Then I got to readin' old Jack London and O. Henry, and the thought come that I'd like to write."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. October 1928 [SL 1 #15]: "No one judges George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair, or Jack London by what they wrote in their early youth when they were struggling up the long ladder..."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. late 1928: "The poem you sent me was as fiery and virile as anything you've ever written...Especially the second part went to my brain like the flaming liquor of insanity. No one else besides Jack London has the power to move me just that way."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. June 1929 [SL 1 #25]: "Writing is a lot like architecture. The whole structure has to suit – each piece has to be in place. A master of the game, like...Jack London, always places the pieces right."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932: London is listed among those Howard refers to as "my favorite writers."   Same letter also has: "Maybe the French excel the British in some ways, but where is the Frenchman who writes, or wrote, with the fire of Jack London, the mysticism of Ambrose Bierce, or the terrific power your own weird masterpieces possess?"

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , 6 March 1933: "...Jack London loved to box, fence and wrestle..."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. 6 March 1933: "Mr. Hart takes in quite a bit of territory when he says nobody 'in the world' reads Jack's books. I read them, continually, and several of my friends do. As far as I'm concerned, he stands head and shoulders above all other American writers." (See "Hart.")

REH to Carl Jacobi, ca. June 1934: "Yes, I noticed the Popular company had bought Adventure, and as you probably have read, they've changed editors again. Corcoran sold a serial to Cosmopolitan and threw up the job to free-lance -- probably proving Jack London's assertion that most editors wanted to be writers, secretly or otherwise."

Alvin Earl Perry, "A Biographical Sketch of Robert E. Howard," Fantasy Magazine, July 1935: "Jack London is this Texan's favorite writer..."

The Faith of Men

and Other Stories. New York: Macmillan, 1904. 30799; PQ3; GL; TDB.

The Human Drift

New York: Macmillan, 1919. 30817; PQ3; GL; TDB.

REH paid $ .49 + .14 postage for this book; see Appendix Two.

The Iron Heel

New York: Macmillan, 1908. 30811; PQ3; GL; TDB.

John Barleycorn

New York: Macmillan, 1913.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. 9 August 1932: "Jack London analyzed the liquor question far better than I, or any other man, can ever hope to do, in his book 'John Barleycorn' which every man should read."

Martin Eden

New York: Macmillan, 1909.

REH to August W. Derleth, ca. October 1933: "If you ever read London's 'Martin Eden' you remember how Martin used to get drunk on Sunday to forget the toil of the week. Well, I didn't work as furiously as Martin did, but I didn't get that day off, like he did."

The Mutiny of the Elsinore

New York: Macmillan, 1914.

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. April 1930: "...I believe in days gone yore you parodied The Mutiny of the Elsinore, but I think I'll try my handel at it." ("The Mutiny of the Hellroarer")

The Star Rover

New York: Macmillan, 1915. 30698; PQ3; GL; TDB.

REH to Harold Preece, ca. October/November 1930: "...London's 'The Star Rover' is a book that I've read and re-read for years, and that generally goes to my head like wine."

"A Thunder of Trumpets" (in collaboration with Frank Thurston Torbett, Weird Tales, September 1938): story heading is a quotation from Chapter 21.

The Strength of the Strong

New York: Macmillan, 1914. 30759; PQ3; GL (lists title under heading "Data on the following is incomplete and/or questionable); TDB (under "unknown authors")

The Valley of the Moon

New York: Grosset and Dunlap Publishers, 1916. 30660; PQ1; GL; TDB. Still in HPU holdings.

Long, Frank Belknap, Jr.

(1903-1994)

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. August 1930 [SL 1 #41]: "...I am highly honored to know that Mr. Long and Mr. Clark Ashton Smith have noticed my efforts. Both are writers and poets whose work I very much admire, having carefully preserved all of their poems...that have appeared in Weird Tales since I first made my acquaintance with the magazine."

[In Long's case, this would include: "Stallions of the Moon," August 1925; "The Inland Sea," March 1926; "Advice," June 1927; "The White People," November 1927; "Night Trees," March 1928; "The Horror on Dagoth Wold," February 1930; and "On Icy Kinarth," April 1930.]

"The Beast-Helper."

Weird Tales, August 1934.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. January/February 1935: "I hope you enjoyed your trip to see Long in New York. I learn with interest that Long is now a Communist. But I suspected it when I read his story in Weird Tales some months ago – the one about the dictator and the ape."

"The Black Dead Thing."

Weird Tales, October 1933.

REH to August W. Derleth, ca. October 1933: "I got a big kick out of Lovecraft's story, as well as those of Smith, Long etc."

The Goblin Tower

REH to Robert H. Barlow, 17 December 1935: "Thank you very much for the copy of The Goblin Tower; a neat, attractive job of printing and binding which does credit to Long's splendid verse."

"The Horror from the Hills."

Weird Tales, January, February-March 1931.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. January 1931: "The dream you described is most fascinating, particularly the names, etc., and the culmination. I remember reading the incident in Long's serial, which, by the way, is the best thing appearing in Weird Tales since Mr. Wright published your last story. Long lacks something of your own master touch, but he is a good craftsman and this story is splendid."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. February 1931: "I've read the concluding chapters of Long's story – a splendid tale and very well written. The narration of the dream was the high spot of the whole story, and to my mind, exceeded the final climax. The language used in the whole chapter of the dream, is nothing short of pure poetry and I have reread it repeatedly and with the utmost admiration. The finely worked plot with its shuddery hints and horrific climax in the night-mantled hills is an absolute triumph in Gothic literature – a story within a story."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. June 1931: "Yes, I got quite a kick out of Long's story, and wrote to Mr. Wright praising the author's work and urging him to use more of the same sort. I have not seen the unfavorable comment on his work you mentioned – in fact, I'm not familiar with the Editor magazine – but I cannot see how any sincere objection to his style could be made. I like Long's work, and if anything I can do, can help offset the criticism you referred to, I'll be more than glad to do it. Yet, though the whole story was excellent, in my honest opinion, your interwoven dream was the high spot."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , 11 February 1936: "I remember very well indeed the Roman dream of yours which Long used in his story. As I told you then it was an imaginative and poetic masterpiece."

"The Malignant Invader."

Weird Tales, January 1932.

REH to The Eyrie, March 1932: "...the stories by Smith, Long, Hurst and Jacobi could scarcely be excelled."

A Man from Genoa, and Other Poems

Athol, MA: W. Paul Cook, 1926.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1930 [SL 1 #43]: "I am highly obligated to both yourself and Mr. Long for the loan of 'A Man From Genoa'. I have not gotten the book yet, mail service being rather irregular in this part of the world, but I am looking forward to its perusal with the greatest anticipation."

A postscript to the same letter reads:

"I have received Mr. Long's book since writing the above; I have not yet had time for a proper study of it, but from my first perusal, I can see that the poems come up fully to all expectations."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1930 [SL 1 #45]: "I have re-read 'A Man From Genoa' many times and each reading has strengthened my first estimate of the author – that he is truly a magnificent poet."

"A Visitor from Egypt."

Weird Tales, September 1930.

[In anthology, Creeps By Night. See under "Hammett."]

"When Chaugnar Wakes."

Weird Tales, September 1932.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 9 August 1932: "Long's poem in the current Weird Tales is superb."

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

(1807-1882)

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932: Longfellow is listed among a number of poets Howard likes.

"The Luck of Eden Hall."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. October 1930 [SL 1 #47]: "I have heard of the famous 'Luck of Eden Hall' and would like very much to see it. In my early childhood I memorized Longfellow's poem about it."

"The Musician's Tale: The Saga of King Olaf."

(In Tales of a Wayside Inn.)

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. July 1932: "Longfellow says of Olaf the Christian, that at banquets he was, "first to come and last to go".

[Part II, "King Olaf's Return," stanza 12: "On the ship-rails he could stand, | Wield his sword with either hand, | And at once two javelins throw; | At all feasts where ale was strongest | Sat the merry monarch longest, | First to come and last to go."]

"A Psalm of Life."

"The Fastidious Fooey Mancucu" (parody, included in REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. October 1927): "Myth…recited some of Longfellow's verse. "Tell me not in coocoo numbers | "Life is but a drunkard's dream | "'Tis the petticoat that cumbers | "And girls are not like they scream."

This is a parody of the first four lines of Longfellow's poem.

Lorimer, George Horace

(1867-1937)

Mentioned in "A Fable for Critics." [Editor of Saturday Evening Post, 1899-1936.]

Louÿs, Pierre

[Pierre Louis] (1870-1925)

The Collected Works of Pierre Louÿs

New York: Liveright, 1932.

One Who Walked Alone, pp. 133-140: [Novalyne Price had told REH that she would like a history book for Christmas. He gave her a copy of The Collected Works of Pierre Louÿs.] "...Bob said the book described very vividly our 'rotting civilization.'" ¶ "I read the inscription again, trying to make sense out of it: 'The French have one gift – the ability to gild decay and change the maggots of corruption to the humming birds of poetry – as demonstrated by this volume. | Bob | December 21, 1934.'"

[After trying to read the story of Leda and the Swan, in "The Twilight of the Nymphs," she is upset and angry with Howard. Later, when she asks him why he gave her the book, they get into an argument over the differences in their beliefs about civilization. Howard is quoted as referring specifically to "The Songs of Bilitis" and "The Adventures of King Pausole," and as saying, "It's a masterpiece..." One passage (pp. 140-141) seems to suggest that this book may have influenced the writing of "Red Nails."]

Lovecraft, Howard Phillips

(1890-1937)

"Alienation." | "At the Mountains of Madness." | "Background." | "The Bells." | "The Book." | "The Call of Cthulhu." | "Cats and Dogs." | The Cats of Ulthar | "The Courtyard." | "The Curse of Yig." | "The Dreams in the Witch House." | "The Dunwich Horror." | "The Dweller." | "The Elder Pharos." | "Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family." | "The Festival." | "The Fungi from Yuggoth." | Further Criticism of Poetry | "The Haunter of the Dark." | "He." | "The Horror at Red Hook." | "The Horror in the Museum." | "Idealism and Materialism -- A Reflection." | "In the Vault." | "The Lamp." | "Medusa's Coil." | "Mirage." | "The Music of Erich Zann." | The Necronomicon | "Night Gaunts" | "The Other Gods." | "Out of the Eons." | "The Outsider." | "Pickman's Model." | "The Picture in the House." | "Polaris." | "The Rats in the Walls." | "Recognition." | "The Shadow Out of Time." | "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." | "The Silver Key." | "Some Dutch Footprints in New England." | "Star-Winds." | "The Strange High House in the Mist." | "Supernatural Horror in Literature." | "The Temple." | "The Terrible Old Man." | "The Thing on the Doorstep." | "The Unnamable." | "The Whisperer in Darkness." | "The White Ape." | "The White Ship." | "The Window."

Lovecraft, H.P. and E. Hoffmann Price: "Through the Gates of the Silver Key."

Lovecraft, H.P. and Robert H. Barlow: "The Battle That Ended The Century."

General Mentions of HPL

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. July 1930 [SL 1 #39]: "I am indeed highly honored to have received a personal letter from one whose works I so highly admire. I have been reading your stories for years, and I say, in all sincerity, that no writer, past or modern, has equalled you in the realm of bizarre fiction. I realize that it is the custom for enthusiastic readers to compare a favorite author with Poe, and their comparison is seldom based on any real estimate, or careful study. But after a close study of Poe's technique, I am forced to give as my personal opinion that his horror tales have been surpassed by Arthur Machen, and that neither of them ever reached the heights of cosmic horror or opened such new, strange paths of imagination as you have done in 'The Rats in the Walls', 'The Outsider', 'The Horror at Red Hook', 'The Call of Cthulhu', 'The Dunwich Horror' – I could name all the stories of your's I have read and not be far wrong."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. July 1930 [SL 1 #40]: "I got a long letter from Lovecraft. That boy is plenty smart. And well read, too... He's out of my class..."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 9 August 1930 [SL 1 #41]: says he has preserved all of Lovecraft's poems "that have appeared in Weird Tales since I first made my acquaintance with the magazine." [This could include "Nemesis," April 1924; "To A Dreamer," November 1924; "Yule-Horror," December 1926; "The Ancient Track," March 1930; "Recapture," May 1930]; in the same letter, he inquires as to the "significance" of the names "Cthulhu, Yog Sothoth, R'lyeh, Yuggoth, etc. ...And the Arab Alhazred and the Necronomicon."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. late August 1930 [SL 1 #42] quotes from Lovecraft's reply concerning Cthulhu et al., and says "...I'm going to ask Lovecraft if I can use his mythology in my own junk..."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1930 [SL 1 #43]: "I have always been fascinated by his [i.e., Machen's] work, though I will say, frankly and with no intent to flatter, that I consider him inferior to yourself as a horror story writer."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1930 [SL 1 #45]: "It takes a master of the pen, such as Machen and yourself, to create a proper SUGGESTION of unseen and unknown horror."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1930 [SL 1 #49]: "I particularly hope that you will find it convenient to contribute to the magazine [Oriental Stories], since with your magnificent talents and your sincere interest in things Oriental, you should turn out some splendid work."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. January 1931: "I lack your grasp on cosmic thoughts, your magnificent imagination, your command of rhetoric and vocabulary, your power to invest the unreal with a grisly reality -- in short, I am a mere novice where you are a master."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. February 1931: "Have you ever tried Argosy? I believe you could sell them some weird stories -- they gobble up Merritt's stuff and you have him beat seven ways from the ace. Not that Merritt isn't good; he is. But his work lacks the sheer, somber and Gothic horror of your tales. A touch of mere fantasy sometimes mars his work, whereas your horror-tales are built starkly of black iron, with no slightest hint of tinsel -- and therein lies their greatness. I've been reading your tales over again, in the old magazines -- The Unnamable, The Temple, He, The Terrible Old Man, The Silver Key -- and I hope that Farnsworth will see his way to publish all of them in book form soon -- together with 'The Festival' and 'The Music of Erich Zann' both of which I missed, somehow. These must have been published in the old Weird Tales."

REH to Wilfred B. Talman, ca. May 1931: "Our mutual friend, Mr. Lovecraft, writes me that a publishing house had been corresponding with him in regard to possibly bringing out his stories in book form. I most sincerely hope that they close the deal satisfactorily to all parties, for literature would be enriched exceedingly by the appearance of his tales on the book shelves of the world."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. June 1931 [SL 2 #53]: "I most certainly hope that Putnam & Sons have decided to bring out your work in book form -- both for your own sake and for the sake of American literature as a whole. I look forward to the appearance of the volume with eager anticipation, and hope I can have the honor of being the first to review it for the Southwestern papers." [From the same letter:] "I'm surprized that Argosy rejected your stories, especially in the old days, when the magazine was superior to the present one. But what can you expect from any standardized publication? They'd turn down the master-pieces of all the ages, if they chanced to depart from the regular pattern." [From the same letter:] "I'm glad you liked 'Children of the Night'... As regards my mention of the three foremost weird masterpieces -- Poe's ["The Fall of the House of Usher"], Machen's ["The Novel of the Black Seal"] and your own ["The Call of Cthulhu"] -- its my honest opinion that these three are the outstanding tales. Though I consider your 'Dunwitch Horror', 'Horror at Red Hook' and 'Rats in the Walls' quite worthy of ranking alongside Poe and Machen, also."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 10 August 1931: "I speak with full sincerity when I say I am bitterly disappointed that the Putnams rejected the mss. they were considering -- disappointed not alone for your sake, but for the sake of literature as a whole. However, though set-backs and disappointments are part of every man's life, the power of your work will eventually over-ride all obstacles. You cannot fail of eventual recognition, and with it the fame and monetary remuneration you so richly deserve."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 4 October 1931: "As for 'The Black Stone' my story appearing in the current Weird Tales, since reading it over in print, I feel rather absurd. The story sounds as if I were trying, in my feeble and blunderingly crude way, to deliberately copy your style. Your literary influence on that particular tale, while unconscious on my part, was none the less strong. And indeed, many writers of the bizarre are showing your influence in their work, not only in Weird Tales but in other magazines as well; earlier evidences of an influence which will grow greater as time goes on, for it is inevitable that your work and art will influence the whole stream of American weird literature, and eventually the weird literature of the world."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1931: "...certainly, no weird magazine is complete without your magnificent tales."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1932: "I hope you decide to collaborate [with Harold Farnese, who set "The Fungi From Yuggoth" to music] on the proposed musical drama. Don't tell me you're not qualified for that sort of thing. You're capable of any sort of literary expression, to my humble mind. You'd instill new vigor and fresh imagination in the dramatic world, which, from what I hear, is badly in need of some such stimulus. If the Californian did his part half as well as I know you'd do your's, the success of the venture would be assured."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. October 1932 [SL 2 #64]: "Glad to hear that your work got its proper mention in the 'American Author'; I didn't see the article mentioned, the magazine not being on any of the stands I frequent, but I'm glad the writer referred to you. It ought to boost you with the editors."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1932: listed among those Howard refers to as "my favorite writers" is "last, but by no means least, yourself. Maybe the French excel the British in some ways, but where is the Frenchman who writes, or wrote, with the fire of Jack London, the mysticism of Ambrose Bierce, or the terrific power your own weird masterpieces possess?"

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. May-June 1932 [SL 2 #67]: "I hope, also, that our argument has not caused you to doubt the sincerity of my admiration for your own artistic accomplishments. I think I have made it clear that for your type of artist, I have only the highest respect and admiration."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1933: "And I wish you'd write some historical tales. You could do them finely. That bit of yours in Long's serial ["The Horror from the Hills," q.v.] showed how magnificently you could handle a tale with an historical Roman setting. I envy you your knowledge of history. With it, if you wished, you could roam the ages at will, dragging figures out of obscurity to gild with fictional lustre, lend new attributes to old heroes or drag false gods off their pedestals.... But what I started to say was, I wish you'd write some historical stories. ¶ But whatever you write, I can say with complete conviction that it will be a magnificent literary feast which I will admire with all sincerity."

REH to Charles D. Hornig, 1 November 1933: "I also hope you can persuade Lovecraft to let you use some of his superb verse."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1934: "I was glad to see an issue of the Fantasy Fan dedicated to you. Of course, I've been reading and enjoying your stories, poems and articles appearing in that magazine."

One Who Walked Alone, p. 151: "'Lovecraft,' he repeated, still emphatic. 'One of the greatest writers of our time.'"

"Alienation."

[See under "The Fungi From Yuggoth."]

"At the Mountains of Madness."

Astounding, February, March, April 1936.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. June 1931 [SL 2 #53]: "I'm delighted to hear about your new story -- the antarctic horror -- and sincerely hope that you found a market for it. Literature, at a low ebb generally, is enriched by every stroke of your pen."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca 10 August 1931: "I am also very sorry that Mr. Wright rejected the antarctic story, and hope by this time you've marketed it else-where, if you should fail to sell it, I would like very much to read it sometime in manuscript form, if it isn't asking too much."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 4 October 1931: "I hope Mr. Wright will reconsider and accept the antarctic tale, but if he shouldn't, I'd like very much to read the ms."

Robert H. Barlow to REH, ca. November 1931: "Our mutual friend H.P. Lovecraft asked me to forward this mss. of his to you when I finished it..."

REH to Tevis Clyde Smith, ca. November 1931: "This morning I took out a big registered enwelope with a 'War Department' letter-head... He also enclosed a 115 page ms. which he said Lovecraft had instructed him to forward me. Its the antarctic story which Farnsworth rejected, and which Lovecraft promised to let me read in the original."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. November 1931: "Many thanks for the opportunity of reading your magnificent 'At the Mountains of Madness'. This story certainly deserves publication in book form and I hope some day to see it so published. There is not, as far as I can see, a single false or unconvincing note in the whole; the entire story has a remarkable effect of realism. And I marvel once more -- as in so many times in the past -- at the cosmic sweep of your imagination and the extent of your scientific and literary knowledge."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, 5 December 1935 [SL 2 #76]: "I'm also delighted to note the forthcoming appearance of your stories in Astounding Stories."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, 13 May 1936: "Glad, too, that the illustrations for your magnificent 'Mountains of Madness' are so suitable, though no illustrations could do justice to the story itself."

"Background."

[See under "The Fungi From Yuggoth."]

"The Bells."

[See under "The Fungi From Yuggoth."]

"The Book."

[See under "The Fungi From Yuggoth."]

"The Call of Cthulhu."

Weird Tales, February 1928.

REH to The Eyrie, May 1928: "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. He has the rare gift of making the unreal seem very real and terrible, without lessening the sensation of horror attendant thereto. He touches peaks in his tales which no modern or ancient writer has ever hinted. Sentences and phrases leap suddenly at the reader, as if in utter blackness of solar darkness a door were suddenly flung open, whence flamed the red fire of Purgatory and through which might be momentarily glimpsed monstrous and nightmarish shapes. Herbert Spencer may have been right when he said that it was beyond the human mind to grasp the Unknowable, but Mr. Lovecraft is in a fair way of disproving that theory, I think. I await his next story with eager anticipation, knowing that whatever the subject may be, it will be handled with the skill and incredible vision which he has always shown."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. July 1930 [SL 1 #39] (see above in general section on Lovecraft).

"The Children of the Night" (Weird Tales, April/May 1931): "But in such tales as Poe's Fall of the House of Usher, Machen's Black Seal, and Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu – the three master horror-tales, to my mind – the reader is borne into dark and outer realms of imagination."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. June 1931 [SL 2 #53] (see above in general section on Lovecraft).

REH to H.P. Lovecraft , ca. 4 October 1931: "I remember the earthquake used in 'Cthulhu'..."

"Cats and Dogs."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. December 1933: "Your essay was read with great interest; it was clever and well-written, though it seems less a defense of cats themselves, than a glorification of people who idealize cats. However I can not regard seriously any attempt to classify peoples' mentality by their like or dislike of cats, or dogs."

[REH had sent Lovecraft a ms. copy of his "The Beast from the Abyss," to which Lovecraft responded with his essay, originally written in 1926.]

The Cats of Ulthar

Cassia, Fla.: The Dragon-Fly Press [Robert H. Barlow], 1935. 30828; PQ3; GL; TDB.

[Limited to forty copies, apparently given to Lovecraft's associates as a Christmas gift. Type hand-set by Barlow.]

REH to Robert H. Barlow, postcard, 14 February 1936: "This is to express, somewhat belatedly, my thinks and appreciation for the fine copy of 'Cats of Ulthar' and 'The Dragon Fly.'"

"The Courtyard."

[See under "The Fungi From Yuggoth."]

"The Curse of Yig."

Weird Tales, November 1929.

[Revision, appeared under the name of Zealia Reed Bishop, though the story is largely Lovecraft's.]

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. February 1931: "I remember the 'Yig' story; it was a good one and I thought at the time that I could detect the touch of your master-hand here and there."

"The Dreams in the Witch House."

Weird Tales, July 1933.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. May-June 1933 [SL 2 #67]: "As always, I experienced the keenest enjoyment in reading your latest story. "The Dreams in the Witch House" is truly magnificent, from the title (a splendid bit of imagery in itself) to the very last line. I shall doubtless re-read it many times, as I have your other splendid stories. You certainly dominated the current Weird Tales; indeed, it might be said that you had two stories in the magazine, since 'The Horror in the Museum' reflected your style and power in every line. Both stories were indeed fine, and I hope more of your work will appear soon. I make bold to remark that you are one of the very, very few men in the world who could handle 'Brown Jenkin'. With the average writer, he would have appeared merely ludicrous, a fantastic image from a dream. But you invested him with a startling reality, and a crawling horror, that made him spring out in appalling clarity against a background of twilight mystery. He is, indeed, one of the most powerful and grisly creations that have ever stalked through the shadow-haunted twilight realms of your tales."

REH to August W. Derleth, ca. July 1933: "I enjoyed H.P.L's stories in the Weird Tales, both the one he wrote and the one he revised."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1933: "Yes, I did indeed enjoy your latest story in Weird Tales, and was glad to see the readers voted you first place -- as indeed, I was sure they would."

"The Dunwich Horror."

Weird Tales, April 1929.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. July 1930 [SL 1 #39] (see above in general section on Lovecraft).

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1930 [SL 1 #45]: "I remember the idea of whippoorwills and psychopomps in your 'Dunwich Horror' and how I was struck with the unique grisliness of the notion..."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. June 1931 [SL 2 #53] (see above in general section on Lovecraft).

"The Dweller."

[One of "The Fungi From Yuggoth."]

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. July 1930 [SL 1 #39]: "Thank you very much for the poetry. 'The Dweller' especially intrigued me, as I found in it much of the quality of your most powerful prose stories – a sudden door-like opening on absolutely unguessed conjectures, that sets a sort of inarticulate madness that howls for expression, clawing at the reader's brain."

"The East India Brick Row."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1930 [SL 1 #47]: "Thanks for letting me see the articles about Providence, also the splendid poem, 'The East India Brick Row.' I enjoyed scanning them all, particularly your poem, which is as fine as any of its kind I ever read."

"The Elder Pharos."

[See under "The Fungi From Yuggoth."]

"Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His Family."

Weird Tales, April 1924 (as "The White Ape"); reprinted May 1935 (as "Arthur Jermyn").

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. January 1931: "I've never read 'Facts Concerning the Late Arthur Jerwyn and His Family', but I'd certainly enjoy doing so, if you have a spare copy or one you can lend me. I entirely sympathize with your irritation at the editor's changing the title. The original title certainly was far superior in originality and interest."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. February 1931: "Thank you very much for loaning me the manuscript (which I'm returning with this letter). I found it fascinating, with its horrific hints of semi-human monstrosities, and Elder cities set in dark, grim jungles. Its the sort of horror story I like, with its weird foreshadowings and grisly climax -- above all, the shadowy web-work of dark implication lying behind the visible action of the tale."

"The Festival."

Weird Tales, January 1925; reprinted October 1933.

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. February 1931: "...'The Festival' ... which I missed, somehow."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. September 1933: "I liked your 'Festival' reprint in the current Weird Tales. Indeed, I believe I like it as well as anything else I ever read of yours. It will quite overshadow my Conan yarn, but being overshadowed by your stories is no disgrace. I particularly like the subtle implication of an alien race, the ancestors of the central character. I wish you'd enlarge on that theme in another story."

REH to August W. Derleth, ca. October 1933: "I got a big kick out of Lovecraft's story..."

"The Fungi from Yuggoth."

REH to H.P. Lovecraft, ca. 9 August 1930 [SL 1 #41]: "Let me first thank you for the opportunity you have given me to read your poetry; I need not tell you that I appreciate your kindness highly. You have, in this sonnet-cycle, accomplished a superb artistic work, to my mind. It is not for me to say which of the poems were best; I read the whole with

REH Bookshelf - L

“The Three Palladins.”

History of England and the British Commonwealth

Fightery Dick and Other Poems

"Cravetheen the Harper."

[Main Street]

Buffalo Bill

A Preface to Morals

The Scottish Gael

"The Musician's Tale: The Saga of King Olaf."

The Collected Works of Pierre Louÿs

General Mentions of HPL