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H. P. Lovecraft. Small archive of nine lengthy autograph letters signed variously ("H.P.L.", "E'ch-Pi-El", and "H.P. Lovecra...
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Description
H. P. Lovecraft writes to aspiring author J. Vernon Shea on what mistakes to avoid as a "weird writer": "To write weird fiction from a primarily human standpoint would be a basic error of the first magnitude..."
H. P. Lovecraft. Small archive of nine lengthy autograph
letters signed variously ("H.P.L.", "E'ch-Pi-El", and "H.P.
Lovecraft") over a period of six years to J. Vernon Shea. Various
places, 1931-1937.Nine autograph letters signed with six addressed envelopes (four signed "HPL", four signed "E'ch-Pi-El", and one signed "H.P. Lovecraft"), 84 pages in total. Variously written on letter-sized stationary (8.625 x 11 inches) and 8vo-sized stationary (5.5 x 9 inches). Housed with typescripts of all nine letters and the envelopes in a quarter crushed brown morocco folding case, spine stamped in gilt, buckram chemises.
FASCINATING ARCHIVE OF LARGELY UNPUBLISHED LETTERS TO AN ASPIRING WRITER WHO WOULD BECOME A MEMBER OF THE 'LOVECRAFT CIRCLE.'
Lovecraft's lengthy letters to the young J. Vernon Shea, whose correspondence with the author began when the latter was only 19 years old, are verbose, emphatic, and touch on a variety of subjects. Lovecraft writes in multiple letters, commenting on other writers in his narrow field (his term) of 'weird fiction': "Merritt's best thing is his first - the original brief "Moon Pool" as published in the All-Story during November 1918... the book version consists of an altered & weakened version of the first part with the cheap sequel tacked on..." (letter dated Aug. 28, 1931). Lovecraft continues in another letter (dated September 18, 1931): "To reflect life, one must dig down into the hidden inner lives & feelings of hundreds of people of every age & circumstance - as young Derleth is doing..." And he later remarks: "Avery Hopwood is one who bitterly regretted the ruin of a serious dramatic style. A. Merrit starting out promisingly - & is still concocting pulp science fiction..." And is full of compliments about Derleth: "Glad Derleth has sent you some of his serious stuff. Quite a boy - I predict that he will go far..."
He comments the inspirations and influences of his own writing style: "You are right in saying that Poe is my chief source & model - & I can assure you that I have never presumed to compare my stuff to his, qualitatively... That is why I dispute your statement that my tales suffer from a 'lack of warmth'. I may not have the warmth - but tales of the sort I write don't require such a thing. Indeed - I'll go a step further & express the opinion that a romantic or especially human element in a weird tale is a definite defect & dilution. The weird writer must above all else be cosmic & objective - with no more sympathy for mankind & its petty values than for the daemons that oppose mankind. Without this impersonal independence & unconventionality, weird fiction sinks quickly into a namby-pamby condition..." (letter dated Aug. 28, 1931). And continues in his next letter of September 3, 1931: "I still insist that 'warmth' is an element not properly belong to weird fiction as a genre... What you term 'coldness & formality' of style is what I call objective plainness - the bold, neutral simplicity which includes as frills, trivialities, or irrelevancies, & of which treats all phenomena - cosmic, terrestrial, human, or otherwise - as of perfectly equal importance in an infinite, futile, & meaningless cosmos..."
Many of the letters offer writing advice to Shea, and Lovecraft even compliments the young author in a letter dated September 24, 1931: "'Brother & Sister' marks a distinct advance in your literary development, & ought to give you encouragement even though it may not come up to your self-imposed standard. It is very distinctly a move in the right direction, & certainly marks as much progress and could conceivably be expected..." He recommends (and even sends) heaps of books and stories to Shea and frequently comments on the films he's recently seen. In his last letter to Shea, sent only six weeks before his own death, Lovecraft memorializes Robert E. Howard, who had died by suicide less than a year prior (letter dated as "finished" February 5, 1937): "Two-Gun Bob's suicide is still eliciting sorrowful comment in fantasy circles. I had quite a long obituary of him in Fantasy Magazine... Alas, poor Two-Gun! 'He was a man - take him for all in all, we shall not look upon his like again.'" In this final letter, Lovecraft shares his thoughts on Shea's manuscript story "The Necronomicon", whose central character was more than inspired by Lovecraft himself (and to whom the story is dedicated): "I read "The Necronomicon" with the keenest of interest, & noticed a certain faint resemblance betwixt the central figure & the unworthy object of the dedication - for which letter, my profoundest obeisances! Would that I might duplicate the ability & attainments (if not precisely the ending) of this 'stepped up' counterpart!... Needless to say, I enjoyed it immensely, & permitted the austere corners of my grim & tight-lipped mouth to assume a slight upward angle upon encountering the many references to familiar figure..." The letter ends, rather forebodingly, "...Am rather feeble these days with a continuation of intestinal grippe & winter swollen feet. Blessings - HPL."
J. Vernon Shea (1912-1981) was an author and poet who began a correspondence with H.P. Lovecraft when Shea was only 19 years old. The correspondence lasted until Lovecraft passed away in 1937. Much of Shea's writing revolved around Lovecraft; his published works include memorials and remembrances of the author, as well as stories included in various anthologies of 'weird tales.' Shea also corresponded with Lovecraft-contemporaries Clark Ashton Smith and August Derleth.
Joshi and Schultz's introduction to volume 8 of Lovecraft's letters explains the omission of the present archive of letters from inclusion in their book: "By this time [1981], Shea was living alone in an apartment in Cleveland. In the 1960s he donated over what he believed to be all his letters from Lovecraft to the John Hay Library of Brown University; but upon his unexpected death in early 1981, ten more letters were found among his effects. These were sold to a rare book dealer, the Boston Book Annex, and subsequently purchased as a lot by an unidentified collector. This collector has not made these letters available for consultation, and all we have of them are brief excerpts made by Shea himself and passed on to August Derleth for inclusion in the Selected Letters project..." This is seemingly a minor error as nine letters - rather than ten - are included in the present archive.
Condition: Letters creased along old folds, light toning, some scattered smudging, a few short tears. Envelopes moderately soiled and worn, some chips and tears, a few small separations along folds.
References: Only partial excerpts have been included in H. P. Lovecraft: Letters to J. Vernon Shea, Carl F. Strauch, and Lee McBride White (edited by S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, New York: Hippocampus Press, [2016]). From the William A. Strutz Library.
View all of [The William A. Strutz Library ]
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2024 June 27 Important English and American Literature: The William A. Strutz Library, Part I, Rare Books Signature® Auction #6295 (go to Auction Home page)
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