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H. P. Lovecraft. Autograph letter signed ("Tomeron the Decayed") to Clark Ashton Smith ("CAS")....
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Description
H. P. Lovecraft. Autograph letter signed ("Tomeron the Decayed") to Clark Ashton Smith ("CAS"). 10 Barnes St., Providence, RI, 2 Feby. 1930.2 pages (recto and verso), 8vo (280 x 215 mm). Written in black ink, with "Fungi from Yuggoth" in pencil at head (presumably in the hand of Clark Ashton Smith). Together with a 12-page typescript on carbon paper (280 x 215 mm), apparently typed by Lovecraft himself, of a poem "Fungi from Yuggoth" with penciled annotations by Smith.
An excellent letter from the master of the "weird tale" to his close friend and fellow author, Clark Ashton Smith. Although Lovecraft and Smith corresponded extensively over many years, the two never met in person. Their surviving letters reveal a rich exchange of ideas-on literature, mutual friends and colleagues, and their shared philosophies concerning the craft of the "weird tale."
The letter opens with characteristic warmth and admiration, and includes mention of another frequent subject of Lovecraft's correspondence-their mutual idol, Edgar Allan Poe. Reflecting the pair's habit of reviewing each other's work, Lovecraft writes: "Dear CAS: - Your recent envelope contained some rare treats, & I can't say how flattered I feel by the dedication of 'The Epiphany of Death'! That is the most haunting & fascinating thing I have read anywhere in aeons-& the style is full of grave, stately music which makes me think of Poe as he first impressed me long decades ago... 'The Epiphany of Death' comes the closest to realizing that ideal of anything so far-& to have it inscribed to me heightens the pleasure of the perusal... 'The Resurrection of a Rattlesnake' is haunting, too. You manage to fill the atmosphere with a certain dark portentousness as the end approaches, & the climax fits on very neatly-even though it is an adopted suggestion. Truly, I am profoundly grateful for the literary feats I have just enjoyed!" Smith wrote both "The Epiphany of Death" and "The Resurrection of a Rattlesnake" early in his career, though both remained unpublished during his lifetime.
Lovecraft continues in anticipation of further tales: "I shall look for your future tales with the keenest interest-the titles alone are enough to send one's fancy on long & bizarre voyages! The hints you give of their themes are highly alluring-ugh!!... The black rays, & the corpse-eating globe......! I can well understand your having more ideas than you can catch up with; that is the way I am-I have a commonplace-book full of weird ideas & jottings which would take more than a lifetime to develop in fictional form. I differ from you, though, in never devising a title till I have finished a story."
The two frequently exchanged manuscripts for mutual revision and review. Here, Lovecraft encloses his poem sequence "Fungi from Yuggoth"-here titled "Yuggoth of Fungi"-and asks Smith's opinion, elaborating at length on his creative process: "Oh-here are my Yuggothian Fungi, to be returned at leisure. Nothing notable about them-but they at least embody certain moods & images. Some of the themes are really more adapted to fiction-so that I shall probably make stories of them whenever I get that constantly-deferred creative opportunity I am always hoping for. You will see something of my scenic or landscape-architectural tendency in these verses-especially suggestions of unplaceable or half-forgotten scenes. These vague, elusive pseudo-memories have haunted me ever since I was an infant, & are quite a typical ingredient of my psychology & aesthetic attitude. They are surely somewhat akin to the landscapes which you mention as evoked by certain moods..."
Lovecraft goes on to mention other masters of the macabre-Ambrose Bierce, Lord Dunsany, and Arthur Machen-as well as a contemporary and fellow correspondent, Frank Belknap Long. He closes with typical humor and affection: He closes: "Again thanking you for the tales, & hoping my enclosed stuff won't disappoint you, I remain yrs in Tsathoggua's name, Tomeron the Decayed [a character in 'The Epiphany of Death']."
Lovecraft composed his thirty-six-sonnet sequence Fungi from Yuggoth (here containing thirty-three sonnets) in late 1929 and early 1930, though it was not published in its entirety until after his death, appearing first in the collected work, Beyond the Wall of Sleep (Arkham House, 1943).
Condition: Letter lightly creased along old folds. Typescript with mild folds and a few scattered spots; final page of typescript worn along fold and elsewhere with losses, not affecting text or annotations.
References: David E. Schultz and S.T. Joshi (editors), Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill, The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith: 1922-1932 (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2020), 106; and see Joshi, Sixty Years of Arkham House, 4.
Provenance: Clark Ashton Smith (recipient); Roy A. Squires (Science Fiction and Fantasy collector, book dealer, and small press publisher), apparently sold in or around 1976 (with two typed letters from Squires about the sale of the present letter and typescript).
Auction Info
2025 December 15 Rare Books Signature® Auction #6323 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
December, 2025
15th
Monday
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