| Item | Box 11 Folder 4 |
Lovecraft, Howard P. to Long, Frank Belknap "Extract published in Selected Letters (Arkham House, 1965-1976), letter, #70. Distinguishes four kinds of prodigies. Speculates that "art is a form of devising excitement & pleasure to serve in place of natural excitement which circumstances deny." On education, cites his classical bias. "I even adopted the Roman pseudonym of L.VALERIUS MESSALA when a high school freshman of fourteen. I know Greece & Rome far better today than France & Germany." Urges Long to ignore his short height, citing Newton ("almost a dwarf"), Pope ("tiny") and Poe ("small & delicate") as examples of great men who were short. Bemoans his own large appearance. Complains that a recent profile of him in an amateur magazine "will see how I impress a stranger -- as a husky, pampered hypochondriac, tied down to indolence by indulgent relatives, & by false notions of heredity. Nothing, of course, could be less true." Cites "devastating headaches, dizzy spells, & spells of poor concentrating power". Wouldn't dream of criticizing the author of the profile "because he's a good friend and means well. Enclosing "The Nameless City." "This had its basis in a dream, which in turn was probably caused by contemplation of the peculiar suggestiveness of a phrase in Dunsany's 'Book of Wonder' -- 'the unreverberate blackness of the abyss'." Has never read Maupassant, but plans to; reading Balzac now |
1921 Jan 26 |
| Item | Box 11 Folder 8 |
Lovecraft, Howard P. to Long, Frank Belknap Extract published in Selected Letters (Arkham House, 1965-1976), #134. Announces the acceptance of "Dagon" by Weird Tales (after he retyped it for the editor). Sent the editor of Weird Tales some poetry by Clark Ashton Smith, and Weird Tales said they might break their no-poetry rule. Reports reading Machen's The Hill of Dreams and calls it a masterpiece but notes, "Machen has an hysterical intensity, which I neither experience nor understand -- a seriousness which is a philosophical limitation…. But Dunsany is myself, plus an art & cultivation infinitely greater." |
1923 June 3 |
| Item | Box 11 Folder 8 |
Lovecraft, Howard P. to Long, Frank Belknap Rectos are numbered I-II and IV-VI, so a sheet may be missing, although there is no obvious gap in text. Extract published in Selected Letters (Arkham House,1965-1976), #135. "Ye can't trust a Frenchy, Sonny --some day they'll be stirrin' up the Hurons & swoopin' down on us agin …." etc. Urges him to get in touch with his "great-grandson [Edgar J.] Davis (see letters #10 and #15)" and help guide his reading, etc. Reverting to this "old codger" dialect writing, "Art, Sonny, is mostly a pose; & so's l'arnin' to a great extent. I'm through with posin', & willin' to admit I'm an ignorant old man what dunt keer about nuthin' only to be amused. Just now old towns & roofs & spires & chimneys interest & amuse me more than books….I believe I prefer architecture to literature." Speculates that his Oriental stolidity and indifference may indicate that he has Chinese blood in him, with the longing for a periwig really a longing for the pigtail. More New England travelogues. Of his latest trip to Marblehead, he writes ecstatically, "I had sojourned for a time in the past itself -- not the past of books, but its living, breathing streets." Another proof that Lovecraft could write in other styles than "Lovecraftian" when he wanted to |
1923 June 23 |
| Item | Box 14 Folder 4 |
Lovecraft, Howard P. to Long, Frank Belknap Extract published in Selected Letters (Arkham House, 1965-1976), #430. Reports receiving a box of books and short stories from Derleth, who was disposing of them as duplicates. The material included Henry James' TURN OF THE SCREW, Blackwood's JOHN SILENCE, Chambers' IN SEARCH OF THE UNKNOWN ("God! 'The Harbour Master'"!), Marsh's THE BEETLE, Toksvig's THE LAST DEVIL, Busson's THE MAN WHO WAS BORN AGAIN ("that picaresque thing … which you liked"), Wakefield's THEY RETURN AT EVENING, and Buchan's THE RUNAGATES CLUB. "Lots of this Derleth stuff is wholly unknown to me, but one of the items is that mediocre F. Britten Austen [i.e., Austin] collection [probably referring to ON THE BORDERLAND or THIRTEEN] we read five years agone." Takes Long to task for his decadent mannerisms and his resentment about money problems. HPL reminds him that the world does not owe him a living, and stands up for a fairly laissez-faire capitalism against the socialism that Long apparently espoused. He expounds on the issue at some length in a tone of admirable equanimity. He contrasts his nature with that of Derleth, who is managing to pursue in parallel fashion both profitably commercial and satisfyingly personal literary careers. "I can't myself -- but I confess that the defect lies in my own psychology & not in the social or cosmic order. If I am a slow, unadaptable, unprogressive pauper-recluse, the trouble is all with me. Society isn't keeping me down -- but I'm not naturally buoyant & clever enough to swim, or lucky enough to float…. Of course, my position is an unfortunate one, & I sincerely sympathize with all others similarly engulfed; but where does the blame come in? … Hell! We may be unfortunate, but why get maudlin or whiney?" He then attacks bolshevism as an enemy to art and expression. Then it's on to cottage cheese for 500 words. "Cheese, young man, -- real cheese -- is one of the foundation-stones of Indo-European tradition." |
1930 Oct 17 |