Selected Letters, Volume 1

Rating:
Summary: Selected Letters I : 1911 - 1924 by H. P. Lovecraft
Review: Assembled & edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, this first volume of HPL's selected letters spans his life from age 21 to age 33 (at the dissolution of his brief marriage). Most letters are addressed to the "Kleicomolo" circle, or to the individual members thereof: Reinhardt Kleiner, Ira Cole and Maurice Moe; or else to the others in the later "Gallomo" circle (Alfred Galpin, Lovecraft & M. Moe). Many additional letters to Mrs. Sarah Lovecraft, Annie Phillips Gamwell, Mrs. F.C. Clark, Sonia Greene, James Morton, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, et al., add to the portrait of HPL's family and amateur press relationships during this formative period. Lovecraft discusses not only his then-current projects, but also his ideas and opinions in the realms of pictoral and literary art, architecture and furniture, culture, philosophy, science, political theory, religion, and the changing times. Several of his famous walking tours and other explorations are also recounted. All-in-all, the book is quite indispensible for the serious Lovecraft aficionado.

Rating:
Summary: Selected Letters I : 1911 - 1924 by H. P. Lovecraft
Review: Assembled & edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, this first volume of HPL's selected letters spans his life from age 21 to age 33 (at the dissolution of his brief marriage). Most letters are addressed to the "Kleicomolo" circle, or to the individual members thereof: Reinhardt Kleiner, Ira Cole and Maurice Moe; or else to the others in the later "Gallomo" circle (Alfred Galpin, Lovecraft & M. Moe). Many additional letters to Mrs. Sarah Lovecraft, Annie Phillips Gamwell, Mrs. F.C. Clark, Sonia Greene, James Morton, Clark Ashton Smith, Frank Belknap Long, et al., add to the portrait of HPL's family and amateur press relationships during this formative period. Lovecraft discusses not only his then-current projects, but also his ideas and opinions in the realms of pictoral and literary art, architecture and furniture, culture, philosophy, science, political theory, religion, and the changing times. Several of his famous walking tours and other explorations are also recounted. All-in-all, the book is quite indispensible for the serious Lovecraft aficionado.