How to Collect H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, 1890-1937, lived an obscure, eccentric and impoverished life that few would know about today had it not been for the vast network of friends he influenced, tutored and left an indelible mark upon. Two friends in particular, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, decided to finally get Lovecraft’s works published after he died. They founded Arkham House for that purpose. Collecting Lovecraft’s works goes way beyond his appearances in the Arkham editions. He wrote a lot and seeking it is well worth the effort.

Instructions

1. 

   Do a little reading about H.P. Lovecraft. There are many books, articles and Internet sources about him. A good place to start is S.T. Joshi’s article “Howard Phillips Lovecraft: The Life of a Gentleman of Providence” on the website http://www.hplovecraft.com/life/biograph.asp. There are many other sources, too, for biographical and bibliographical information.

2. 

   Start with the basics. All of Lovecraft’s works were collected by Arkham House into several volumes. They include "Dagon and Other Macabre Tales," "The Dunwich Horror and Others" and "At the Mountains of Madness and Other Macabre Tales." These are the three main volumes. There’s also "The Horror in the Museum and Other Revisions," which includes short stories Lovecraft revised (in most cases wrote from scratch) for other writers, including Harry Houdini. He made most of his meager living from revision work. There also is a collection of stories finished or expanded from Lovecraft’s work by August Derleth called “The Watchers Out of Time.” One final volume, “Miscellaneous Writings,” includes scattered bits by Lovecraft.

3. 

   Move beyond the basics. There are five volumes of non-fiction writing by Lovecraft: Volume 1--Amateur Journalism; Volume 2--Literary Criticism; Volume 3--Science; Volume 4--Travel; and Volume 5--Philosophy, Autobiography and Miscellany. There also are five volumes of Lovecraft’s letters. Small presses, such as Necronomicon Press, have printed many unusual volumes and at least two magazines about his work.

4. 

   Start looking into the historic publication of Lovecraft’s work. Because his work is much sought after today, the original magazines that published his work are rare and expensive, but still available. Full checklists of his periodical appearances are available online. He wrote mainly for "Weird Tales." His work also appeared in several issues of "Astounding Stories." After his death, "Weird Tales," "Famous Fantastic Mysteries," "Avon Fantasy Reader" and other magazines reprinted many of his stories.

5. Today, there are many audiobooks of Lovecraft’s stories, none read by the author. They still can be good, but nothing like the growing menacing atmosphere created inside your head while reading them.

6. 

   To be a serious collector, search for the original Arkham House hard cover book of his writings called “The Outsider and Others,” published in 1939. Obviously, anyone offering a signed copy is fraudulent because Lovecraft died two years before the book was published. This book will cost a great deal since just a few more than 1,200 copies originally were printed.

7. 

   Start collecting peripheral Lovecraft items. Nearly every paperback edition of collections of his stories are sought after. There’s also a small chapbook written by his wife, Sonia Green, about her time with him. There are collections of poetry, travel pieces he wrote, his pivotal work about horror fiction, “Supernatural Horror in Literature,” the original journalistic pieces for the small press, the books by other people about him and many more.

8. 

   Collect the connected shared-background stories of the Cthulhu Mythos. Even while he was alive, many of his friends and fellow writers—among them, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long Jr. and others—picked up on the background ambiance Lovecraft created and—with his encouragement—started writing stories. The first place to start is the several-times-edited “Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos,” but there are many others including a whole series from Chaosium. There also are books such as the Lovecraft Circle collections. And don’t forget his influences, some of whom also can be considered part of the Mythos—writers such as Robert W. Chambers, Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Machen and Algernon Blackwood.

Tips & Warnings

• While the Arkham House editions are considered definitive, collecting the magazines and other original publications can be more challenging and fun.

• There are several movies made of Lovecraft’s work, but most of them bare little resemblance to the originals.

• Lovecraft, despite the legend, had a sense of humor. Check out the short story “The Unnameable” and the non-fiction “Cats and Dogs” for proof.

Resources

• H.P. Lovecraft Archive
• Arkham House Publishing
• The Complete HPL Writings Online
• HPL fan website
• Chaosium Inc. website