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Collected Essays of H. P. Lovecraft: Philosophy; Autobiography and Miscellany

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I love all five of the Collected Essays volumes edited by S. T. Joshi for Hippocampus Press -- but this final volume has a special allure for me. I return to it often as a reference tool when I am penning my wee Cthulhu Mythos stories and want to check some point of reference in Lovecraft's Commonplace Book, from which (like Derleth) I cull much inspiration. The annotated text here is deriv'd from Lovecraft's autograph manuscripts and thus is the most sound and authoritative. THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOK IS THIS:

Introduction, by S. T. Joshi

PHILOSOPHY
The Crime of the Century
The Renaissance of Mankind
Liquor and Its Friends
More Chain Lightning
Symphony and Stress
Old England and the "Hyphen"
Revolutionary Mythology
The Symphonic Ideal
"Editor's Note" to "The Genesis of the Revolutionary War" by Henry Clapham McGavack
A Remarkable Document
At the Root
Time and Space
Merlinus Redivivus
Anglo-Saxondom
Americanism
The League
Bolshevism
Idealism and Materialism--A Reflection
Life for Humanity's Sake
[In Defense of Dagon]
Nietzscheism and Realism
East and West Harvard Conservatism
The Materialist Today
Some Causes of Self-Immolation
Some Repetitions on the Times
A Layman Looks at the Government
The JOURNAL and the New Deal
A Living Heritage: Roman Architecture in Today's America
Objections to Orthodox Communism

AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MISCELLANY
The Brief Autobiography of an Inconsequential Scribbler
A Confession on Unfaith
[Diary: 1925]
[Commercial Blurbs]
Cats and Dogs
Notes on Hudson Valley History
Autobiography of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
In Memoriam: Henry St. Clair Whitehead
Some Notes on a Nonentity
Correspondence between R. H. Barlow and Wilson Shepard of Oakman, Alabama--Sept.-Nov. 1932
In Memoriam: Robert Ervin Howard
Commonplace Books
Instructions in Case of Decease
[Diary--1937]
[NOTES FOR STORIES]
--[Notes to "Medusa's Coil"]
--[Notes to AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS]
--[Notes to "The Shadow over Innsmouth"]
--[The Round Tower]
--[The Rose Window]
--Of Evill Sorceries Done in New-England, or Daemons in No Humane Shape
--[Notes on "The Shadow outof Time"]
--[Notes to "The Challenge From Beyond"]
MISCELLANEOUS LISTS AND NOTES
[1] Catalogue of Prov. Press Co.
[2] Catalogue of Works (1902)
[3] [Postal Expenses]
[4] Old Farmer's Almanacks Wanted by H. P. Lovecraft
[5] [Notes on Clothing Stores]
[6] [Works Desired by H. Warner Munn]
[7] [Works of Weird Fiction]
[8] Tales by H. P. Lovecraft
[9] Basic Books for a Weird Library
[10] [Remembrancer]
[11] [List of Amateur Papers]
[12] [Possible Collections of Tales]
[13] [Magazine Addresses]
[14] [List of Individuals to Be Sent "The Battle That Ended the Century"]
[15] [List of Correspondents to Whom Postcards Have Been Sent]
[16] Suggested Recipients for Dragon Fly Outside Memb. List of NAPA
[17] Fungi from Yuggoth and Other Verses
[18] [Notable Stories in Recent Issues of WEIRD TALES]
[19] "Little Magazines"
[20] [Worthy Stories in Recent Issues of WEIRD TALES]
[21] [Pronunciation Guide]
[22] Tales of H. P. Lovecraft
Weird &c Items in Library of H. P. Lovecraft

APPENDIX
[Advertisement of Revisory Services]
[Advertisement in the NEW YORK TIMES]
The Recognition of Temperance
[Advertisement in WEIRD TALES]
[Biographical Notice]
Preface [to OLD WORLD FOOTPRINTS]
[E'ch-Pi-El Speaks]
Robert Ervin Howard: 1906-1936

Chronology of the Works of H. P. Lovecraft
Index of Titles
Index [to all five volumes of the COLLECTED ESSAYS publish'd by Hippocampus Press]

This book of essays &c is such a treasure trove of nameless delight! It is a book to which I constantly return, just for the sheer joy of dipping into it and relishing all of the facets that made up this fascinating gentleman. S. T. has supply'd Notes at the end of each section in which he supplies historical fact and other interesting tidbits, and these are followed by Notes related to the texts. Because I am a professional Cthulhu Mythos author who is obsess'd with Lovecraft's weird fiction and poetry, it is the latter portion of the book that completely captivates me. The book is illustrated with Lovecraft's sketches that are found in his personal correspondence and his notes (for example, the entire page 245 is taken up with a reproduction of the back of an envelope onto which HPL has scribbled his Notes for AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS, including a his drawing of one of ye Cosmic Things). Of course, the Commonplace Book is where August Derleth found most of the tidbits with which he compos'd his fake posthumous collaborations "with" HPL, and the entries "The Round Tower" and "The Rose Window" are the two chunks of Lovecraft's writing that Derleth incorporated into his novel, THE LURKER AT THE THRESHOLD (but here they are ye Corrected Text versions, not the flaw'd versions actually found in Derleth's entertaining novel).

The volume is available in handsome hardcover and sturdy trade paperback editions. They are bewitching, amusing, fascinating books that shew us the Life & Mind & Soul of this fantastic author.