Sunand T. Joshi - I am providence : the life and times of H.P. Lovecraft

Hippocampus Press

New York

Copyright 2013 by S. T. Joshi

Published by Hippocampus Press

P.O. Box 641, New York, NY 10156.

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First Ebook Edition, 2013

EPUB Edition ISBN: 978-1-61498-077-3

Kindle Edition ISBN: 978-1-61498-078-0

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Joshi, S. T., 1958-

I am Providence : the life and times of H.P. Lovecraft / S. T. Joshi. 1st ed.

p. cm.

Complete in 2 volumes.

In 1996, S. T. Joshi's H.P. Lovecraft: a life was published. The edition was abridged by more than 150,000 words. This new version I am Providence: the life and times of H.P. Lovecraft restores every word of Joshi's original manuscript. The text has been revised and updated in light of the new information on Lovecraft that has emerged since 1996Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-9824296-7-9 (alk. paper)

1. Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips), 1890-1937. 2. Authors, American20th centuryBiography. 3. Fantasy fictionAuthorship. 4. Horror talesAuthorship. I. Title.

PS3523.O833Z72 2010

813'.52dc22

[B]

To

Kenneth W. Faig, Jr

Donald R. Burleson

and

David E. Schultz

I dont imagine that the publication of so large a biography of H. P. Lovecraft needs a defence today: his ascent into the canon of American literature with the publication of the Library of America edition of his Tales (2005), and, concurrently, his continued popularity among devotees of horror fiction, comics, films, and role-playing games suggest that Lovecraft will remain a compelling figure for decades to come. What may perhaps require some justification is my decision to issue this unabridged version of a biography that I wrote in 199395 and that was published in truncated form in 1996. In the nearly fifteen years since that time, a surprising amount of new information about Lovecrafthis life, his work, and his milieuhas emerged, necessitating some significant revisions in various portions of this book. Foremost in this regard must be cited Kenneth W. Faig, Jr, who with others has dug even deeper than before into Lovecrafts paternal and maternal ancestry. Other research by Steven J. Mariconda, David E. Schultz, T. R. Livesey, Robert H. Waugh, and any number of others has resulted in changes both large and small. I believe I have also benefited from the pertinent criticisms of a number of reviewers of the truncated edition.

A reader of the earlier version might ask: Exactly what is new about this edition aside from the bare addition of more than 150,000 words? In all humility I am now unable to answer this question in any detail. My pruning of the version I wrote in 199395comprising more than 500,000 wordswas on the level of both individual words, phrases, and sentences and some entire sections. One gauge of the kind and degree of omissions can be gauged by the number of footnotes in the trimmed and the full version; to choose a chapter at random, Chapter 14 in the earlier version had 75 footnotes; the current version has 98. In this version, therefore, I am even more determined to specify the documentary basis for my assertions.

In the past decade and a half, important publications by and about Lovecraft have made the biographers life much simpler, at least in terms of citations. Far and away the most significant in this regard is Peter Cannons exemplary compilation of memoirs of Lovecraft, Lovecraft Remembered (1998), a volume so close to definitive that it scarcely ever need be done over again. I have some small quibbles with Cannons selections: for example, I wish he had not included the truncated version of Sonia Daviss memoir of her husband, successively edited by Winfield Townley Scott and August Derleth, and had included the first of Muriel Eddys memoirs rather than a later one; as a result I have cited these (and a few other) items from sources other than Lovecraft Remembered.

The most radical development is the extensive publication of Lovecrafts letters, especially to important correspondents such as August Derleth, Robert E. Howard, and Donald Wandrei. And yet, because the Arkham House edition of Selected Letters (196576) is still the most widely available and convenient compendium of Lovecrafts letters, I have in general cited it even in cases where it has been superseded by these later editions.

I have not cited any specific editions of Lovecrafts fiction, essays, or poetry. In terms of the fiction, Barnes & Noble has issued for the first time a collection of all Lovecrafts original fiction (2008); but the first printing was marred by many typographical errors. As of this writing, I have received a promise from the in-house editor that these errors will be corrected (perhaps, however, not all at once), so that subsequent printings of the volume should be definitive. The book is, of course, not annotated, and readers interested in the background behind Lovecrafts stories might wish to consult my three Penguin editions (19992004), along with such volumes as From the Pest Zone: Stories from New York (2003).

Lovecrafts essays are now conveniently gathered in Collected Essays (200406; 5 vols.), and his poetry in The Ancient Track: Complete Poetical Works (2001).

I would like to repeat the many friends and colleagues who have, over the past thirty years, materially aided me in my research on Lovecraft. Among those who actually knew or corresponded with Lovecraft, I can thank Frank Belknap Long, J. Vernon Shea, Donald Wandrei, Robert Bloch, Mrs. Ethel Phillips Morrish, and Harry K. Brobst; sadly, all but the last of these are no more. Among students and scholars, I have learnt most about Lovecrafts life and work from the three individuals to whom this book is dedicatedKenneth W. Faig, Jr, David E. Schultz, and Donald R. Burleson; but other individuals, such as Dirk W. Mosig, Steven J. Mariconda, Peter Cannon, J. Vernon Shea, George T. Wetzel, R. Boerem, Scott Connors, Richard L. Tierney, Matthew H. Onderdonk, Fritz Leiber, M. Eileen McNamara, Donovan K. Loucks, Stefan Dziemianowicz, T. E. D. Klein, Perry M. Grayson, Scott D. Briggs, Marc A. Michaud, Sam Moskowitz, Robert M. Price, A. Langley Searles, and Richard D. Squires should not be overlooked. I am most grateful to Donovan K. Loucks for assembling the photographs for this book

The John Hay Library of Brown University remains the chief repository of Lovecraft manuscript and printed material, and its Lovecraft Collection is now in the capable hands of Rosemary Cullen. She and her staff have allowed me unprecedented access to its bountiful documents.

As in so many of my recent projects, I am sincerely grateful to David E. Schultz for his customary care in the design of this book, and to Derrick Hussey for his courage and confidence in publishing it.

S. T. JOSHI