By H.P. Lovecraft
Edited by S.T. Joshi & David E. Schultz

Back Cover Text

Alfred Galpin (1901–1983) was among H.P. Lovecraft’s most brilliant and stimulating correspondents: a youthful prodigy, he had already become so knowledgeable in literature and philosophy that by 1921 Lovecraft wrote: “He is intellectually exactly like me save in degree. In degree he is immensely my superior—he is what I should like to be but have not brains enough to be.” Only 27 of Lovecraft’s letters to Galpin survive—Galpin himself destroyed the others—but they present a rich treasure-house of revelations over a period of nearly twenty years: Lovecraft tells of his youthful interests in chemistry and astronomy, his extensive involvement in amateur journalism, and his later conversion to moderate socialism. Also included are the surviving letters to the Gallomo, a round-robin correspondence cycle including Galpin, Lovecraft, and Maurice W. Moe. In these letters we find fascinating accounts of Lovecraft’s dreams, remarks on the inspirations for his early horror tales, and further details on amateur journalism controversies. Lengthy letters written jointly to Galpin and Frank Belknap Long relate to his travels along the eastern seaboard. As an appendix, a substantial amount of Galpin’s writings—some never-before published—are included, shedding further light on the Lovecraft-Galpin relationship.

Extensively annotated by leading Lovecraft scholars S.T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, this volume illuminates one of the great literary personalities of his time—and in his own words. It is the first of a projected series of volumes of Lovecraft letters, presented in unabridged form and with detailed notes and commentary.

Contents

• Introduction (6 pages)
• Letters to Alfred Galpin (219 pages)
  • Sample Letter: To the Gallomo (Alfred Galpin, Samuel Loveman, and Maurice W. Moe), 11 December 1919
• Works of Alfred Galpin (44 pages)
  • Mystery
  • Two Loves
  • Selenaio-Phantasma
  • Remarks to My Handwriting
  • Marsh-Mad
  • The Critic
  • Stars
  • Some Tendencies of Modern Poetry
  • The Spoken Tongue
  • The World Situation
  • The United’s Policy 1920–1921
  • Form in Modern Poetry
  • Picture of a Modern Mood
  • Nietzsche as a Practical Prophet
  • To Sam Loveman
  • The Vivisector
  • Four Translations from Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Pierre Baudelaire
    • Au Lecteur
    • L’Ennemi
    • Remords Posthume
    • L’Ange Gardien
  • Scattered Remarks upon the Green Cheese Theory
  • Department of Public Criticism
  • Intuition in the Philosophy of Bergson
  • Ennui
  • A Critic of Poetry
  • From the French of Pierre de Ronsard (“Amours”—Livre II.)
    • Aubade
  • Echoes from Beyond Space
  • Red
  • En Route (An American to Paris, 1931)
    1. New York Harbor
    2. On Deck
  • November
• Bibliography of Alfred Galpin (1 page)
• Index (9 pages)

Bibliographic Information

H.P. Lovecraft: Letters to Alfred Galpin.. By H.P. Lovecraft, Edited by S.T. Joshi & David E. Schultz. New York, NY: Hippocampus Press; 2003; ISBN 0-9673215-9-X; Softcover, 287 pages.

Purchasing This Book

This book may be purchased in softcover from Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble or directly from the publisher, Hippocampus Press.