A Dreamer & A Visionary; H.P. Lovecraft in His Time

But there is also evidence that Lovecraft himself, if not his colleagues, was beginning to conduct himself in a sort of fascistic way. Perhaps irritated at the slowness of the progress in literary development on the part of most members, he increasingly called for improvement by main force. In a lecture entitled ‘Amateur Journalism: Its Possible Needs and Betterment’ (delivered at an amateur convention in Boston on 5 September 1920), he proposes establishing ‘some centralised authority capable of exerting a kindly, reliable, and more or less invisible guidance in matters aesthetic and artistic’. Lovecraft anticipates the objections of ‘any idealistic and ultra-conscientious person’ who might object to the plan’s ‘possible oligarchical tendencies’ by pointing to the fact that all great periods in literature—Periclean Athens, Augustan Rome, eighteenth-century England—were led by ‘dominant coteries’. It is evident that Lovecraft has simply reached the limit of his patience with sporting pages, bad poetry, and unhelpful official criticism. It is needless to say that the plan was never adopted.

Lovecraft must, however, have been taken aback when the October 1921 Woodbee contained an attack upon him by Leo Fritter, a long-time UAPA member whom Lovecraft himself had supported for president in 1915. Fritter had cited a ‘wide-spreading dissatisfaction’ with Lovecraft’s editorial policy in the United Amateur and went on to accuse Lovecraft of trying to force the members into a mould he had arbitrarily cast according to his own ideas. Lovecraft attempted to counter that he himself had received ‘numerous and enthusiastic assurances of an opposite nature’ (‘Editorial’, United Amateur, September 1921). When Lovecraft concluded that ‘The question is one which should ultimately be decided at the polls’, he spoke better than he knew, as we shall see presently.

This period, however, saw Lovecraft evolving socially from an extreme misfit to one who, while by no means gregarious, could take his place in the society of congenial individuals. This transformation, as successive waves of friends—most of them amateurs —came to visit him or as he actually ventured forth on brief excursions, is heart-warming to see.

Two visits by amateurs occurring in 1917 are instructive by their very contrast. In mid-September 1917 W. Paul Cook, who had only recently become acquainted with Lovecraft, paid him a call in Providence. Cook tells the story piquantly:

The first time I met Howard I came very near not meeting him … I was bound from New York to Boston, and broke my trip in Providence purposely to see Lovecraft. I was traveling by train, which enabled me to announce in advance the time of my arrival and with a variation of only a few minutes. Arriving at the address on Angell street which later was to be the best known street address in Amateur journalism, I was met at the door by Howard’s mother and aunt. Howard had been up all night studying and writing, had just now gone to bed, and must under no circumstances be disturbed. If I would go to the Crown hotel, register, get a room and wait, they would telephone when, and if, Howard woke up. This was one of the occasions in my life when I have blessed the gods for giving me a sense of humor, however perverted. It was essential that I be in Boston early that evening, which allowed me about three hours in Providence, but there was a train leaving in half an hour which I could catch if I kept moving. I had a life-like picture of myself hanging around Providence until His Majesty was ready to receive me! In later years Mrs. Clark and I laughed more than once in recalling the incident. I was part way to the sidewalk and the door was almost latched when Howard appeared in dressing gown and slippers. Wasn’t that W. Paul Cook and didn’t they understand that he was to see me immediately on my arrival? I was almost forcibly ushered by the guardians of the gate and into Howard’s study.⁹

Cook’s account of the three hours spent with Lovecraft—they mostly talked amateur journalism, naturally enough—is unremarkable save in one detail I shall consider later. Lovecraft’s account of the meeting is recorded in a letter to Rheinhart Kleiner:

Just a week ago I enjoyed the honour of a personal call from Mr. W. Paul Cook … I was rather surprised at his appearance, for he is rather more rustic & carelessly groomed than I had expected of a man of his celebrity to be. In fact, his antique derby hat, unpressed garments, frayed cravat, yellowish collar, ill-brushed hair, & none too immaculate hands made me think of my old friend Sam Johnson … But Cook’s conversation makes up for whatever outward deficiencies he may possess.¹⁰