An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia

In “Through the Gates of the Silver Key,” the “distinguished Creole student” of Eastern antiquities, who served with Randolph Carter in the French Foreign Legion and is one of the four individuals who attempt to settle Carter’s estate. Carter had named de Marigny his executor. De Marigny is also mentioned as the author of a scholarly article published in The Occult Reviewin “Out of the Æons” (Heald) concerning the hieroglyphics on the mysterious cylinder. He is loosely modeled after HPL’s collaborator on the story, E.Hoffmann Price.

Marsh, Barnabas (Old Man) (b. 1862).

In “The Shadow over Innsmouth,” the owner of the Marsh refinery in Innsmouth. He is grandson of Capt. Obed Marsh (1790–1878), who, in the 1840s, brought back to Innsmouth from his travels in the South Seas a wife who was in fact a monstrous amphibian hybrid, in exchange for treasure. Onesiphorus Marsh was Old Man Marsh’s father; his wife was a woman (actually a hybrid monster) never seen in public.

Marsh, Frank.

In “Medusa’s Coil,” a painter and friend of Denis de Russy, who tries to warn de Russy of the true background of his wife. Marsh begins to paint Marceline’s portrait, but de Russy suspects them of having an affair. (Marceline does, in fact, attempt to seduce Marsh, but he resists.) When Antoine de Russy finds Marceline slain, he suspects Marsh. However, Denis de Russy has killed her and cut off her sinister hair.

Martense, Jan.

In “The Lurking Fear,” a member of a Dutch family that built the Martense mansion atop Tempest Mountain. The mansion was built in 1670 by Gerrit Martense, a wealthy New Amsterdam merchant. Jan, returning to the

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mansion in 1760 after several years in the army, is later killed, probably by his own family, because he has discovered the family’s horrible secret: their unwholesome inbreeding has caused them to decline on the evolutionary ladder.

Mason, Keziah.

In “The Dreams in the Witch House,” the witch who once lived in the old Witch House in Arkham during the celebrated witch hunts in Essex County, occupying the room now inhabited by the student Walter Gilman. The witch plagues Gilman’s troubled dreams, and her ratlike familiar kills him. “Materialist Today, The.”

Essay (1,210 words); probably written in the summer of 1926. First published in Driftwind(October 1926); also as a separate pamphlet (Driftwind Press, 1926); rpt. MW.

A brief exposition of materialist metaphysics and ethics, the essay asserts that “ mindseems very clearly not a thing,but a mode of motion or form of energy” and that “all matter is in a state of balance betwixt formation and disintegration.” HPL states that the “essay” was part of a letter to Walter J.Coates, editor of Driftwind,prepared for publication at Coates’s insistence (HPL to August Derleth, October 19, 1926; ms., SHSW).

“Matter of Uniteds, A.”

Essay (1,720 words); probably written in the spring of 1927. First published in Bacon’s Essays (Summer 1927); rpt. MW

This substantial essay discusses the split in the UAPA following the disputed election of 1912, leading to the formation of the United Amateur Press Association of America, a group based in Seattle and led by F.Roy Erford, and the UAPA. HPL also wrote of this matter in an unsigned editorial, “The Pseudo-United” ( United Amateur,May 1920). In both articles, HPL suggests that the UAPA of A was the “rebel” organization, but historians generally conclude that HPL’s UAPA was largely responsible for the split.

Mauvais, Michel.

In “The Alchemist,” a wizard who is killed by Henri, comte de C———, who suspects him of making away with his son Godfrey. Michel’s son, Charles le Sorcier, exacts vengeance on the subsequent comtes de C———for the next 600 years.

Mazurewicz, Joe.

In “The Dreams in the Witch House,” a loomfixer who resides in the Witch House in Arkham and attempts to help Walter Gilman cope with his bizarre dreams and sleepwalking. At one point he gives Gilman a crucifix, which assists in temporarily warding off the witch Keziah Mason during one of Gilman’s dreams.

McNeil, [Henry] Everett (1862–1929).