See S.T.Joshi, “A Look at Lovecraft’s Letters,” in Selected Papers on Lovecraft(Necronomicon Press, 1989).
Libo, P[ublius] Scribonius.
In “The Very Old Folk,” the proconsul of the Roman province of Hispania Citerior (Spain) who orders a cohort to investigate reports of peculiar events in the hills above Tarraco.
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Liddeason, Eli.
In “The Shunned House,” a man who is hired by William Harris to be a servant at the house, but who dies about a year later, after marrying another servant, Mehitabel Pierce.
“Life and Death.”
Short story or prose poem; evidently published in an amateur journal (c. 1920), but text not currently available.
This is one of the few authentically “lost” stories by HPL, but its existence and whereabouts remain in doubt. In his commonplace book (entry #27) HPL records the title and plot germ of the story: “Death—its desolation & horror—bleak spaces—sea-bottom—dead cities. But Life—the greater horror! Vast unheard-of reptiles & leviathans—hideous beasts of prehistoric jungle—rank slimy vegetation—evil instincts of primal man—Life is more horrible than death.” The entry probably dates to early 1920; in contrast to other used entries, HPL has not crossed out this entry or otherwise indicated that it was used. He never mentions or alludes to the story in any extant correspondence. After HPL’s death, R.H.Barlow wrote to August Derleth that he thought he once saw “Life and Death” (Barlow to Derleth, June 14, 1944; ms., SHSW). Around this time W.Paul Cook told Derleth that he thought the story had appeared in the United Amateur,but this is not the case. George T.Wetzel, in describing the research for his bibliography of HPL, stated that he saw the story as published in an amateur journal, but he subsequently lost the reference and was unable to locate it (see “The Research of a Biblio,” in Howard Phillips Lovecraft: Memoirs, Critiques and Bibliographies[1955]). Wetzel’s research on HPL’s amateur publications was conducted largely at the Fossil Collection of Amateur Journalism, then at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia; but the collection was subsequently vandalized, as many published works by HPL were cut out of the journals with a razor. Examination of many other amateur journalism collections by several scholars has failed to turn up the item.
One wonders, then, whether HPL actually wrote and published “Life and Death.” The plot germ above could in fact refer to the prose poem “Ex Oblivione” ( United Amateur,March 1921), and the rather vague recollections of Barlow, Cook, and Wetzel may refer to it or to some other work altogether.
“Life for Humanity’s Sake.”
Essay (710 words); probably written in the summer of 1920. First published in American Amateur (September 1920); rpt. MW
The essay is a plea to reject both hedonism and theism in the face of the probable meaninglessness and inconsequence of the human race within the boundless cosmos. HPL asserts that a “real ethical philosophy can be founded only on practicalities” and urges that “the goal of mental evolution and the subordination of pain stands so conspicuously before us.”
Lillibridge, Edwin M.
In “The Haunter of the Dark,” the inquisitive reporter for the Providence Telegram(a real newspaper) who disappears in 1893—as it turns out, inside the Free-Will Church, where the Starry Wisdom sect holds its services. His remains are discovered by Robert Blake when he investigates the abandoned building.
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Little, Myrta Alice
(1888–1967), friend and correspondent of HPL (1921) residing in Hampstead, N.H.Little joined the UAPA in the spring of 1921, and HPL planned to visit her in late May, but the death of HPL’s mother postponed the plans, and he visited her only on June 8–9; the two of them also went to see “Tryout” Smith in Haverhill. HPL returned to New Hampshire in August 25–26, exploring the Haverhill Historical Society with Little. HPL describes her as a former college professor who was attempting to become a professional writer, but her only known published work is a Christmas pageant for children, Sweet Christmas Time(1929), published under her married name, Myrta Little Davies. HPL’s one surviving letter to her was published in LSNo. 26 (Spring 1992): 26–30.
“Little Glass Bottle, The.”
Juvenile story (460 words); written c. 1898–99. First published in SR;corrected text in Juvenilia: 1897–1905(1985) and MW
A ship commanded by a Captain William Jones comes upon a bottle with a message in it (probably suggested by Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle”). This note—written in a very wild and hasty hand on HPL’s autograph manuscript—announces the writer as John Jones (no relation to the captain, one imagines) and says that there is a treasure to be found on the spot marked with an asterisk on the reverse of the note (here we find a crude map of the Indian Ocean, with a nebulous land mass labeled “Austrailia” [sic]at the bottom left). This note is dated January 1, 1864.
Captain Jones decides that “it would pay to go” to the spot, and the crew do so. There they find another note from John Jones: “Dear Searcher excuse me for the practical joke I have played on you but it serves you right to find nothing for your foolish act…” But John kindly defrays their expenses with an iron box containing “$25.0.00,” whatever that is. After reading this note (inexplicably dated December 3, 1880) Captain Jones delivers the one funny line in the entire story: “I’d like to kick his head off.”
The story is an early attempt at humor. For later tales of this sort, see “Ibid,” “A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson,” and “Sweet Ermengarde.”
“Living Heritage: Roman Architecture in Today’s America, A.”
Essay (12,760 words); written in December 1934; unpublished in this form.
The essay was written at the request of Maurice W.Moe, who asked HPL to write an essay of his choice for an amateur magazine being produced by his students. HPL wrote a rather routine account of traces of Roman architectural principles in American cities (much of it based upon first-hand observation of sites in New York City and elsewhere). HPL sent Moe the essay without typing it; he later thought Moe had lost the manuscript (the student magazine never materialized). The essay, however, survives in AHT. HPL apparently retained the prefatory section of the essay, which appeared as “Heritage or Modernism: Common Sense in Art Forms” in the Californian(Summer 1935). This article lambastes modern art and architecture for being consciously theoretical and too radically divergent from the artistic traditions of the past.
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Lockhart, Andrew F[rancis] (1890–1964),