An Urgent Question About Lovecraft Photos (and a Demand for Them)

Perhaps someone out there knows the answer to this question, which I'm certainly not the first to ask. Nevertheless, it bears repeating: why are there no published photo collections of Howard Philips Lovecraft? I've scoured up and down, both libraries and the internet, turning up nothing. In fact, even the website seeking to catalogue all photos of the Old Gent is a rarity. And by rarity, I mean non-existent. Instead, the Lovecraftian community continues to languish with merely a hodgepodge of HPL portraits and personal snapshots scattered to the winds. Surely, these pictures cannot all be vigorously copyrighted and protected, when even HPL's stories are not?

Well, maybe no one has taken the initiative to tie everything together yet? If so, then the general question should become a general call to action: small presses, collectors, and Lovecraft historians unite! An HPL photo album is a worthy endeavour, not just for purposes of complete marginalia, but to flesh out everyone's visualizations of an author who's always attracted myth and majesty. A complete compilation of all known Lovecraft images with descriptions, or even a selected photos booklet would be a wonderful addition to any collector's library. Moreover, it might prove quite profitable for the small press publisher willing to do it. Until then, purists like myself can only be content skimming the internet, occasionally adding a photo to our digital library. That is, when lucky enough to find one different from the common two or three portraits posted repeatedly on web encyclopedia articles and Lovecraft story sites.

While we're on the subject, I'll close by posting a few other lesser known photos of Lovecraft:


-Grim Blogger