H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard Letters Due Out in 2009

Hippocampus Press reports their awaited release of published letters between H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard will occur sometime in 2009. The full set will be a double volume collection bundled together (at least at publication) in high quality hardcovers. The letters have been edited and annotated by the best Lovecraft and Howard scholars. From the Hippocampus detail:

In a very welcome turn of events, Hippocampus Press will publish the correspondence of famed weird fictioneers H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. Both sides of the correspondence will be presented, allowing readers to follow the intense and often heady exchange of ideas between these two titans of literature. Meticulously edited and exhaustively annotated by reigning Howardian and Lovecraftian scholars Burke, Joshi, and Schultz, and presented with appropriate indices and appendices, this release marks a milestone in the study of both Howard and Lovecraft.

This is indeed a welcome turn of events. Enthusiasts of either author will have to shell out $100 (or $90 by pre-ordering through Hippocampus) for both volumes. This is fairly reasonable, especially as small presses go these days for unique products. Still, casual readers may hold out, awaiting the possibility of cheaper and separate paperback editions. There can be no doubt about one thing: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard will become new reference treasures in the ever expansive field of Lovecraft and weird fiction studies.

-Grim Blogger