H.P. Lovecraft Biography Promotional

Before S.T. Joshi, before Robert M. Price, there was Frank Belknap Long. Not only was he a friend of H.P. Lovecraft and member of the original Lovecraft Circle of weird writers, but one of the Old Gent's first biographers. As Chris Perridas has carefully shown, Lovecraft promotionals of bygone decades were far more common than one might think. Maybe more so, in fact, since weavers of Lovecraftiana lacked the online marketing tools so readily available today. This rare image is the cover of one such advertisement by Arkham House. It features Long's 1975 work Howard Philips Lovecraft: Dreamer on the Nightside, one of the first biographical sketches of Lovecraft.

It remains of interest to scholars today, despite much better work by objective sources like Joshi and Price. It's role as an artifact continues to raise eyebrows for two reasons: it was an early attempt at cataloging the habits and mind of the Old Gent, and coming from Frank Long himself, it represents a sort of personal account. Moreover, it is a posthumous reaction between writers. Long cannot help but remain creatively indebted to Lovecraft decades later. It must be said the cover art for the ad pictured is also quite handsome. Certainly, depictions of Lovecraft himself have enjoyed a long history of elegance.

-Grim Blogger