Correspondence between H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), creator of the Cthulhu mythos, and Robert E. Howard (1906-1936), creator of Conan the Cimmerian, is extremely rare in commerce. Most of the correspondence written by Lovecraft to Howard was accidentally destroyed by Howard's father after Howard's passing. And most of the correspondence written by Howard to Lovecraft resides at the Hay Library, Brown University.
This postcard from Lovecraft to Howard, from circa October 1931, is an early piece of correspondence between the two, their correspondence having begun in June 1930. This postcard is listed as item #35 in The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard (Hippocampus Press, 2nd softcover edition, 2017). The two-volume set documents the 129 know pieces of correspondence between the two. Many of those 129 are non-extant because the originals were accidentally destroyed by Howard's father, but luckily after they had been transcribed, so we still have the contents.
For full text of postcard, please see photos. I have included photos of the original handwritten postcard and a typed transcript. Comments on content:
- "Dear REH" - short for Robert E. Howard
- "Talman" is Wilfred Blanch Talman, a friend of H.P. Lovecraft who also wrote weird fiction. He designed Lovecraft's colonial fanlight doorway bookplate, and took the famous photos of Lovecraft and Frank Belknap Long in Brooklyn in July 1931. It is unclear which of Talman's stories is referred to.
- Lovecraft uses many evocative phrases to describe his trip through Connecticut: "exquisitely beautiful", "hilly & full of magnificent vistas", "ancient town of Norwich", "steep terraces rising above the river", "narrow, winding streets", "occasional winding steps between different levels".
- The book Lovecraft was editing, History of Dartmouth College, was being published by his close friend Vrest Orton, who later founded the Vermont Country Store, which is still going.
- Signed: "Best wishes - HPL", short for H.P. Lovecraft.
Condition: Tiny flaw in corner margin, not affecting text. Otherwise Fine.