HP Lovecraft Collected Essays Volume 1: Amateur Journalism edited: ST Joshi (book review).

Of all the volumes in this series, ‘Collected Essays Volume 1: Amateur Journalism’ was the one for which I had the least sense of anticipation. Most people know that Lovecraft was active in the amateur press, and those who have learned a little more about him will also know he was a perceptive and skilled, if conservative, and, at times, pedantic literary critic. But would there be anything to hold the attention of someone not interested in the American amateur press in the 1910s and 1920s?

Yes, but only up to a point. The problem is that while editor ST Joshi finds this aspect of Lovecraft’s world fascinating, he’s coming at this from a scholarly perspective. There is a lot of material here that outlines Lovecraft’s thoughts on good writing, particularly poetry, as well as insight into what he felt he was getting out of the process of writing for the amateur press. Joshi contextualizes each piece with his own comments at the end, allowing the reader to see its significance more clearly. He also provides footnotes to most of the entries, such as brief biographies of unfamiliar correspondents. This all makes the volume much more accessible than it might have been otherwise.

But to enjoy the collection at all, you’re going to want to have at least a passing interest in Lovecraft as an amateur writer and critic. Despite the book’s title, little here counts as ‘journalism’ in the modern sense, i.e., reporting on the events of the day. Rather, the ‘amateur journalists’ of this era were men and women who wrote for publications paid for by subscription. In 1917, Lovecraft edited the United Amateur Press Association and, shortly afterwards, became its president. He was heavily involved in the operation of society for the next few years, until about 1925, when he spent more time on his professional writing projects.

Consequently, the vast majority of the pieces in this volume date from that era, with only a handful from the 1930s, including a tender biography of Edith Miniter published shortly after her death. Miniter had been a leading light in amateur journalism for many years, and she was in her sixties by the time she and Lovecraft corresponded and became friends. Joshi observes that Lovecraft drew some geographical details for the fictional Dunwich from his visit to Miniter at her home in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

Perhaps the most interesting pieces are the extended essays, where Lovecraft provides general information about good writing as he sees it, anyway, rather than critiquing particular authors and their work. Despite his strong beliefs about the purpose of poetry, he often cites difficult-to-access individuals and poems as examples. This, in a way, reflects the volume’s core weakness. We are unable to read the prose or poetry under discussion or critique unless Lovecraft himself quotes another author. Since the writers in this book are fellow amateurs who didn’t have Lovecraft’s posthumous success, it’s not as if you can easily look up the stories or poems in question. In summary, the book brims with viewpoints, yet it seldom clarifies the subject matter.

All the essays explore various facets of Lovecraft’s literary evolution, ranging from the practicalities of managing an amateur press to his personal insights on sharing his writing with fellow amateurs. But ultimately, this is a volume for the scholar rather than the Lovecraft fan, let alone the more general weird fiction reader.

Neale Monks

May 2024

(pub: Hippocampus Press, 2004. 442 small enlarged paperback. Price: $20.00 (US), £25.28 (UK). ISBN: 978-0-97216-441-2)

check out website: www.hippocampuspress.com/h.p-lovecraft/collected-essays/collected-essays-1-amateur-journalism-of-h-p-lovecraft