Letters to E. Hoffmann Price and Richard F. Searight

E. Hoffmann Price was one of H. P. Lovecraft's most lively and dynamic colleagues. They first met in New Orleans in 1932, and for the remaining five years of Lovecraft's life they carried on a vibrant and at times combative correspondence. Price, a resolutely professional writer, made no secret of catering to the low standards of the pulp magazines to earn a living, leading Lovecraft to write long, ruminative letters about the very nature of writing, the aesthetics of weird fiction, and related topics.



The authors spent much time discussing their collaboration "Through the Gates of the Silver Key," and Price also related to Lovecraft the details of various obscure cycles of mythology. Their mutual admiration for Robert E. Howard impelled poignant recollections of their fellow writer when Howard committed suicide in 1936.



Richard F. Searight was a colleague who came into contact with Lovecraft in 1933, seeking Lovecraft's assistance in placing his early stories and poems. Lovecraft did not end up revising any work for Searight, but his letters provide much information on how Lovecraft engaged in this activity, and we also find a valuable chart of Lovecraft's revisory services. Lovecraft and Searight had many common interests outside of writing, including American history, travel, and a number of mutual colleagues.



As in all the volumes of this series, the letters to Price and Searight have been extensively annotated by the editors. Ancillary material includes Price's distinctive recipe for Indian curry and several of Searight's poems on weird and cosmic subjects.