building a Lovecraft library

[Ningauble]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

When does Bloodletting Press expect to unleash HPL's revisions and collaborations in two volumes?

The only information I have is from S. T. Joshi's blog (S. T. Joshi - Blog) and from his EOD apazine. He thinks that the first volume will be out in 2011 and the second in 2012; there will be both hc's and pb's; and they may be released under an imprint called "Arcane Wisdom".

is there a publication date? do they have a website?

Bloodletting Press is here Bloodletting Press but there appears to be nothing there yet.

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

Mr. Worthington, Esteemed Scholar: what exactly prevents Arkham House from offering an errata to those who want it? is it some kind of miasma?

I couldn't really answer that, save to speculate. Arkham House isn't a scholarly press, but rather a specialty press aimed at a broad audience of afficionadoes of the fantastic tale (chiefly weird, save for a period where they seemed to be almost exclusively oriented toward science fiction). While I am sure they would have no resistance to having perfectly correct texts, neither are they naturally inclined to ascertaining such, save in the case of, say, the revised Lovecraft texts edited by S. T. Joshi, where it was a particular individual's drive to see these done. And if you think those have any problems, you should look at earlier editions, from The Outsider and Others on....

As far as textual accuracy is concerned, you really can't get any better guardian of such things than Martin (Ningauble). His work is meticulous and exacting, and all Lovecraftians owe him a debt of gratitude for his efforts.

On the Necronomicon Shadow... no, that one was edited by Schultz & Joshi. As Martin indicated, the Stephen Jones was an anthology (actually, two now, at least), which not only included Lovecraft's tale but a number of others inspired by or connected to it....

[Richard--W]

Originally Posted by Ningauble

The only information I have is from S. T. Joshi's blog and from his EOD apazine. He thinks that the first volume will be out in 2011 and the second in 2012; there will be both hc's and pb's; and they may be released under an imprint called "Arcane Wisdom".

Bloodletting Press is here Bloodletting Press but there appears to be nothing there yet.

Hmmm.
I see that Bloodletting is a limited edition Press who command high prices, starting at $250 a book. A two-volume set will probably be priced higher? I don't know many people who buy $250 books. That's too steep for most people and it's too steep for me. I want the books rather badly, I admit it, but if one doesn't have the wealth, one doesn't have the wealth.

Perhaps I'm jumping the gun, but it doesn't seem reasonable to restrict such scholarship to a small circle when a lot more people would buy it if they could. I wonder what the print-run will be. I better stick with The Horror in the Museum, Nameless Cults and Eyes of the God and enjoy the benefits therein. If the Bloodletting Press editions turn out to be reasonably priced, I'll certainly buy them.


Richard

[Ningauble]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

Hmmm.
I see that Bloodletting is a limited edition Press who command high prices, starting at $250 a book. A two-volume set will probably be priced higher? I don't know many people who buy $250 books. That's too steep for most people and it's too steep for me. I want the books rather badly, I admit it, but if one doesn't have the wealth, one doesn't have the wealth.

There will apparently be a pb version as well.

[Starbeast]

How about getting illustrated graphic novels?

[Richard--W]

Thanks for your suggestion, Starbeast. I know there are a lot of graphic novels out there that visualize Lovecraft's prose. I suppose I should have a look at some of them. I used to collect comics when I was a kid but I put all that away around college-time. I tend to "see" a story in my mind's eye as I read it. Sometimes, not always, I go back over what I just read because my mind wants to break it down into camera setups. I have one of those weird visual minds. Looking at graphic novels in effect does my thinking for me and dulls my imagination and visual skills.


Richard

[dask]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

Looking at graphic novels in effect does my thinking for me and dulls my imagination and visual skills.

Interesting. Does watching a movie have the same effect?

[Richard--W]

Stop it.
Think, Dask.

Richard

[dask]

Originally Posted by Richard--W

Stop it.
Think, Dask.

Richard

Everyone has a different take on things and not everyone comes to the same conclusions. How you draw the line between the possible/probable deleterious effects is beyond me. I cannot read your mind.

[j. d. worthington]

To avoid this getting into an unpleasant exchange when I don't think any such is necessary (or intended), I will risk putting forth how I read his statements (correct me if I'm wrong, Richard).

It isn't that such adaptations are, per se, wrong, bad, or deleterious; but that by the very nature of providing the visualization themselves, they eliminate the reader's exercise of those faculties in favor of a more passive response to a different type of material. As an example: when listening to a piece of "narrative" music, such as Saint-Saenz' "Danse Macabre", the listener forms their own visual reflections of the notes, tones, chords, and relationships of the piece, culled from the imaginative and combinative faculties in their own minds. On the other hand, no matter how great the quality, when listening to the same piece accompanied by images chosen or created by another person, that very process will interfere with, by blending with, altering, or simply replacing, those which the listener would have created on their own. It's like an interference pattern of waves canceling out or replacing a prior or only nascent set. Depending on how intensely an individual remembers such things, that effect can either modify or completely eradicate their own native images from that point on; but that it will have some effect (whether of improvement or degradation depending on the quality of the art concerned) is almost absolutely certain. In turn, this renders any future visualizations connected to that material suspect as entirely one's own.

Hence, while the effect may not be, in the strictest sense, deleterious, it nonetheless interferes with the creations of one's own naturally-occurring visualization.

[Watango]

What about Gollanzc's Necronomicon and Eldritch Tales? Is it the best choice?

[j. d. worthington]

Originally Posted by Watango

What about Gollanzc's Necronomicon and Eldritch Tales? Is it the best choice?

To put it simply: No. Though they are lovely books, the texts are terribly corrupt, the most notable examples being "At the Mountains of Madness", which is riddled with errors (including two large chunks of text which are missing), and "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", where the names of various things are wrong, as well as some other stenographic errors. Ditto for The Case of Charles Dexter Ward; and there are numerous other examples.

If you're looking for something affordable, but which contains all of his original stories (except for a handful of rather early tales, such as "The Beast in the Cave", "The Alchemist", "The Street", "The Transition of Juan Romero", and "Poetry and the Gods", plus a tiny selection of fragments), I'd suggest the Penguin editions. Though there are errors here and there, they are still among the most reliable.

Other than that, the corrected Barnes & Noble (which should be out any time now) would be your best bet, as this collects together all his completed original fiction (including juvenilia), though it does not include the revisions/collaborations (save for the one done with Price, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key"). It also does not contain the fragments and such, save for a discarded draft of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", as I recall.

[w h pugmire, esq.]

My favorite editions are the three that S. T. edited for Penguin Classics. The Introductions and annotations are simply outstanding, wonderful to me in that they add to the story of Lovecraft writing his weird fiction. They are at the back of the book, so you needn't read the annotations if such is not your thing. I have heard that Penguin will be re-releasing at least the first volume, THE CALL OF CTHULHU AND OTHER WEIRD STORIES, featuring illustrations by some rad artist whose name now escapes me. Anyone know anything about this?

[j. d. worthington]

This is news to me, but here's what they have on the Penguin website:

http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9...deluxe-edition

[Ningauble]

Originally Posted by j. d. worthington

To put it simply: No. Though they are lovely books, the texts are terribly corrupt, the most notable examples being "At the Mountains of Madness", which is riddled with errors (including two large chunks of text which are missing), and "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath", where the names of various things are wrong, as well as some other stenographic errors. Ditto for The Case of Charles Dexter Ward; and there are numerous other examples.

The funny thing is that the texts in these books correct SOME of the errors from the older, corrupt texts -- for example, "Inganok" is as it should be -- while retaining some -- such as "air out" for "an ant".

Other than that, the corrected Barnes & Noble (which should be out any time now) would be your best bet, as this collects together all his completed original fiction (including juvenilia), though it does not include the revisions/collaborations (save for the one done with Price, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key"). It also does not contain the fragments and such, save for a discarded draft of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", as I recall.

The B&N book, has the fragments too, if you're thinking of "Azathoth", "The Descendant" and "The Book".