H.P. Lovecraft [ed. August Derleth & Donald Wandrei] - Marginalia - Arkham House, 1944, First Edition.

Sauk City, Arkham House, 1944. First Edition. First Impression. A presentable copy. A selection of Lovecraft bits and bobs, including eight essays, two juvenile pieces, six fragmentary pieces (though Joshi notes one is actually bookended by J. Chapman Miske), three pieces Lovecraft revised (written by Zealia Brown Bishop and Hazel Heald), a ghost-written piece for Harry Houdini (who was almost bested by Hope Hodgson, but that's another story). The book concludes with a series of appreciations from the likes of Frank Belknap Long, Clark Ashton Smith, Henry Kuttner and the editors, August Derleth and Donald Wandrei, including one by Winfield Townley Scott which is the first biography of the writer. Illustrated with a handful of photos, including a plan of Arkham by Lovecraft and a letter to Robert Bloch. The book, as attested by the editors, was a stop-gap during the war until they could complete what they thought would be a two volume publication of Lovecraft's 'selected letters'; this later went on to be five volumes. The book presents as a loose collection of oddities but it gives a sense of the writer rather than of his works. An early Arkham publication, the third Lovecraft book from Arkham and the fourth of Lovecraft's books, published seven years after his death. One of 2035 Copies [Currey, p262 Joshi, p29] Marginal wear to the spine tips and corners, a little toning to the jacket, a couple of tear to the spine tips also, not price clipped but having a little pencil note to price. Boards bumped at spine tips. Cover art by Virgil Finlay [5923, Hyraxia Books].