August Derleth

August William Derleth (February 24th 1909 - July 4th 1971) is a writer, anthologist and American editor. In spite of a rather prolific personal work, it is especially known to have been the continuator and the editor of the writer Howard Philips Lovecraft.

The youth of August Derleth

Sons of William Julius Derleth and Rose Louise Volk, Augut Derleth and born and lived the first years of its childhood and its adolescence with Sauk City, in the State of the Wisconsin. Early and endowed writer, it sees his first news published in the magazine of science fiction Weird Tales in 1925, whereas it is only 16 years old. He obtains his diploma of literature, delivered by the University of Wisconsin, in 1930, following what he works transitorily for the magazine of science fiction Mystic Magazine, of which he will be the writer-in-chief during a few months.

Derleth and Lovecraft

Contemporary of the " Master of Providence " , the first meeting between Derleth and Lovecraft will be epistolary (they will meet besides never physically). In 1926, Derleth, then 17 years old, send a letter to Lovecraft, with a simple aim of requesting information concerning the manner to him of approaching a fantastic account. This first correspondence will constitute the starting point of a long friendship which will last 12 years, until the death of Lovecraft. This last (which affectionately called Derleth “the kid”) will even reveal its corresponding, in the form of wink in several of its news under the identity of the Count d' Erlette, gentleman French of the 18th century (Derleth had, seems T it, a remote French ascent), author of one of the black books blasphématoires of the Mythe of Cthulhu: the disaster Worship of Goules.

During all these years, August Derleth will earn its living as teacher (it will be member of the management committee and the " Association" parent-Teacher; - Saxon organization typically anglo gathering the teachers and parents of pupils - college of Sauk City), novelist, novelist and organizer of seminars of writing. He collaborates regularly in Weird Tales and will be used even as mediator between Farnsworth Wright, the editor association of the magazine and Lovecraft, who were hardly appreciated, Wright refusing to publish the news of Lovecraft which he judged in inadequacy with the leading line of the magazine. It is in particular thanks to the intervention of Derleth that the latter will publish the House of the Witch in 1933. During all this time, the literary production of Derleth will be directed primarily towards the fantastic one, while starting to turn to the writing of whodunnits.

Arkham House

The death of Lovecraft will enormously affect Derleth, which will estimate of its duty to make known with the greatest number work of the " recluse of Providence ". After having recovered heaps of incomplete manuscripts, texts unfinished and working notes of Lovecraft near Robert H. Barlow, his literary executor, it founds, in collaboration with Donald Wandrei, the publisher Arkham House in 1939, devoted to the work of HPL. Consequently, Derleth will be posed like the continuator of Lovecraft, developing the cosmogony of this last, completing the incomplete stories that this last had left behind him. In 1939, Arkham House publishes its first collection lovecraftien, The Outsider and Others , then, in 1941, Someone in the Dark , a series of tales and news written by Derleth starting from fragmentary notes of Lovecraft. Part of the texts of these two works will be translated into French and will be published under the title the prowler in front of the threshold. In 1943 appears Beyond the Wall off Sleep which contains inter alia the two short novels the oneiric search of Kadath the unknown factor and the Business Charles Dexter Ward, then in 1949, Something butt Cats and Other Pieces , a collection of tests on various subjects. Lastly, as from 1965, he undertakes the publication of the Selected Letters of Lovecraft in five volumes, of which he will not see the end.

In same time, several tens of anthologies, pastiches and collections will be produced by Arkham House. The majority will be translated into French and will be published at Presses Pocket under the following titles: the Mask of Cthulhu (1958), the Trace of Cthulhu (1962), Shade come from space (1971), the Amulet Tibetan (1985) and the Phantom of the Lake (1987). Derleth, by respect towards Lovecraft qualified the stories contained in these collections of " collaborations posthumes" , even if he were the single author. Anxious to perpetuate the Myth and to offer a new youth to him, he encouraged the young English writer Ramsey Campbell to publish the Inhabitant of the Lake (a collection of news) in 1964. Then, in 1971, it will be with the turn of Brian Lumley (British him also) to contribute to the enrichment of the Myth thanks to the cycle of Titus Crow (published in France in two volumes: Invincible Cthulhu and Abominable Cthulhu ). In spite of the reproaches addressed to these authors, and initially to Derleth itself, by the purists lovecraftiens (majority of criticisms relating to impossibility of associating the style lovecraftien and a traditional account of adventures seeing the heroes gaining at the end), they are these authors who will manage to perpetuate creations of Lovecraft and to create the timelessness of the Mythe of Cthulhu.

The majority of these texts (as well as others, remained new in French) will be then compiled in the three volumes of the anthology Lovecraft, published at Bouquins, under the direction of Francis Lacassin, except for the cycle of Titus Crow de Lumley, published at black Fleuve.

Contributions of Derleth to the Myth

Creator of the expression Myth of Cthulhu, Derleth will contribute to open new prospects for this last. However, the work of Derleth, marked by its basically Christian gasoline, will purely move away from the aspects materialists and atheists developed by Lovecraft. One of the most disputed contributions of Derleth will be its obsession to want to create the Pantheon of beneficial divinities having formerly overcome the Grands Old, and willing to help humanity vis-a-vis the horrors of in addition to-space. Unquestionably, the presence at Derleth of these “guardian angels” contributes to kill part of the paramount horror inspired by macabre allusions to the final and inescapable destruction of humanity.

Among the most outstanding inventions of Derleth, one will quote: Hastur ( That Which one Cannot Name ), Lloigor, Ithaqua ( the Walker of the Wind ), the people Tcho-Tcho or the professor Laban Schrewsbury.

However, in spite of its unquestionable contributions, of many amateurs reproach Derleth for having " trahi" the myth by replaçant it in a context Manichean of opposition of the good and evil, resolutely foreign with the work of Lovecraft.

Derleth, the writer

To see in Derleth only one continuator and an author of pastiches of Lovecraft would be reducing so much the writer was prolific concerning his own creations. Thus, during its life, Derleth will have published nearly 150 news and articles, and not less than 100 novels, including one great part remains new in French. The fields which Derleth approached are vast: fantastic, of course, but also police, sociological philosophy, poetry, science fictions or tests. It will also produce tales for children and of the introductions for some collections of American Cartoons like Buster Brown or Katzenjammer Kids (Pim, WFP, Poum, in French).

Its personal creation most known remains the character of Solar Pons, British private detective, parody of Sherlock Holmes (Derleth had in addition maintained in its youth a short correspondence with Conan Doyle) that Pons will meet sometimes at the time of pastiches and episodes Cross-country race-over. Several news and novels putting in scene this character will be published under the pseudonyms of Stephen Grendon, Kenyon Holmes or Tally Mason.

In its most personal works, it would also be necessary to retain a series of novels in autobiographical matter located in its native Wisconsin, whose first outlines caused the admiration of Lovecraft. Among those, Place off Hawks (1935) or Evening in Spring (1941).

After its death, its notes, texts and other outlines will be offered to the Wisconsin Historical Society of Madison.

Works

News

The Lurker At the Threshold|Billington' S Wood (unknown) with H.P. Lovecraft
The Gorges Beyond Salapunco (unknown) off
The House Curwen Street (unknown)
The Lurker At the Threshold|Manuscript off Stephen Packsaddlled (unknown) with H.P. Lovecraft
The Lurker At the Threshold|Narration off Winfield Philips (unknown) with H.P. Lovecraft
Bat' S Belfry (1926)
The Coffin off Smoothed (1926)
The Devil' S Pay (1926) off
The Elixir Life (1926) with Marc R. Schorer
The Marmoset (1926) with Marc R. Schorer
The Black Castle (1927) with Marc R. Schorer
The Night Rider (1927)
The River (1927)
The Sleepers (1927)
The Turret Room (1927)
The Conradi Affair (1928) with Carl W. Ganzlin
The Owl one the Moor (1928) with Marc R. Schorer
The Philosophers' Stone (1928)
Riders in the Sky (1928) with Marc R. Schorer
The Statement off Justin Parker (1928)
The Holding At Number Seven (1928)
The Holding (1928)
The Three-Storied House (1928)
" Melody in E Minor" (1929)
The Deserted Garden (1929)
To dine At Imola (1929)
He Shall Like (1929)
The House one the Highway (1929)
The Inheritors (1929)
Year Occurrence in Ancient year Shop (1929)
Old Mark (1929)
Scarlatti' S Bottle (1929)
" Just has Song At Twilight" (1930)
Across the Hall (1930)
The Lilac Bush (1930)
has off Matter Sight (1930)
Mrs. Bentley' S Daughter (1930)
The Pacer (1930) with Marc R. Schorer
The Pacer (1930)
The Portrait (1930)
The Whistler (1930)
The Bridge off Sighs (1931)
The Captain Is Afraid (1931)
Prince Borgia' S Farmhouse (1931)
The Bishop Sees Through (1932)
In the Left Wing (1932) with Mark Schorer
The Lair off the Star-Spawn (1932) with Mark Schorer
Laughter in the Night (1932) with Mark Schorer
Red Hands (1932) with Mark Schorer
The Shadow one the Sky (1932)
The Sheraton Mirror (1932)
Those Who Seek (1932)
Birkett' S Twelfth Corpse (1933)
The Carven Image (1933) with Mark Schorer
An Elegy for Mr. Danielson (1933)
Nellie Foster (1933)
The Return off Andrew Bentley (1933) with Mark Schorer
The Thing that Walked one the Wind (1933)
The Vanishing off Simmons (1933)
The White Moth (1933)
has Cloak From Messer Lando (1934)
Colonel Markesan (1934) with Mark Schorer
Feigman' S Beard (1934)
has off Matter Faith (1934) with Mark Schorer
The Metronome (1934)
Wild Grapes (1934)
Mr. Berbeck Had has Dream (1935) off
Muggridge' S Aunt (1935)
Death Holds the Post (1936) with Mark Schorer
Lesandro' S Familiar (1936)
The Return Sarah Purcell (1936)
The Satin Mask (1936)
The Telephone in the Library (1936)
They Shall Rise (1936) with Mark Schorer
The Woman At Loon Not (1936) with Mark Schorer
Glory Hand (1937)
McGovern' S Obsession (1937)
The Panelled Room (1937)
The Shuttered House (1937)
The Wind from to rivet (1937)
Three Gentlemen in Black (1938)
Logoda' S Heads (1939)
Mrs. Elting Does Her Part (1939)
The Second Print (1939)
Spawn off the Maelstrom (1939) with Mark Schorer
The Vengeance off off Have (1939) with Mark Schorer
The Return Hastur (1939) ace August W. Derleth
The Drifting Snow (1939) ace Stephen Grendon
After You, Mr. Henderson (1940)
Bramwell' S Guardian (1940)
The Sandwin Compact (1940)
Bright Journey (1940)
" How to Me! " (1941)
Altimer' S Amulet (1941)
Beyond the Threshold (1941)
Compliments off Spectro (1941)
Ithaqua (1941)
Young stag, Daemos! (1942)
Lansing' S Luxury (1942)
Mrs. Corter Makes Up Her Mind (1942)
Headlines for Tod Shayne (1942) ace August W. Derleth
Mr. Ames' Devil (1942) ace August W. Derleth
Baynter' S Imp (1943)
McElwin' S Glass (1943)
No Light for Uncle Henry (1943)
has Thin Gentleman with Gloves (1943)
has Wig for Miss Devours (1943)
No Light for Uncle Henry (1943) off ace August W. Derleth
The Dweller in Darkness (1944)
Lady Macbeth Pimley Square (1944)
Pacific 421 (1944)
The Trail off Cthulhu (1944)
has Gentleman from Prague (1944) ace Stephen Grendon
Carousel (1945)
The God-Box (1945)
The Inverness Cape (1945)
The Lost Day (1945)
Mrs. Lannisfree (1945)
The Watcher from the Sky (1945)
Alannah (1945) ace Stephen Grendon
has off Collector Stones (1946)
Pikeman (1946)
Dead Man' S Shoes (1946) ace Stephen Grendon
The Occupying off the Crypt (1947) with Mark Schorer
The Churchyard Yew (1947) ace Joseph Sheridan Fanu
Bishop' S Gambit (1947) ace Stephen Grendon
The Extra Passenger (1947) ace Stephen Grendon
The Ghost Walk (1947) ace Stephen Grendon
Mr. George (1947) ace Stephen Grendon
Parrington' S Pool (1947) ace Stephen Grendon
has Little Knowledge (1948)
The Lonesome Place (1948)
Saunder' S Little Friend (1948)
Something in Wood (1948)
The Whippoorwills in the Hills (1948)
Blessed Are the Meek (1948) ace Stephen Grendon
Mara (1948) ace Stephen Grendon
The Night Train to Lost Valley (1948) ace Stephen Grendon
The Tsanta in the Parlor (1948) ace Stephen Grendon
The Tsantsa in the Parlor (1948) ace Stephen Grendon
The Wind in the Lilacs (1948) ace Stephen Grendon
Kingsridge 214 (1949)
The Slayers and the Slain (1949)
The Will off Claiborne Boyd (1949)
Twilight Play (1949)
Balu (1949) ace Stephen Grendon
The Blue Spectacles (1949) ace Stephen Grendon
Mrs. Manifold (1949) ace Stephen Grendon
, Sesame! (1949) ace Stephen Grendon
The Song off the Pewee (1949) ace Stephen Grendon
The Closing Door (1950)
The Fifth Child (1950)
The Island Out off Space (1950)
The Ormolu Clock (1950)
Potts' Triumph (1950)
has Room in has House (1950) off
The Man one B-17 (1950) ace Stephen Grendon
The Keeper the Key (1951)
has Knocking in the Wall (1951) off
The Man Who Rode the Saucer (1951)
The Other Side the Wall (1951)
Something from Out There (1951)
" Who Shall I Say is Calling? " (1952)
The Black Island (1952)
The Lost Path (1952)
McIlvaine' S Star (1952)
The Night Road (1952)
The Places Desolation (1952) off
" Sexton, Sexton, in the Wall" (1953)
The Adventure off the Snitch in Time (1953) with Mack Reynolds
Century Jumper (1953)
has Corner for Lucia (1953)
The Detective and the Senator (1953)
The Disc To retie (1953)
The Ebony Stick (1953)
The House in the Valley (1953)
Invaders from the Microcosm (1953)
The Maugham Obsession (1953)
has Traveler in Time (1953)
Mark VII (1954)
The Mechanical House (1954)
The Penfield Misadventure (1954)
The Places in the Woods (1954)
The Remarkable Dingdong (1954)
The Survivor (1954) with H.P. Lovecraft
Thinker, Mark VII (1954)
The Adventure off the Ball off Nostradamus (1955) with Mack Reynolds
The Dark Boy (1956)
The Ancestor (1957) with H.P. Lovecraft
The Lamp off Alhazred (1957) with H.P. Lovecraft
The Martian Artefact (1957)
The Peabody Heritage (1957) with H.P. Lovecraft
The Seal off R' lyeh (1957)
The House one the Mound (1958)
Halloween for Mr. Faulkner (1959)
Lovecraft and " The Pacer" (excerpt) (1959)
The Shuttered Room (1959) with H.P. Lovecraft
Miss Esperson (1962) ace Stephen Grendon
The Adventure off the Intarsia Box (1964)
By Rocket to the Moon (1965)
The Dark Brotherhood (1966) with H.P. Lovecraft
Ferguson' S Capsules (1966)
The Horror from the Middle Span (1967) with H.P. Lovecraft
The House in the Oaks (1971) with Robert E. Howard
Innsmouth Clay (1971) with H.P. Lovecraft
The Appears with the Scythe (1973) with Mark Schorer
The Watchers Out off Time (1974) with H.P. Lovecraft
Year Eye for History (1975)
Protoplasm (1975)

Anthologies

Who Knocks? (1946)
The Night Side (1947)
The Sleeping and the Dead (1947)
Strange Ports off Cal (1948)
The Other Side off the Moon (1949)
Beyond Time and Space (1950)
Far Boundaries (1951)
The Outer Reaches (1951)
Beachheads in Space (1952)
Worlds off Tomorrow (1953)
Portals off Tomorrow (1954)
Time to Like (1954)
Dark Mind, Dark Heart (1962)
New Worlds for Old (1963)
The Sleeping and the Dead (abridged) (1963)
The Time off Infinity (1963)
The Unquiet Engraves (1963)
From Other Worlds (1964) off
Travellers by Night (1967)
Tales the Cthulhu Mythos (1969)
Dark Things (1971)
The Lurker At the Threshold (1971) with H.P. Lovecraft
New Horizons: Yesterday' S Portraits off Tomorrow (1998)

Collections

Long Not for This World (1948)
The Survivor and Other Stories (1957) with H.P. Lovecraft
The Mask off Cthulhu (1958)
The Trail off Cthulhu (1962)
Mr. George and Other Odd Persons (1963) ace Stephen Grendon
The Watchers Out off Time and Others (1974) with H.P. Lovecraft
Harrigan' S Spins (1975)

Poetry

Incubus (1934)
Omega (1934)
To has Spaceship (1934)
Man and the Cosmos (1935)
" Only Deserted" (1937)
The Shores off Night (1947)
has Boy' S Way (1947) (It by Claire Victor Dwiggins)
Providence: Two Gentlemen Meet At Midnight (1948)
Jacksnipe Over (1971)
Something Left Behind (1971)

Tests and articles

Introduction (The Mask off Cthulhu) (unknown)
Foreword (Who Knocks?) (1946)
Foreword (The Night Side) (1947)
Introduction (The Sleeping and the Dead) (1947)
Foreword (Not Long for This World) (1948)
Introduction (Strange Ports off Cal) (1948)
Introduction (The Other Side off the Moon) (1949)
Introduction (Beyond Time and Space) (1950)
Foreword (The Outer Reaches) (1951)
Introduction (The Haunter off the Dark) (1951)
Introduction (Beachheads in Space) (1952)
Introduction (Worlds off Tomorrow) (1953)
Foreword (Time to Like) (1954)
Introduction (Beachheads in Space) (1954)
Introduction (Portals off Tomorrow) (1954)
Introduction (Worlds off Tomorrow) (1955)
Foreword (Dark Mind, Dark Heart) (1962)
Foreword (Time to Like) (1963)
H.P. Lovecraft And His Work (1963)
H.P. Lovecraft And His Work (1963)
Introduction (Mr. George and Other Odd Persons) (1963)
Introduction (Worlds off Tomorrow) (1963)
Introduction (Beachheads in Space) (1964)
Introduction (From Other Worlds) (1964)
Foreword (The Night Side) (1966)
Foreword (The Unspeakable People) (1969)
Clark Ashton Smith: Master off Fantasy (1974) with Donald Wandrei

Publications in French

(Collections of news)

the prowler in front of the threshold (1945)
the mask of Cthulhu (1958)
the trace of Cthulhu (1962)
Shade come from space (1971)
Eight Stories of Chtulhu (1975)
the Amulet Tibetan (1985)
the phantom of the lake (1987)
the thing of darkness (1990)
Lovecraft (anthology) Volume 1 (1991)
Legends of the myth of Chtulhu (ED. Christian Bourgois, with Lovecraft, Robert Bloch, Hake Wilson…)
horror in the museum.
Watchers out of time.

References

The August Derleth Society
Site of the publisher Arkham House

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