New material on Archive.org reveals a wealth of new data on Lovecraft’s friend Arthur Leeds, and even one story now available online. My earlier attempt at a life of Arthur Leeds will certainly need an update and expansion, at some point. That will be even more likely after I’ve properly read the new Letters to Family books, which have a slab of Leeds entries in the Index.

The Editor for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, January 1947 wrote…

Evidently Leeds was then living at 223 East 19th Street, New York City, in winter 1946/47. There are two such addresses, but his must be the Brooklyn one, a small frame house about four miles north of Coney Island. He might have been a little annoyed that any reader letters subsequently addressed to him could have gone to the Manhattan address, but presumably he took the opportunity to write there and tell them of possible misunderstandings — and possibly make a new useful contact along the way (he was that kind of fellow). His lengthy letter to the editor is not reprinted in the magazine, but we do know from the gist of it that at one time Leeds moved among and knew various popular crime and mystery writers. I don’t recognise any of the names, but crime pulp historians may do. I wonder if the letter might still be found, in the magazine’s archives?

Billboard, May 1930 reported that Arthur Leeds had joined a 10c “Prison Portrayal Show” on Coney Island, which realistically showed the crowds how a prison operated. It appears that Leeds played a “criminologist”, possibly framing the show and explaining certain points to the audience. Billboard reassures readers that the show is realistic but in good taste. Billboard for March 1929 reveals that Leeds was part of the “faithful” crew of this show…

Stepping further back in time, Billboard for May 1927 reveals Leeds was then the “Opener” for a successful Palace of Wonders show at Riverview Park in Chicago. Complete with Two-headed Girls, Sea-Nymphs, a Doll Lady and other human marvels etc…

Front of house, Chicago Riverside ‘Palace of Wonders’, probably late 1940s.

Here is the Leeds story, from Ghost Stories, October 1926. The magazine was obviously competing with the movies by using faux movie stills to illustrate the stories. I Am Providence reveals it paid well, 2 cents a word, and Lovecraft tried three stories on them. He heard nothing back. Several stories in it read like movie scenarios of the time, which were then written up in a plainly-written ‘photoplay’ format. The format was one movie-going readers were familiar with at that time, though it may seem stilted to us today. This Leeds tale is unremarkable and reads like it should have been translated to the screen back in the 1920s rather than read on the page. More generally the magazine doesn’t appear to have been a possible Lovecraft market, since it promoted spiritualism and psychic powers etc, and anyway his work would not really have fitted. Judging from this one issue it appears to have been a side-income for the lower ranks of the movie-making crowd, scenario writers and stills photographers with free access to movie-lot costume-racks. Still, S.T. Joshi hints that it tried to go upmarket before it failed, and at that point Robert E. Howard landed in it. It closed in 1932.