TENTACLII is a weblog on the literary works and life of H.P. Lovecraft, with an emphasis on the scholarly work on Lovecraft and his circle. With occasional forays into book reviews, notable audio, documentaries, visual art and similar. But avoiding the tidal-waves of “Lovecraft inspired” dross, except for the sake of an occasional chuckle here and there.
Also available here is my comprehensive and unique directory of ‘Lovecraft on the Web’: 300 links collected and organised by me in July/August 2010, and occasionally checked for dead or moved links. Plus my ‘Open Lovecraft’ page, linking to free academic papers and erudite scholarly musings that are known to be available online.
Publishers please note: I’m only really interested in Lovecraft himself. Please don’t try to foist books on/by other writers on me, in the hope of a review. Readers should note that I occasionally add an Amazon Associate link to a book at Amazon, and that I can earn from qualifying purchases.
Donations are welcome, and these help me to buy books of Lovecraftian scholarship and the volumes of Lovecraft’s letters. You can become my regular patron on Patreon or make a one-time donation through PayPal…
Donate via PayPal — any amount is welcome!
Praise for Tentaclii…
“… doing substantial work on tracing the more obscure and neglected corners of Lovecraft’s life and work.” — editorial by S.T. Joshi, in Lovecraft Annual 2013.
“Tentaclii will always be one of the premier sources for Lovecraftians” — Joe Shea, Arts Committee organiser, 2015 NecronomiCon convention.
“… his stature in this field puts him head and shoulders above most of those who call themselves Lovecraftians.” — Will Hart, 2015.
I am delighted to belatedly discover that Tentaclii is being regularly updated once more.
I am also in the midst of reading your third collection on Lovecraft in Historical Context, which I am enjoying. You may very well be aware of this already, but Lovecraft’s juvenile scientific magazines are now available online at the Brown University Digital Repository. This allows us to clarify some of the issues relating to Lovecraft’s telescopes, which were discussed in chapter 3 of your third collection. The telescope purchased in July 1903 was actually a 2.25-inch instrument rather than a 2.5-inch. It was purchased from Kirtland Brothers and Company, a mail order firm operating out of New York. However, I’ve not found a Kirtland Brothers optical catalog from the appropriate time period to see whether the manufacturer is listed.
Your difficulty in tracking down a “Bardon” telescope is because at some point someone reading Lovecraft’s handwriting mistook Bardou for Bardon. The Bardou and Sons Company did indeed supply telescopes to Montgomery Ward early in the 20th century. There is a nice drawing of what appears to be Lovecraft’s astronomical equipment on the cover of the December, 1906, issue of his Rhode Island Journal of Astronomy.
Since your third collection was issued in 2012, this may all be old news to you now, but I thought I would pass it along since I’ve been doing some work on Lovecraft’s astronomical interests.
— Horace.
Thanks for the update and new facts. Yes, I recently noted the Brown online scans of Lovecraft’s amateur Rhode Island Journal of Astronomy, and linked to them. There’s also recent Christmas post here on the Ladd telescope, with newly colourised pictures of the interior, which may interest you.
I’ll copy-paste your new information in the back of the draft for my next Lovecraft in Historical Context book, as I’ve taken to adding a short ‘errata and new information’ at the back of each new one. I’m not sure if it will ever be released, as I have many other projects to finish first, but it may eventually see print.
It’s possible to send you some illustrations?
Thanks, Pietro. No need for pictures by email, as I clicked through to your website with your gallery. I’ll be featuring it on the Tentaclii blog soon, with some sample preview pictures. I’ve also linked your site from the older post about the Studi Lovecraftiani edition which you recently made the cover for.