A weekly blog post, celebrating H.P. Lovecraft’s interest in our fascinating felines.

The cover illustration and jacket for Something about Cats and other Pieces, ed. August Derleth, Arkham House, 1949. This usefully reprinted an initial set of memoirs including Providence items such as neighbour Clara L. Hess’s memoir-letter to The Providence Journal newspaper, which had appeared 19th September 1948. This appeared in the book as “Addenda to ‘H.P.L.: A Memoir’” with some additions from an interview Derleth had managed to obtain with Hess. The chapter’s title positioned it as an update on Derleth’s own earlier book H.P.L.: A Memoir (1945). Sadly both books are now collectable first editions from Arkham, and thus unobtainable by scholars expect at substantial cost. I’m unsure who the cover artist of Something about Cats was.

Update: the Hess letter + additions from her interview with Derleth, and some further research from, is in the book Lovecraft Remembered and is there listed not under Hess but as ‘August Derleth, “Lovecraft’s Sensitivity” (1949)’. My thanks to magister76se for pointing this out.

Celebrating H.P. Lovecraft’s interest in our fascinating felines.

The cover for The Black Cat magazine, October 1905. H.P. Lovecraft began to read this story-magazine in 1904, when he was aged about 14. The cover of each issue featured the distinctive cat configured within various graphic designs.

The idea of a big reward + a black cat may have been especially poignant to the 15 year-old Lovecraft when he picked this off the news-stands or opened a subscription copy in the morning mail. Because this edition was issued on the first year anniversary of the loss of his own beloved black cat, Trigger-ban, who had run away and been lost during the house-move of fall/autumn 1904.