Table Of ContentI	Am	Providence
I	Am	Providence
The	Life	and	Times	of
H.	P.	Lovecraft
S.	T.	Joshi
Hippocampus	Press
————————
New	York
Copyright	©	2013	by	S.	T.	Joshi
Published	by	Hippocampus	Press
P.O.	Box	641,	New	York,	NY	10156.
http://www.hippocampuspress.com
All	rights	reserved.	No	part	of	this	work	may	be	reproduced	in	any	form	or	by
any	means	without	the	written	permission	of	the	publisher.
Hippocampus	Press	logo	by	Anastasia	Damianakos.
Cover	design	by	Barbara	Briggs	Silbert.
First	Ebook	Edition,	2013
EPUB	Edition	ISBN:	978-1-61498-077-3
Kindle	Edition	ISBN:	978-1-61498-078-0
The	Library	of	Congress	has	cataloged	the	hardcover	edition	as	follows:
Joshi,	S.	T.,	1958-
I	am	Providence	:	the	life	and	times	of	H.P.	Lovecraft	/	S.	T.	Joshi.	—	1st	ed.
p.	cm.
Complete	in	2	volumes.
In	1996,	S.	T.	Joshi's	H.P.	Lovecraft:	a	life	was	published.	The	edition	was
abridged	by	more	than	150,000	words.	This	new	version	I	am	Providence:	the
life	and	times	of	H.P.	Lovecraft	restores	every	word	of	Joshi's	original
manuscript.	The	text	has	been	revised	and	updated	in	light	of	the	new
information	on	Lovecraft	that	has	emerged	since	1996—Provided	by	publisher.
Includes	bibliographical	references	and	index.
ISBN	978-0-9824296-7-9	(alk.	paper)
1.	Lovecraft,	H.	P.	(Howard	Phillips),	1890-1937.	2.	Authors,	American—20th
century—Biography.	3.	Fantasy	fiction—Authorship.	4.	Horror	tales—
Authorship.	I.	Title.
PS3523.O833Z72	2010
813'.52—dc22
[B]
To
Kenneth	W.	Faig,	Jr
Donald	R.	Burleson
and
David	E.	Schultz
Preface
I	don’t	imagine	that	the	publication	of	so	large	a	biography	of	H.	P.	Lovecraft
needs	a	defence	today:	his	ascent	into	the	canon	of	American	literature	with	the
publication	of	the	Library	of	America	edition	of	his	Tales	(2005),	and,
concurrently,	his	continued	popularity	among	devotees	of	horror	fiction,	comics,
films,	and	role-playing	games	suggest	that	Lovecraft	will	remain	a	compelling
figure	for	decades	to	come.	What	may	perhaps	require	some	justification	is	my
decision	to	issue	this	unabridged	version	of	a	biography	that	I	wrote	in	1993–95
and	that	was	published	in	truncated	form	in	1996.	In	the	nearly	fifteen	years
since	that	time,	a	surprising	amount	of	new	information	about	Lovecraft—his
life,	his	work,	and	his	milieu—has	emerged,	necessitating	some	significant
revisions	in	various	portions	of	this	book.	Foremost	in	this	regard	must	be	cited
Kenneth	W.	Faig,	Jr,	who	with	others	has	dug	even	deeper	than	before	into
Lovecraft’s	paternal	and	maternal	ancestry.	Other	research	by	Steven	J.
Mariconda,	David	E.	Schultz,	T.	R.	Livesey,	Robert	H.	Waugh,	and	any	number
of	others	has	resulted	in	changes	both	large	and	small.	I	believe	I	have	also
benefited	from	the	pertinent	criticisms	of	a	number	of	reviewers	of	the	truncated
edition.
A	reader	of	the	earlier	version	might	ask:	Exactly	what	is	new	about	this
edition	aside	from	the	bare	addition	of	more	than	150,000	words?	In	all	humility
I	am	now	unable	to	answer	this	question	in	any	detail.	My	pruning	of	the	version
I	wrote	in	1993–95—comprising	more	than	500,000	words—was	on	the	level	of
both	individual	words,	phrases,	and	sentences	and	some	entire	sections.	One
gauge	of	the	kind	and	degree	of	omissions	can	be	gauged	by	the	number	of
footnotes	in	the	trimmed	and	the	full	version;	to	choose	a	chapter	at	random,
Chapter	14	in	the	earlier	version	had	75	footnotes;	the	current	version	has	98.	In
this	version,	therefore,	I	am	even	more	determined	to	specify	the	documentary
basis	for	my	assertions.
In	the	past	decade	and	a	half,	important	publications	by	and	about	Lovecraft
have	made	the	biographer’s	life	much	simpler,	at	least	in	terms	of	citations.	Far
and	away	the	most	significant	in	this	regard	is	Peter	Cannon’s	exemplary
compilation	of	memoirs	of	Lovecraft,	Lovecraft	Remembered	(1998),	a	volume
so	close	to	definitive	that	it	scarcely	ever	need	be	done	over	again.	I	have	some
small	quibbles	with	Cannon’s	selections:	for	example,	I	wish	he	had	not	included
the	truncated	version	of	Sonia	Davis’s	memoir	of	her	husband,	successively
edited	by	Winfield	Townley	Scott	and	August	Derleth,	and	had	included	the	first
of	Muriel	Eddy’s	memoirs	rather	than	a	later	one;	as	a	result	I	have	cited	these
(and	a	few	other)	items	from	sources	other	than	Lovecraft	Remembered.
The	most	radical	development	is	the	extensive	publication	of	Lovecraft’s
letters,	especially	to	important	correspondents	such	as	August	Derleth,	Robert	E.
Howard,	and	Donald	Wandrei.	And	yet,	because	the	Arkham	House	edition	of
Selected	Letters	(1965–76)	is	still	the	most	widely	available	and	convenient
compendium	of	Lovecraft’s	letters,	I	have	in	general	cited	it	even	in	cases	where
it	has	been	superseded	by	these	later	editions.
I	have	not	cited	any	specific	editions	of	Lovecraft’s	fiction,	essays,	or	poetry.
In	terms	of	the	fiction,	Barnes	&	Noble	has	issued	for	the	first	time	a	collection
of	all	Lovecraft’s	original	fiction	(2008);	but	the	first	printing	was	marred	by
many	typographical	errors.	As	of	this	writing,	I	have	received	a	promise	from
the	in-house	editor	that	these	errors	will	be	corrected	(perhaps,	however,	not	all
at	once),	so	that	subsequent	printings	of	the	volume	should	be	definitive.	The
book	is,	of	course,	not	annotated,	and	readers	interested	in	the	background
behind	Lovecraft’s	stories	might	wish	to	consult	my	three	Penguin	editions
(1999–2004),	along	with	such	volumes	as	From	the	Pest	Zone:	Stories	from	New
York	(2003).
Lovecraft’s	essays	are	now	conveniently	gathered	in	Collected	Essays
(2004–06;	5	vols.),	and	his	poetry	in	The	Ancient	Track:	Complete	Poetical
Works	(2001).
I	would	like	to	repeat	the	many	friends	and	colleagues	who	have,	over	the
past	thirty	years,	materially	aided	me	in	my	research	on	Lovecraft.	Among	those
who	actually	knew	or	corresponded	with	Lovecraft,	I	can	thank	Frank	Belknap
Long,	J.	Vernon	Shea,	Donald	Wandrei,	Robert	Bloch,	Mrs.	Ethel	Phillips
Morrish,	and	Harry	K.	Brobst;	sadly,	all	but	the	last	of	these	are	no	more.
Among	students	and	scholars,	I	have	learnt	most	about	Lovecraft’s	life	and	work
from	the	three	individuals	to	whom	this	book	is	dedicated—Kenneth	W.	Faig,	Jr,
David	E.	Schultz,	and	Donald	R.	Burleson;	but	other	individuals,	such	as	Dirk
W.	Mosig,	Steven	J.	Mariconda,	Peter	Cannon,	J.	Vernon	Shea,	George	T.
Wetzel,	R.	Boerem,	Scott	Connors,	Richard	L.	Tierney,	Matthew	H.	Onderdonk,
Fritz	Leiber,	M.	Eileen	McNamara,	Donovan	K.	Loucks,	Stefan	Dziemianowicz,
T.	E.	D.	Klein,	Perry	M.	Grayson,	Scott	D.	Briggs,	Marc	A.	Michaud,	Sam
Moskowitz,	Robert	M.	Price,	A.	Langley	Searles,	and	Richard	D.	Squires	should
not	be	overlooked.	I	am	most	grateful	to	Donovan	K.	Loucks	for	assembling	the
photographs	for	this	book
The	John	Hay	Library	of	Brown	University	remains	the	chief	repository	of
Lovecraft	manuscript	and	printed	material,	and	its	Lovecraft	Collection	is	now	in
the	capable	hands	of	Rosemary	Cullen.	She	and	her	staff	have	allowed	me
unprecedented	access	to	its	bountiful	documents.
As	in	so	many	of	my	recent	projects,	I	am	sincerely	grateful	to	David	E.
Schultz	for	his	customary	care	in	the	design	of	this	book,	and	to	Derrick	Hussey
for	his	courage	and	confidence	in	publishing	it.
—S.	T.	JOSHI
Seattle,	Washington
June	2009
Description:In 1996, S.T. Joshi's "H. P. Lovecraft : a life" was published as an abridged edition to his earlier editions of 1993-1995. This new version restores every word of Joshi's original manuscript and includes updated literary research on Lovecraft's life, work and mileu.