Zone d'identification
Cote
Nom et localisation du dépôt
Niveau de description
Collection
Titre
Arkham House Collection (August Derleth)
Date(s)
- 1930-1953 (Création/Production)
Importance matérielle
4 boxes
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
August Derleth's career started at age 15 with the sale of a story to Weird Tales. He was a prolific and varied writer. During his career, he published over 100 novels, short stories, poetry volumes, biographies, histories, articles, and essays. He wrote historical fiction novels as well as poetry, juvenile fiction, mysteries, and science fiction/fantasy tales. Derleth himself was an avid reader; his personal library numbered approximately 12,000 volumes. He was also a nature enthusiast; his love for nature is apparent in many of his works. Derleth collected American commemorative stamps and comics; he reputedly had the world's largest collection of comics.
August Derleth began Arkham House Publishing to publish the works of H. P. Lovecraft. Ironically, the two never met. While Derleth was young, he and Lovecraft began corresponding with one another. They typically exchanged letters several times a month until Lovecraft's death.
- February 2, 1904: born in Sauk City, WI to William Julius and Rose Louise Derleth
- 1930: University of Wisconsin, B.A.
- 1930-1931: associate editor, Fawcett Publications, Milwaukee
- 1931-1971: free-lance write
- 1934-1943: contributing editor, Outdoors Magazine
- 1937-1943: served as director, Sauk City Board of Education
- 1938: winner of Guggenheim Fellowship (sponsored by Sinclair Lewis, Edgar Lee Masters, and Helen Constance White)
- 1939-1943: special lecturer in American Regional Literature at the University of Wisconsin
- 1939-1971: publisher, Arkham House
- 1941-1971: literary editor and weekly columnist (1961-1971) for the Capital Times
- 1953: married Sandra Evelyn Winters (two children, April Rose and Walden William)
- 1958: 1st prize winner in Scholastic Magazine's short story contest for "The Tail of the Dog"
- 1959: divorced from Sandra Evelyn Winters Derleth
- 1966: winner, Governor's Award. for distinguished service to the creative arts for Return to Walden West
- July 4, 1971: died
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
The Arkham House Collection consists of correspondence from August Derleth to Howard Wandrei. Derleth, a writer, founded Arkham House to publish and keep in print the work of Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a friend and fellow writer. Lovecraft died in 1937; for the next two years Derleth tried unsuccessfully to find a publisher for Lovecraft's writings. Using money from prepaid orders and the personal investment of Donald Wandrei (brother of Howard Wandrei), Derleth founded Arkham House in 1939. Arkham House published science fiction works by Lovecraft and other writers such as Algernon Blair, Clark Ashton Smith and Henry S. Whitehead.
In his letters to fellow science-fiction writer Howard Wandrei, August Derleth writes about his publishing efforts at Arkham House, his own writing career and the details of his personal life. His letters also mention other authors and publishing houses. The letters date from 1930-1953; most letters are accompanied by the original stamped envelopes.
Mode de classement
This collection is organized into 4 boxes. Letters are chronological.
Box 1 - Correspondence
Box 2 - Correspondence
Box 3 - Correspondence
Box 4 - Correspondence
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d’accès
Restricted. Please contact Cushing Library staff to access this collection.
Accès physique
These materials are stored offsite and require additional time for retrieval.
Accès technique
Conditions de reproduction
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Langue des documents
- anglais
Écriture des documents
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Instruments de recherche
Éléments d'acquisition et d'évaluation
Historique de la conservation
Source immédiate d'acquisition
Accroissements
Sources complémentaires
Existence et lieu de conservation des originaux
Existence et lieu de conservation des copies
Sources complémentaires
Descriptions associées
Élément de notes
Note générale
Other Information:
Fully Processed
Notes spécialisées
Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)
Zone du contrôle de la description
Règles ou conventions
Sources utilisées
Note de l'archiviste
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