H. P. Lovecraft is not usually thought of as a “family man,” but he was in fact very close to his mother (until her death in 1921) and especially to his two aunts, Lillian D. Clark and Annie E. P. Gamwell, with whom he shared living quarters for much of his adult life. This volume includes, for the first time, the complete and unabridged correspondence—amounting to more than 450,000 words—written by Lovecraft to his mother and aunts. It provides unprecedented glimpses into the most minute details of his daily life and is therefore unlike any other letters Lovecraft ever wrote.

Especially during his trying years in New York (1924–26), Lovecraft looked to his aunts as a source of stability and sympathy while his marriage was disintegrating. He tells of his frequent meetings with members of the Kalem Club; his fruitless attempts to find a job; his extensive travels in the region in search of antiquarian havens; and, of course, the details of his relations with his wife, Sonia. After he returned to Providence, Lovecraft continued to write letters to his aunts on his many trips up and down the Eastern Seaboard, from Quebec to Key West.

This two-volume set also includes letters written to family friends such as Marian F. Bonner, Mayte E. Sutton, and others, as well as previously unpublished letters written by Lovecraft’s grandfather, Whipple V. Phillips, to his grandson in the 1890s. As with previous volumes in this series, all the letters have been meticulously edited and annotated by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz.