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Fantasy Commentator, v. 1, issue 7, Summer 1945

Page 166

166
FANTASY COMMENTATOR

From overseas Cpl. Paul Spencer comments:

"The Lord of R'lyeh" is excellent---I love this sort of stuff. Whether or not it sprang from the motivation indicated, the Cthulhu mythos does, I have always felt, represent a new and fascinating blend of the weird and the scientific. In touching upon Azathoth, the author skirts a relevant and intriguing thought. The idea behind Azathoth is that beneath the superficial order of the universe lies chaos. This is perhaps the ultimate in horror to most human minds, and is easily integrated into the author's thesis of Lovecraft's attempted reconciliation of rationalism and indeterminacy---and the suggestion of horror from the Outside. Incidentally, I am bothered by the existence of two Lovecraft entities which, however different, symbolize the same thought: Azathoth and Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. Perhaps Lovecraft was vacillating between the two as the preferential allegory---or it may be that Azathoth represents the total truth of the cosmos, and Nyarlathotep merely approaches Azathoth as a limit; do you have any idea what I mean? On the other hand, this tends to confuse Azathoth with Yog-Sothoth. I'm getting a trifle dizzy at this point, and will abandon further discussion of this admirable article with parenthetical notation of the facts that I found "Dagon" disappointing, and that I have a higher opinion of collectivism than Mr. Onderdonk, who I strongly suspect to be Mr. Searles. (Although this allegation is most complimentary, I hasten to deny it; Mr. Onderdonk is a genuine entity. Those who might be interested in discussing "The Lord of R'lyeh" with him in more detail may address him at R.F.D., Delmar, N.Y. --ed.)

And in conclusion, we hear from the well-known London reader and collector R. George Medhurst:

In going over the books of William Hope Hodgson in the British Museum Library I gathered further examples of the pitfalls that surround conscientious bibliographers. It appears that there are four more Hodgson editions to be added to the list that appeared in Fantasy Commentator #3. To wit: "Poems" and "The Dream of X", London: A.P. Watt & Son, 1912, 84pp. (note: the volume contains also a sea story called "Mutiny," which---so far as I can tell---was not subsequently reprinted); Carnacki, the Ghost Finger and a Poem, London (no publisher given), 1910, 14pp (paper covers); The Ghost Pirates, A Chaunty, and Another Story, New York: Paul R. Reynolds, 1909, 68pp. (note: this also is paper-covered; the other story is "The Thing Invisible." (Thomas Carnacki, the Famous Investigator of 'Real' Ghost Stories, Tells Here One of the Most Thrilling of his Experiences)"); and a cheap reprint of Captain Gault: London: Holden & Hardingham, 1921, 251pp. 

I have further new which, I think, will please you; it concerns this fantastic price that is being extorted for copies of Scientifiction. In speaking to Walter Gillings recently, it transpired that he has a few hundred copies of numbers 3 to 7 of this publication, which he would be glad to dispose of to interested fans; he will swap two copies for one war-time issue of Astounding Stories, Famous Fantastic Mysteries or Fantastic Novels, and one copy for one of any other fantasy magazine sent him. The address is 15 Shere Road, Illford, Essex, England. (Scientifiction is a printed fantasy magazine devoted to critical articles, book reviews, etc., and is unquestionably one of the best amateur publications to appear; its third issue, for example, contains the only interview with Olaf Stapledon extant. I strongly urge both readers and collectors to take advantage of this offer---especially in view of such unconscionably extortionistic prices as the $3.50 quoted by "fan-dealer" Forrest J. Ackerman for a single copy of this periodical, which has a cover price of sixpence and which is still available from its publisher. Those who are averse to contributing to a 3500% profit would do well to transact business with Mr. Gillings himself. --ed.)

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166 FANTASY COMMENTATOR From overseas Cpl. Paul Spencer comments: "The Lord of R'lyeh" is excellent---I love this sort of stuff. Whether or not it sprang from the motivation indicated, the Cthulhu mythos does, I have always felt, represent a new and fascinating blend of the weird and the scientific. In touching upon Azathoth, the author skirts a relevant and intriguing thought. The idea behind Azathoth is that beneath the superficial order of the universe lies chaos. This is perhaps the ultimate in horror to most human minds, and is easily integrated into the author's thesis of Lovecraft's attempted reconciliation of rationalism and indeterminacy---and the suggestion of horror from the Outside. Incidentally, I am bothered by the existence of two Lovecraft entities which, however different, symbolize the same thought: Azathoth and Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. Perhaps Lovecraft was vacillating between the two as the preferential allegory---or it may be that Azathoth represents the total truth of the cosmos, and Nyarlathotep merely approaches Azathoth as a limit; do you have any idea what I mean? On the other hand, this tends to confuse Azathoth with Yog-Sothoth. I'm getting a trifle dizzy at this point, and will abandon further discussion of this admirable article with parenthetical notation of the facts that I found "Dagon" disappointing, and that I have a higher opinion of collectivism than Mr. Onderdonk, who I strongly suspect to be Mr. Searles. (Although this allegation is most complimentary, I hasten to deny it; Mr. Onderdonk is a genuine entity. Those who might be interested in discussing "The Lord of R'lyeh" with him in more detail may address him at R.F.D., Delmar, N.Y. --ed.) And in conclusion, we hear from the well-known London reader and collector R. George Medhurst: In going over the books of William Hope Hodgson in the British Museum Library I gathered further examples of the pitfalls that surround conscientious bibliographers. It appears that there are four more Hodgson editions to be added to the list that appeared in Fantasy Commentator #3. To wit: "Poems" and "The Dream of X", London: A.P. Watt & Son, 1912, 84pp. (note: the volume contains also a sea story called "Mutiny," which---so far as I can tell---was not subsequently reprinted); Carnacki, the Ghost Finger and a Poem, London (no publisher given), 1910, 14pp (paper covers); The Ghost Pirates, A Chaunty, and Another Story, New York: Paul R. Reynolds, 1909, 68pp. (note: this also is paper-covered; the other story is "The Thing Invisible." (Thomas Carnacki, the Famous Investigator of 'Real' Ghost Stories, Tells Here One of the Most Thrilling of his Experiences)"); and a cheap reprint of Captain Gault: London: Holden & Hardingham, 1921, 251pp. I have further new which, I think, will please you; it concerns this fantastic price that is being extorted for copies of Scientifiction. In speaking to Walter Gillings recently, it transpired that he has a few hundred copies of numbers 3 to 7 of this publication, which he would be glad to dispose of to interested fans; he will swap two copies for one war-time issue of Astounding Stories, Famous Fantastic Mysteries or Fantastic Novels, and one copy for one of any other fantasy magazine sent him. The address is 15 Shere Road, Illford, Essex, England. (Scientifiction is a printed fantasy magazine devoted to critical articles, book reviews, etc., and is unquestionably one of the best amateur publications to appear; its third issue, for example, contains the only interview with Olaf Stapledon extant. I strongly urge both readers and collectors to take advantage of this offer---especially in view of such unconscionably extortionistic prices as the $3.50 quoted by "fan-dealer" Forrest J. Ackerman for a single copy of this periodical, which has a cover price of sixpence and which is still available from its publisher. Those who are averse to contributing to a 3500% profit would do well to transact business with Mr. Gillings himself. --ed.)