Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- Chapter One Unmixed English Gentry
- Chapter Two A Genuine Pagan (1890–97)
- Chapter Three Black Woods and Unfathomed Caves (1898–1902)
- Chapter Four What of Unknown Africa? (1902–1908)
- Chapter Five Barbarian and Alien (1908–14)
- Chapter Six A Renewed Will to Live (1914–17)
- Chapter Seven Feverish and Incessant Scribbling (1917–19)
- Chapter Eight Cynical Materialist (1919–21)
- Chapter Nine The High Tide of My Life (1921–22)
- Chapter Ten For My Own Amusement (1923–24)
- Chapter Eleven Ball and Chain (1924)
- Chapter Twelve Moriturus Te Saluto (1925–26)
- Chapter Thirteen Paradise Regain'd (1926)
- Chapter Fourteen Cosmic Outsideness (1927–28)
- Chapter Fifteen Fanlights and Georgian Steeples (1928–30)
- Chapter Sixteen Non-supernatural Cosmic Art (1930–31)
- Chapter Seventeen Mental Greed (1931–33)
- Chapter Eighteen In My Own Handwriting (1933–35)
- Chapter Nineteen Caring about the Civilization (1929–37)
- Chapter Twenty The End of One's Life (1935–37)
- Epilogue: Thou Art Not Gone
- Notes
- Index
Chapter Four - What of Unknown Africa? (1902–1908)
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Preface
- Chapter One Unmixed English Gentry
- Chapter Two A Genuine Pagan (1890–97)
- Chapter Three Black Woods and Unfathomed Caves (1898–1902)
- Chapter Four What of Unknown Africa? (1902–1908)
- Chapter Five Barbarian and Alien (1908–14)
- Chapter Six A Renewed Will to Live (1914–17)
- Chapter Seven Feverish and Incessant Scribbling (1917–19)
- Chapter Eight Cynical Materialist (1919–21)
- Chapter Nine The High Tide of My Life (1921–22)
- Chapter Ten For My Own Amusement (1923–24)
- Chapter Eleven Ball and Chain (1924)
- Chapter Twelve Moriturus Te Saluto (1925–26)
- Chapter Thirteen Paradise Regain'd (1926)
- Chapter Fourteen Cosmic Outsideness (1927–28)
- Chapter Fifteen Fanlights and Georgian Steeples (1928–30)
- Chapter Sixteen Non-supernatural Cosmic Art (1930–31)
- Chapter Seventeen Mental Greed (1931–33)
- Chapter Eighteen In My Own Handwriting (1933–35)
- Chapter Nineteen Caring about the Civilization (1929–37)
- Chapter Twenty The End of One's Life (1935–37)
- Epilogue: Thou Art Not Gone
- Notes
- Index
Summary
The most poignant sensations of my existence are those of 1896, when I discovered the Hellenic world, and of 1902, when I discovered the myriad suns and worlds of infinite space. Sometimes I think the latter event the greater, for the grandeur of that growing conception of the universe still excites a thrill hardly to be duplicated. I made of astronomy my principal scientific study, obtaining larger and larger telescopes, collecting astronomical books to the number of 61, and writing copiously on the subject in the form of special and monthly articles in the local press. (‘A Confession of Unfaith’)
This remark, made around 1921, is a sufficient indication of the degree to which the discovery of astronomy affected Lovecraft's entire world view. I shall pursue the philosophical ramifications of his astronomical studies later; here it is worth examining how he came upon the science and what immediate literary products it engendered. In the winter of 1902 Lovecraft was attending the Slater Avenue School, but his statements lead one to believe that he stumbled upon astronomy largely of his own accord. The majority of his astronomy volumes were inherited from his maternal grandmother Robie Phillips's collection; some of these are rather old and elementary school manuals dating to the 1870s or 1880s. These books are too old to have been used at Slater Avenue or at Hope Street High School (Lovecraft did not, in any event, take astronomy courses at Hope Street, even though they were offered), and some at least must have come from Robie's library.
As with so many of his other early interests, Lovecraft's family was very obliging in supply the materials necessary for his pursuit of astronomy. He acquired three successive telescopes, the last being a Bardon 3-inch from Montgomery Ward, costing $50.00. He still had this telescope in 1936. His new enthusiasm led quickly to writing—in this case, to an unprecedented quantity of writing. He does not seem to have commenced astronomical writing until the late summer of 1903, but when he did, he did so with gusto.
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- A Dreamer and a VisionaryH P Lovecraft in His Time, pp. 40 - 61Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2001