In the notes below, the reference numbers denote page and line of the print edition (the line count includes headings). No note is made for material included in the eleventh edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Biblical quotations are keyed to the King James Version. Quotations from Shakespeare are keyed to The Riverside Shakespeare, ed. G. Blakemore Evans (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974). For further biographical background, more detailed notes, and references to other studies, see S. T. Joshi, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life (West Warwick, Rhode Island: Necronomicon Press, 1996); H. P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories, edited by S. T. Joshi (New York: Penguin Books, 1999); H. P. Lovecraft, The Thing on the Doorstep and Other Weird Stories, edited by S. T. Joshi (New York: Penguin Books, 2001); H. P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Out of Time, edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (New York: Hippocampus Press, 2003); H. P. Lovecraft: Selected Letters, volumes 1–3 edited by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1965–71), volumes 4–5 edited by August Derleth and James Turner (Sauk City, Wisconsin: Arkham House, 1976).
The editor wishes to thank S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz for their generous assistance in the preparation of this volume.
1.1 The Statement of Randolph Carter] In a letter of December 27, 1919, to his friend and fellow amateur journalist Rheinhart Kleiner (1892–1949), Lovecraft wrote: “I have just finished a ghastly tale entitled The Statement of Randolph Carter, based on an actual dream of mine, in which the amateur Samuel Loveman was the central figure. Loveman and I have been discussing literary horrors at length, and he has been kind enough to recommend to me several volumes of weird and bizarre prose and verse; so that it is hardly remarkable I should dream of him in this way.” Loveman (1887–1976) was a poet and amateur journalist whom Lovecraft had corresponded with since 1917.
8.2–5 That night . . . be-nightmared] From “The Eve of St. Agnes” (1820), stanza 42, ll. 372–75.
14.8–9 Nephren-Ka . . . Hadoth] Nephren-Ka and Hadoth were both invented by Lovecraft.
14.11 Nitokris] In The Histories, II.100, Herodotus tells the story of Nitocris, an Egyptian queen who was forced to succeed her brother after his murder. She invited those she held responsible for his death to a banquet in an underground chamber and then opened a hidden pipe to flood the room with water from the Nile.
24.1 Herbert West—Reanimator] In a letter of October 3, 1921, to the amateur journalist Anne Tillery Renshaw, Lovecraft wrote that he had agreed to contribute “a series of six gruesome tales, all with the same central character, at the munificent price of $5.00 each” to Home Brew, a new magazine edited by George Houtain. Lovecraft continued: “I . . . have embarked upon a most hideous succession of yarns and narratives bearing the generic caption Herbert West—Re-Animator. Houtain said, ‘You can’t make them too morbid,’ and I have taken him at his word!” The six installments appeared between February and July 1922.
29.16 afrite from the halls of Eblis] In Arabic mythology, an afrite is an evil demon or jinn, and Eblis, a jinn cast out of heaven for disobedience, is the ruler of demons.
46.30 Baudelaire . . . Elagabalus] French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867) was prosecuted for obscenity after the publication of Les Fleurs du mal in 1857. Varius Avitus Bassianus, known as Elagabalus after the Syrian sun god he served as a priest, was proclaimed emperor by the eastern army in A.D. 218. Elagabalus became notorious for introducing his sun god cult to Rome, for his effeminate dress, and for his alleged sexual relations with charioteers and athletes. He was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard in 222.
55.1 The Lurking Fear] The story appeared in Home Brew between January and April 1923. Lovecraft wrote to the artist and poet Clark Ashton Smith (1893–1961) on December 2, 1922, that George Houtain, the magazine’s editor, had demanded “that each section be of 2000 words & possess an horrific & suspenseful climax.”
63.34 Abaddon-eyes] Abaddon is the angel of the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:11.
67.20–21 the Albany Convention] At the outbreak of the French and Indian War, representatives from seven colonies met in Albany from June 19 to July 10, 1754, to negotiate a treaty with the Iroquois and to plan for the defense of the frontier.
71.11 chasm of Nis] Cf. Edgar Allan Poe, “The Valley Nis” (1831); the poem was later revised and published as “The Valley of Unrest” (1845).
75.8 polypous] Polyp-like.
80.16 Magna Mater] Great Mother.
81.5–6 Gilles de Retz] Gilles de Rais (1404–1440), a wealthy French nobleman, served with Joan of Arc, 1429–30, and was made marshal of France by Charles VII. In 1440 he was accused of the torture, rape, and murder of more than 100 children, mostly boys. Rais confessed before the ecclesiastical and secular authorities at Nantes and was hanged on October 26, 1440.
88.1–2 Atys . . . Catullus] In poem 63 of Gaius Valerius Catullus, Attis castrates himself as an act of devotion to the goddess Cybele.
91.8 the unexpected death of the President] President Warren G. Harding died in San Francisco on August 2, 1923.
91.18 Trimalchio] A lavish banquet given by the wealthy freedman Trimalchio is depicted by Petronius (d. A.D. 65) in his novel Satyricon.
93.23–24 Hoffmann or Huysmans] E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822), German writer whose tales of the grotesque and supernatural include Fantasiestücke (1814–15) and Die Elixire des Teufels (1815–16); Joris-Karl Huysmans (1848–1907), French novelist whose works include Là-bas (1891), in which a 19th-century biographer of Gilles de Rais (see note 81.5–6) becomes involved in satanism.
95.8 pithecanthropoid] Possessing the characteristics of Pithecanthropus erectus (“Erect ape-man”), a fossil hominid discovered in Java by Eugene Dubois in 1891. (Pithecanthropus erectus has subsequently been reclassified as Homo erectus.)
95.25 Nyarlathotep] Lovecraft wrote to Rheinhart Kleiner on December 14, 1920, that the name “Nyarlathotep” had come to him in a dream. His short story “Nyarlathotep” appeared in United Amateur in 1921.
96.6–8 Dia ad aghaidh’s . . . agus leat-sa!] Lovecraft took these Gaelic phrases from the story “The Sin-Eater” (1895) by Fiona Macleod (pseudonym of William Sharp), where they are translated as: “God against thee and in thy face . . . and may a death of woe be yours . . . Evil and sorrow to thee and thine!”
97.1 The Shunned House] The story was inspired by the house at 135 Benefit Street, Providence, built in 1764, where Lovecraft’s aunt Lillian Clark lived in 1919–20.
97.7–9 Edgar Allan Poe . . . Mrs. Whitman.] Poe made four visits to Providence between September and December 1848 to see the poet Sarah Helen Whitman (1803–1878) at her home at 76 Benefit Street. At the end of 1848 Whitman broke off their engagement because of Poe’s drinking.
101.21 Sidney S. Rider and Thomas W. Bicknell.] Rider (1833–1917), a Providence bookseller, antiquarian, and document collector, was the author of numerous monographs on Rhode Island history, including The Lands of Rhode Island (1904). Bicknell (1834–1925), an educator who served as commissioner of Rhode Island public schools, 1869–75, was the author of several historical works, including A History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (5 volumes, 1920).
101.26–27 Capt. Whipple . . . Gaspee] Abraham Whipple (1733–1819), a successful privateer during the French and Indian War, led the party that burned the revenue schooner Gaspée on June 9, 1772, after it had run aground off Providence while chasing an American ship suspected of smuggling tea.
104.37–38 Army of Observation under General Greene] The Rhode Island assembly voted on April 25, 1775, to raise a 1,500-man “Army of Observation” and appointed Nathanael Greene (1742–1786) as its commander on May 8 with the rank of brigadier general. In June 1775 the Rhode Island troops joined other New England forces in the siege of Boston.
104.40 Colonel Angell] Colonel Israel Angell (1740–1832) commanded the 2nd Rhode Island Regiment of the Continental army from January 13, 1777, to January 1, 1781.
110.21–22 revocation of the Edict of Nantes] The Edict of Nantes, signed by Henry IV in 1598, granted religious and civil rights to French Protestants. It was revoked by Louis XIV in 1685.
111.13–16 Jacques Roulet . . . in a madhouse.] After he was apprehended, Roulet, a vagabond beggar, confessed to using an ointment to turn himself into a wolf and to having killed numerous men, women, and children; he also claimed that the two wolves seen leaving the boy’s body were his brother Jean and cousin Julien. Roulet was condemned to death by the court in Angers, but the Parlement of Paris (appeals court) found him to be mentally impaired and committed him to an asylum for two years.
115.7 Crookes tube] An early cathode-ray tube invented by the chemist and physicist Sir William Crookes (1832–1919).
117.22 Revue des Deux Mondes] A French periodical founded in 1829.
125.2–7 “There are sacraments . . . not yet dead.”] From “The Red Hand” (1906) by the Welsh writer Arthur Machen (1863–1947).
127.22–24 Poe’s German authority . . . to be read.”] Cf. the first sentence of “The Man of the Crowd” (1840): “It was well said of a certain German book that ‘er lasst sich nicht leseri’—it does not permit itself to be read.”
130.3–4 Miss Murray’s Witch-Cult in Western Europe] The Witch-Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology (1921) by Margaret A. Murray (1863–1963). Murray, a British Egyptologist, argued that an ancient pre-Christian pagan cult had survived in Europe through the 17th century.
131.22 “Sephiroth”, “Ashmodai”, and “Samaël”] In the Kabbalah, the Sephiroth are emanations of infinite light. Ashmodai, or Asmodeus, is a demon in Hebrew mythology. Samaël is a demon often identified with Leviathan, the seducer of Eve.
133.4 Yezidis] The Yezidis, or Yazidis, are a Kurdish sect who worship Malek Taus, a fallen angel who was reconciled with God and now rules over the world with six other angels.
137.13–16 “HEL . . . ESCHEREHEYE.”] Lovecraft copied this incantation from the article on “Magic” in the ninth (1875–89) edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
141.34 aegipans] Creatures in Greek mythology that are half-man, half-goat.
145.5–6 Delrio: “An sint . . . nasci queat?”] From Disquisitionum Magicarum (1599) by the Spanish Jesuit Martin Antoine Del Rio (1551–1608): “Have there ever been demons, incubi, and succubae, and can offspring be born from their unions?”
146.13 the well of Democritus] The aphorism “Of truth we know nothing, for truth is in the depths” has been attributed to the Greek philosopher Democritus. In the epigraph to “A Descent into the Maelström” (1841), Edgar Allan Poe quoted from “Against Confidence in Philosophy and Matters of Speculation” (1676) by Joseph Glanvill (1636–1680): “The ways of God in Nature, as in Providence, are not as our ways; nor are the models that we frame any way commensurate to the vastness, profundity, and unsearchableness of His works, which have a depth in them greater than the well of Democritus.”
154.36 crotala] Small cymbals used in ancient Greek religious dances.
154.40 domdaniel] A den of iniquity.
167.1 Cthulhu] In a letter of July 23, 1934, to the fantasy and horror writer Duane Rimel (1915–1996), Lovecraft wrote that “Cthulhu” was “supposed to represent a fumbling human attempt to catch the phonetics of an absolutely non-human word. The name of the hellish entity was invented by beings whose vocal organs were not like man’s, hence it has no relation to the human speech equipment. The syllables were determined by a physiological equipment wholly unlike ours, hence could never be uttered perfectly by human throats.” He continued: “The actual sound—as nearly as human organs could imitate it or human letters record it—may be taken as something like Khlûl’hloo, with the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly. The u is about like that in full; and the first syllable is not unlike klul in sound, since the h represents the guttural thickness. The second syllable is not very well rendered—the l sound being unrepresented. My rather careful devising of this name was a sort of protest against the silly and childish habit of most weird and science-fiction writers, of having utterly non-human entities use a nomenclature of thoroughly human character; as if alien-organed beings could possibly have languages based on human vocal organs.”
167.4–10 “Of such great powers . . . sorts and kinds.] From The Centaur (1911), a novel by the British writer Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951).
169.35–36 W. Scott-Elliot’s Atlantis and the Lost Lemuria] The volume, printed in 1925, collected The Story of Atlantis (1896) and The Lost Lemuria (1904). Scott-Elliot was an English theosophist.
169.39 Frazer’s Golden Bough] The Golden Bough (12 volumes, 1890–1915) by the British anthropologist Sir James George Frazer (1854–1941).
179.13–14 before D’Iberville, before La Salle] Pierre le Moyne, sieur d’Iberville (1661–1706) landed at Mobile Bay in 1699, explored the lower Mississippi, and established the first permanent French colony in Louisiana. Robert Cavalier, sieur de La Salle (1643–1687) led a party down the Mississippi from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico in 1682.
180.4 a Sime or an Angarola] Sidney H. Sime (1867–1941), British artist who illustrated The Hill of Dreams (1907) by Arthur Machen and numerous works by Lord Dunsany; Anthony Angarola (1893–1929), American artist who illustrated The Kingdom of Evil (1924) by Ben Hecht.
183.26 Irem] A legendary lost city of southern Arabia, Irem may have been another name for Ubar, which was located near Shisur, Oman, in the early 1990s with the help of satellite imagery.
183.31–32 Necronomicon . . . Abdul Alhazred] Lovecraft first mentioned the fictitious Necronomicon in his story “The Hound,” written in 1922. “Abdul Alhazred” was a name Lovecraft adopted when he was five years old as part of his fascination with the Arabian Nights.
185.6–7 Clark Ashton Smith] See note 55.1.
187.8–10 a learned friend . . . mineralogist of note.] Lovecraft’s friend James F. Morton (1870–1941) was curator of the Paterson Museum, 1925–41.
198.15 Fuseli] Henry Fuseli (1741–1825), Swiss-born English painter whose works include The Nightmare (1781).
200.36 Magnalia . . . Wonders of the Invisible World.] Magnalia Christi Americana (1702) and Wonders of the Invisible World (1693), which contains a narrative of the Salem witch trials.
203.3 Andros and Phipps] Sir Edmund Andros (1637–1714) was governor of New England from 1686 until his overthrow by rebellious colonists in 1689; Sir William Phips (1651–1695) was governor of Massachusetts, 1692–95.
211.2–9 “The essential Saltes . . . been incinerated.”] From “Pietas in Patriam,” the appendix to Book II of Magnalia Christi Americana (1702) by Cotton Mather. The passage is attributed by Mather to “the Incomparable Borellus,” i.e., the French physician Pierre Borel (1620–1689).
214.15–16 the Moses Brown School] A Quaker school in Providence founded in 1819.
224.2–16 Dr. Checkley . . . John Merritt] Both Checkley and Merritt are described in Providence in Colonial Times (1912) by Gertrude Selwyn Kimball, which Lovecraft read in 1925.
224.30–31 Agricola . . . Stahl] German mineralogist Georgius Agricola (1494–1555); Flemish chemist and physician Jan Baptista van Helmont (1580–1644); German chemist and physician Franciscus Sylvius (1614–1672); German chemist Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604–1668); Anglo-Irish physicist and chemist Robert Boyle (1627–1691); Dutch physician Hermann Boerhaave (1668–1738); German chemist and physician Johann Joachim Becher (1635–1682?); German physician George Ernst Stahl (1660–1734).
225.5–11 Hermes Trismegistus . . . De Lapide Philosophico] A series of Greek writings on astrology, alchemy, and magic from the first three centuries A.D. were attributed to the god Hermes Trismegistus (“thrice greatest”). The Turba Philosophorum is a work on alchemy by Guglielmo Grataroli (1516–1568); Geber was an alchemist in the 14th century; Clavis Majoris Sapientiae is a work on alchemy attributed to Artephius (d. 1119?); the Zohar (c. 1285) is a collection of kabbalistic writings; Albertus Magnus (?1200–1280) was a Dominican bishop who studied science and alchemy; Ars Magna et Ultima (1305–8) is a theological work by the Catalan mystic and Neo-platonist philosopher Ramon Llull (c. 1235–1316). Thesaurus Chemicus is not known to be among the works of the English philosopher Roger Bacon (c. 1220–c. 1292).
231.25–27 Cosmo Alexander . . . Gilbert Stuart.] Alexander (c. 1724–1772), a portraitist trained in Italy, began teaching Stuart in 1769.
231.40–232.1 Stephen Hopkins, Joseph Brown, and Benjamin West] Stephen Hopkins (1705–1785) served as the elected governor of Rhode Island, 1755–56, 1758–61, 1763–64, and 1767, and later signed the Declaration of Independence. Joseph Brown (1733–1785) was a manufacturer, architect, and scientist who, along with his brother Nicholas, was instrumental in moving Rhode Island College, founded in 1764, to Providence in 1770 (the college was renamed Brown in 1804). Benjamin West (1730–1813) was an astronomer who observed the transit of Venus from Providence in 1769.
233.21 provisions of the Sugar Act] The Sugar Act, passed by Parliament in 1764, increased import duties in the colonies on refined sugar and other items, while accompanying legislation strengthened the customs service.
235.29 Black Prince’s . . . Limoges in 1370] Edward, the Black Prince (1330–1376), the eldest son of Edward III of England, sacked the city of Limoges and massacred 3,000 of its inhabitants in 1370 in an attempt to suppress a revolt against his rule in Aquitaine.
235.34 Haute Vienne] The department of France Limoges is located in.
242.32 Sylvanus Cocidius] Shrines to the Roman-Celtic deity Silvanus Cocidius, linking the Roman forest god Silvanus with the Celtic war god Cocidius, have been found in forts along or near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England.
249.11–14 “DEESMEES . . . Mirandola] The incantation is taken from The Mysteries of Magic (1886), a collection of writings by the French occultist Eliphas Lévi (pseudonym of Alphonse-Louis Constant, 1810–1875). Lévi describes the words as possibly having no meaning and then cites the Italian philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) as having affirmed that “the most barbarous and absolutely unintelligible words are the best and most powerful in black magic.”
252.11–12 Lord Dunsany’s tale] “The King That Was Not” (1906) by Edward Lord Dunsany (1878–1957).
256.6 Roodemas] May 1, or the eve of May 1.
257.38 bolection moulding] Molding that separates two planes and projects beyond the surface of both.
275.1–9 “Eliphas Levi” . . . veni, veni.”] The incantation is taken from The Mysteries of Magic; see note 249.11–14.
293.12 Steele’s Conscious Lovers] The Conscious Lovers (1722), a comedy by Sir Richard Steele (1672–1729).
299.38–39 Transylvania . . . Roumania] Transylvania was ceded to Romania by Hungary under the terms of the Treaty of Trianon, signed on June 4, 1920.
317.4 Phaleron] An ancient port of Athens, later superseded by Piraeus.
319.4–6 Koth . . . Randolph Carter] An allusion to “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath,” the novella Lovecraft wrote in 1926–27 prior to beginning “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.”
319.27 kylikes] A shallow cup with a tall stem.
319.28 Argand lamp] An oil lamp in which air is fed by a tube to the inside of a cylindrical wick. It is named after its inventor, Swiss scientist Aimé Argand (1750–1803).
341.3 “blasted heath”] Cf. Macbeth, I.iii.75–78; John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667), I.612–15.
344.10 well-sweep] A long pivoted pole used to raise and lower a bucket into and out of a well.
344.31 the borax bead] A chemical test used to identify metals in which the sample is heated along with a borax bead; the resulting color of the bead indicates its composition.
345.16 Widmannstätten figures] Patterns made up of bands of the iron-nickel alloys kamacite and taenite.
359.31 democrat-wagon] A light wagon, usually drawn by two horses.
363.24–25 the flames . . . Pentecost.] See Acts 2:1–3.
370.18 “Witches and Other Night-Fears”] From The Essays of Elia (1823) by Charles Lamb (1775–1834).
373.12 psychopomps] Conductors of souls to the afterworld.
387.2–3 Arthur Machen’s Great God Pan] “The Great God Pan” (1894) depicts the havoc caused by the shapeshifting daughter of the union of a young woman and the god Pan.
398.32–36 Trithemius’ Poligraphia . . . Klüber’s Krytographik.] Works on ciphers and secret writing published between 1518 and 1819; all of them are cited in the article on “Cryptography” in the ninth (1875–89) edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
399.22 Aklo] A language mentioned in the story “The White People” (1906) by Arthur Machen.
399.36 Voorish] Cf. Arthur Machen, “The White People”: “It was all so still and silent, and the sky was heavy and grey and sad, like a wicked voorish dome . . .”
401.12–13 Daemonolatreia of Remigius] A guide to witchcraft and witch-hunting published in 1595 by Nicholas Remi (1530–1612).
403.33 Negotium perambulans in tenebris . . .] Psalm 91:6: “Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.”
415.25–26 Vermont floods of November 3, 1927] A tropical storm system caused widespread flooding in Vermont on November 3–4, 1927, killing 84 people.
419.6–7 Governor Wentworth’s colonial grants] Benning Wentworth (1696–1770), the royal governor of New Hampshire, 1741–67, made extensive land grants west of the Connecticut River from 1749 to 1764, when the privy council in London ruled that the region belonged to New York.
420.34 kallikanzari of modern Greece] In Greek folklore, goblins who cause havoc during the 12 days of Christmas.
421.14 extravagant books of Charles Fort] The Book of the Damned (1919) and New Lands (1923) by Charles Fort (1874–1932), an American writer on paranormal phenomena.
430.4–7 Yuggoth . . . Magnum Innominandum] Lovecraft first wrote about the planet Yuggoth in his sonnet cycle “Fungi from Yuggoth” (1929–30). The god Tsathoggua first appeared in the story “The Return of Satampra Zeiros,” written by Clark Ashton Smith in 1929. Lovecraft described Azathoth as a “boundless daemon-sultan” in “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath” (1926–27). Hastur is mentioned as “the god of shepherds” in “Haïta the Shepherd” by Ambrose Bierce (1842–1914?), published in Can Such Things Be? (1893). Yian is a mythical land that appears in The Maker of Moons (1896) by Robert W. Chambers (1859–1933). Lovecraft described Leng as a “cold desert plateau” in his story “Celephai’s” (1920) and located it in Central Asia in “The Hound” (1922). Bierce quoted the prophet Hali in “The Death of Halpin Fraser” and “An Inhabitant of Carcosa,” both which were collected in Can Such Things Be? Bethmoora is an Eastern city in the story “Bethmoora” (1910) by Lord Dunsany. In The King in Yellow (1895) by Robert W. Chambers, the “Yellow Sign,” a “curious symbol” that did not “belong to any human script,” is linked to the “The King in Yellow,” a dangerous book that has “spread like an infectious disease.” L’mur-Kathulos is an Egyptian entity in the story “Skull-Face” (1929) by Robert E. Howard (1906–1936), and the Pictish king Bran Mak Morn is the hero of a series of stories by Howard. In a letter to Bernard Austin Dwyer written in November 1927, Lovecraft described a dream about Roman Spain involving human sacrifices to the “Magnum Innominandum,” the “unknown, unnamable deity” of the “Strange Dark Folk” living in the mountains.
430.31 the new planet beyond Neptune] Pluto, discovered on February 18, 1930.
447.18–19 cormophytic fungi] Fungi with stems composed of both vessels and cells.
462.18–23 K’n-yan . . . Klarkash-Ton.] Lovecraft created K’n-yan, Yoth, and N’Kai, underground realms beneath Oklahoma, in “The Mound,” the story he ghostwrote for Zealia Bishop (1897–1968) in 1929–30, and first mentioned the “Pnakotic Manuscripts” in his story “Polaris” (1918). Commoriom was a city in the land of Hyperborea, the setting of several stories by Clark Ashton Smith, whom Lovecraft often addressed in correspondence as Klarkash-Ton.
464.9–11 Doels . . . Yig] The Doels are mentioned in the story “The Hounds of Tindalos” (1929) by Frank Belknap Long (1901–1994). Lovecraft invented the snake god Yig while ghostwriting “The Curse of Yig” for Zealia Bishop in 1928.
485.11 Nicholas Roerich] The Russian painter Nicholas Roerich (1874–1947) traveled extensively in India, Sinkiang, Altai, Mongolia, and Tibet in 1923–28. Lovecraft saw his paintings of the Himalayas during a visit to New York in 1930.
485.36–40 “—the lavas . . . the boreal pole.”] “Ulalume—A Ballad” (1847), ll.15–19.
494.34 Comanchian] A term for the Lower Cretaceous geological epoch, approximately 135 million to 96 million years ago.
498.17 radiata] Invertebrates with radial body structures, such as sea urchins and sea anemones.
509.10 Scoresby] The son of an English whaling captain, William Scoresby (1789–1857) studied natural philosophy and chemistry at Edinburgh university before taking command of the whaler Resolution in 1811. He published his observations on polar meteorology and natural history in An Account of the Arctic Regions and Northern Whale Fishery (1820).
526.17–18 Lemuria . . . Lomar] In 1864 the English zoologist Philip Sclater (1829–1913) proposed that Madagascar, Ceylon, and Sumatra were once linked by a land bridge he named “Lemuria.” The theosophist Madame Blavatsky (1831–1891) later described Lemuria as the home of an advanced civilization in The Secret Doctrine (1888). Commoriom and Uzuldaroum are cities in Hyperborea in the story “The Return of Satampra Zeiros” (1929) by Clark Ashton Smith. Olanthoë and Lomar appear in Lovecraft’s story “Polaris” (1918).
526.21–22 Valusia . . . Nameless City] Valusia is the ancient kingdom ruled by King Kull in a series of stories by Robert E. Howard. R’lyeh is the sunken city of Cthulhu in “The Call of Cthulhu”; see pp. 167–96 in this volume. The city of Ib in Mnar appears in Lovecraft’s story “The Doom That Came to Sarnath” (1920), and his “The Nameless City” (1921) is set in the Arabian desert.
545.28–29 Taylor, Wegener, and Joly] American geologist Frank Bursley Taylor (1860–1938) proposed a theory of continental drift in a paper published in 1910. German meteorologist Alfred Wegener (1880–1930) first advanced his theory in an address given in 1912 and developed it in a series of subsequent books. Irish geologist John Joly (1857–1933) supported the theory in The Surface History of the Earth (1925).
550.16 Wilkes and Mawson] Charles Wilkes (1798–1877), an American naval officer, explored the Antarctic coast in 1839 and 1840; Douglas Mawson (1882–1958), an Australian geologist, led Antarctic expeditions in 1911–14 and 1929–31.
556.24 Borchgrevingk] Norwegian explorer Carsten Borchgrevink (1864–1934) led the first expedition to spend winter on the Antarctic mainland, 1899–1900.
581.5 nefandous] Not to be spoken of; unmentionable.
596.29 Dagon] The god of the Philistines, sometimes depicted as being part man and part fish.
608.30 the conqueror worm] Cf. Edgar Allan Poe, “The Conqueror Worm” (1843), ll. 37–40: “While the angels, all pallid and wan, / Uprising, unveiling, affirm / That the play is the tragedy, ‘Man,’ / And its hero the Conqueror Worm.”
619.13 Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin—] “Numbered, weighed, divided,” the words written on the wall at the banquet of King Belshazzar in Babylon; see Daniel 5.
655.11–12 Book of Eibon . . . von Junzt] The Book of Eibon was invented by Clark Ashton Smith in his story “Ubbo-Sathla,” in which Eibon was described as a Hyperborean wizard. Robert E. Howard introduced von Junzt and his book Nameless Cults in “The Black Stone” (1931); August Derleth (1909–1971) later supplied a German version of the title at Lovecraft’s request.
655.19–20 Judge Hathorne] John Hathorne (1641–1717) was a judge in the Salem witch trials and the great-great-grandfather of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
682.28 infandous] Unspeakable.
693.19–20 notorious Baudelairean poet Justin Geoffrey] A character in “The Black Stone” (1931) by Robert E. Howard.
695.9 Plattsburg] A training camp for army officers was established at Plattsburg, New York, during World War I.
716.19 lich] Corpse.
724.28–29 Comte d’Erlette’s . . . Mysteriis] Robert Bloch (1917–1994) invented Cultes des Goules in his story “The Grinning Ghoul,” and attributed it to the Comte d’Erlette, a name Lovecraft used to refer to August Derleth in his correspondence. Bloch invented Ludvig Prinn in “The Secret in the Tomb,” in which he gave the title of Prinn’s book as Mysteries of the Worm; Lovecraft then devised a Latin version of the title.
732.33–34 lepidodendra, and sigillaria] Lepidodendron and sigillaria were two genera of giant club moss trees that flourished during the Carboniferous period, 360 to 286 million years ago. They grew to over 100 feet in height.
745.18 Tcho-Tchos] A cannibalistic race in the story “The Lair of the Star-Spawn” by August Derleth and Mark Schorer (1908–1977).
745.24 empire of Tsan-Chan] Lovecraft had previously mentioned the empire of Tsan-Chan in his story “Beyond the Wall of Sleep” (1919).
745.28–29 Lomar . . . Inutos] Lomar and the Inutos appeared in Lovecraft’s story “Polaris” (1918).
745.33 the 14th Dynasty] The dynasty ruled part of the Nile Delta during the 17th century B.C.
745.39 archimage] A great magician.
746.2–3 Cimmerian] Cimmeria is the homeland of the warrior chieftain Conan in a series of stories by Robert E. Howard.
747.34–35 rhamphorhynci] Rhamphorhyncus was a genus of Jurassic flying reptiles.
751.15 Eltdown Shards as Yith] The Eltdown Shards were invented by Richard F. Searight (1902–1975) in his story “The Sealed Casket” (1934). Lovecraft suggested the name “Yith” to Duane Rimel for use in his poem cycle “Dreams of Yith” (1934).
755.36 Warburton’s path of 1873] Colonel Peter Egerton Warburton (1813–1889) left Alice Springs in central Australia with six men and 17 camels on April 15, 1873. The expedition reached the Oakover River on December 5 and later made its way down the river to the northwestern coast.
784.2 (Dedicated to Robert Bloch)] Lovecraft and Bloch began corresponding in 1933, and Bloch dedicated his story “The Shambler from the Stars,” published in Weird Tales in September 1935, to Lovecraft. The narrator of the story, a writer of weird fiction, obtains a copy of De Vermis Mysteriis (see note 724.28–29) and then travels to Providence to enlist the help of an unnamed older colleague, “a writer of notable brilliance and wide reputation among the discriminating few” with “long years of occult experience,” in translating the Latin text. Despite initial misgivings, the older writer invokes a spell from the book for summoning “unseen servitors from beyond the stars,” and is killed by an entity that drains his body of blood before disappearing.
784.7 Nemesis.] A poem written by Lovecraft in 1917.
792.18 Liber Ivonis] Lovecraft’s Latin title for the Book of Eibon; see note 655.11–12.
792.22 Book of Dzyan] A purported ancient book that the theosophist Madame Blavatsky claimed to have studied in Tibet.
797.38 Aklo] See note 399.22.
798.19 Khem . . . Nephren-Ka] Khem is the name of an Egyptian god, and also a name for Egypt. The pharaoh Nephren-Ka was invented by Lovecraft.
806.31 Yaddith] A planet first mentioned by Lovecraft in his sonnet cycle “Fungi from Yuggoth” (1929–30).
807.8–9 620 East Knapp Street, Milwaukee, Wisconsin] Robert Bloch’s address in 1935.