The Library Lovecraftian was a short-lived series that came out from Ken Krueger‘s Shroud publications in the mid-1970s. Running only four issues, most issues had a single story. They came out at the same time that Fantasy House, which Krueger was involved with, was putting out the excellent Fantasy Reader and Fantasy Classics series, but the print quality of these was not the same. Around the same time, Shroud was doing the Pulp Reader series, and like that series, all were done as limited editions of about 995 copies.
#1 is titled Lovecraft/Garcia and is an art portfolio of work by Mike Garcia, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. This has two editions, maybe three. I think an earlier edition was titled Lovecraft: Five Art Studies with only five pieces of art and came out in 1974. The enlarged edition has eight pieces of art, one being a centerfold piece, and came out in 1975. Both editions were 8.5- by 11-inches. I think the first edition was side-stapled, but the expanded was saddle-stitched with a heavier stock, goldenrod cover.
I don’t know who Mike Garcia is, and what little info I have just lists a few pieces of art in the mid-1970s. Strangely, I have the enlarged edition, and the Internet Speculative Fiction Database says there should be an essay by George Wentzel, but there is none. So, I’m not sure what is going on.
Also, for those who care, the expanded edition was marked as kk-27, following the first two Pulp Reader volumes. I have no idea what kk-1 through 24 are, or why the following works he put out weren’t numbered.
#2 has “The Chaos Spawn” by Fred C. Adams with art (cover and interior) by Dante Volpe. It came out in 1974 and the size is reduced to about 5.5- by 8-inches, though subsequent issues had slight variants in size. This is the first appearance of this story and I don’t know if it has been reprinted.
#3 has “The Devil Ground” by Ted Pons with cover art by Chris Anderson. It came out in 1975, but ISFDB says there is another edition in 1977. Again, this is the first appearance of this story and I don’t know of any reprints.
#4 has “The Horror on the Beach: A Tale in the Cthulhu Mythos” by Alan Dean Foster with art by Stephan C. Garris. This one came out in 1978, but was published by Valcour & Krueger, with Shroud being a subsidiary. It’s square-bound instead of saddle-stitched. This is the first appearance of this story, but it has been reprinted in The New Lovecraft Circle.
There were plans for further volumes. #3 said the next one would be “3 Things Evil” and #4 promised “The Final War.” I have no idea who the authors would have been or if these appeared elsewhere. And I have had no luck finding any such titles at the ISFDB.
Further, these volumes were said to be “published in cooperation with The Miskotomic University Press.” No, I did not misspell that. I have no idea who this group is. I can’t find any info on them. So was it just something they made up?
It’s an interesting series, but one that I don’t think many will seek out.
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