Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961), perhaps best known today for his association with H.P Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos, is in his own right a unique master of fantasy, horror and science-fiction. Highly imaginative, his genre-spanning visions of worlds beyond, combined with his profound understanding of the English language, have inspired an ever -increasing legion of fans and admirers.
For most of his life, he lived in physical and intellectual isolation in Auburn, California (USA). Predominantly self-educated with no formal education after grammar school, Smith wore out his local library and delved so deeply into the dictionary that his richly embellished, yet precise, prose leaves one with the sense that they are in the company of a true master of language.
Though Smith primarily considered himself a poet, having turned to prose for the meager financial sum it rewarded, his prose might best be appreciated as a "fleshed" out poetry. In this light, plot and characters are subservient to the milieu of work: a setting of cold quiet reality, which, mixed with the erotic and the exotic, places his work within its own unique, phantasmagoric genre. While he also experimented in painting, sculpture, and translation, it is in his written work that his legacy persists.
During his lifetime, Smith's work appeared commonly in the pulps alongside other masters such H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, August Derleth, and E. Hoffmann Price and like many great artists, recognition and appreciation have come posthumously. In recent decades though, a resurgence of interest in his works has lead to numerous reprintings as well as scholarly critiques.
The Eldritch Dark is a site to facilitate both scholars and fans in their appreciation and study of Clark Ashton Smith and his works.
Re: A Possible Source for "The Hound"
11 Mar, 2025 12:27PM by Kipling
“Knygatin Wrote:
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> I meant a broader scope. When Lovecraft discovered
> Smith's poetry, he was overjoyed to have found a
> fellow writer sharing his own cosmic perspective.
> But it was perhaps George Sterling who started it
> all?
Yes, Sterling's poems, especially "A Wine of Wizardry" inspired Smith's branching out into cosmic imagery and the supernatural. Poe… ”
Re: A Possible Source for "The Hound"
11 Mar, 2025 10:38AM by Knygatin
“I meant a broader scope. When Lovecraft discovered Smith's poetry, he was overjoyed to have found a fellow writer sharing his own cosmic perspective. But it was perhaps George Sterling who started it all?… ”
Re: A Possible Source for "The Hound"
11 Mar, 2025 9:55AM by Kipling
“Kipling Wrote:
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> I agree with you that Harry Clarke's illustrations
> are unsatisfactory. Edmund Dulac's paintings for
> the poems are beautiful, and for Poe's tales,
> Fritz Eichenberg's wood engravings are my
> favorites. (1944). The best one volume selection
> of Poe's fiction is illustrated by William Sharp,
> who used an aquatint process for the slipcased,
> marbled binding… ”
Re: A Possible Source for "The Hound"
11 Mar, 2025 8:30AM by Kipling
“I agree with you that Harry Clarke's illustrations are unsatisfactory. Edmund Dulac's paintings for the poems are beautiful, and for Poe's tales, Fritz Eichenberg's wood engravings are my favorites. (1944). The best one volume selection of Poe's fiction is illustrated by William Sharp, who used an aquatint process for the slipcased, marbled binding Heritage Press… ”
Re: A Possible Source for "The Hound"
11 Mar, 2025 3:34AM by Knygatin
“I have not read "The Assignation", although it sounds interesting. Poe was perhaps the first supernatural author Lovecraft encountered in his early childhood. And he read him over and over, "The Fall of the House of Usher" more times than he could keep count of; he was a close disciple of Poe (and so was… ”