Arkham House was an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had previously been published only in pulp magazines. The company's name is derived from Lovecraft's fictional New England city, Arkham, Massachusetts. Arkham House editions are noted for the quality of their printing and binding. The printer's mark for Arkham House was designed by Frank Utpatel.
Founding
In late 1937, after Lovecraft's death, Derleth and Wandrei sought to produce a collection of their friend's best weird fiction from the pulp magazines into a memorial volume. After several failed attempts to interest major publishers in the omnibus volume, the two men realized no publisher would be willing to take a chance with the collection. Derleth and Wandrei then decided to form their own company, Arkham House with the express purpose of publishing all of Lovecraft's writings in hardcover. The omnibus volume was scheduled as the first offering from Arkham House and priced at $5.00, although advance orders were accepted at $3.50. Even at that bargain price, only 150 advance orders were received for The Outsider and Others before its release in 1939.
The Outsider was printed by the George Banta Co. of Wisconsin in an edition of 1,268 copies. The book was over 550 pages long with small print and featured a dustjacket by fantasy artist Virgil Finlay. The omnibus sold slowly but steadily. Derleth was a successful writer and had a good deal of revenue coming in from his writing work, which allowed him to subsidize Arkham House's operations without it needing to realize a quick profit.
A second Lovecraft omnibus, Beyond the Wall of Sleep, appeared in 1943 as sales on all Arkham House books continued to advance. By 1944, Arkham House was established as a successful small press, with four titles appearing (collections of works by Donald Wandrei, Henry S. Whitehead, Clark Ashton Smith, and a final Lovecraft omnibus). In 1945, Arkham House widened its range by publishing two novels, neither of which had seen print in any form before. These wereWitch Houseby Evangeline Walton andThe Lurker at the Thresholdby August Derleth (based on an outline by H. P. Lovecraft). Derleth also widened Arkham's range by publishing collections of stories by well-known fantasy authors, the first being Green Tea and Other Ghost Storiesby the Irish author J. Sheridan Le Fanu. Collections by Englishmen A.E. Coppard, H. Russell Wakefield, William Hope Hodgson and Algernon Blackwood followed in 1947. Also in 1947 were books by three American writers, including the science fiction novel Slan by A.E. Van Vogt. Derleth must have felt he was in the wrong field as Slan, with a print run of over 4,000 copies proved to be the fastest and best selling Arkham House of the 1940s.
Arkham House published many books in the fantasy and horror field including a small but steady number throughout the 1950s. Robert Weinberg has written that: "However, intense competition from the SF (science fiction) small presses as well as slow sales of certain titles put August Derleth in a precarious bind. Only a generous loan from Dr David H. Keller prevented Arkham from going bankrupt during a period of cash flow problems in 1948.[1][2] Keller visited Derleth's home, "The Place of Hawks" in the company of Sam Moskowitz, the object of the visit being Derleth agreeing to publish a Keller book under the Arkham House imprint, Keller to advance Derleth a loan against the cost of the book. Derleth revealed to Keller and Moskowitz that he owed his printer $2500 and had exhausted every possible source of help. Upon Keller's return to his home in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, he wrote a check for the needed sum and sent it to Derleth as a loan at 35% interest on Derleth's personal note. Reporting the transaction in Thirty Years of Arkham House, Derleth adds: "I had not asked for it; he had offered it with the comment, 'I pride myself on my judgment of character.' No greater compliment could have been paid me or Arkham House.'"[3]
In the late 1960s, Arkham House seemed again on the verge of going bankrupt, but suddenly found a whole new market for its books when the surge in interest in Robert E. Howard (capitalized upon by Donald M. Grant) coincided with a surge in interest in the work of H. P. Lovecraft. All of Lovecraft's works were reprinted in three newly edited omnibus volumes, which were kept continually in print.
In addition to volumes of H. P. Lovecraft's fiction, Arkham House began to publish a five volume edition of Lovecraft's Selected Letters which had been planned from the very start of the company, and which gives an overview of Lovecraft's correspondence to peers, friends and family. Among his correspondents were Arkham House founders, Derleth and Wandrei. (Arkham House's volumes of Lovecraft's letters are highly abridged; unabridged volumes of Lovecraft's letters to individual correspondents have been issued progressively by Hippocampus Press). After a long slow period, Arkham House entered the 1970s with ambitious publishing plans.
Despite the wealth of talented writers who appeared under the Arkham House imprint, it was not a financial success. Derleth wrote in 1970, "[T]he fact is that in no single year since its founding have the earnings of Arkham House met the expenses, so that it has been necessary for my personal earnings to shore up Arkham House finances." Robert Weinberg has stated "Arkham House's greatest flop was Witch House, an excellent novel that took nearly two decades to go out of print."[4]
After Derleth's death in 1971 Donald Wandrei briefly acted as editorial director but declined to resume his interest in the firm permanently.
August Derleth's children April (Rose) and Walden (Wally) Derleth now co-owned the publisher, April running the business while Wally had no direct involvement in its day-to-day operations. April earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1977. She became majority stockholder, President, and CEO of Arkham House in 1994, in which capacity she remained until her death.
Wandrei was succeeded as editorial director by James Turner. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Turner expanded the company's range of authors to include such prominent science fiction and fantasy writers as Michael Bishop, Lucius Shepard, Bruce Sterling, James Tiptree, Jr., Michael Shea and J. G. Ballard, often publishing hardcover collections of shorter works. Turner's acquisitions took the publisher away from its roots in weird and horror fiction, and he was eventually dismissed by April Derleth in 1997; he went on to found Golden Gryphon Press.
In 1997 Peter Ruber was appointed as her consulting editor and successor to James Turner. April became president of Arkham House in 2002. She made the house's mission a return to classic weird fiction, which Ruber sought to do. Ruber drew criticism[5] for the hostile opinions of various authors he expressed in his story introductions within Arkham's Masters of Horror (2000). Rumors of his ill-health circulated for some time; he eventually suffered a stroke and his editorial duties at Arkham House lapsed due to this.
The house's publishing schedule slowed considerably between 2000 and 2006, with only nine books issued—In the Stone House by Barry N. Malzberg (2000); Book of the Dead by E. Hoffmann Price (a collection of memoirs of writers known by Price, 2001); Arkham House's Masters of Horror (ed. Peter Ruber, 2000); The Far Side of Nowhere by Nelson Bond (2002); The Cleansing by John D. Harvey (a horror novel, 2002); Selected Letters of Clark Ashton Smith (ed. Scott Connors, 2003); Cave of a Thousand Tales by Milt Thomas (a biography of pulp writer Hugh B. Cave, 2004); Other Worlds Than Ours, another collection by Nelson Bond (2005); and Evermore (a collection of tales in tribute to Edgar Allan Poe, ed. James Robert Smith & Stephen Mark Rainey, 2006).
In 2005 Arkham House was awarded the World Fantasy Award for Small Press Achievements—the trophy at that time was a bust of H. P. Lovecraft.
In early 2009 it was announced that George Vanderburgh of Battered Silicon Dispatch Box, and Robert Weinberg, would jointly take over the editorial duties at Arkham House. That year Battered Silicon Dispatch Box issued four new volumes of stories by August Derleth under the umbrella title "The Macabre Quarto" under a joint imprint with Arkham House, which constituted the latter's only output since 2006.
In 2010 The Arkham Sampler (1948–49) was reissued in a limited edition (250 sets) two-volume facsimile reprint of the now-rare magazine issued by Arkham House that ran four issues a year 1948–1949. This work was issued by Arkham House co-published with the August Derleth Society. In the same year Jon Lellenberg's novel Baker Street Irregular was issued under the Mycroft and Moran imprint.
Status
George Vanderburgh's blog at Battered Silicon Dispatch Box announced a number of Arkham House titles for 2011 and after (the last being Evermore), none of which had appeared as of January 2017 due to April Derleth's death on March 21, 2011.[6][7][8][9][10] The publisher's website announced in April 2011 that her children would take over the running of the firm. Danielle Jacobs was named president, and her brother Damon Derleth as vice president; they are also the current owners. George Vanderburgh would continue as house editor, as would Robert Weinberg until his death in September 2016.
No books have been issued under the Arkham House imprint in the 2020s; the press has reprinted some backlist titles. Books had previously been published almost every year from 1939 to 2010 (except for 1940, 1955/56, and 2006).
As of June 7, 2023, the Arkham House web site, arkhamhouse.com, has been down for several months. Arkham House has not made an announcement about the status of the company. It was stated on the August Derleth/Arkham House Facebook page that Arkham House is no longer in business, and they have not replied to several attempts at contact.[citation needed] As of March 2024, a pending new trademark application has been filed by Arkham House LLC of Minnesota with the USPTO office.
Other imprints
Arkham House published under two additional imprints during its history.
In 1945 the Mycroft & Moran imprint was launched for the publication of weird detective and mystery stories, including Derleth's Solar Pons series. The title of the imprint was inspired by characters from the Sherlock Holmes stories: Sherlock's brother Mycroft Holmes, and the villain Colonel Sebastian Moran. Some Mycroft and Moran titles since 1993 have also been issued by Battered Silicon Dispatch Box.
Arkham also introduced Stanton & Lee Publishers in 1945 with the intention of publishing cartoons by Clare Victor Dwiggins. Stanton & Lee Publishers went on to publish poetry and the regional writings of August Derleth.
August Derleth also sub-contracted certain books which were nominally published by Arkham House to other publishers, including Pellegrini & Cudahy of New York, and Villiers Publications of England.
The Purcell Papers: four stories from the original collection (The Purcell Papers), along with nine other Le Fanu short stories and a pastiche of Le Fanu, "The Churchyard Yew," written by August Derleth using Le Fanu's name as a pseudonym.
^Robert Weinberg, "Science Fiction Specialty Publishers" in Hall, Hal W. (ed). Science Fiction Collections: Fantasy, Supernatural and Weird Tales. Haworth Press, 1983, p. 126
^Sam Moskowitz, "I Remember Derleth", Starship (Winter 1981), pp. 10–11
^Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era. Philadelphia: Oswald Train, Publisher, 1983, pp. 158–159
^Robert Weinberg, "Science Fiction Specialty Publishers" in Hall, Hal W. (ed). Science Fiction Collections: Fantasy, Supernatural and Weird Tales. Haworth Press, 1983, p. 129
Barrett, Mike. "Arkham House: Sundry Observations". Dark Horizons (Mar 2010); expanded reprint in his Doors to Elsewhere. Cheadle, Staffordshire UK: Alchemy Press, 2013, pp. 17–43.
Heffley, C. E. "Arkham House: A Remembrance" in David Barker, ed. The Lovecrafter – 100th Anniversary issue: An Anthology in Celebration of the Centennial of the Birth of H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1990). Salem, OR: David Barker, 1990: 29–32.
Lorraine, Daniel W. "Collecting Lovecraft Arkhams". The New Lovecraft Collector No 1 (Winter 1993), p. 4.
Bibliography
Chalker, Jack L.; Mark Owings (1998). The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923–1998. Westminster, MD and Baltimore: Mirage Press, Ltd.
Joshi, S. T. (2009). Classics and Contemporaries: Some Notes on Horror Fiction. New York: Hippocampus Press. ISBN978-0-9814888-3-7.. See "Arkham House and Its Legacy", pp 1–27.
Joshi, S. T. (1999). Sixty Years of Arkham House: A History and Bibliography. Sauk City, WI: Arkham House. ISBN0-87054-176-5.
Nielsen, Leon (2004). Arkham House Books: A Collector's Guide. Jefferson, NC and London: McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN0-7864-1785-4.
Kapal Rusia dengan jack di depan dan bendera kapal angaktan laut di belakangnya Bendera kapal angkatan laut adalah bendera kapal yang digunakan oleh kapal-kapal angkatan laut dari berbagai negara untuk menunjukkan kebangsaan mereka.[1] Bendera kapal ini bisa sama ataupun berbeda dari bendera kapal sipil atau bendera kapal negaranya sendiri. Bendera kapal ini juga dapat dikenal sebagai bendera kapal perang. Versi besar dari bendera kapal angkatan laut yang dikibarkan pada tiang kapal p...
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: The Official BBC Children in Need Medley – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) 2009 single by Peter Kay's Animated All Star BandThe Official BBC Children in Need MedleySingle by Peter K...
Pour les articles homonymes, voir La Marseillaise (homonymie). La Marseillaise Rouget de Lisle chantant La Marseillaise pour la première fois à l'hôtel de ville de Strasbourg ou chez Dietrich en 1792 (peinture d'Isidore Pils, 1849). Hymne national de France Autre(s) nom(s) Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin Paroles Rouget de Lisle 1792 Musique Rouget de Lisle(arrangements par Hector Berlioz) Adopté en 1795 puis définitivement en 1879 Fichier audio La Marseillaise ...
Raising fish commercially in enclosures A fish farm on the coast of Euboea island, in South Euboean Gulf, Greece Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of aquatic animals such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and so on, in natural or pseudo-natural environments. A facility that releases juvenile fis...
Lucasfilm Ltd.IndustriFilmDidirikan1971KantorpusatLetterman Digital Arts CenterPresidio of San Francisco, California, Amerika SerikatTokohkunciGeorge Lucas(Ketua dan CEO)Kathleen Kennedy(Presiden)ProdukGambar bergerakIndukThe Walt Disney CompanySitus webwww.lucasfilm.com Lucasfilm Limited adalah sebuah perusahaan produksi film Amerika Serikat yang didirikan George Lucas pada tahun 1971 dan berpusat di San Francisco, California. Lucas adalah ketua dan CEO perusahaan saat ini, dan Micheline Cha...
Part of the skull's occipital bone Not to be confused with Nuchal fluid line. Nuchal linesOccipital bone. Outer surface.Side view of head, showing surface relations of bones. (Superior and median lines visible at bottom right.)DetailsIdentifiersLatinlinea nuchaeAnatomical terms of bone[edit on Wikidata] The nuchal lines are four curved lines on the external surface of the occipital bone: The upper, often faintly marked, is named the highest nuchal line, but is sometimes referred to as the...
Запрос «Поплавок» перенаправляется сюда; см. также другие значения. Поплавок рыболовный Медиафайлы на Викискладе Поплавки Поплавки Поплавóк — рыболовное приспособление на рыболовной леске поплавочной удочки. Поплавок выполняет две функции: первая — удержи...
Type of human settlement For other uses, see Town (disambiguation) and Towns (disambiguation). Small town redirects here. For other uses, see Small Town (disambiguation). This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important a...
Personifications of winter and summer The Holly King and Oak King are personifications of the winter and summer in various neopagan traditions. The two kings engage in endless battle reflecting the seasonal cycles of the year: not only solar light and dark, but also crop renewal and growth. During warm days of Midsummer the Oak King is at the height of his strength; the Holly King regains power at the Autumn equinox, then his strength peaks during Midwinter, at which point the Oak King is reb...
2016 musical by Tom Kitt, Brian Yorkey, and Bridget Carpenter Freaky FridayPromotional artMusicTom KittLyricsBrian YorkeyBookBridget CarpenterBasis Freaky Fridayby Mary Rodgers Freaky Fridayby Mary Rodgers Freaky Fridayby Stu Krieger Freaky Fridayby Heather HachLeslie Dixon PremiereOctober 4, 2016: Signature Theatre, Arlington, VirginiaProductions2016 Arlington2017 San Diego2017 Cleveland2017 Houston Freaky Friday is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Brian Yorkey, and a book by Brid...
Nicola e AlessandraUna scena del filmTitolo originaleNicholas and Alexandra Paese di produzioneRegno Unito Anno1971 Durata179 min Generestorico, drammatico RegiaFranklin J. Schaffner Soggettodal romanzo di Robert K. Massie SceneggiaturaJames Goldman ProduttoreSam Spiegel Casa di produzioneColumbia Pictures, Horizon Pictures FotografiaFreddie Young MontaggioErnest Walter Effetti specialiEddie Fowlie MusicheRichard Rodney Bennett ScenografiaJohn Box, Ernest Archer, Jack Maxsted, Gil Parrond...
Lymphatic capillary LactealTransverse section of a villus, from the human intestine. X 350.a. Basement membrane, here somewhat shrunken away from the epithelium.b. Lacteal.c. Columnar epithelium.d. Its striated border.e. Goblet cells.f. Leucocytes in epithelium.f’. Leucocytes below epithelium.g. Bloodvessels.h. Muscle cells cut across.Villi of small intestine, showing bloodvessels and lymphatic vessels.Anatomical terminology[edit on Wikidata] A lacteal is a lymphatic capillary that abso...
2003 Scottish local government election Results by ward. Elections to Midlothian Council were held on 1 May 2003, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the last one using the 18 single-member wards using the plurality (first past the post) system of election.[1] Labour retained their dominance of the council, with the Liberal Democrats forming the second largest party on the council. Election result...
Cette page contient des caractères spéciaux ou non latins. S’ils s’affichent mal (▯, ?, etc.), consultez la page d’aide Unicode. Ne doit pas être confondu avec la lettre latine esse ‹ S s ›, ni avec la lettre cyrillique dzwé ‹ Ꚃ ꚃ ›. dzé Graphies Capitale Ѕ Bas de casse ѕ Utilisation Alphabets Cyrillique Ordre archaïque modifier Les formes du dzé dans l’Alphabet de Karion Istomin de 1694. La lettre dzé (capitale Ѕ, minuscul...
Solferino komune di Italia Tempat Negara berdaulatItaliaDaerah di ItaliaLombardyProvinsi di ItaliaProvinsi Mantova Ibu kota dariQ21207864 NegaraItalia Ibu kotaSolferino PendudukTotal2.610 (2023 )GeografiLuas wilayah13,08 km² [convert: unit tak dikenal]Ketinggian124 m Berbatasan denganCastiglione delle Stiviere Cavriana Guidizzolo Medole Lonato del Garda SejarahSanto pelindungNikolas dari Myra Informasi tambahanKode pos46040 Zona waktuUTC+1 UTC+2 Kode telepon0376 ID ISTAT020063 Kod...
لمعانٍ أخرى، طالع مويا (توضيح). مويا (بالإسبانية: Moya)[1] - بلدية - مويا (قونكة) مويا (قونكة) تقسيم إداري البلد إسبانيا [2] المقاطعة قونكة خصائص جغرافية إحداثيات 39°56′54″N 1°21′55″W / 39.948333333333°N 1.3652777777778°W / 39.948333333333; -1.3652777777778 &...
Accident ferroviaire de la gare Montparnasse de Paris en 1895 Un accident ferroviaire est un accident lié à la circulation sur un chemin de fer, ou bien parce qu'il l'affecte, ou bien parce qu'elle en est la cause. Ses illustrations les plus classiques sont le déraillement ou la collision, événements touchant directement le matériel roulant et les personnes qui l'occupent et provoquant des dommages souvent importants et graves. Si ces exemples sont en général ceux venant immédiatemen...