Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill: The Letters of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith: 1932-1937 (Volume 2)

Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill is a collection of the letters between H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith covering the period 1932 to 1937.
The letters were edited and compiled by David E. Schultz with assistance from S. T. Joshi.
==Publisher's Summary==
"In this second volume of the correspondence of H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith, we find the two authors in the prime of their careers. Smith was publishing frequently in the weird and science fiction pulps of the day, compelled to earn money to take care of his ailing parents. Lovecraft had suffered some painful setbacks—the rejection of his work by Putnam’s, Knopf, and other book publishers—but he was continuing to develop his Cthulhu Mythos, and Smith was making distinctive contributions to it. 
And yet, dark clouds were on the horizon. Smith’s parents died in 1935 and 1937, and as a result his output of fiction declined significantly. Lovecraft kept his own ailment—cancer of the intestine—a secret from Smith and most other colleagues, so that his California friend was stunned to hear of his passing on March 15, 1937.
==Notable Contents==
===Salem Witchcraft===
Lovecraft makes reference to having received a letter from an unnamed direct descendant of one of the Salem Witches, Mary Eastey:
"By the way—that tale has just earned me a highly interesting letter from a curious old lady in Boston, a direct lineal descendant of the Salem witch Mary Easty, who was hanged on Gallows Hill Aug. 19, 1692. She hints at strange gifts & traditions handed down in her family, & asks me if I have access to any ancient secret witch-lore of New England. Also, she wants to know if Dunwich & Arkham are real places! I shall answer the letter, & see if I can get the good old soul to relate some of the whispered witch-traditions! A story of Salem horror based on actual “inside dope” from a witch-blooded crone would surely be a striking novelty!"
—H. P. Lovecraft to Clark Ashton Smith, 22 Mar 1929, Dawnward Spire, Lonely Hill at page 171
Category:Non-Fiction Works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works
Category:Clark Ashton Smith works
Category:H. P. Lovecraft works