Born under Saturn

It was perhaps inevitable that Clark Ashton Smith (1893-1961) and Samuel Loveman (1887-1976) would become close friends and correspondents. Both were devoted to the art and craft of poetry; both were fascinated by the obscurer corners of literature; and both shared numerous colleagues, among them George Sterling, H. P. Lovecraft, and George Kirk.

The correspondence begins in 1913, when Smith was still under the poetic tutelage of George Sterling. Sterling was also attempting to help Loveman secure a wider audience for his poetry. The two authors' discussions of the aesthetics of poetry-both their own and the work of such poets as John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Clare, and many others-are compelling.

Loveman, having become involved in the book trade, would often pass along rare and tempting volumes to Smith, whose ability to secure books was limited. As such, fascinating discussions arise on the unusual and esoteric books they each absorbed. Smith also recounts the poor health that dogged him in the 1910s, while Loveman was drafted into the U.S. army toward the end of World War I and underwent hardship at a military camp in Georgia.

The correspondence of these two pioneering poets-extending sporadically all the way down to 1941-is a testament to each writer's devotion to pure literature as a solace and balm against the vicissitudes of life. It is a lesson we can all appreciate today.

The letters have been meticulously edited and exhaustively annotated by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz, two leading authorities on Smith and Loveman.