A Lovecraft Retrospective: Artists Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft [Hardcover]

A Lovecraft Retrospective is a stunning achievement. I truly do not have adequate skill with words to convey its magnificence. It is the most glorious book in my library. Everything about this books is larger than life, it seems. The dimensions are 16.1 x 12 .6 x 2.3, pages large enough that we may better appreciate in the artists' craftsmanship. Shipping weight was 13.6 lbs, indicating the high quality of the paper used. I do not have any of the special limited editions; my copy is cloth bound with a slip cover and a slip case. The cover is Michael Whelan's brilliant Lovecraft Mythos Diptych from 1980, which also appears in the book as a 4 page fold out. Production qualities are flawless; Centipede Press did not take any shortcuts with this books. Page count is 400. There is no index, well enough, as my copy has no numbering on the pages. Instead, and more usefully, each illustration is shown in the back in a large thumbnail giving the artist, the date of production, the context and the medium. Yes there is some text, including Harlan Ellison's introduction, Bob Price's essay on the Necronomicon and the afterward by Thomas Ligotti. There are some introductions to put the works into context and brief biographies of the artists. The largest part, however, of the pages are devoted to the art. Many paintings are given an entire page, with a generous number of double page pull outs to allow us to revel in the artists' visions. A Lovecraft Retrospective shows the art inspired by Lovecraft ever since the first publication of his works to the present day; the artists use very conceivable medium: ink, oil, acrylic, collage, brass. The incredible beauty of this book beggars my ability to describe it so I will just share some of my favorite things about it. Most of the covers from our favorite books are here. There is a depiction of a Pickman painting by Hannes Bok! Ever since I read Lin Carter's introduction to Beyond the Golden Stair I have longed to see Bok's paintings! If only there were more. I literally became breathless and choked up when I saw the reproduced covers of the Lancer, Beagle and Ballantine issues of Lovecraft's works from the 1970s. These are the books that introduced me to Lovecraft and my own copies crumbled away so very many years ago, read into oblivion. There is a very generous selection of HR Giger's illustrations from the Necronomicon, many as two page fold outs. Keith Evans' 2004 Cthulhu and Dave Carson's Cthonian show what may be done with digital media. Tim White's masterful covers get their due. Gahan Wilson's Wilbur Whately rubs shoulders with Jeff Remmer's Night Gaunt. Bob Eggleton's covers are here in all their glorious colors. Previously I have lamented that John Coulthart's R'lyeh was done an injustice in its previous reproductions. Here we see it as it was meant to be seen, and in full color. It is impossible to choose a favorite; it is impossible to do justice to this book.

I am forever indebted to Centipede Press for A Lovecraft Retrospective. Much inadequate kudos goes to Jerad Walters and Joseph Wrzos, and the entire dedicated team who gave this to us. Some may balk at the price tag ($276.50, heavily discounted at Amazon) but it's only money. If you buy this book you will never regret it. Years from now you won't miss the money and you will have something irreplaceable.

Like the others said before me, words will not convey the sheer volume and quality of this book. I can barely hold this book in my arms, much easier to look at and enjoy on a coffee table hah. Anyway, there is more wonderful Lovecraft-inspired art in this book than you could ever imagine. From the 1930's pulp comic art to current CGI enhanced portraits, this book has it all. It even has pictures of SOTA's Nightmares Of Lovecraft figurines that quickly went out-of-print last year! If the price of this book had been a grand, I would still have bought it. It is a one-of-a-kind item that Lovecraft fans will be talking about from here to oblivion. I can safely say that no Lovecraft fan's collection will be complete without this book. Simply amazing.

I received my hardbound slipcased edition of this last week. Jerad and Co. have done an absolutley amazing job in compiling, editing and reproducing at the highest quality level years and years of Lovecraft-related images. I cannot really add much more to Matthew Carpenter's review - he really covered everything and excellently so. The old paperback covers he alluded to were the same for me - my introduction to Lovecraft - and I was very excited to see them here. This is a one of a kind publishing event well worth the seemingly heavy money, but as was stated my Matthew, in a few years you won't miss the money and you will have a fantastic gem of art and craft that will be irreplaceable. Congratulations to all involved in the production of this piece, may it have a long long life.

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