Collected Letters of Dr. Isaac M. Howard

The Collected Letters of Doctor Isaac M. Howard is a lot more than the title implies. It begins with a “Prelude” section which contains letters to Robert E. Howard: items from August Derleth, C. L. Moore, Farnsworth Wright, Otis Kline, and others. Following a handful of newspaper articles describing Robert E. Howard’s death and funeral, Isaac Howard’s letters begin. These are interspersed with responding letters from Wright, Derleth, Kline, and E. Hoffmann Price, as well as other, related letters (in a letter from Kline to Carl Jacobi, it’s easy to see the myth-making of Howard’s suicide beginning). The sections with Isaac Howard’s letters end with a couple of newspaper articles announcing his death and a letter from Alla Ray Kuykendall which describes the doctor’s final moments.

As a post script, E. Hoffmann Price’s articles and letters regarding the Howards are included. Readers can eavesdrop on Price as he describes the contents of Howard’s fabled Trunk to August Derleth, and trace Price’s changing view on Two-Gun as Howard’s fame and popularity surpassed his own.

A “Miscellanea” sections concludes the volume, with a copy of Doctor Howard’s will, the Kline ledger and lists of stories and poems, letters from P. M. Kuykendall and Oscar J. Friend that detail a plan which could have altered the course of Howard publishing, and, finally, subject and title indexes.