The United Amateur was the official publication of the United Amateur Press Association, part of the amateur journalism movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. H. P. Lovecraft contributed numerous nonfiction pieces to it from 1915 through 1922; it also published four early short stories by Lovecraft, including his first published piece of fiction, "A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson".
The UAPA was founded in 1895 by William H. Greenfield of Philadelphia, who was 14 years old at the time, inspired by the correspondence clubs formed by readers of Golden Hours, a magazine for young people. In August 1901, it launched The United Amateur as its official organ.[1]
Lovecraft later promoted the publication as
| “ | a voluminous 7×10 monthly magazine called The United Amateur, which serves as the official organ. In this magazine may be found the complete revised list of members, the reports of officers and committees, the ample reviews issued by the Department of Public Criticism, a selection of the best contemporary amateur literature, together with the latest news of amateur journalists and their local clubs from all over the Anglo-Saxon world. [2] | „ |
Lovecraft began writing for The United Amateur in January 1915, launching a column called "The Department of Public Criticism" that critiqued writings in the amateur press. Over the next seven years, he contributed columns and essays, including expositions of his racist political views like "Americanism" (July 1919).[3]
The United Amateur published "A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson", a comic self-parody of Lovecraft's antiquarian pretensions, under the pseudonym Humphry Littlewit, Esq.[4] This was followed by the Dreamlands tale "The White Ship" in November 1919; "Nyarlathotep", featuring the introduction of the important Cthulhu Mythos entity, in November 2020;[5] and the nihilistic "Ex Oblivione" in March 1921 (under the pseudonym Ward Phillips).[6]
External Links[]
- "United Amateur Press Association", history at The Fossils
- Writings in The United Amateur, 1915-1922, by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, complete text at Project Gutenberg
References[]
- ↑ TheFossils.com, "United Amateur Press Association"
- ↑ United Amateur Press Association, official description, written by H. P. Lovecraft, vice president.
- ↑ The United Amateur, "Americanism", by Howard Phillips Lovecraft, July 1919
- ↑ The United Amateur, "A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson", by H. P. Lovecraft (as Humphry Littlewit, Esq.), November 1917
- ↑ The United Amateur, "Nyarlathotep", by H. P. Lovecraft, November 2020
- ↑ The United Amateur, "Ex Oblivione", H. P. Lovecraft (as Ward Phillips), March 1921