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1933, Cross Plains, Texas: Conan's creator Robert E. Howard (1900-36) signed photograph

I know, I know ... this piece has only the most peripheral bearing on original comic art. But without Robert Ervin Howard hammering out the sagas of CONAN THE BARBARIAN and KULL THE CONQUEROR you would have been deprived of all those majestic Frazetta paintings. You would have been deprived of all of those dynamic Barry Winsor Smith, Gil Kane, John Buscema, John and Marie Severin and Neal Adams comic pages. You may even have very well been deprived of Governor Schwarzenegger ... As far as I am aware this is the only signed piece of ephemera to have escaped from the two or three major, vacuum-sealed REH collections in more than 20 years. The photo comes from the Emil Petaja estste. The author of 13 novels and more than 100 short stories in 1995, Petaja was named the first ever Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction Writers of America. A Finnish-American, Petaja was a contemporary of REH and a contributor to WEIRD TALES. He corresponded with the CONAN author, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and other writers from the magazine's stable. When Petaja died in 2000, his collection of pulp-era correspondence/artifacts -- a veritable treasure trove of such material -- was broken up and sold. Never ceases to amaze me how this photo has survived the years virtually unscathed -- no yellowing, no mildew stains, no bends or tears. The photo is also an important REH association item (as rare book collectors call these things). Petaja is the fella Robert E. Howard sent the typescript of his poem CIMMERIA to in February, 1932. According to REH's handwritten note to Petaja on the typescript, the poem was: "Written in Mission, Texas, February 1932; suggested by the memory of the hill-country above Fredricksburg seen in a mist of winter rain". A fully-realised Conan sprang from REH's fecund brow simultaneously to inhabit the "land of Darkness and deep Night" he described in the poem. The rest is pop culture history.

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1933, Cross Plains, Texas: Conan creator Robert E. Howard signed photo

Art Details

Artist:
Media Type:	Photograph
Art Type:	Other
For Sale Status:	Insane cash/trade offers are always welcome ...
Views	3787
Comments:	4
Added to Site:	12/9/2004

About the Owner

Tim Hodgson
Member Since:	September 2004

1933, Cross Plains, Texas: Conan creator Robert E. Howard signed photo
Artist: 3787 Views, 4 Comments

There are 1 Pieces of Art In This Gallery.    

About the Owner Tim  Hodgson Joined: September 2004 Last Login: January 2017 On CAF: Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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