A battle with no winners ...
Even the most casual reader of Lovecraft’s work is aware that bringing his works to a mainstream audience was a journey fraught with complications. In L’Affaire Barlow, the author examines primary source material in detail never attempted before, clearly explaining how dangerously close Lovecraft’s work was to being litigated into obscurity. Bruised egos, personal vendettas, and Machiavellian plots abound, making control of the Lovecraft literary estate read like a tale from one of the pulp magazines.
Lovecraft designated Robert Barlow as his literary executor. Barlow created the Lovecraft archives at Brown University even as a campaign was waged to wrest control of Lovecraft’s work from him. Barlow’s reputation was destroyed among the Lovecraft circle. It was only after his premature death that his unyielding guardianship of Lovecraft’s legacy was fully understood despite the plot against him. L’Affaire Barlow is the story of Robert Barlow’s quest to preserve the Old Gent from Providence for the ages.
Marcos Legaria is an independent scholar located in southern California. He has appeared in such scholarly publications as Lovecraft Annual and Penumbra. He is a regular contributor to Spectral Realms and a member of the amateur press association the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Marcos is currently researching a full-length biography on the life and career of Robert H. Barlow.
