Abraham Merritt (1884-1943) occupied a position 75 years ago that J. R. R. Tolkien had 25 years ago. He was the science fantasy writer of the pulp magazine era. His novels all had hardback editions after the original magazine appearance. There was a magazine A. Merritt’s Fantasy Magazine that lasted for five issues 1949-50.  Avon Books kept several of his titles in print from the late 1940s through the late 1970s.

Merritt was not prolific. He had eight novels and nine stories. That’s it. These novels and stories had a very devoted audience.

A. Merritt: Reflections in the Moon Pool by Sam Moskowitz is a bio-bibliography of A. Merritt. Oswald Train published this hardback in 1985. It is a whopping 399 pages.

Contents

The Life, Work and Times of A. Merritt – essay by Sam Moskowitz

Pilgrimage, or, Obi Giese – novelette by A. Merritt

The Pool of the Stone God (1923) – short story by A. Merritt

Bootleg and Witches (fragment) – short fiction by A. Merritt

The Devil in the Heart (outline) – short fiction by A. Merritt

The Challenge from Beyond (1935) – short fiction by A. Merritt

Dwellers in the Mirage (unpublished ending) – short fiction by A. Merritt (variant of The Dwellers in the Mirage (original ending) 1941)

 

2000 (The Triple Cities) – poem by A. Merritt

Song for Wood Horn… – poem by A. Merritt

Silvane—The Silver Birches – poem by A. Merritt

Madonna – poem by A. Merritt

The Ladies of the Walnut Tree (A Legend of Tuscany) (fragments) – poem by A. Merritt

Court of the Moon (fragment) – poem by A. Merritt

The Birth of Art (1904) – poem by A. Merritt

Old Trinity Churchyard (5 A. M. Spring) (1941) – poem by A. Merritt

L’envoi to Life – poem by A. Merritt

Screens – poem by A. Merritt

Sir Barnabas – poem by A. Merritt

In the Subway – poem by A. Merritt

Runes – poem by A. Merritt

Eheu Fugaces … – poem by A. Merritt

A Song for Christmas – poem by A. Merritt

Comic Ragtime Tune – poem by A. Merritt

Behold the Night He Cometh – poem by A. Merritt

You Looked at Me – poem by A. Merritt

Dream Song – poem by A. Merritt

Castle of Dreams – poem by A. Merritt

I Wonder Why? – poem by A. Merritt

My Heart and I – poem by A. Merritt

Think of Me – poem by A. Merritt

The Ballad of the Cub – poem by A. Merritt

 

Letter to Mr. Louis De Casanova, July 23, 1931 – essay by A. Merritt

Piddling Pete – poem by A. Merritt

The Winged Flames – poem by A. Merritt

A. Merritt – poem by Lee Becker

Ballade to a Dream Maker (for A. Merritt) – poem by Robert Clark Schaller

Song of Nimir (1940) – poem by Robert A. W. Lowndes [as by Robert W. Lowndes]

For A. Merritt: “The Face in the Abyss” (1940) – poem by Robert A. W. Lowndes [as by Robert W. Lowndes]

 

Letters and Correspondence

An Autobiography of A. Merritt – essay by A. Merritt and Walter Wentz

A. Merritt—His Life and Times – essay by A. Merritt and Jack Chapman Miske

Man and the Universe – (1940) – essay by A. Merritt

Interview of A. Merritt – essay by Julius Schwartz

What is Fantasy? – essay by A. Merritt

Background of “Dwellers in the Mirage” – essay by A. Merritt

Background of “Burn, Witch, Burn” – essay by A. Merritt

Background of “Creep, Shadow!” – essay by A. Merritt

A. Merritt’s Own Selected Credo – essay by A. Merritt

A Newsman’s Notebook—One (1935) – essay by Gilbert Brown

Newsman’s Notebook—Two – essay by Gilbert Brown

The Merritt bibliography in intertwined with the biographical essay by Sam Moskowitz. This volume also is a collected poetry in addition to the essays contained therein.  So, there is quite a bit in this book of one of the greats of modern fantasy.