The Man of Stone is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald in October 1932, and was published in Hugo Gernsback’s Wonder Stories in October 1933. It is the first of five stories Lovecraft revised for Heald. Heald had been introduced to Lovecraft by his Providence friend Muriell Eddy, who apparently conceived a notion that the two divorcees might find romance.
She invited him up to her house for Sunday supper and arranged to have everything that H.P.L. liked best on the menu. they ate by candlelight, and he was greatly intrigued by her thoughtfulness in not having a household of people to greet him. He used to say he could think better when there were not too many people around to disturb his train of thought.
He tactfully explained to Hazel that her story, though very good, really needed a little touching up here and there, something to stir the reader’s imagination. Would she allow him to do it for her? He’d consider it an honor and a privilege. She agreed. - Muriel Eddy ~ The Gentleman from Angell Street 23
HUDSON RIVER AND OLD SURROUNDING RENSSELAERSWYCK ESTATE
DATE(S) VISITED: JUL 12, 2020
LOCATION: NORTH ALBANY, NY
“The soldiers never got his Book of Eibon when they burned his house, and his grandson, William Van Kauran, brought it over when he came to Rensselaerwyck and later crossed the river to Esopus. Ask anybody in Kingston or Hurley about what the William Van Kauran line could do to people that got in their way. Also, ask them if my Uncle Hendrik didn’t manage to keep hold of the Book of Eibon when they ran him out of town and he went up the river to this place with his family. - HPL & Hazel Heald ~ The Man of Stone
(Below) Original Map of Rensselaerswyck, probably created around 1632, but not known exactly. Authorship is usually credited to Gillis van Schendel, but due to timing inconsistencies, this is most likely not true. Believed to be the first map created of the Manor of Rensselaerswyck. The Hudson River flows from right to left; north is to the right.
ALBANY, NY
DATE(S) VISITED: JUL 12, 2020
LOCATION: ALBANY, NY
"First thing I must do is order the five chemicals I need from Albany and Montreal. Plenty of time later to experiment. When everything is over I'll round up all the statues and sell them as Wheeler's work to pay for his overdue board bill! He always was a realist and an egoist - woulden't it be natural for him to make a self-portrait in stone, and to use my wife for another model - as indeed he's really been doing for the past fortnight? Trust the dull public not to ask what quarry the queer stone came from!" - HPL & Hazel Heald ~ The Man of Stone
