For birthday 119 for Robert E. Howard — should he have lived so long — Brian Leno roars into Autograph Hound action once more, pulling an original photo of REH’s father, actually signed by Doc Howard, from the time-lost ruins and scattered yard sales of eBay.
Brian has out two eBooks on the creator of Conan, his classic Lovecraft’s Southern Vacation as well as Ringside with Robert E. Howard. He has been a fan and collector from his early teenage years. And today he is a very happy camper.
Brian’s a bit hesitant to say with complete assurance that the autograph is by Doc, but I have no such reservations. Check out my own small eBook on REH Famous Someday for many examples of Doc’s hand, both holograph material and his fascinating doodles. Do a bit of detective work (and it’s not that hard to recognize the distinctive touches). Famous Someday features interviews with two of the Baker Kids, younger siblings of Vera Baker Nichols, with lots of talk about Doc Howard visiting their family in Coleman, Texas. Plus other material for the arch-Howard enthusiast of the Brian Leno ilk.
(If a small eBook isn’t enough for bona fides, I also have a huge eBook on REH, The Dark Barbarian That Towers Over All —- and just recently I collected even more writings about the Texan in Death Lit. After fifty years of Howardian research and litcrit, I’m confident I can spot a scribble from Doc.)
And now here’s Brian with his saga of the hunt:
As usual I was checking eBay for something I couldn’t live without and I came across a copy for sale of the Howard biography Dark Valley Destiny by L. Sprague de Camp.
Normally that book would not warrant a second look. But I happened to notice it came with two letters, one signed by de Camp and another signed by his wife.
Still no real interest from me. On the seller’s photo, though, I was just able to see what looked like an old, small picture. Just beat to a pulp.
I thought, there’s something different here.
A little nervous, thinking I could be on to an interesting find, I clicked in and saw that this copy of DVD had belonged to Vera Baker Nichols, once a childhood acquaintance of Robert E. Howard.
Suddenly the letters became a little bit more . . . momentous. The one signed by de Camp thanked Vera for the original photo of Dr. Howard “and the copy negative and print made from it.”
He added that he was returning the original.
I looked at the image and realized this was the original photo of Dr. Howard de Camp was writing about.
With shark-like speed I made my way to the checkout line.
The picture is 2 inches wide, 2-1/2 inches high. It’s a tiny bugger.
A stamp on the back states that the photo was taken by Martin’s Studio, Coleman, Texas. As noted, in far from perfect shape.
It’s a photo I’ve never seen before. Regardless of whether or not it is known, it is an original of Howard’s father, apparently signed by the good doctor, as the signature does closely match other signatures of his I have seen.
It’s tough to make out, but Dr. Howard is standing proudly in front of his (I would guess) vehicle. It would be great if it was the automobile that belonged to his son, at the time of REH’s suicide, but it’s probably just the car Doc used when making his rounds.
The photo shows a stoop-shouldered old man with a rather disheveled appearance, and a wistful smile as he looks straight at the photographer. Those shoulders had seen much heartache.
Through all this literary archaeology I have been able to add something to my Howard collection that I’ve pursued ever since I realized how few photos exist of Howard and his family.
A true original.
The photo is in a top loader now for safety. I wonder how many times people’s greasy thumbs rubbed against the poor doc’s face.
Like the no-holds-barred Howard fanatic I am, I’m afraid one photo in the collection just makes me want more.
