August Derleth
The Scholarly Sage of Sauk City

To provide a comprehensive essay on the writings of the American author August Derleth would be nigh on an impossible task. For one thing, no one has yet provided a detailed academic biography of who was one of the most productive writers of the mid-20th century.

The lack of a learnèd study on August is, of course, because August wrote stories and books that people enjoy. That's a far cry from the type of writer who professors think worthy of scholarly biographies. Usually the consensus is that if a book is actually enjoyable, then it's not great literature.

Certainly, critics might complain that August would just "crank them out". And it is true that August was an incredibly fast writer and once wrote ten books in one year. For sheer volume of output, few writers have outreached him.

August's audience ranged from kids to grizzled adults, and he wrote short stories, essays, novels, and poetry. But like many writers of the time - and August's career covered the years 1926 to 1971 which is arguably the Golden Age of Magazine writing - most of his output was as short stories.

And August wrote a lot. Among his "short fiction" - some under pseudonyms or in collaboration with other writers - are (and to skip this lengthy list just click here) "McElwin's Glass", "Headlines for Tod Shayne", "McCrary's Wife", "The Hills Stand Watch", "Those Who Seek", ""Open", "Sesame!"", "The Murky Glass", "Where the Worm Dieth Not", "Balu", "Riders in the Sky", "The Philosophers' Stone", "The Shuttered House", "No Light for Uncle Henry", "I Was Walking Helen Home", "Dead Man's Shoes", "The Mouse on the Train", "Valse Oublieé", "The Portrait", "Potts' Triumph", "The Adventure of the Spurious Tamerlane", "and "Wraiths of the Sea".", "The House in the Magnolias ", "A Room in a House", "Wentworth's Day ", "Compliments of Spectro", "That Feller Oates!", "Pacific 421", "Lansing's Luxury", "The Seal of the Damned", "The Tenant at Number Seven", "A Battle Over the Tea-Cups", "A Collector of Stones", "Logoda's Heads", "The Lilac Bush", "Others Deal in Death", ""After You", "Mr. Henderson"", "The Place of Desolation", "Mrs. Lannisfree", "McGovern's Obsession", "The Panelled Room", "Derleth's Account of Life in Sac-Prairie", "Twilight Play", "Spawn of the Maelstrom ", "They Shall Rise ", "The Blue Spectacles", "Lady Macbeth of Pimley Square", "The House of Moonlight", "Kleine Nachtmusik", "Joliper's Gift", "The Element of Chance", "From House by the River", "Kingsridge 214", "The Sleepers", "The White Moth", "A Little Knowledge", "From Evening in Spring", "The Carven Image ", "Mr. Jimson Assists", "Three Gentlemen in Black", "Just a Song at Twilight", "Old Mark", "The Christmas Virgin", "Moonlight in the Apple Tree", "Death Holds the Post ", "Red Hands ", "The Turret Room", "The Tenant", "Innsmouth Clay", "The Telephone in the Library", "Ghost Lake", "The Gable Window ", "The Four Who Came Back", "The Three-Storied House", "Altimer's Amulet", "The Marmoset", "The Night Light at Vorden's", "A Thin Gentleman with Gloves", "The Sandwin Compact", "An Occurrence in an Antique Shop", "Miss Esperson", "The Man on B-17", "Something from Out There", "The Night Train to Lost Valley", "The Bishop Sees Through", "The Churchyard Yews", "The Return of Andrew Bentley ", "Wild Grapes", "The Return of Sarah Purcell", "The Shuttered Room ", "The Lonesome Place", "Fool Proof", "The Return of Hastur", "The Inverness Cape", "The Ebony Stick", "The Horror from the Middle Span ", "In the Book Walden West", "Mr. George", "The Disc Recorder", "The Room in the Annex", "Mrs. Bentley's Daughter", "Footsteps far Below", "A Knocking in the Wall", "Now Is the Time for All Good Men", "Scarlatti's Bottle", "Muggridge's Aunt", "Mr. C", "The Dead Shall Rise Up", "The Sheraton Mirror", "Bat's Belfrey", "Saunder's Little Friend", "The Shadow on the Sky", "Feigman's Beard", "The Island Out of Space", "The House on the Highway", "The River", "Man in the Dark", "The Lair of the Star-Spawn ", "Mrs. Manifold", "The Other Cheek", "In the Left Wing ", "The Second Print", "Ghosts Who Return to Re-enact Their Crimes", "Bishop's Gambit", "A Message for His Majesty", "The Occupant of the Crypt", "The Wind in the Lilacs", "Eyes of the Serpent ", "The Place in the Woods", "Nella", "The Telescope", "An Elegy for Mr. Danielson", "The God-Box", "Come to Me", "The Lost Kiss", "The Elixir of Life ", "Halloween for Mr. Faulkner", "The Owl on the Moor ", "The Night Road", "The Pacer ", "The Night Rider", "Motive", "The Statement of Justin Parker", "April Kinney", "Pikeman", "Phantom Lights", "The Drifting Snow", "Monie", "Mara", "Blessed Are the Meek", "Passing of Eric Holm", "The Survivor ", "Mr. Berbeck Had a Dream", "The Incredible Dr Markesan", "Witches' Hollow ", "A Matter of Faith ", "The Quince Bush", "The Lost Day", "Alannah", "The Cossacks Ride Hard", "Ithaqua", "The Satin Mask", "Mrs. Corter Makes Up Her Mind", "A Wig for Miss DeVore", "The Man from Dark Valley", "The Watchers Out of Time", "The Lost Path", "The Fisherman of Falcon Point", "The Metronome", "The Countries in the Sea ", "The Conradi Affair ", "The Ghost Walk", "A Bottle for Corezzi", "The Vengeance of Ai ", "Birkett's Twelfth Corpse", "Light Again", "Tail of the Dog", "The Woman at Loon Point ", "The Inheritors", "The Ancestor ", "The Slanting Shadow", "The Captain Is Afraid", "Who Shall I Say Is Calling?", "The Mannikin", "The Shadow in the Attic ", "The Sisters", "The Figure with the Scythe ", "The Slayers and the Slain", "A Matter of Sight", "Glory Hand", "The Wind from the River", "The Haunters of Night", "A Gentleman from Prague", ""Here", "Daemos!"", "The Shadow Out of Space ", "The Peabody Heritage ", "Sac Prairie Notebook", "The Closing Door", "The Evil Ones ", "Laughter in the Night ", "The Ormolu Clock", "The Horror from the Depths", "Colonel Markesan ", "The Whippoorwills in the Hills", "Carousel", "The Revolt of the Worm", "The Shuttered Room ", "The Irregulars Strike Again", "Nellie Foster", "The Song of the Pewee", "Mr. Ames' Devil", "The Coffin of Lissa", "The Dark Boy", "The Prince Goes West", "The Tsanta in the Parlor", ""Sexton", "in the Wall"", "The Seal of R'lyeh", "A Gift for Uncle Herman", "The Vanishing of Simmons", "The Valley Whippoorwill", "One Against the Dead", "Parrington's Pool", "Something in Wood", "Room to Turn Around", "The Boundary of Now", "From-Return to Walden West", "Memoir for Lucas Payne", "The Whistler", "Hector", "A Little Quiet in the Evening", "The Fifth Child", "Walpurgisnacht", "The Extra Passenger", "Mrs. Elting Does Her Part", "Stuff of Dreams", "Across the Hall", "He Shall Come", "The Dark Brotherhood ", "Melodie in E Minor", "The Lamp of Alhazred ", "Expedition to the North", "The Deserted Garden", "A Ride Home", "The Extra Child", "A Ring for Stella", "A Visitor from Outside", "Bramwell's Guardian", "The House in the Valley", "The Patchwork Quilt", "The Black Castle", "Camomile", "Baynter's Imp", "The Devil's Pay", "The Bell in the Arbor", "House - With Ghost", and "Lord of Evil". (To return to the top of the list, click here.)

We also have to admit that August's most popular specialties - science fiction, fantasy, and mystery - were not yet respectable enough for the command of most major publishers. Even the big name SF/F/M authors regularly sent their stories to the monthly pulp magazines. If science fiction, fantasy, and mystery stories were issued as books or if the authors wrote novels, they usually came out as paperbacks.

On the other hand, during his lifetime August was recognized as a serious writer. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, he was the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship in 1938. Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, was one of those who supported the award. Writers who get recommendations from Nobel Prize winners and who are awarded Guggenheims don't just - quote - "crank them out" - unquote.

And people sometimes forget that some of August's books from the Sac Prairie Saga were published by the prestigious Scribner publishing company. These books were about rural Wisconsin, and August considered them his most important works.

August was a life-long Midwesterner, and you'll read he was born in 1909 in Sauk City, Wisconsin or Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin or Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The conundrum is explained because Sauk Prairie designates the combination of the two small towns of Sauk City and Prairie du Sac.

Except for a brief editorial stint in Minneapolis, and his time in college at Madison (only about twenty miles away), August spent his life in the Sauk Prairie twin towns. He finally moved to a farm outside of the city limits in a house that his friend Frank Lloyd Wright called a "barn". In addition to his writing, August taught classes through the University of Wisconsin Extension Program and was literary editor of the Capital Times in Madison for over twenty years, a job that didn't require him to leave the smaller towns.

But as far as advancing American culture, August is particularly remembered for promoting the works of the early 20th century fantasy writer Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Before August's advocacy, H. P. wasn't that well known, and his works were mostly found in yellowing and crumbling archives.

But in 1939, August - who as a kid had read H. P.'s stories and had extensively corresponded with him - formed the publishing company Arkham House with Donald Wandrei. Arkham House - whose name was taken from H. P.'s writings - was specifically organized to publish Howard's work in hardcover editions and to bring Howard's writings to a widespread audience. In this endeavor they succeeded, and the stories of H. P. Lovecraft are now considered pioneering works in the era of modern fantasy.

With the catholicity of his output and activities - science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, or environmental writing - it's easy to disagree about what August is "best known" for. But there isn't much argument that August is definitely known as the creator of Solar Pons. Solar was a Sherlock Holmes-like detective who resided at 7B Praed Street with his friend and colleague, Dr. Lyndon Parker. Yes, Praed Street is a real street in London and not too far from Baker Street.

The Solar Pons stories were a deliberate tribute to the "canon" of Arthur Conan Doyle. August was a great fan of the Holmes stories, and it was no secret that Sir Arthur wanted to put the famous detective on the shelf. So in 1928 August wrote Sir Arthur asking if he, August, could either write more Holmes stories or if not that, then invent his own detective - Solar Pons - to carry on the tradition. Regarding more Holmes stories, Sir Arthur said, no, but he gave the young writer the green light for his new detective. Reportedly Sir Arthur's sons were not pleased as they saw the Pons stories competing with the sales of the Holmes books. But in the end there wasn't much they could do about it.

The Solar Pons stories are great reads for Holmes buffs. The earliest Pons stories were set in the 1920's and the timeline continued well up to the harbinging of World War II. Still, the "real" Sherlock Holmes was part of the Solar Pons universe as Solar would make occasional references to his "predecessor". In one story Solar even made a trip to visit the aged Sherlock who had retired to bee-keeping on Sussex Downs.

Solar not only had his chronicler and partner in Dr. Parker, but he had an older brother Bancroft, a landlady named Mrs. Johnson, and the inevitable Scotland Yard contact, Inspector Jamison. And there was a group of street kids called the "Praed Street Irregulars" which is the name assumed by one of the Solar Pons fan clubs.

Naturally, the world of Solar Pons was modern compared to that of the Victorian Holmesian era. Solar and Dr. Parker lived in a world with automobiles and mass communication the type of which we still have today. Yes, yes, we know that in "His Last Bow" Sherlock and Dr. Watson take von Bork to the police station in a car but that late adventure was in 1914.

Solar was by no means a complete carbon copy of his predecessor. For instance, while Holmes was a skilled violinist and Solar also played the fiddle, Dr. Parker makes the occasional comment about Solar's misplaced opinion of his musical ability.

In keeping with tastes of modern readers, the Pons stories have less of the client explaining his problem and the crook explaining what they did. While these devices aren't absent from the Pons saga, they are tempered and there's more room for action. It's also a bit easier to guess the outcomes than for the stories of the Holmes canon. For instance a couple of pages into "The Adventure of the Orient Express", a story set in 1938 where Dr. Parker boards the famous passenger train, the reader can probably guess the surprise ending.

It's important to remember that the Solar Pons stories are pastiche, not parody. For those who like tweaking the Sherlockian nose, about the best of the many satires are the Schlock Homes stories by mystery writer Robert L. Fish. In "The Adventure of the Printer's, Inc." Schlock Homes and Dr. Watney have a client who introduces himself and his problem.

"Mr. Homes," he said, "I am being persecuted, and I am desperately in need of your help. My name is George Good, and I am--"

"You are a bookmaker," interrupted Homes smoothly. "Note the callus on the inside of the index finger of the right hand, Watney; it comes from holding the needle when sewing the binding into place. Note also the spot of yellow glue on the cuff; it is a sure indication of the trade. And when we are able to observe the hilt of a knife protruding from Mr. Good's pocket, a knife certainly employed for the cutting of pages, we can definitely conclude that Mr. Good is a bookmaker."

"You amaze me, Mr. Homes," said our visitor in awe. "I am indeed a bookmaker, and in the course of writing the many betting slips each day, I have developed this callus which you so cleverly noted. I carry the knife for protection, for mine is not the most peaceful of occupations. I apologize for the egg stain, but in all honesty I have been so disturbed of late that I scarcely know what I am doing, let alone what I am wearing."

The total number of Solar Pons stories that August wrote is a bit open to definition, but 67 is the standard number and which were assembled into seven collections. There was also a Solar Pons novel, Mr. Fairlie's Final Journey. The series was taken over by the British writer Basil Copper after August died in 1971 at the early age of 62.

References

"August (William) Derleth", Dictionary of Midwestern Literature, Volume 1: The Authors, Philip Greasley (Editor), Indiana University Press, 2001.

"August Derleth", James P. Roberts, Famous Wisconsin Authors, Badger Books, 2002.

"Summary Bibliography: August Derleth", The Internet Speculative Fiction Database.

"Biography", The August Derleth Society.

"August Derleth", FantasticFiction.

"August Derleth", The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, January 5, 2019.

A Dreamer and a Visionary: H.P. Lovecraft in His Time, Sunand Joshi, University of Liverpool Press, 2001.

H.P. Lovecraft: A Life, Sunand Joshi, Necronomicon Press 1997.

The Solar Pons Gazette.

"Solar Pons - Created by August Derleth (1909-71)", Thrilling Detective.

"From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon", Mattias Boström, Grove Press, 2013, 2017.

The Incredible Schlock Homes: 12 Stories from Bagel Street, Robert L. Fish, Simon and Schuster, 1966, Avon Books (1976).

The Memoirs of Schlock Homes: A Bagel Street Dozen, Robert L. Fish, Bobbs-Merrill, 1974, Avon Books, 1975.