Almuric: Howard's Sword & Planet Novel
Apr 1, 2016 13:49:21 GMT -5
Post by deuce on Apr 1, 2016 13:49:21 GMT -5
This from Patrice Louinet, circa 2007:
"The few times Kline did some rewriting for the Howard stories he had in his inventory, he charged a 50% commission + took his usual 10%. This wasn't the case for ALMURIC. That the story was found as a complete first draft and unfinished second one may have come from a late 1930s fanzine, but the information comes first and foremost from the Otis Kline files where we can read, pg 35 of the Howard file:
c) Almuric / 1st draft + 2nd draft unfinished
August 20, 1938 : Weird Tales
November 01 : sold to WT $375
April 06, 1939 : Rec’d $125 for first installment
April 17 : paid Howard $112.50 comm $12.50
May 02 : Rec’d $125.00
May 22 : Pd Howard $125.00 com $12.50
July 27 : Received $125.00 last installment
August 03 : pd Howard $125.00 com $12.50
This means that the story was sent as is (ie in unfinished form) to Weird Tales, and that it was eventually bought. Kline took his usual 10% cut on this, which, once again, points to the story being completed once it was in the WT offices, not before.
As Rusty indicated, the typescripts were usually destroyed after publication and this is probably what happened to both drafts of the novel. The title - ALMURIC - was probably Kline's as no novel by that title appears in the list of the Howard stories kept in inventory by Kline. In this file are mentioned two typescripts, "same story", one 117 pgs longs, the other 134, which I suspect correspond to Almuric, (one of these is untitled and the other has been obviously mistitled).
Whoever worked on those typescripts for publication obviously used the second draft, and then switched to the unfinished first. What he found in there is anyone's guess, but as a rule, Howard tended to write fairly detailed paragraphs, followed by indications such as "add battle here" or "They ride back to the city", and such remarks/notes to self usually become generalized as the story moves forward. And - but this is my opinion and only that - the draft must have ended with something like - "They arrive in the city, he kills the monster and he is victorious." See for example the last line to the synopsis of "The Scarlet Citadel" for a typical Howard synopsis/draft ending. In short, there is no clear cut point where Howard stops and Writer #2 begins. It's pure Howard up to probably the middle of the novel, then it's still Howard with the caveat that the percentage of pure Howard dwindles as the story moves forward.
Hope this helps,
Patrice"
"The few times Kline did some rewriting for the Howard stories he had in his inventory, he charged a 50% commission + took his usual 10%. This wasn't the case for ALMURIC. That the story was found as a complete first draft and unfinished second one may have come from a late 1930s fanzine, but the information comes first and foremost from the Otis Kline files where we can read, pg 35 of the Howard file:
c) Almuric / 1st draft + 2nd draft unfinished
August 20, 1938 : Weird Tales
November 01 : sold to WT $375
April 06, 1939 : Rec’d $125 for first installment
April 17 : paid Howard $112.50 comm $12.50
May 02 : Rec’d $125.00
May 22 : Pd Howard $125.00 com $12.50
July 27 : Received $125.00 last installment
August 03 : pd Howard $125.00 com $12.50
This means that the story was sent as is (ie in unfinished form) to Weird Tales, and that it was eventually bought. Kline took his usual 10% cut on this, which, once again, points to the story being completed once it was in the WT offices, not before.
As Rusty indicated, the typescripts were usually destroyed after publication and this is probably what happened to both drafts of the novel. The title - ALMURIC - was probably Kline's as no novel by that title appears in the list of the Howard stories kept in inventory by Kline. In this file are mentioned two typescripts, "same story", one 117 pgs longs, the other 134, which I suspect correspond to Almuric, (one of these is untitled and the other has been obviously mistitled).
Whoever worked on those typescripts for publication obviously used the second draft, and then switched to the unfinished first. What he found in there is anyone's guess, but as a rule, Howard tended to write fairly detailed paragraphs, followed by indications such as "add battle here" or "They ride back to the city", and such remarks/notes to self usually become generalized as the story moves forward. And - but this is my opinion and only that - the draft must have ended with something like - "They arrive in the city, he kills the monster and he is victorious." See for example the last line to the synopsis of "The Scarlet Citadel" for a typical Howard synopsis/draft ending. In short, there is no clear cut point where Howard stops and Writer #2 begins. It's pure Howard up to probably the middle of the novel, then it's still Howard with the caveat that the percentage of pure Howard dwindles as the story moves forward.
Hope this helps,
Patrice"