Conan Compilation - The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian Part 71

draft a, unt.i.tled, 22 pp.

isolated p. 3 (probably discarded from final draft) .

draft b (final Weird Tales version) [lost]The Scarlet Citadel

synopsis, unt.i.tled, 1 p.

draft a, unt.i.tled, diminishing to a synopsis, 19 pp.

draft b, 39 pp. (numbered 1-8, 10-40 in error) [originally unt.i.tled; the t.i.tle was added when Howard sent the typescript to Robert H. Barlow]

notes for the aftermath of the battle of Shamu, 1 p.

4 pp. (numbered 32-35; probably discarded pp. from Weird Tales version) .

draft c (Weird Tales version) [lost]

draft d (final version), 51 pp. [this typescript retyped from Weird Tales in mid-1933 (exists also as a carbon)]413..

draft a, unt.i.tled and unfinished, ending with partial synopsis, 17 pp.

draft b1, unt.i.tled, 33 pp.

draft b2, pp. 16-35 of 35, (re-uses pp. 1-15 from draft b1) .

draft c (final Weird Tales version) [This typescript is reportedly extant and now in private hands; perhaps sent to Robert H. Barlow in May/Jun 1934]

Queen of the Black Coast

Black Colossus

synopsis, unt.i.tled, 1 p.

draft a, 51 pp. [originally unt.i.tled, the t.i.tle was added when Howard sent the typescript to Robert H. Barlow]

draft b, unt.i.tled, 48 pp.

draft c, incomplete (pp. 7-8, 34-42, 44; p. 44 probably discarded from final version, other pages probably rejected by Farnsworth Wright and rewritten to reduce the length of the story) .

draft d (final Weird Tales version) [lost]Iron Shadows in the Moon

draft a, 38 pp. (numbered 1-37 plus unnumbered page to be inserted p. 9) [originally unt.i.tled; the t.i.tle was added when Howard sent the typescript to Robert H. Barlow]

draft b (final Weird Tales version) [lost]Xuthal of the Dusk

draft a, unt.i.tled, 39 pp.

draft b (final Weird Tales version) [lost]The Pool of the Black One

414..

draft a, unt.i.tled, 33 pp. (numbered 1-7, 9-34 in error) .

draft b (final Weird Tales version) [lost]Rogues in the House draft (final Weird Tales version) [lost]

The Vale of Lost Women

draft a, unt.i.tled, 17 pp.

draft b (final version), 21 pp.The Devil in Iron

draft a, unt.i.tled, 37 pp.

draft b (final Weird Tales version) [lost]The Hyborian Age

draft a, unt.i.tled, 2 pp.

draft b, unt.i.tled, 7 pp.

draft c, incomplete (pp. 2-12 of 12) .

draft d (final Lany Corp version) [lost]

OTHER.

Two maps of the Hyborian world Unt.i.tled doc.u.ment (Hyborian names), 1 p.

Notes on Various Peoples of the Hyborian Age, 1 p.

Unt.i.tled synopsis ("A squad of Zamorian soldiers..."), 1 p.415.

Unt.i.tled synopsis ("The setting: The city of Shumballa..."), 2 pp.

Unt.i.tled and unfinished draft ("The battlefield stretched silent..."), 3 pp.

Unt.i.tled and unfinished draft ("Amboola awakened slowly..."), 11 pp.

2. CHRONOLOGY OF THE STORIES.

Few records of Howard's submissions and sales survive, and the Conan stories are no exception. It follows that the exact writing chronology has to be deduced rather than reproduced.

One could expect the order of the stories as published in Weird Tales to help, but aside from the fact that the Conan stories were not all accepted by the magazine the results can be quite misleading. For instance: although The Hour of the Dragon was published in late 1935-early 1936, it is well doc.u.mented that Howard had completed it in May 1934; while The Tower of the Elephant sold before The Scarlet Citadel, it was published after the latter. These examples are far from unique, as will be demonstrated shortly. References in Howard's correspondence are fragmentary and sometimes vague, and Howard rarely mentioned unfinished or unsold tales to his correspondents.

Thus, the only way to establish the chronology is to rely on the study of the surviving drafts of the stories. Fortunately, the immense majority of these are now in Glenn Lord's collection. Mr.

Lord has graciously supplied us with this material. Additionally, copies of a few typescripts now in private hands were also generously supplied by their present owners.

Howard started writing professionally in 1921. As his typing and writing abilities improved, so too did the professionalism of his typescripts. For instance, up to mid-1932 Howard used capital letters to indicate text that should be rendered as italics, while from mid-1932 onward he would underline such text. A typescript with underlined words will thus have been written later than mid-1932. Another example: soon after Howard hired Otis Adelbert Kline as his agent in the spring of 1933, the Texan's final drafts began at the middle of the first page, rather than the top. This was undoubtedly a stylistic request made by Kline; hence, Howard typescripts which begin in the middle of the first page were typed after the hiring of Kline in the spring of 1933.

A close study of the drafts yields far more detailed revelations. For example, it appears Howard only started introducing chapters in his stories in late 1928. From late 1928 until late 1932, he used the following format: "Chapter .1." But in December 1932, Howard adopted a new presentation that dropped the word "chapter"; a chapter transition would thus be noted ".1.".

Still later, in March 1934, Howard changed to a "Chapter . 1 ." format.

416.

Even more interesting discoveries are made by studying Howard's numerous idiosyncrasies and spelling errors. By carefully noting when Howard started using a correct spelling rather than an incorrect one, one can establish the time frame in which a particular typescript was written. For instance, Howard always spelled "conscious" (and all its derived forms) as "concious" until March 1932. The first three drafts of The Phoenix on the Sword and the third of The Hyborian Age have the incorrect spelling, thus were composed before that date. Other examples abound: Howard spelled "horizon" as "horrizon" until early 1931, the verbs "envelop" and "develop" as "envelope" and "develope" until September 1932, and the word "divide" (formerly spelled "devide") first appears in its correct form in a letter received July 13, 1932 by H.P. Lovecraft. Howard did not double the "n" in words ending in "-ness," such as "barrenness," "drunkenness," or "suddenness," until November 1932. This particular observation proved that Iron Shadows in the Moon was written before The Pool of the Black One.