Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Lovecraft's Providence and Adjacent Parts


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was keep. Consensus is to keep after further sourcing. (non-admin closure)  Onel 5969  TT me 14:40, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

Lovecraft's Providence and Adjacent Parts

 * – ( View AfD View log )

An obscure book without coverage from RS. Kbabej (talk) 04:30, 23 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the list of Literature-related deletion discussions. Kbabej (talk) 04:33, 23 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Delete: While I can find several books that cite this book, I cannot find any reliable source that meaningfully discuss it. Reginald and de Camp barely discuss it in their books. Unfortunately, I cannot access the other cited book. &#8213; Susmuffin Talk 18:49, 23 January 2021 (UTC)
 * I found a single scholarly review of this book. Lovecraft Studies was the main scholarly journal for the eponymous field. The Lovecraft Annual has since replaced it. &#8213; Susmuffin Talk 21:58, 23 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Comment: I have also nominated the author of the book, Henry L. P. Beckwith Jr., for deletion here. —Kbabej (talk) 20:00, 23 January 2021 (UTC)

Keep per the significant coverage in multiple independent reliable sources.   The book review notes: "First published in 1979, this handy little guide to the Rhode Island haunts of H. P. Lovecraft has been reprinted. An outgrowth of a tour the noted researcher conducted during the First World Fantasy Convention in 1975, Lovecraft's Providence and Adjacent Parts describes four separate tours of the Provicence area, and the important sites mentioned in Lovecraft's stories and letters. As someone who has frequently guided non-New Englanders through the byzantine byways of Lovecraft's beloved natal city, I've found it useful, although the margin references designed to the specific sites to textual sources are rendered useless because Beckwith refers the reader to the hopelessly out-of-print Arkham editions of The Outsider and Beyond the Wall of Sleep—neither of which one is likely to tote on a tour, assuming one owned them." The book review further notes, "And with this edition limited to but 500 copies, it will not be long in print."  The book review notes: "Nor is much known of Lovecraft's Providence, a deficiency Beckwith's slim volume is intended to rectify. First published in 1979 and revised in 1986, it's composed of two tours of Providence, one by foot and one by car. During these tours one will see in photographs and maps "The Shunned House," the several houses where Lovecraft lived, the graveyards, the libraries, the various monuments, alleys, streets and public buildings that are referred to or hinted at in various stories. A second automobile tour takes one into the outlying cities and towns of Rhode Island. Margin notes tie places to stories in a fairly comprehensible manner. There are a few typos and some peculiar sentences, but on the whole Beckwith's tours are informative and fun, even if a bit limited."  According to pages 411–412 the S. T. Joshi book H. P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography published by Wildside Press in 2002, The Providence Sunday Journal reviewed Lovecraft's Providence & Adjacent Parts on November 25, 1979.  According to a page hosted on Charles de Lint's website titled "Reviews" hereInternet Archive, he reviewed the book. The page notes, "Lovecraft's Providence & Adjacent Parts—Henry L.P. Beckwith ("Enjoyable Tour Guide"), in Fantasy Review #97, (1987)".</li> <li> The mini-review notes: "Lovecraft lived in Providence most of his 47 years. When the first World Fantasy Convention met there in 1975, Beckwith conducted a tour of the city's sites mentioned in HPL's tales. This guidebook is an outgrowth of that tour, and contains four walking and auto tours of Providence and environs, with citations to the stories and letters of Lovecraft. Clear maps supplement the text. For the specialist only."</li> <li> The review notes: "For those who want to sink into the place where HE wrote... Maps and drawings and photos of the small city...where HE walked...and houses which HE used in HIS MIND to write his horror stories.... It's all well done, and for Lovecraft completists, a necessary reference and aid to appreciation."</li> <li> The article notes: " In 1975, a distant relative of Lovecraft's, lecturer Henry P. Beckwith Jr., began conducting tours of the East End where Lovecraft spent most of his life. This coincided with the first World Fantasy Convention, held in this city on Halloween weekend with its main theme the writer's large body of work.  Beckwith's subsequent book, Lovecraft's Providence & Adjacent Parts (Donald M. Grant, 1979), is long out of print, though highly sought after. He had started a trend, and tours of the area are more popular than ever."</li> <li> The article notes, "Self-guided tours are also popular. Books like ... Henry Beckwith Jr.'s "Lovecraft's Providence and Adjacent Parts" give the eager sightseer all the information necessary to gaze upon the structures found in stories like "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.""</li> </ol>There is sufficient coverage in reliable sources to allow Lovecraft's Providence and Adjacent Parts to pass Notability, which requires "significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject". Cunard (talk) 11:36, 25 January 2021 (UTC)</li></ul>
 * Notability (books) says: "A book is notable if it verifiably meets, through reliable sources, at least one of the following criteria: <ol><li>The book has been the subject of two or more non-trivial published works appearing in sources that are independent of the book itself. This can include published works in all forms, such as newspaper articles, other books, television documentaries, bestseller lists, and reviews. This excludes media re-prints of press releases, flap copy, or other publications where the author, its publisher, agent, or other self-interested parties advertise or speak about the book.</li></ol>" The book has received seven reviews: Lovecraft Studies (two reviews), Science Fiction Research Association's SFRA Newsletter, The Providence Sunday Journal, Fantasy Review, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Science Fiction Review, so it passes Notability (books). Cunard (talk) 11:36, 25 January 2021 (UTC)


 * Comment, just a reminder for nominators, and editors who look at afds, when a book is sf/fantasy related a good place to start is the ISFDB (website here), so with this title, enter the author, click on the title, and we see a number of reviews listed. Coolabahapple (talk) 05:49, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep, meets WP:NBOOK ie. multiple reviews, as brought out by above. Coolabahapple (talk) 05:50, 26 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Keep. has presented multiple RS reviews. Page was created by a likely COI editor (same page creator as that of author page), but the book seems to meet NBOOK. BusterD (talk) 18:34, 26 January 2021 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. <b style="color:red">Please do not modify it.</b> Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.