REH’s Writings

Exact textual stateText

The Madness of Cormac

StateLetter-preserved textSurviving witnesses1TSS catalogue units2Catalogue rolePrimary / default

Textual identity is not textual authority. “Catalogue primary/default” selects the default catalogue representation; it does not mean that this wording is automatically Howard’s most authoritative text.

Characters in this exact text

Exhaustively reviewed for this catalogued Poetry state. Generic lyric speakers/addressees, collectives, places and purely metaphorical allusions are not manufactured into permanent Characters.

FinFin — named possessor of the grey/fey sword in “The Madness of Cormac”; the poem does not identify which legendary or fictional Fin is meantMentioned1 source-counted occurrence(s) · first: Collected Poetry UE Vol. 3 p. 63

Surviving manuscript evidence

The records below describe surviving physical typescripts, carbons, manuscript material and documentary catalogue evidence for this exact textual state. TSS numbers identify physical catalogue units; they are not story or draft IDs.

Original Howard typescript — TSS 82607, 82608Howard typescript

Extent2 pagesCompletenessCompleteness uncertain

Physical extent: 2 catalogued TSS sheets

TSS: 82607, 82608

Original Typescript (OT) source code; retained as an original Howard typescript witness.

Source: 000 TSS of REH moving towards final.xls — Poetry working list rows 694, 696

Textual witnesses & editorial mediation

These records describe how this textual state is known or represented. A witness may be authorial, editorially mediated, restored, transcribed or otherwise derived without becoming a new Howard-authored textual state.

Collected Poetry UE Vol. 3 p. 63Restored reading editionAuthority basis: Restoration toward authorial text · Treatment: Restored toward authorial wording

The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard UE Vol. 3 p. 63

Published in

The Collected Poetry of Robert E. Howard Volume ThreeREH Foundation PressNovember 2022↗