The strange and incredible collection of objects . . .
In 1928, Federal agents raided the lodge of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a notorious cult that had taken over the town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. What they discovered there shocked and dismayed them in equal measure. Strange, curious, and devilish items from all over the world had been gathered by cult members on voyages across all the known ― and unknown ― seas. Priceless art, books, weaponry, jewelry, nautical instruments, and coins were all found, along with objects both prosaic and uncanny, with uses that could only be guessed at.
In an effort to recoup the costs to taxpayers of the investigation into the Dagon activities, the Federal government engaged the services of specialty auctioneers Pent & Serenade to sell the bizarre collection at auction. Pent & Serenade, world-famous in some circles for their 1877 landmark sale of The Starry Wisdom Library, proudly took the commission and offered at auction in1929 an entirely unique collection of items, the likes of which were never to be seen assembled together again. In recognition of the landmark sale, Pent & Serenade commissioned Miskatonic University professors, and those within their scholarly circles, to write detailed and engaging histories of the strange items featured in the collection.
The companion book to The Starry Wisdom Library, which has been in the works for seven years: The Dagon Collection. The anthology is once again presented as a fake auction catalogue, however this time it is 1929, shortly after the events in The Shadow Over Innsmouth. The feds have just raided the Esoteric Order of Dagon Lodge. Now they've contracted with Pent & Serenade, Occult Auctioneers, to sell the items secured in the raid. In addition to books, this auction also features weaponry, art, jewelry, nautical items, textiles, and objects both strange and prosaic once owned by the Dagon cult.
The design skills of Andrew Leman of H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society have brought the catalogue to life in all its 1920s period glory. Rebecca Baumann of the University of Indiana provided the cataloging of the objects. Liv Rainey-Smith and Eduardo Valdes-Hevia contributed illustrations. Leading voices in horror and Lovecraftian fiction again contributed stories, including F. Paul Wilson, Jesse Bullington, John Langan, Gemma Files, Livia Llewellyn, Michael Cisco, Nick Mamatas, Ramsey Campbell, Selena Chambers, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and, in a bittersweet note, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr. (to whom the book is dedicated), in what may be his final unpublished story.
