Clark Ashton Smith and some ferns in 1958 (Eldritch Dark)

I, too, am capable of observation; but I am far happier when I create everything in a story, including the milieu. This is why I do my best in work like “Satrampa Zeiros”. Maybe I haven’t enough love for, or interest in, real places to invest them with the atmosphere that I achieve in something purely imaginary. […] As for the problem of phantasy, my own standpoint is that there is absolutely no justification for literature unless it serves to release the imagination from the bounds of everyday life. I have undergone a complete revulsion against the purely realistic school, including the French, and can no longer stomach even Anatole France. […] Well, I must put a scientific — or at least a pseudo-scientific — curb on my fancy if I am to sell anything. — Clark Ashton Smith, letter to H.P. Lovecraft, 9th January 1930

• The Wine of Words: Valorizing the Verbiviniculture of Clark Ashton Smith