Editing Arkham (section)

===Miskatonic University===
Miskatonic University is a [[Fictional location|fictional university]] located in Arkham, near the banks of the (fictional) Miskatonic River. Lovecraft concocted the word ''Miskatonic'' as a mixture of root words from the [[Algonquian languages]],<ref>Lovecraft, ''Selected Letters III'', p. 432.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Harms |first=Daniel |title=The Cthulhu mythos encyclopedia |publisher=Elder Signs Press |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-934501-05-4 |edition=3rd |location=Lake Orion, MI |page=181}}</ref> the source of many place-names throughout [[New England]]. Anthony Pearsall believes the name is based on the [[Housatonic River]],<ref>Pearsall, "Miskatonic River (Valley)", ''The Lovecraft Lexicon'', p. 281.</ref> which flows from the [[Berkshires]] of [[Western Massachusetts]] and western [[Connecticut]] to [[Long Island Sound]].

After first appearing in [[H. P. Lovecraft]]'s 1922 story "[[Herbert West–Reanimator]]", the school was mentioned in numerous [[Cthulhu Mythos]] stories by Lovecraft and other writers. The story "[[The Dunwich Horror]]" implies that Miskatonic University is a elite university on par with [[Harvard University|Harvard]], and that Harvard and Miskatonic are the two most popular schools for the Massachusetts "Old Gentry". It is modeled on the northeastern [[Ivy League]] universities of Lovecraft's day, perhaps [[Brown University]] in his hometown [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]], which Lovecraft himself wished to attend.<ref>Ross Wells. 2002.
EXploZion!
iUniverse. p. 15</ref> Miskatonic's student body is implied to be all-male like northeastern universities of Lovecraft's time. The only female student mentioned is [[Characters of the Cthulhu Mythos#Waite, Asenath|Asenath Waite]] in "[[The Thing on the Doorstep]]" (1937).<ref>Pearsall, "Miskatonic University", ''The Lovecraft Lexicon'', p. 281.</ref> 

The university library is famous for its collection of [[List of Cthulhu Mythos books|occult books]], including one of the handful of genuine copies of the ''[[Necronomicon]]''.<ref>{{cite book|first=Howard P|last=Lovecraft|title=A History of The Necronomicon|url=http://www.mythostomes.com/content/view/12/72/|publisher=Necronomicon Press|location=West Warwick, RI|isbn=978-0-318-04715-7|year=1980|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080603151040/http://www.mythostomes.com/content/view/12/72/|archive-date=June 3, 2008|url-status=dead|via=Mythos Tomes}}</ref> Other tomes include ''[[Unaussprechlichen Kulten]]'' and the fragmentary ''[[Cthulhu Mythos arcane literature#Book of Eibon|Book of Eibon]]''. Notable faculty members mentioned in Lovecraft's stories included doctors [[Characters of the Cthulhu Mythos#Armitage, Henry|Henry Armitage]] and [[Characters of the Cthulhu Mythos#Morgan, (Professor) Francis|Francis Morgan]] in ''The Dunwich Horror'', and [[Characters of the Cthulhu Mythos#Dyer, William|Professor William Dyer]] in ''At the Mountains of Madness''. Later authors would people the university with their own characters.