 The story is a spoof of Lovecraft's antiquarian affectations.Littlewit, the narrator, is born August 20, 1690–200 years to the day before Lovecraft's birthdate—making him nearly 228 years old as he writes a memoir.Critic Daniel Harms writes, "While not one of the most inspired of his pieces, it at least
shows that HPL realized his pretensions... of being an older, cultured
gentleman of an earlier era, and could make fun of himself."