Virgil Finlay Dedication Illustration to A. Merritt (Weird Tales, Beyond the Wall of Sleep)

A personal dedication piece by Virgil Finlay, inscribed 'To A. Merritt; a master of fantasy, from Virgil Finlay.' Two luminous, nude male figures ascend through a swirling, cloud-filled void, their bodies wreathed in jagged electric energy, above a jagged black landscape of obsidian-like spires. Rendered in Finlay's signature stipple technique for Weird Tales, the image evokes cosmic transcendence and honors fellow fantasist Abraham Merritt, likely tied to the story 'Beyond the Wall of Sleep.'