THE ABSOLUTE ELSEWHERE

"We know now that our dreams are not going to come true. Are Never going to come true. We have learned that our dreams are important not because they come true, but because they take you places you would never have otherwise gone, and teach you what you never knew was there to learn."
     -- Michael Ventura, SHADOW DANCING IN THE USA.

Pre 1945 (not sorted by year)

This file contains material published before 1945. I have no plans, at this time, to include every fringe book from the last 25 centuries here. What I'm looking for are books, of a fringe nature, which were more important in the 60's and the 70's.

Adams, Henry, EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS, THE, 1, 1918, Houghton Mifflin, HB.

Bond, Frederick Bligh, GATE OF REMEMBRANCE, THE, 1918, Basil Blackwell (Oxford), HB.

Crowley, Aleister, BOOK OF THOTH, 1, 1944, O.T.O. (London), HB?
 
David-Neel. Alexandra, WITH MYSTICS AND MAGICIANS IN TIBET, 1, 1931, John Lane, The Bodley Head (London), HB. Better known today as MAGIC AND MYSTERY IN TIBET (see 1958 entry). 
Finney, Charles G., THE CIRCUS OF DR. LAO,  1, 1935, Viking, HB.

Fleming, Peter, BRAZILIAN ADVENTURE, 1933, Scribner's, HB. See also 1983 entry. Fleming was literary editor for the LONDON TIMES when he signed on with an expedition into the Matto Grosso, of Brazil, in 1932, searching for the lost Col. P. H. Fawcett (See Fawcett, 1953 and 1958 entries). They did not find him. Fleming does manage to demystify the Matto Grosso--which may explain why the authors of books on "mysterious South America" rarely mention of site this volume. Fleming is a witty and entertaining writer who manages to avoid most of the cliches of other travel and expedition books of the period. Fleming went on traveling, and wrote a whole shelf of books about it. Peter Fleming was Ian Fleming's brother, by the way.

Fort, Charles, NEW LANDS, 1, 1923, Boni and Liveright (NYC), HB.

Fort, Charles, BOOKS OF CHARLES FORT, THE, 1941, Henry Holt, HB.

Fort, Charles, BOOK OF THE DAMNED, THE, 1, 1919, Boni and Liveright (NYC), HB.

Inquire Within (Christina Stoddart), TRAIL OF THE SERPENT, 1935, Publisher unknown, HB. Reprint by Omni Pubs., Trade, No date given.

Inquire Within (Christina Stoddart), LIGHT-BEARERS OF DARKNESS, 1930, Publisher Unknown, HB. Reprint by Omni Pubs, Trade, No date given.

King, Godfre Ray (Guy Warren Ballard), UNVEILED MYSTERIES, 1939, Saint Germain Press (Chicago, IL), HB. L. Sprague de Camp called this the "bible" of the I AM cult.

King, Godfre Ray (Guy Warren Ballard), "I AM" DISCOURSES, THE, 1935, Saint Germain Press (Chicago, IL), HB.
 
Lovecraft, H. P. WEIRD SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH, 1, 1944, Bart House, PB. Reprint of Lovecraft's SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH. 
Miller Henry, BLACK SPRING, 1, 1936, Obelisk Press (Paris), HB.

Miller, Henry, TROPIC OF CANCER, 1, 1934, Obelisk Press (Paris), see 1950, and 1961 entries.

Miller Henry, TROPIC OF CAPRICORN, 1, 1939, Obelisk Press (Paris), see 1961 entry.

Neihardt, John G., BLACK ELK SPEAKS, 1, 1932, William Morrow, HB. See 1972 entry.

Queenborough, Lady (Edith Starr Miller), OCCULT THEOCRACY, 1933, Privately published, HB. Reprint by Omni publications, HB, 1980? This is a huge (741 pages) garden of misinformation, much of it gleaned from Nesta Webster (1924 entry) and "Inquire Within" (1930 and 1935 entries), and other writings of the British far right. The book is really a handbook (or "hit list") of secret and esoteric organizations, and how most of them are tied together to overthrow the established order. There are a few shards of information, here and there, but much of the material is so suspect that one can hardly trust any of it. My favorite hoot: "The Fascisti also put an end to the activities of the terrorist society known as the Mafia in 1928..." Right!!! Especially repugnant is her index, where all Jew's names are marked with the Star of David. It is a fascinating, if slightly sickening, look at the kind of paranoid fantasies being spread through the British Fascist community in the years between the two world wars.

Rohmer, Sax (Arthur Sarsfield Ward), ROMANCE OF SORCERY, THE, 1, 1914, Metheun (London), HB.

Rohmer, Sax (Arthur Sarsfield Ward), ROMANCE OF SORCERY, THE, 2, 1915, Dutton, HB.

Rohmer, Sax (Arthur Sarsfield Ward), ROMANCE OF SORCERY, THE, 3, 1923, Metheun (London), HB. Abridged ed. US ed. by Dutton, 1924.

Sorokin, Pitirim A., SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DYNAMICS, 1, 1937, American Book Company, HB. 1st of 4 vols. published from 1937 and 1941. See 1957 entry.
 
UNKNOWN, Pulp Magazine, July 1939. This science fiction pulp issue featured a story entitled "The Slaves of Sleep" by the then relatively little known writer, L. Ron Hubbard. Many have seen the seeds of Scientology or Dianetics in this overblown piece of Arabian Knights style bluster. A sequel story, "The Masters of Sleep," published in 1950, clearly is the work of Prophet L. Ron. In 1939, who could have known that this piece of pulp fluff was flowing from the typewriter of the coming avatar of the science fiction religion.
Webster, Nesta, SECRET SOCIETIES AND SUBVERSIVE MOVEMENTS, 1, 1924? HB.
 
Wells, H. G. SEVEN SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS, 1934, Dover, HB. Dover has produced this in both Hardbound and Trade eds. sometimes with publishing dates, sometimes not. This is the earliest publication date I could find. The cover above obviously dates from the 50s, and is the one I first read. 
 
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, TRACTATUS LOGICO-PHILOSOPHICUS, 1922, London (publisher needed), HB.


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