Aleister Crowley - Patriot?

Known best for his involvement in the occult and reputation as the "wickedest man in the world," Aleister Crowley also appears to have had something of a patriotic streak - or a healthy dose of cynicism and a good command of propaganda technique.

In 1942 Crowley penned a short poem called La Gauloise. Subtitled "The Song of the Free French" the piece praised the courage and determination of the members of the French Resistance. Eventually used by the BBC as lyrics for a patriotic song, it was a none too subtle call to continue the struggle against the Nazis and a reminder that England and France were united in purpose and spirit - at least in this war. It's ironic that Crowley, given his public persona, could seemingly be so moved by a sentiment not overtly self-serving and with no apparent personal reward. True feeling or not?

Also included on the title page is the phrase Createur de signe V which references Crowley's claim to have invented the famous gesture, used by Winston Churchill and others, as a counter to the swastika symbol.

Our copy is the second edition (also published in 1942) and the subtitle is slightly modified to "The Song of the Fighting French."  Ask for Rauner Rare Book PR 6005 .R7 G3.

Bunyan Metamorphosized

John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim's Progress first appeared in 1678 but remained enormously popular for hundreds of years. In the 19th century it was staple stock for New England printers. Our many unpretentious volumes, often in tatters and occasionally colored by an enthusiastic youth, physically manifest the story's role in the moral education of the country’s youth.

As you might expect, we have dozens of different editions of the book, but two favorites are adaptations designed to reach wider audiences. "Metamorphosis" editions for children, like this one from Hartford, Connecticut, used folding flaps to reveal the Pilgrim’s progress. Much rarer, is a copy translated into Cantonese for missionary use. Not only is the text translated, but the characters are as well: the pilgrim becomes Chinese in costume and setting.

To see  Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress, "exhibited in a metamorphosis" ask for 1926 B86b 1821; the Cantonese Tian lu li cheng is available by requesting Rare PR3330 A738 1871.

Mencken Uncrated

H. L. Mencken rarely spared anyone's feelings in his writing during his life, so it was with great anticipation that his autobiographical writings were unsealed 35 years after his death. What could be so inflammatory that it had to wait for a generation to pass? Mencken deposited manuscript copies of his two autobiographies, My Life as Author and Editor, and Thirty-Five Years of Newspaper Work, with three libraries:  the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore (where the bulk of his papers are held), the New York Public Library, and the Dartmouth College Library. Dartmouth was honored with a copy because of Mencken's close relationship with Dartmouth alumnus Richard Mandel '26 and professor Herb West.

With tools in hand, Dartmouth President James O. Freedman, Special Collections Librarian Phil Cronenwett, and Special Collections Library Assistant John Schwoerke, cut the metal bands sealing the wooden crates and unleashed Mencken's final critical look at the America he loved and feared.  They used them to complete an exhibition "Mencken Uncrated" that opened two weeks earlier. The two autobiographies were published in 1993 and 1994.

Along with the typescripts, we preserved one of the crates. You can see them by asking for Realia 218 and ML 693.

Games of the XIII Olympiad

Actually, there wasn't a 13th Olympiad since the year was 1944 and World War II was still in progress. Instead of holding the Games in London as planned, the International Olympic Committee held a much smaller "Jubilee" in neutral Lausanne, Switzerland to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first modern Olympiad.

Several commemorative items were issued as part of the celebration including this collection of odes by Pindar titled Olympiques (Lausanne: Èditions A. Gonin, 1944). Illustrated by Swiss artist Hans Erni, the book included all fourteen of the Greek poet's Olympian victory odes - each dedicated to a specific athlete's triumph in the ancient Olympic Games. Erni's illustrations include the mythical founding of the games by Heracles as well as selected depictions of the heros. The volume also contains a brief history of the ancient games and Pindar as well as an analysis of each ode.

Interestingly, there appears to be no mention of World War II or any explanation of the circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the 1944 Games.

Ask for Rare Book PA 4275 .F8 E76 1944.

Mencken's Tessie

We recently acquired a small, but rich collection of letters by H.L Mencken. While Ambrose Bierce is the 19th-century's greatest curmudgeon, surely Mencken deserves consideration for the the title in the 20th century. He is known for his harsh criticism, cutting wit, and general intolerance for the American middle class (the "booboisie," as he famously called them). But in this letter from May 21, 1921, we see mourning and emotion cloaked in his typically urbane prose:

Our old dog Tessie died on Sunday. A tooth abcess [sic] developed gangrene and the horse-doctor gave her a sniff of prussis acid. She went out instantly. Tessie was 16 years old, a great age for a dog. She never married. We miss her enormously. Sunday afternoon my brothers and I buried her in the garden, and today I ordered a small tablet to be set in the wall, thus "1905 - Tessie - 1921". Tessie was a Presbyterian.

Twain could hardly have done better. The letters will join our existing Mencken Collection, ML 693, which will be the subject of another posting.

Cartesian Diver

We just acquired a very curious little book. Die Glasschmelzkunst (Vienna: Schultz, 1769) is a manual for 18th-century do-it-yourself chemists. It provides detailed instruction for manufacturing thermometers, hydrometers, barometers and even glass eyes. But it was figure 15 in the illustration here that caught our attention.

At first we wondered if it was some kind of little science faun to consult when things went terribly wrong, but then we dug out our German dictionary and read the text. It is a model of a Cartesian Diver, a figure with a hollow tube inside with an opening on one end.  If you place the Diver in a closed container of water (a two-liter water bottle would work great, but not in the 18th century), it will float. When you squeeze the bottle, the pressure will drive water up into the tube and compress the air. The Diver's overall water displacement will change, and he will slowly dive to the bottom of the bottle (or quickly, if you squeeze really hard). It is a great way to measure pressure.

You can come in and see it now by asking for Rauner Rare TP 859.2 .B11 1769.

Nelson Brown Doodles

This week we finished re-processing the papers of Nelson Pierce Brown, Dartmouth class of 1899. The papers document Brown's career as a judge on the Massachusetts Supreme Court and his lifelong relationship with Dartmouth, including a few diaries and photo albums of his four-years as a student. After Dartmouth, Judge Brown went on to marry Margaret Tucker, daughter of President Tucker in 1903 and graduated Harvard Law. After being appointed as the Middlesex Co. District Attorney in 1912 and Assistant to Attorney General Henry C. Attwill in 1915, Brown was appointed to the Massachusetts Supreme Court in 1918. He served for 29 years.

But, here at Rauner, our favorite thing about this collection (besides Brown's enthusiastic desire to keep incredibly detailed and organized documentation of his life) was his budding interest in court sketching. One of Brown's self-bound trial notebooks contains a letter from a comic artist from the Boston Post, which appears to be in response to an earlier inquiry from Brown regarding mail-order drawing instruction. The artist suggests to Brown that practice is a sure-fire way to develop his skills and signs off with a little sketch of his own.

Well, apparently Judge Brown took the advice and the results are found all over the margins of Brown's trial books. They are filled with small drawings and sketches of various members in the courtroom. From lawyers to witness, no one was exempt from the artistic study of Judge Brown, it seems. Many of his sketches come complete with witty captions and quotations. And some are even treated to a full shading. We invite you to stop by to check out these cool doodles and perhaps they might inspire some work of your own!

Just ask for manuscript collection MS-189! A finding aid for the collection is available.