The “Little Blue Books” were published by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius from about 1919 to 1947. They were small, cheaply produced, and sold for around a nickel. There were over 2000 of them; the exact number, despite diligent scholars, is unknown, since the books were often retitled, assigned new numbers, or replaced by other books.
Haldeman-Julius started the series explicitly to promote socialism, atheism, science, the theory of evolution, sex education, and other progressive causes. He soon added joke books, recipes, short stories, how-to guides, language instruction, and other more commercial material.
Neither Charles Fort nor Tiffany Thayer contributed to the catalog; but several of the Founders did, as well as many later members, some more active than others. It’s worth pointing out that many of the Founders lent their names to help Fort sell books, and had no interest in Thayer’s antics. (There’s an interesting cache of letters in the University of Virginia, in which a number of the hapless Founders make this explicit.)
Theodore Dreiser was one of Fort’s oldest friends and staunchest supporters, and one of the first to flee when Thayer got frisky. Haldeman-Julius published three Dreiser titles in 1924, each containing two short pieces: 659 was taken from Free, and Other Stories; 660 from Twelve Men; and 661 from Hey Rub-A-Dub-Dub. (W. L. S., by the way, was the illustrator William Lewis Sonntag, Jr.) In 1931, “How the Great Corporations Rule the United States” was released as part of a collection of articles by various writers, including pieces on black civil rights, the labor movement, and other topics. Dreiser, the most famous name, was the only one credited on the cover.
(Posted by Doug Skinner)
9 responses so far ↓
1 joshua buhs // Jun 4, 2013 at 8:58 pm
Two other interesting cases: Miriam Allen DeFord and Maynard Shipley. Shipley was an early fan of Fort’s, though never a member of the Society (he died in 1934); DeFord was also an early fan, but wrote against Thayer’s preoccupations–I’m not sure she was ever an official member. Both, though, were Forteans. And both wrote extensively for the Little Blue Books.
2 Doug // Jun 4, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Hmm, I don’t know why the comments are acting up. Well, they weren’t in the ether; they were just shuffled into the pending comments. And here they are…
Yes, I mean to get to DeFord and Shipley, as well as many others. Shipley certainly deserves mention for his review of Lo!, and DeFord for her correspondence with Fort. First, though, I want to cover the founders, including the problematic Harry Elmer Barnes, who quickly vanished from the Founders roster, and who also wrote many LBBs, decades before he went down the slippery slope of Holocaust denial.
And Clarence Darrow, whom Thayer always claimed as a member, and who wrote the first LBB (a commentary on the Rubaiyat).
By the way, John Keel told me he learned how to type from DeFord’s LBB…
3 Derek // Jun 4, 2013 at 9:36 pm
I had a Little Blue Book edition by John Cowper Powys, but I don’t recall the title.
If I wind up back in Charlottesville, I’ll have to check out those letters.
4 Derek // Jun 4, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Ah, just found it online: One Hundred Best Books (#435)
Blue also published these by Powys
#112 The Secret of Self Development (pages 5-25), 1926
#414 The Art of Happiness, 1923
#448 Essays on Montaigne, Pascal, Voltaire, 1923
#449 Essays on Rousseau, Balzac, Victor Hugo, 1923
#450 Essays on de Maupassant, Anatole France, William Blake, 1923
#451 Essays on de Gourmont and Byron, 1923
(later renamed Masters of Erotic Love, Essays on de Gourmont and Byron)
#452 Essays on Emily Bronte and Henry James, 1923
#453 Essays on Joseph Conrad and Oscar Wilde, 1923
(later renamed A Sailor and a Homosexual, Essays on Joseph Conrad and Oscar Wilde)
#1264 The Art of Forgetting the Unpleasant, 1928
5 Doug // Jun 4, 2013 at 9:48 pm
I think I have all of Powys’s LBBs; I even have the two done by his brother Llewelyn. I don’t think I’ve read them all yet, though…
6 Derek // Jun 5, 2013 at 10:53 am
I bet there’s one by his other brother T.F., too(Theodore Francis)
JCP Factoid Cowper is pronounced Cooper
Powys is POE-ISS
That’s All, Folks!
7 Doug // Jun 5, 2013 at 1:13 pm
No, no T.F. in the catalog. I guess he wasn’t invited.
8 Derek // Jun 5, 2013 at 2:36 pm
I wouldn’t trust the Haldeman-Julius catalog if I were you.
9 Doug // Jun 5, 2013 at 3:57 pm
Oh, this catalog was compiled by that delightful institution, the Haldeman-Julius Collectors Club. In fact, there are two: one by number, and one by the author’s name. Not authoritative, of course, but no T.F. has surfaced.