"History of the Necronomicon" is a short text written by H. P. Lovecraft in 1927, and published in 1938.[1] It describes the origins of the fictional book of the same name: the occult grimoire Necronomicon, a now-famous element of some of his stories. The short text purports to be non-fiction, adding to the appearance of "pseudo-authenticity" which Lovecraft valued in building his Cthulhu Mythos oeuvre. Accordingly, it supposes the history of the Necronomicon as the inspiration for Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow, which concerns a book that overthrows the minds of those who read it.
Audio recording of the first paragraph of "History of the Necronomicon"
Character name
Lovecraft created the name of the character Abdul Alhazred from a number of sources. As a child, Lovecraft was inspired by the novel One Thousand and One Nights and took an interest in Arabic culture.[4] At the age of five, he developed the pseudonym "Abdul Alhazred" while playing, which was perhaps given to him by the family lawyer. It is speculated that the name could also be derived from an old family who lived in Providence at the same time as Lovecraft, the Hazards. The name could also be a pun as it phonetically sounds like "all-has-read" due to Lovecraft's love of reading.[5]
"Abdul Alhazred writing the Necronomicon" drawing by Robert Bloch, 1933
In the Arabic language, the name "Abdul Alhazred" is not grammatically correct. The suffix "-ul" and the prefix "al-" both refer to the article "the", essentially repeating it twice. In Arabic translations of "History of the Necronomicon", his name appears as "Abduallah Alhazred" or sometimes "Abd Al-Hazred". In the Cthulhu Mythos itself and when being referenced by scholars or other authors, the "Mad Arab" is always spelt using capitalization, suggesting that the "Mad Arab" is a proper noun and a title.
Second page of manuscript "History of the Necronomicon"
Publication
"History of the Necronomicon" was posthumously published by the Rebel Press in 1938, a year after Lovecraft's death. Only 80 copies of the original edition were ever printed, but very few still exist today. No copies of the original edition are held in universities or libraries, not even the Brown University library, which has one of the largest collections of artifacts associated with Lovecraft.[6] Most reprint versions of the short story have been published by Necronomicon Press in the 1970s. "History of the Necronomicon" is one of the only Lovecraft stories to be rarely included in collected reprints and editions of his works.[7]
Before publication, Lovecraft sent the fictional history he would write in "History of the Necronomicon" in a letter to fellow Weird Tales author and confidant Clark Ashton Smith. Lovecraft would write: "In particular I have drawn up some data on the celebrated & unmentionable Necronomicon of the mad Arab Abdul Alhazred... Once a man read through the copy in the library of Miskatonic University at Arkham—read it through & fled wild-eyed into the hills...but that is another story!".[8]
Pseudobiblia
Pseudobiblia is a type of storytelling device in which an imaginary narrative is presented as non-fiction, often using fictional citations or texts, sometimes referred to as a fictional book. Pseudobiblia can be used to establish verisimilitude, to add realism to a larger, connected story or to make connections to the real world. Lovecraft's use of pseudobiblia is very prevalent in History of the Necronomicon, which was written while Lovecraft was writing for the horror pulp fiction magazine, Weird Tales. Pseudobiblia was used extensively by the different writers for Weird Tales, who often engaged collaboratively in each other's works. The serialized nature of the medium prevented Lovecraft from crafting a new fictional setting, so pseudobiblia allowed him to world build within the restrictions of the pulp format.[9] Additionally, there are examples in medieval Arabic literature of supernatural fiction stories being presented as non-fiction, a genre called "marvel tales", which Gonce described as "part travelog, part historical treatise, and part grimoire".[5]One Thousand and One Nights is influenced by this genre of Arabic literature, which may also explain Lovecraft's propensity to use pseudobiblia in his works, according to Gonce.
Lovecraft would regularly cite genuine scholarly sources alongside fictitious ones of his own creation, such as "History of the Necronomicon". Lovecraft writes that the Necronomicon was suppressed and burned by Patriarch Michael I and Pope Gregory IX, who are both real, historical figures. However, it was named the Necronomicon and translated into Greek by scholar Theodorus Philetas, who is entirely fictional. Additionally, the novella At the Mountains of Madness is another Lovecraft text that employs pseudobiblia. The narrator of the story attempts to dissuade a group of explorers from venturing on a voyage to Antarctica and provides a detailed, alternative prehistory of the world that is foundational to the cosmology of the Cthulhu Mythos.[10]
Lovecraft would reference and would be referenced by the other authors who wrote for Weird Tales in their own fictional stories, which Lovecraft would encourage as it creates "a background of evil verisimilitude", as he wrote in a letter.[11] For example, fellow Weird Tales author Clark Ashton Smith's Book of Eibon draws heavy inspiration from Lovecraft's own Necronomicon, which Lovecraft himself celebrates as he thought it would be of the most "blackest and most appalling significance" for the readers who realized the connection between the two books.[9]
John Engle argues that the pseudobiblia of "History of the Necronomicon" has resulted in people believing the story to be genuine, both casual readers and occultists who have included aspects of Lovecraft's works in their own occult practices despite Lovecraft himself scorning genuine occultists.[12] For example, "History of the Necronomicon" states that John Dee translated the Necronomicon into English. Dee is a real historical mathematician and occultist who is still studied and revered by occultists today. Hoaxers have created fake Dee-translated Necronomicons that can be found online and are often presented as genuine occult texts or genuine first edition copies.[13]
Lovecraft himself appeared to be conscious of this potential implication of his use of pseudobiblia, as he believed if the internal cosmology of his Cthulhu Mythos was to be realistic, he must construct it "with all the care and verisimilitude of an actual hoax".[14] In 1936, a fake review of a new translation of the Necronomicon appeared in the Branford Review, a small-town newspaper in New York. Lovecraft said about this fake review, "If the Necronomicon legend continues to grow, people will end up by believing in it and accusing me of faking when I point out the true origin of the thing!"[15] The original writer of this fake review is Donald Wollheim, an author and editor who was a fan of Lovecraft that began writing to him around the time his fake review of the Necronomicon was published. Wollheim would later publish a number of Lovecraft's works in his fanzine before his death. The Lovecraft scholar Kendrick Kerwin Chua argued that this false review inspired Lovecraft to write "History of the Necronomicon", which is untrue because it was written in 1927 but published posthumously.
Criticism
History of the Necronomicon has been criticized for depicting Middle Eastern culture and histories in harmful ways, particularly when combined with the pseudobiblia of the text. Gabriel McKee argues that Lovecraft's depiction of the Middle East "as a place of mystery and strangeness" reinforces the public's lack of awareness and knowledge about the region.[16] According to critics, it inadvertently promotes historical illiteracy as it mystifies or, in some extreme cases, demonizes the ancient world. The pseudobiblia and intertextual nature of "History of the Necronomicon" invites fans and authors to alter genuine Middle Eastern histories and attribute abstract moral notions like "good", "evil", or "satanic" to historical sites and figures. It can promote anti-intellectualism surrounding Middle Eastern culture, religion, and history, despite the fact much is known about it by academics in the fields of anthropology and ancient history. This confusion about Lovecraft's works has resulted in official courts of law using a defendant's connection to Lovecraftian literature as evidence for prosecution and the appropriation of Middle Eastern culture in Western cults and supernatural circles.[17]
The origins of Lovecraft's misappropriation of Middle Eastern cultures and histories lie potentially with his xenophobic view points. Lovecraft associated magic and superstition with "Mongoloid peoples" and scholar Erik Davis argues that his fear of miscegenation and immigration can be seen throughout his works.[18] The character of Abdul Alhazred is also a product of this mystification and orientalist understanding of the Middle East, according to essayist Ifran Ali, as Islam was seen in the West as a "mysterious, fringe religion" at the time.[19] Alhazred, who is an apostate Muslim, authored the Necronomicon, a book to summon eldritch entities, which can be seen as a mischaracterization of Islam and the Middle East more generally. Ali argues this furthers Islamophobia as it associates Islam with the occult who are implicitly insane or odd.
Print version of "History of the Necronomicon"
Response to criticism
Other literary critics have argued that the setting of "History of the Necronomicon" in the Middle East turns the text into a critique of modernism and how Western academia treats non-Western historical artifacts. Haley agrees that the mystification of the Middle East in "History of the Necronomicon" reinforces the representation of the region as strange and foreign, but rather than it expressing Lovecraft's xenophobia, it critiques how history is approached by academics. Abdul Alhazred's title as the "Mad Arab" shows how non-Western scholars are othered and deemed "mad" for their practices and methodologies that do not align with traditional understanding.[20] The Necronomicon is crafted in an empty desert as its creation falls outside the realm of the approved methodologies and research of Western academia. When the Necronomicon appears throughout history it is suppressed by the authorities due to its heretical nature and often appears in times when there are perceived occult activities, such as in the belonging of a man during the Salem witch trials. However, by the 20th century, copies of the Necronomicon can be found in various Western universities, which, according to Haley, shows how the same institutions that have historically demonized and persecuted non-Western artifacts they have not understood will arbitrarily decide it is worth studying, as "it is no longer an item to be feared, but a curiosity to be studied and examined".[20]
Literary critic Ian Almond argues that the differences in analyzing Lovecraft's xenophobia in his works are a reflection of his own conflicting thoughts, simultaneously revealing his own racist assumptions about Arabic culture but also venerating it, given his love of One Thousand and One Nights.[21] Traditional Christian beliefs about Arabic culture in the Middle Ages held that the Middle East was a place of unholy, dark magics. Almond argues Lovecraft balances this belief with a Rosicrucian view of the Middle East as a place with alternative sources of knowledge, information and spirituality compared to traditional Christian dogma. Lovecraft was an atheist, but also held xenophobic ideas, so, according to Almond, an understanding of Lovecraft's worldview is incomplete without an acknowledgment of both sides of his writings.
Related Research Articles
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, to identify the settings, tropes, and lore that were employed by Lovecraft and his literary successors. The name "Cthulhu" derives from the central creature in Lovecraft's seminal short story "The Call of Cthulhu", first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928.
The Necronomicon, also referred to as the Book of the Dead, or under a purported original Arabic title of Kitab al-Azif, is a fictional grimoire appearing in stories by the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and his followers. It was first mentioned in Lovecraft's 1924 short story "The Hound", written in 1922, though its purported author, the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred, had been quoted a year earlier in Lovecraft's "The Nameless City". Among other things, the work contains an account of the Old Ones, their history, and the means for summoning them.
Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in the fictional town of Arkham in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River. After first appearing in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story "Herbert West–Reanimator", the school appeared in numerous Cthulhu Mythos stories by Lovecraft and other writers. The story "The Dunwich Horror" implies that Miskatonic University is a highly prestigious university, on par with Harvard University, and that Harvard and Miskatonic are the two most popular schools for the children of the Massachusetts "Old Gentry". The university also appears in role-playing games and board games based on the mythos.
Azathoth is a deity in the Cthulhu Mythos and Dream Cycle stories of writer H. P. Lovecraft and other authors. He is the ruler of the Outer Gods, and may be seen as a symbol for primordial chaos.
"The Nameless City" is a short horror story written by American writer H. P. Lovecraft in January 1921 and first published in the November 1921 issue of the amateur press journal The Wolverine. It is often considered the first story set in the Cthulhu Mythos world. In the story, the protagonist travels to the middle of the Arabian Desert to explore an ancient underground city.
Unaussprechliche Kulte is a fictional book of arcane literature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The book first appeared in Robert E. Howard's 1931 short stories "The Children of the Night" and "The Black Stone" as Nameless Cults. Like the Necronomicon, it was later mentioned in several stories by H. P. Lovecraft.
The Simon Necronomicon is a grimoire allegedly written by 'Simon' aka Peter Levenda. Materials presented in the book are a blend of ancient Middle Eastern elements, with allusions to the writings of H. P. Lovecraft and Aleister Crowley, woven together with a story about a man known as the "Mad Arab".
"The Black Stone" is a horror short story by American writer Robert E. Howard, first published in the November 1931 issue of Weird Tales. The story introduces the mad poet Justin Geoffrey and the fictitious Unaussprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich von Junzt. The story is part of the Cthulhu Mythos, and follows the same pattern and has the same features as much of H. P. Lovecraft's classic work.
"The Hound" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft in September 1922 and published in the February 1924 issue of Weird Tales. It contains the first mention of Lovecraft's fictional text the Necronomicon.
"The Horror at Red Hook" is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft, written on August 1–2, 1925. "Red Hook" is a transitional tale, situated between the author's earlier work and the later Cthulhu Mythos. Although the story depicts a sinister cult, this cult offers a conventionally occult devil-worshipping threat, rather than the cosmic threat depicted in his later work. Living in poverty in the slum of Red Hook at the time of writing, Lovecraft was at this time urgently attempting to widen his markets in the pulp magazines. By having an unusually proactive Irish New York police detective as his protagonist, he hoped for a swift sale to a detective pulp, which would have opened up a new market other than his usual Weird Tales magazine. He did not get such a sale, and had to fall back on Weird Tales. "Red Hook" was thus first published in the January 1927 issue of Weird Tales.
Peter Levenda is an American author who focuses primarily on occult history. He is best known for his book Unholy Alliance, which is about Esoteric Hitlerism and Nazi occultism.
Necronomicon is the second album by Neoclassical darkwave/dark ambient musical duo Nox Arcana published by Monolith Graphics on October 10, 2004. The music is inspired by the stories of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft and is a tribute to the Cthulhu Mythos.
Carpathia: A Dramatic Poem is the second studio album by German gothic metal band The Vision Bleak, released on 29 August 2005 through Prophecy Productions. A digipak edition containing four additional live bonus tracks was also released.
Alhazred is a 2006 Cthulhu Mythos novel by Canadian writer Donald Tyson. The book is a follow-up to Tyson's 2004 "translation" of the Necronomicon. Like Tyson's Necronomicon and related works, Alhazred draws heavily from the work of early 20th-century American fiction writer H. P. Lovecraft.
The Magical Revival is a nonfiction book written by British occultist Kenneth Grant, first published in 1972. It is the first of his "Typhonian Trilogy", which comprises this work and two others—Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God (1973) and Cults of the Shadow (1975). In this work, he introduced his theory that American horror author H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos was psychic revelation presented as fiction, an idea which he would elaborate and extend further in his later works.
"The Shambler from the Stars" is a horror short story by American writer Robert Bloch, first published in the September 1935 issue of Weird Tales. It was later included as part of his first published book, The Opener of the Way (1945), and his 1994 collection The Early Fears. A Cthulhu Mythos tale, it introduced the forbidden tome De Vermis Mysteriis. Later on in 1935, Lovecraft wrote the short story "The Haunter of the Dark" as a sequel and dedicated it to Bloch. Eventually, in 1950, Bloch wrote his own sequel "The Shadow from the Steeple".
That is Not Dead: Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos Through the Centuries is an anthology of original horror short stories edited by Darrell Schweitzer. It was first published in hardcover by PS Publishing in February 2015. It shares a title with That is Not Dead: The Black Magic & Occult Stories, a short story collection by August Derleth published in 2009. In both instances, the title is derived from a couplet by H. P. Lovecraft attributed to his fictional "mad poet" Abdul Alhazred: "That is not dead which can eternal lie, / And with strange aeons even death may die."
The NecronomiCon Providence, also known as the NecronomiCon Providence: The International Conference and Festival of Weird Fiction, Art, and Academia, is a biennial convention and academic conference held in Providence, Rhode Island. It explores the life and works of H. P. Lovecraft and other creators of weird fiction, film, and art of the past and the present. Originally billed as "the largest celebration ever of [Lovecraft's] work and influence", it has broadened its scope to examining and celebrating weird creative efforts internationally. The event is typically held on the weekend closest to Lovecraft's birthday of August 20th.
References
↑ Joshi, S.T.; Schultz, David E. (2004). An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Hippocampus Press. pp.111–112. ISBN978-0974878911.
↑ Lovecraft, H. P. (1938). A History of the Necronomicon. Oakman, AL: Rebel Press.
↑ Harms, Daniel; Wisdom-Gonce III, John (2003). The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind Lovecraft's Legend (2ed.). Wieser Books. pp.29–66. ISBN9781578632695.
1 2 Gonce III, John William (2003). The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind Lovecraft's Legend. Boston, MA: Red Wheel. p.88. ISBN9781578632695.
↑ Thompson Rare Books. "From The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis: An Important Collection of Books By Clark Ashton Smith". Catelogue No. 50.
↑ Harrison, Perry Neil (2019). "Review: H.P. Lovecraft: Selected Works, Critical Perspectives and Interviews on His Influence". Mythlore. 135.
1 2 Haley, Kenneth (2019). Pseudobiblia And Race In The Works Of H.P. Lovecraft. Northeastern University.
↑ Almond, Ian (2004). "The Darker Islam within the American Gothic: Sufi Motifs in the Stories of H.P. Lovecraft". Zeitschrift für Anglistik und Amerikanistik. 52 (3): 233. doi:10.1515/zaa.2004.52.3.231. S2CID163741453.
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