TSOU -- Ibid
Daniel Harms
The Shadow over Usenet
"Ibid"
Sources: _Beyond the Wall of Sleep_, _Miscellaneous Writings_,
Arkham.
Synopsis: A brief description of the life of the Roman scholar
Caius Anicius Ibidus, one of the most obscure of all such
individuals. This biography covers his life and death, but spends
considerably more time tracing the path of his skull, which
came into the hands of such honored individuals as Charlemagne,
the Pequot chief Canonchet, and the adventurer Read-'em-and-
Weep Hopkins. The skull finally resurfaced (literally) in Milwaukee
to the awe of all who saw it.
Comments: This is actually a parodic piece which serves as a
send-up of pompous scholarship. It appeared first in a letter
to Maurice W. Moe, a schoolteacher who often corresponded
with Lovecraft. "Ibid" is actually a standard abbreviation in
footnotes which is used to indicate when one is quoting from
the source named immediately above it, like so:
[1] Lovecraft, H. P. _Miscellaneous Writings_. Sauk City,
Arkham. 1996. p. 54.
[2] Ibid., p. 55.
One of Moe's students considered "Ibid" to be
an actual person, and when Moe informed Lovecraft of
this, he responded with a long-winded essay about the
imaginary Roman scholar and saint Ibid.
I really don't have much to say about this, but I would
like to quote at least one part to give a feel about how Lovecraft
was not only sending up scholars in general, but himself as well:
So for generations did the sainted skull of Caius Anicius
Magnus Furius Camillus Aemilianus Cornelius Valerius
Pompeius Julius Ibidus, consul of Rome, favourite of
emperors, and saint of the Romish church, lie hidden
beneath the soil of a growing town. At first worshiped
with dark rites by the prairie-dogs, who saw in it a deity
sent from the upper world, it afterward fell into dire
neglect as the race of simple, artless burrowers succumbed
before the onslaught of the conquering Aryan.
Well, I found it interesting at any rate. Good night.
Daniel Harms "...red hair and cross eyes
Box 3793 Station B have no symbolic significance
Vanderbilt U. in the composition of the
Nashville, TN 37235 civilization." -- H. P. Lovecraft
har...@ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
cl...@columbia-center.org
". . . As Ibid says in his famous _Lives of the Poets_."
This quote from a student theme was the foundation of Lovecraft's "Ibid"
(1928 but not published till 1938). Cf.:
"Ibid was a famous Latin poet."
This comes from _The Pocket Book of Boners: An Omnibus of Schoolboy
Howlers and Unconscious Humor_. Published in 1934, this collects four
earlier Boners books, published in 1931 and 1932, which derived from
newspaper columns (I think). (And it's illustrated by Dr. Seuss!)
The entire book is a collection, often hilarious, of such student
mistakes, many of which I've seen in more recent collections of such. I
suppose it is possible that Moe contributed this one, and that Lovecraft
altered it to suit his essay. I know of no evidence for this, however.
Still, the time would be about right.
----------------------------------------
Dan Clore
mailto:cl...@columbia-center.org
The Website of Lord We˙rdgliffe
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/index.html
Welcome to the Waughters....
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Because the true mysteries cannot be profaned....
"Hziulquoigmnzhah" (hziulquo...@cykranosh.com) wrote:
> Iqhui dlosh odhqlonqh!
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