FWIW: despite Langford’s talk about “tales on the Internet”, that’s the first mention I’ve ever heard of a 1907 Necronomicon. Regardless of the immediate debunking, I’m pretty sure Langford’s still trying to spread tales there. The other stuff is pretty much accurate.
This also gives me an excuse to link to
this site that I found yesterday. It’s in Japanese, but the pictures say it all. Click on the link for more… if you dare.
Thank you for the information on Hastur, Some Guy. I like the “benign pastoral deity” persona, which is also the original Hastur.
Howcum no-one’s mentioning “The King in Yellow”?
Uh, John W. Kennedy, it’s been mentioned twice in this thread.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned the fact that back in 1980, TSR released the book “Deities & Demigods” for it’s Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game. In that first edition was included almost the entire Lovecraftian “Old Ones” mythos. That section was pulled from later editions because of some sort of complaints about it. (copyrights or mad mothers, can’t remember) The books that have that section in it have become quite valuable from what I hear.
Catmandu42 wrote:
Dammit! I actually gave all my old D&D stuff away quite some time ago because it was taking up too much space. My copy of Deities & Demigods was first edition.
As for why that book hasn’t been discussed - my only guess would be that it’s not the best of references works. 
By the way, thanks Some Guy, for the explanation on Hastur. My first post in this thread was meant as nothing but a joke, as my old D&D buddies who had some belief (however small) in the reality of the mythos would visibly cringe whenever I said ‘Hastur’ in their presence.
Of course, to some who think that perception somehow makes reality, I’m just playing with fire. Which brings to mind the old Fineous Fingers cartoons in Dragon magazine. In the Fineous Treasury, there’s a great bit where Fineous and a friend are stuck at a door in a dungeon. Fineous is busy trying to pick the lock, when his friend suddenly shouts, “Crom! Odin! Zeus!”
Fineous (going by memory): “Hey! You can’t just go around calling on Gods that way! I mean, what if I were to say ‘Asmodeus’ and…”
-POOF-
Asmodeus: “You called?”
The point being, if Hastur ever becomes real, I’m completely screwed, retroactively.
I’ve seen it.
The University of Iowa Main Library has a copy in their Special Collections wing (for old and rare books, so they can’t be checked out). Here’s some info from the catalogue:
Author Alhazred, Abdul.
Title Al azif (the Necronomicon) by Abdul Alhazred. Pref. by L. Sprague de Camp.
Published Philadelphia, Owlswick Press, 1973.
ISBN 0913896012
Description xi [197] p. 26 cm.
Subject Manuscripts – Facsimiles.
Authors, etc. De Camp, L. Sprague (Lyon Sprague), 1907-
Other titles The Necronomicon.
General Note Facsim. of reputed Duriac manuscript.
General Note Edition limited to 348 copies.
Local Note Introd. signed: L. Sprague de Camp.
System Number xxxxxxxxx
Format BK
Location SPECIAL COLLECTIONS x-Collection xxxxxx .xxxxx
I covered up some numbers above to be safe.
To view it, I had to submit the catalogue number, have it brought to me, stay in the wing’s reading area, and set it on a shelf when I was done.
The book was number 203, I think. Definately a fake, but probably the most legitimate looking Necronomicon around.
At least there’s no mention of the name ‘Simon’, or mixing of Sumarian mythology.
Our favorite publisher of Christian tracts, Jack T. Chick, believes that the Necronomicon is real. Read about it here, in his anti-Dungeons & Dragons article. If you don’t want to read the article in its entirety (though it is amusing) read this quote:
Yeah, surrrrre you have… :rolleyes:
I have no doubt whatsoever that Mr Chick has watched the destruction of many young minds and souls. I have no doubt that he has encouraged and actively participated in that destruction.
But he didn’t use the Necronomicon. He used the Bible-according-to-Chick.
Wow! How valuable are we talking about?
(I still have my entire collection of AD&D stuff dating from 1979 to 1983. It includes the original Monster Manual, Dungeon Master’s Guide, Players Handbook, Fiend Folio, and Deities & Demigods. I’ve also got about 20 modules of the same time period.)
I’ve seen the same book at the Bloomington campus of Indiana University in the Lilly Library of Rare Books and Manuscripts. I too had to give the information to the librarian and she brought the book out with gloved hands and instructed me to turn the pages with a little spatula that she provided (wouldn’t want finger oils and such ruining the book). The edition I was presented had one great drawback though, it was written in a language I did not recognize. Oh, and it was written backward too if I remember (but I could have had the book upside down). You can see the entry at:
[ Alas, link no longer works and has been disabled by Administrator on 11/21/01 ]
[Edited by C K Dexter Haven on 11-21-2001 at 07:50 AM]
That link doesn’t work.
That language is an old form of Arabic (I think it starts with a “D”.) Arabic is written from right to left (like Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese,) and books in these languages have are also “backwards” compared to western books (“back” cover is the “front” cover).
Not that it really matters, since it’s just the same dozen or so lines of text repeated randomly for several hundred pages.
Amazon’s got the de Camp Necronomicon for sale. Paperback. Pfui! Any self-respecting publisher will put out grimoires in quality hard-bound leather, or not even bother. That’s why I make MY Necromicon the SIMON Necronomicon. It’s cool lookin’. I agree with folks: great report, Dex.