The C.F. Russell Catalogue
Cecil Frederick Russell
1897-1987
Russell wrote in 1922:
"Magick is aptly defined as the science and art of doing one's Will - achieving one's purpose, fulfilling the Law of THELEMA. Thus theoretical magick is the art of perfecting mental processes, and practical magick the art of perfecting volitional processes. These definitions are hardly conclusive, but they are scholarly enough for practical purposes, I think. I think that every member should be drilled in ceremonial magick until he subconsciously acquires the attitude of doing the right thing at the right moment with omnipotence at his command and eternity at his disposal. The ideas that dissolve the sin complex, viz that nothing really matters, that it is impossible to make a mistake, etc, cannot be rooted in the organism by any other method."
i) Earliest Works
Book Chameleon,
A New Version of the Favourite Book of Confucius, 11th April 1940 small format
(6ins x 4ins) card covered booklet 0000, 000, 00, 0 (ie iv) + 66pp Audacious new
version of the I Ching. Commences by ascribing alchemical, planetary, elemental
and zodiac aspects to the sectioned faces of a cube in an entirely logical
manner. The I Ching trigrams, planets, Daath & the sephiroth below Abyss,
planets and other attributes are then ascribed to the appropriate corners of the
cube. This cube, with its trigram attributions is then used to generate a whole
new and original version of the I Ching which in turn should be read with
special male and female dice He also ascribes numerical value to the Hebrew
Alphabet Order No. CRF02 £15
C.F. Russell, Provenance,
Bookhaven Press 1944 1st Ed Ltd. Ed. xiv + 98pp One of 50 copies issued
"For experienced bookmen only, not for sale" Bibliography of books in
his library. He eschews the homely production values of other productions.
Properly typeset and printed, bound in blue rexine, top edge trimmed and
coloured. It has the dust wrapper which carries the instruction "The
Dust-Jacket is a Collector's Item - save it" It carries an errata list,
plus a list of names indicating to whom copies were given. This copy has the
additional loose errata slip. A delightful testament to eccentric
bibliographical obsession, with useful mention of a couple of Crowley titles
Pages uncut. Mint in Fine DW . Order No. CRF03 £185
ii) Mathematical - Esoteric Works
Barbara
Cubed, The Manual of Pure Logic, Times-Mirror Press, April 1944,
Card Covered booklet 24pp. The reverse of the pre-title page signifies that this
work is intended for members of the Practicus grade. It presents an elegant
amalgam of logic, Venn diagrams, linguistics and alchemical concepts to generate
the Barbara Cubed concept, a subdivided cube with meaningful attributions Order
No. CRF04 £30
Tropermic
Calculus, Printed for the Author and His Friends by
Times-Mirror-Press, April 1944 vi + 42pp Reverse of the pre-title (or bastard
title as Russell refers to it) is a dedication to the grade of Adeptus. This
work explores the full set of different ways a cube may be placed in front of an
observer, which is titled a "Tablock", it then examines the
permutations between male and female tablocks Order No. CRF05 £30
Grammar
of Changes, Times-Mirror Press 1944 48pp Carrying on from
Tropermic Calculus this work explores the further permutations of male and
female cubes with alchemical, symbols attributed to various sections of the
side. Three dimensional manipulations of these cubes generate multiple
permutations of male and female charted here Order No. CRF06 £30
Combinational
Arithmetic, Times-Mirror Press 1st November1944 iv + 12pp An
original contribution to the theory of numbers. A "polygram" or
sequence of numbers can be generated from any number. The polygrams can then be
combined, like logarithms, to give easy answers to mathematical problems Order
No. CRF07 £30
Manual
of Electrocombinational Engineering, Times-Mirror Press, 17th
April 1944, Card covered booklet 16pp Gives detailed instructions including
wiring diagrams etc for constructing a series of electronic devices:- the Log-in
which solves logical deductions; the Trigrammatron to demonstrate the
relationship of the components of the I Ching; the Cubatron which demonstrates
the relationship between the points of the cube generated in Book Chameleon; The
Zo-tron (or Crystomat) explores the relationship of the astrological signs; the
Sextron explores a trigrammatic analysis of the cube; the Tertron explores the
third degree cube; the Tertron is an electronic incorporation of the
"second-degree tetrak" which it notes is a fourth dimensional
configuration, the Compatron; the Tetrapermutron etc. Presumably the references
to the degrees relate to the Gnostic Brotherhood of God, positive-negative /
male-female reference occur frequently Order No. CRF08 £30
Note an order for one copy each of these items:- Barbara Cubed Tropermic
Calculus Grammar of Changes Combinational Arithmetic Manual of
Electrocombinational Engineering Order No. CRF09 £120 (saving 20%)
iii) Chinese related works and Russell's development of Ming
Abso-Ming-Wen-Lutely Absey-Booke, Reed Litho 30th Sept. 1954 32pp card covered
booklet. A free flowing poetry that associates Chinese words with western
esoteric, religious and philosophical ideas, with some whimsy and humour. In
Znuz is Znees the author states that this poem can be intoned to the phallus in
magical ritual Order No. CRF10 £18
Book
of Radicals, Shu Pu, Reed Litho 7th October 1954, 8pp booklet.
Giving Chinese figures, their sound, a basic English meaning and a numerical
value. Order No. CRF11 £18
Rime
Store, Yon Fer, Reed Litho 12th Nov. 1954 48pp card covered
booklet. As with Abso-Ming-Wen-Lutely Absey-Booke a Chinese name is given then
is English equivalent and a further definition which gives Russell the
opportunity to express his own meanings n this booklet the Ming words are
rhymed. It is a rhyming dictionary of Ming.Order No. CRF12 £18
Rough
Cloth, Zao Jing, 24th November 1954 Card covered 48pp Chinese
pictograms rendered into English Order No. CRF13 £18
Silver
Cradle, Yut Wo, 22 December 1954 Card covered booklet 24pp
Further investigation of nature of Chinese pictograms Ming dictionary in order
of the count of strokes to make the character. Order No. CRF14 £18
Note an order for one copy each of these items:- Abso-Ming-Wen-Lutely
Absey-Booke Book of Radicals, Shu Pu Rime Store, Yon Fer Rough Cloth Silver
Cradle Order No. CRF15 £70 (saving 22%)
iv) Ming teachings
The following booklets are written in Russell's Ming Dialect of Chinese employed
for its compactness as it permits the exercise diagrams, description of contents
and instructions as to how the draw the diagrams to all exist on the same page.
Serious study with require the student to learn about three dozen Ming words.
Occasionally English translation is given to assist the student.
A translation device for Russell's use of Ming can be found here:- http://icybermind.net/mingdict1.html
(complete, with characters) http://icybermind.net/mingdict1.html (faster,
without characters)
Dragon
Pearls, Maw Ni, 17th January 1955 Card covered booklet 32pp
Exploring geometry and Ming words. Translation of the Ming can be found at:-
http://fastblogit.com/tags/dragon%20pearls Order No. CRF16 £42
Gentle
Rain, Sun Zy, 1st February 1955 Card covered booklet 16pp
Further investigation of projective geometry and mystic Ming pictograms. A
translation of the paragraph headings forming a table of contents can be found
at:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/sun%20zyun Order No. CRF17 £42
Wild
Rice, Yieh Mee, 21st February 1955 Card covered booklet 32pp
pictograms and sacred geometry. Most pages are headed S.'.S.'.S.'. an enigmatic
19th Century occult order sometimes associated with Emma Harding Brittain but
probably here representing Shoon Szu Shoon which it may mean the conjoined
embryo and serpent with a monkey on either side, perhaps the new form of the
Gnostic Brotherhood of God Subsequent booklet also carry the S.'.S.'.S.'. Table
of contents (translated) can be found at:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/wild%20rice
Order No. CRF18 £42
Jade
Mirror, Yok Kyn, Card covered booklet 32pp Increasingly complex
and dense exploration of Ming, maths and geometry. Table of contents in English
can be found at:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/jade%20mirror Order No. CRF19 £42
Hill
Road, Sang Lo, 16th April 1955, Card covered booklet 32pp
Entirely in Ming Table of contents in English can be found here:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/hill%20road
Order No. CRF20 £42
Spring
Palace, Jun Koong, 14th May 1955, Card covered booklet 32pp
Entirely in Ming. Table of contents in English can be found here:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/spring%20palace
Order No. CRF21 £42
Water
Chestnuts, Chek Sak, 11th June 1955, Card covered booklet 32pp
Entirely in Ming. Table of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/water%20chestnuts
Order No. CRF22 £42
Open
Door, Tek Men, 26th July 1955, Card covered booklet 32pp
Entirely in Ming. Table of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/open%20door
Order No. CRF23 £42
Gnaw
Through, Zhi Gah, 30th August 1955, Card covered booklet 32pp
Entirely Ming. Translated table of contents:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/gnaw%20through
Order No. CRF24 £42
Horseback,
Mar Siang, 11 October 1955, Card covered booklet 32pp In English and Ming. Table
of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/horseback Order No. CRF25 £42
Mud
Hut, Mao Sha, 15 November 1955, Attractive green and gold card
covered booklet 32pp In English and Ming. Table of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/mud%20hut
Order No. CRF26 £42
North
Well, Bo Dzing, 3rd January 1956, Card covered booklet 32pp
Exploration of geometry, maths and Ming. Translated table of contents:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/north%20well
Order No. CRF27 £42
Millet
Valley, Sah Kuk, 14th February 1956, Card covered booklet 32pp
Further exploration of Ming. Table of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/millet%20valley
Order No. CRF28 £42
Copper
Kettle, Toong Du, 20th March 1956, Card covered booklet 32pp
Given the date the card has a surprisingly good beaten copper effect. In Ming.
Table of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/copper%20kettle Order
No. CRF29 £42
Peppermint,
Poh Hoh, 15th June 1956, Card covered booklet 32pp Exploration of projective
geometry in Ming. Table of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/peppermint
Order No. CRF30 £42
Blooming
Umbrella, Hwa Chi, 10th October 1956, Card covered booklet 32pp
Investigation utilising Ming, includes analysis of the Tree of Life. Table of
contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/blooming%20umbrella Order No.
CRF30 £42
Phenix
Marrow, Fung Swi, 18th April 1957, Card covered booklet 32pp In
English and Ming. Table of contents in English:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/phenix%20marrow
Order No. CRF31 £42
Lantern
Riddles, Ten Mi, 3rd May 1957, Card covered booklet 32pp In
English and Ming. Translated table of contents:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/lantern%20riddles
Order No. CRF32 £42
Note an order for one copy each of these items:- Dragon Pearls Gentle Rain Wild
Rice Jade Mirror Hill Road Spring Palace Water Chestnuts Open Door Gnaw Through
Horseback Mud Hut North Well Millet Valley Copper Kettle Peppermint Blooming
Umbrella Phenix Marrow Lantern Riddles Order No. CRF33 £550 (saving 27.25%)
v) A summary of teachings
Book
Chameleon, A New Version in Verse of the Yi King, 2nd Ed. June
1967 Paperback xx + 164pp This work has a new 8pp introduction in which Russell
speaks with lucidity and clarity about his magical system and its place in
religious and occult beliefs and practices. Two paintings by Russell are
reproduced as is Rough Cloth plus an excerpt from Silver Cradle. There is a
supplement in Ming by Waw (presumably an identity or contact of Russell's. As
Genesthai he translates this into English, it is 4pp piece on sex magick with a
reference to LSD. This work presents Russell's understanding of sex magick in
greater clarity than anywhere else. The cover has a deliberately phallic design
and Russell apparently used sex magic in the production of the poetic
versification of this classic of changes. More information can be found at:-http://fastblogit.com/permalink/?item=3222
Order No. CRF34 £110
vi) The autobiography
Russell's autobiography, Znuz is Znees, The tables of contents of all 4 volumes
can be found at:- http://fastblogit.com/tags/znuz%20is%20znees
Znuz is Znees (Vol.I),
Published by the Author 1969, Large format hardback 11ins x 9ins vi + 77pp
Diagrams. Rather than presenting a chronological description of the author's
life each chapter describes a category of life experience. After the prologue
the author shares his distrust of doctors, gives a detailed bibliography of his
publications, provides scatological anecdote and gives some account of his
education. Another describes sexual experience. He also describes his first
encounters with Crowley and how he was initiated into the IIIrd degree OTO. Much
of the book is given over to geometrical exploration utilising the authors
unique system of symbolism with the intent that traditional Euclidian geometry
is transformed to manifest Infinity upon the page. Very sight and unobtrusive
marks to paper covering the boards, generally Fine Order No. CRF35 £245
Znuz
is Znees (Vol.I), Memoirs of a Magician, Revised and Enlarged
2nd Ed. Published by the Author 1970 Large format hardback Illustrations and
diagrams. 11ins x 9ins 0000 (ie 4pp of preliminaries in author's original form
of pagination) + iv Prologue + 161pp. This edition has very substantial
additional sections including:- a chapter of anecdotes and opinion concerning
food and drink and also ether used as a drug; an exploration of letter sounds
and poetry; his very varied work career; encounters with prostitutes etc. He
also describes his ex-pupil Louis T. Culling and recommends his publication the
Complete Magick Curriculum of the G.'.B.'.G.'. then makes corrections and
comments which make it clear that Culling never had the complete system. He
gives indications as to important sex magick teachings in his published works.
He also describes some additions to his library since the publication of
Provenance Near Mint Order No. CRF36 £150
Znuz is Znees, Memoirs
of a Magician Volume II, Published by the Author 1970 (v) +
(99pp) - actual pagination continues on from 2nd Ed. of Vol.I Continues the
exploration of transcendent geometry. Describes his experiences at Cefalu
including details of his sex magick workings with Crowley and gives his magickal
diary for his famous eight day magical retirement in a hut atop a rock. Also
describes Frank Bennett and other members of the group. The author explores the
nature of male and female through mathematical permutations. He describes the
Tree of Life to which he applies geometric permutations; the Log-in his
electronic device for exploring logic. The chapters titled "Block
Working" and "Frame Working" are important as they relate to the
first G.'.B.'.G.'. teachings relating to cubes, the first reproduces photographs
of Russell's own physical constructions, very reminiscent of Enochian tablets. A
method for combining the forces of two I Ching hexagrams is examined as are the
principles of Yoga. A number of photographs of the author are reproduced.
Unobtrusive crayon mark on back cover otherwise Fine Order No. CRF37 £150
Znuz is Znees, Memoirs
of a Magician Volume III, Published by the Author 1972 (vii)
+ (354pp) actual pagination following on from Vol.II Illustrated In this work
Russell gives excerpts from the G.'.B.'.G.'. texts Tai Shu and Thun Tsiu where
Chinese and other mythologies are explored in word and image, the artwork is
vibrant and naïve. It would appear he was endeavouring to develop a new
language with which to communicate the Mysteries. The Chinese related concepts
are then harnessed to mathematical and geometric permutations and a glossary of
terms is generated. Various photographs also reproduced. Fine Order No. CRF34 £330
Znuz is Znees, Memoirs
of a Magician Volume IV, Published by the Author 1972 (vi)
+ (42pp) actual pagination following on from Vol.II. Here Russell uses
projective geometry to explore the proof of Fermat's last theorem, a
mathematical problem first set forth in the 17th Century. Fine Order No. CRF34
£68
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