Collecting information on this iconoclast.
Benjamin DeCasseres, who wrote intertitles for films produced by the Famous Players–Lasky Corporation—including the first American release of Nosferatu—leaked to his friend H. L. Mencken the Pennsylvania State Board of Censors’ notes for one of the films he was working on. Mencken, amused by the absurdity of the mandated moral “corrections,” published the list verbatim Continue reading Lifting…
All Music Has Touch of Satanism By Benjamin De Casseres Detroit Evening Times (Detroit, MI), July 29, 1941 One of the pastimes of the human mind when nations go to war is to “find the goat” — the “evil genius” behind the people or the government that you hate. A writer in a New York Continue reading All Music Has Touch of Satanism
GET THE NONSENSE HABIT NONSENSE is a fine art. It is a great antidote to the Tower of Babel, which is the great symbol of man’s, devitalizing seriousness. The secret of the tremendous hold of the “movies” on people is rooted in their sheer nonsense. They are the necessary antidote to the hours piled on Continue reading “Get the Nonsense Habit,” The Red Cross Magazine 16, no. 8 (August 1920): 26.
There has been very little written about the 4 to 6 months that Benjamin DeCasseres was in Mexico as an editorial writer for El Diario, and nearly none of the papers he write for are available in online archives. I have found and translated the following item from another newspaper, reporting on and quoting Ben s Continue reading
The following letter was published in the June 1, 1913 edition of Mercure de France. A new English translation precedes a transcription of the French that was published. About Walt Whitman New York, May 8, 1913 To Mr. Alfred Vallette, Dear Sir, All honor to Stuart Merrill for his glorious defense of Walt Whitman! We, Continue reading DeCasseres on the orgy of Walt Whitman s funeral in the Mercure…
The following was printed in The Sun (New York) in the September 03, 1914 issue. KEEP COOL. Advice of a Philosopher Who Ponders the Eternal Flux of Things. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: To those who think in units of fifty thousand years instead of in units of five years, as does the average Continue reading KEEP COOL. Advice of a Philosopher Who Ponders the Eternal Flux of Things.
The following 10 essays were from Benjamin DeCasseres syndicated newspaper column that would later be known as the March of Events, but went by different names or none at all. We have proofread the text, done basic formatting, and added the dates published. All examples below were transcribed from the Syracuse New York Journal. Eventually, Continue reading 10 from March of Events
The following essay by Benjamin DeCasseres was published in E. Haldeman-Julius’ “Little Blue Book” No. 1411, titled The Real Thomas Edison, published circa 1929. Haldeman-Julius had a page count that he wanted to reach for his famous little booklets, and since the titular essay only constituted 15 pages, we can assume he included the three Continue reading DEUS AMERICANUS (1929)
The Pomona Progress Bulletin (Pomona, California)12 May 1932 (Page 14) NEW YORK (U.P.) Literary tastes differ among leading authors and editors of the United States, according to a symposium collected by the United Press. A number of prominent writers were asked to name three recently published books particularly to their liking. Their selections follow: H. Continue reading FIND AUTHOR S TASTES…
Celebrating the 300th birthday of his relative Benedict Spinoza (1632 – 1677) saw Benjamin DeCasseres release two volumes about the man and his work. The first was Spinoza: Liberator of God and Man in 1933, and the second was Spinoza Against the Rabbis in 1937. This new edition combines them both for the first time, Continue reading Spinoza: Liberator of God and Man Against the Rabbis