Principia Discordia - History

History

The Principia Discordia or How The West Was Lost was first published in a limited edition of five copies and released into the public domain in 1965. The full title of the fourth and most well-known edition is Principia Discordia or How I Found Goddess And What I Did To Her When I Found Her: The Magnum Opiate Of Malaclypse The Younger, Wherein is Explained Absolutely Everything Worth Knowing About Absolutely Anything.

Included on page 00075 is the following note about the history of the Principia:

This being the 4th Edition, March 1970, San Francisco; a revision of the 3rd Edition of 500 copies, whomped together in Tampa 1969; which revised the 2nd Edition of 100 copies from Los Angeles 1969; which was a revision of PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or HOW THE WEST WAS LOST published in New Orleans in 1965 in five copies, which were mostly lost.

Additionally, the "contents of this edition" note in the Loompanics edition identifies the fourth edition as having originally been published by Rip Off Press of San Francisco, California.

A "Fifth Edition" consisting of a single Western Union telegram page filled with the letter M was published as an appendix to the Loompanics and SJ Games re-printings of the 4th Edition.

In 1978, a copy of a work from Kerry Thornley titled "THE PRINCIPIA DISCORDIA or HOW THE WEST WAS LOST" was placed in the HSCA JFK collections as document 010857. A scan of this document has been identified as the first edition and uploaded to 23ae.com. The record identifier can be found by searching for Thornley and Discordian on nara.gov.

The Principia includes a notice which purports to disclaim any copyright in relation to the work: "Ⓚ All Rites Reversed - reprint what you like." Regardless of the legal effect of this notice, the Principia has been widely disseminated in the public domain via the Internet and more traditional print publishers. Some re-publishers have claimed copyright in relation to the additional material included in their editions.

Known reprintings of the Fourth and Fifth Editions:

  • Revisionist Press published a red hardcover of the Fourth Edition in 1976, adding a stamp reading "THIS WORK IS A BRIDGE SO MOVE ON THRU" to the right of the golden apple on page 00075. (ISBN 0-685-75085-X)
  • Loompanics Unlimited published a version (the "yellow cover version") in 1979, adding an introduction by Robert Anton Wilson, an afterword by Malaclypse the Younger, and the aforementioned "Fifth Edition". (ISBN 1-55950-040-9) This version is reprinted by Paladin Press under ISBN 1-58160-547-1.
  • Illuminet Press published a version (the "purple cover version") in 1991, adding an introduction by Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst. (ISBN 0-9626534-2-X)
  • Steve Jackson Games published a version (the "black cover version") in 1994, adding an introduction by Steve Jackson and 20 pages of new Discordian text, mostly collected from online Discordians. (ISBN 1-55634-320-5) Steve Jackson Games also publishes Discordian and Illuminati-inspired games, such as GURPS Illuminati and the Illuminati card game.
  • Ronin Publishing released a completely re-edited version in 2006 (ISBN 1-57951-029-9), under the title Discordia - Hail the Goddess of Chaos and Confusion. This edition features a co-credit on the cover for both Malaclypse the Younger and Lord Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst, a colour cover, numerous typographical errors, and is 192 pages in length. Most of the original artwork was replaced with low-quality clip-art.
  • Synaptyclypse Generator and Exposure Press released a hardcover version of the Fourth Edition on March 1, 2007 (ISBN 978-1-84685-604-4)/(ISBN 1-84685-604-4), the first hardcover edition since 1976. It includes both Robert Anton Wilson's and Kerry Thornley's introductions, and "outroductions" by Rev. DrJon Swabey and Adam Gorightly.
  • Forgotten Books released a "scanned and reformatted" edition in 2008. This edition is set in type, including the sections that were originally hand-lettered, and has no illustrations.

  • NARA Cover sheet for First Edition

  • "Yellow cover"
    Loompanics Unltd, 1979

  • "Pink" or "Purple cover"

  • "Black cover"

  • Discordia: Hail Eris Goddess of Chaos and Confusion

  • "Snake cover"

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