Books & Pamphlets

Benjamin De Casseres published and contributed to many books over the course of his career. Many were collections of articles, stories, poetry, or letters he had written at other times.

In his later years, De Casseres self-published a series of pamphlets that he sent to subscribers via mail. Some of these were updated or expanded versions of articles published during from his Hearst syndicated columns, while others presented new writings of novel exploration.

This page lists his books and pamphlets in publication order, along with available information about editions.

Books by Benjamin De Casseres

The Shadow-Eater

New York: Albert and Charles Boni
1915

A collection of poetry, some of which were printed elsewhere previously. Includes De Casseres’ most famous poem: “Moth-Terror.” 59 pages.

The Shadow-Eater by Benjamin De Casseres

Chameleon: Being the Book of My Selves

New York: Lieber & Lewis
1922

A collection of essays and articles printed between 1903 and 1915 in the New York Sun, The Philistine, Mind, Reedy’s Mirror, The Critic, Liberty, Moods and Wiltshire’s Magazine.

Chameleon: Being a Book of My Selves by Benjamin De Casseres

The Shadow-Eater: New Edition

New York: American Library Service
1923

A reprinted edition of The Shadow-Eater that includes a new preface by Don Marquis, along with an illustration of the poem “The Dead Who Live” by Wallace Smith. This edition includes all poems from the first edition, except “Love The Destroyer.” 61 pages.

The Shadow-Eater (1923 ed.), by Benjamin Decasseres

Mirrors of New York

New York: Joseph Lawren
1925

A collection of reprinted articles about New York City printed between 1914 and 1925 in The New York Times, the Morning Telegraph and The Smart Set. 221 pages.

Mirrors of New York

James Gibbons Huneker

New York: Joseph Lawren
1925

A small collection of articles on the American critic James Gibbons Huneker, previously printed in the New York Times, Musical America and The Nation. 40 pages.

James Gibbon Huneker by Benjamin De Casseres

Forty Immortals

New York: Joseph Lawren; Seven Arts Publishing Company
1926

As the title implies, this book consists of sketches of 40 individuals whom De Casseres considered “immortal,” including Friedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Hardy, Baruch Spinoza, Henry David Thoreau, and so on. All sketches were articles previously published in newspapers and magazines between 1900-1925.

Forty Immortals, by Benjamin De Casseres

Anathema! Litanies of Negation

New York: Gotham Book Mart
1928

A prose poem in 55 parts, Anathema is described by Eugene O’Neill in the introduction as “far more than a hymn of renunciation. It is the torment and ecstasy of a mystic’s questioning of life.” 44 pages.

Anathema! Litanies of Negation, by Benjamin De Casseres

Mencken and Shaw: The Anatomy of America’s Voltaire and England’s Other John Bull

New York: Silas Newton
1930

This book contrasts the polemics and public personas of two very different men: H. L. Mencken the individualist, and George Bernard Shaw the “mass-minded, mob-minded, gutter-minded” (in the author’s words). 146 pages.

Mencken & Shaw (dust jacket), by Benjamin de Casseres

Love Letters of a Living Poet

New York: Ray Long & Richard R. Smith
1931

A collection of letters from De Casseres to Adella Mary “Bio” Terrill, and later his wife. 234 pages.


Spinoza: Liberator of God and Man, 1632-1932

New York: E. Wickham Sweetland
1932

According to the foreword, “This is book is an exposition of the mind and doctrines of Spinoza in my [De Casseres’] own terms.” 145 pages.

Spinoza: Liberator of God and Man, 1632-1932, by Benjamin De Casseres

When Huck Finn Went Highbrow

New York: T. F. Madigan
1934

This book contains an essay inspired by a letter written from Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) to Mary H. Foote in December 1887. Includes a facsimile of the letter. 12 pages.

When Huck Finn Went Highbrow, by Benjamin De Casseres

The Muse of Lies

Newark, NJ: The Rose Printers & Publishers
1936

This book is a paean to the “Tenth Muse” who rules over Illusion and all it contains in the “phenomenal and mental worlds.” 149 pages.

“The DeCasseres Books”

In 1936, Benjamin De Casseres self-published a series of pamphlets that he called “The DeCasseres Books.” (Not to be confused with his earlier book-length works and collections.) He sold these pamphlets by monthly subscription for about two years.

1936

Book 1 – Exhibition: A New Theory of Evolution

Book 2 – The Individual Against Moloch

Book 3 – Black Suns

Book 4 – The Eternal Return

Book 5 – The Eighth Heaven

Book 6 – DeGaultier & LaRochefoucauld

Book 7 – The Elect and the Damned

Book 8 – Saint Tantalus, Part 1

Book 9 – The Adventures of an Exile

Book 10 – I Dance With Nietzsche

Book 11 – Broken Images

Book 12 – Raiders of the Absolute

1937

Book 13 – Fantasia Impromptu: the Adventures of an Intellectual Faun (Part 1)

Book 14 – Spinoza Against the Rabbis

Book 15 – Fantasia Impromptu (Part 2)

Book 16 – Chiron the Centaur

Book 17 – Fantasia Impromptu (Part 3)

Book 18 – The Last Supper

Listed as “Mirth-o’-God” in a New York Times advertisement

Book 19 – Fantasia Impromptu (Part 4)

Book 20 – Sir Galahad: Knight of the Lidless Eye

Book 21 – Fantasia Impromptu (Part 5)

Book 22 – Saint Tantalus (Part 2)

Listed as “Dionysus and Maya” in a New York Times advertisement

Book 23 – Fantasia Impromptu (Part 6)

Other Pamphlets

What Is a Doodle-Goof? (1926)

Germans, Jews and France (1935)

The Communist-Parasite State (1936)

To Hell with DeCasseres! (1937)

Don Marquis (1938)

Saint Tantalus, Part 2 (1938)

Finis! (1945)

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