Psychedelic Prophets: The Letters of Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond

729 Pages·2018·3.92 MB·English

by  Cynthia Carson Bisbee

psychedelic prophets
mcgill-queen’s/associated medical services studies
in the history of medicine, health, and society
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Psychedelic Prophets
The Letters of Aldous Huxley
and Humphry Osmond
edited by cynthia carson bisbee, paul bisbee,
erika dyck, patrick farrell, james sexton,
and james w. spisak
McGill- Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Chicago
© McGill- Queen’s University Press 2018
ISBN 978-0-7735-5506-8 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5602-7 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-0-7735-5603-4 (ePUB)
Legal deposit fourth quarter 2018
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
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This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to
Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts,
which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians
throughout the country.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier,
le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie
des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Psychedelic prophets : the letters of Aldous Huxley and Humphry Osmond / edited by
Cynthia Carson Bisbee, Paul Bisbee, Erika Dyck, Patrick Farrell, James Sexton,
and James W. Spisak.
(McGill-Queen’s/Associated Medical Services studies in the history of medicine, health,
and society ; 48)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-0-7735-5506-8 (cloth). – ISBN 978-0-7735-5602-7 (ePDF). –
ISBN 978-0-7735-5603-4 (ePUB)
1. Huxley, Aldous, 1894–1963 – Correspondence. 2. Osmond, Humphry – Correspondence.
3. Authors, English – 20th century – Correspondence. 4. Psychiatrists – Saskatchewan –
Correspondence. 5. Hallucinogenic drugs – Therapeutic use. 6. lsd (Drug) – Therapeutic
use. 7. Schizophrenia – Treatment. 8. Mental illness – Treatment. 9. Personal
Correspondence. I. Bisbee, Cynthia Carson, editor II. Sexton, James, editor III. Spisak,
James W., editor IV. Dyck, Erika, editor V. Bisbee, Paul, 1945–, editor VI. Farrell, Patrick,
1978–, editor VII. Series: McGill–Queen’s/Associated Medical Services studies in the
history of medicine, health, and society ; 48
pr6015.u9z48 2018 823’.912 c2018-903727-x
c2018-903728-8
This book was typeset in 10.5/13 Sabon.
Contents
Preface / ix
Acknowledgments / xiii
Illustrations / xv
Introduction / xxv
Editors’ Note / lxxvii
1953 / 3
1954 / 58
1955 / 148
1956 / 244
1957 / 315
1958 / 357
1959 / 409
1960 / 438
1961 / 469
1962 / 498
1963 / 518
viii Contents
Epilogue / 537
Note on the Appendices / 547
Appendix 1: Letters between Humphry Osmond and Maria Huxley,
1953–1955 / 549
Appendix 2: lsd Experience of 7 November 1956:
Letters between Humphry Osmond and Matthew, Ellen, and
Francis Huxley / 555
Appendix 3: Aldous Huxley’s Account of Maria Huxley’s Last Days,
ca. 15 February 1955 / 612
Appendix 4: Humphry Osmond’s Statement on Peyote,
5 November 1955 / 617
Bibliography / 621
About the Editors / 629
Index / 631
Preface
In March 1953, Aldous Huxley sent an “appreciative note” to the psy-
chiatrist Humphry Osmond about an article that Osmond and Dr John
Smythies had just published on their experiments with mescaline.1 He
included a copy of his novel The Devils of Loudon (1952) with his note.
Osmond responded to this note promptly and thus initiated a close
friendship that grew quickly and lasted over ten years until Huxley’s
death in 1963.
In Osmond’s remarks in Aldous Huxley, 1894–1963, the memorial
volume compiled by Huxley’s brother Julian, we learn that both he and
the Huxleys were slightly apprehensive about his being their house guest
since they had not previously met. He recounts the story as it was told to
him by Huxley’s first wife, Maria:
One morning at breakfast, Aldous looked up from his mail and said,
“Let’s ask this fellow Osmond to stay.” Maria was surprised because
Aldous rarely suggested asking anyone to stay and she had never
heard of “this fellow.” Aldous enlightened her, “He’s a Canadian psy-
chiatrist who works with mescalin.” Maria replied, “But he may have
a beard and we may not like him.” Aldous thought for a bit, and
said, “If we don’t like him we can always be out” ... I was also appre-
hensive, but my wife pointed out, “It will only be for a few days,
and you can always be kept late by an apa [American Psychiatric
Association] session.”2
Maria was quickly put at ease when she realized Humphry, like Aldous,
was English. As Osmond recalls, “To Maria, Englishmen were largely
incomprehensible except to each other.”3