By Donald P. Dulchinos
Autonomedia Press, 1998.
"Drinking buddy of Whitman and Twain, New York Bohemian of the Sixties (1860's, that is), pioneer psychedelic psychonaut and frontier Pythagorean, America's first Hasheesh Eater and confessional junky - this is the definitive biography of our psychic great-grandfather - Fitz Hugh Ludlow."
- Hakim Bey, author, Temporary Autonomous Zones.
"The most long-awaited of any 19th-century American biography. Through a wealth of newly discovered data, Dulchinos describes the circumstances that led to the making of the 'American DeQuincey'. Fitz Hugh Ludlow has at last found his biographer."
- Michael Horowitz, founder, Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library
Available through these distributors.
A short introduction to the life of Fitz Hugh Ludlow, Pioneer of Inner Space.
Ludlow was a friend to both Walt Whitman and Mark Twain, the forerunners of modern American poetry and prose.
An analytical article by Donald P. Dulchinos about the drug-related writings of Fitz Hugh Ludlow appears in the new anthology, Psychedelics Reimagined, forthcoming from Autonomedia Press.
An interview with the author appears on The Well’s Inkwell conference.
Bibliography of the works of Fitz Hugh Ludlow Ludlow.
Ludlow is best known for The Hasheesh Eater, which has been republished in new editions many times over the past 140 years. However, he published a large number of stories, articles, books and ephemera that were never reprinted. Some of these are reprinted below.
The complete text of an 1859 short story by Ludlow, entitled The Phial of Dread may be seen here.
The complete text of an 1861 short story by Ludlow, entitled The Taxidermist may be seen here.
The complete text of an 1862 short story by Ludlow, entitled The Music Essence may be seen here.
Links of Interest
A number of other writings, including excerpts from The Hasheesh Eater, may be found in the Fitz Hugh Ludlow Hypertext Collection at The Lyceum, a comprehensive Web site devoted to drugs and their effects on mind and society.
The author of Pioneer of Inner Space has a small site of his own writings of related interests and a few additional links.
A portrait of Ludlow by Frank Carpenter, portraitist of Abraham Lincoln and other prominent figures of the Civil War era, and a close friend of Ludlow's. The ravages of tuberculosis are evident in this picture, painted just 8 years after the above photograph.
