Historical locations related to L.W. de Laurence - Edited!

On Halloween I decided to stop by some locations of interest regarding L.W. de Laurence. De Laurence was a local publisher, hypnotist, mail order innovator, swindler and the head of at least two local magical orders. For more information, follow this link to previous posts regarding de Laurence.

Due to a typo on my part, I originally visited an incorrect location.  Many thanks to David Metcalfe for pointing this out to me.  The post and accompanying photographs have now been corrected.

The first location, at 3340 S. Michigan Ave., was listed in 1915 as being the home of de Laurence's Order of the Black Rose.  That same year the Order's address was also listed as being on Wabash.  Whether the Order moved, or whether the local press confused de Laurence's organization with his publishing headquarters is unclear.  Unfortunately the original building no longer stands, and this location is now occupied by a generic building on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus.

Also in 1915, this location on E. 47th St. is listed as his home address. 

supplemental materials for a recent lecture

I was kindly asked to speak yesterday at DePaul University.  I gave a presentation for Jason Winslade's class, regarding the history of the occult in Chicago.  I discussed personalities, publications and organizations.  After my lecture, the students went on a brief walking tour to spot some locations of interest.  When they returned, I had a few publications sitting on the table to spark a bit of conversation.

the advertisements of L.W. de Laurence

I've held off posting more about Lauren de Laurence, as I assumed that others were probably getting tired of hearing about my personal favorite local dubious historical publisher.  After some positive feedback, I'm giving in and posting a few things that I've come across.

Firstly, Michael Nowicki has posted several images from de Laurence's catalogs, along with an amusing story on Rosicrucians.org.

 

 According to Nowicki, the de Laurence company was still in business in the 1960s (despite the fact that de Laurence himself died in 1936).  Rather than post his story here, I'm just going to suggest that you visit the website to read his anecdote about visiting the de Laurence company.

A Tarot website at http://home.comcast.net/~vilex includes many images regarding the de Laurence Company's Tarot deck (a blatant copy of the Ryder-Waite deck).  The author goes into great detail regarding different printings of de Laurence's deck and related books.

"The Key to the Tarot: Oracles Behind the Veil, by Dr. L.W. de Laurence. It is, or should be, common knowledge that this book is AE Waite's Pictorial Key to the Tarot word for word!"

A very interesting read for those interested in the history of occult literature.  Start here for several pages of scans and information:  http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/Adverts.html


Website Church of Good Luck includes scans of de Laurence's catalogs.  Follow the link to see several advertisements.

"Artist's Conception of de Laurence Wearing a Turban and a Tunic"

"De Laurence wrote a lot of his own material in addition to his habit of "borrowing", and what he wrote best was ad copy.  He managed to fill over 500 pages in his 1931 catalog, and it stands to this day as a monument to bombast."

And so that I am able to contribute something of my own, here is a snapshot of the back page of an issue of Occult Digest from 1933 (three years before de Laurence would pass away).  Included are ads for Practical Lessons in Hypnotism and Magnetism, and The Great Book of Magical Art, Hindu Magic and East Indian Occultism.  The latter, you may recall, was found in a local bookstore (with alternate "Hindoo" spelling).

Lauren de Laurence being booked

I know that some followers here are probably getting tired of hearing about Lauren de Laurence.  I promise to move on soon, but I did just find the photograph of de Laurence being booked for mail fraud in 1912.

REATED/PUBLISHED
[1912]
SUMMARY
Portrait of Prof. Lauron. W. De Laurence leaning on a counter, standing with other men and a policeman in a room in Chicago, Illinois.
NOTES
This photonegative taken by a Chicago Daily News photographer may have been published in the newspaper.
Cite as: DN-0059852, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum.

Lauren de Laurence - The Great Book of Magical Art

The day after I found and purchased a book by Lauren de Laurence, I walked into Bookworks in Lakeview, only to find this astonishing gem.

Lauren de Laurence - The Great Book of Magical Art, Hindoo Magic and Indian Occultism

It's huge, beautiful and at $275, much more than I can justify spending right now.  So if you're in the market, drop in to Bookworks.  It's in the glass case near the rare books and first printings. 

For more about Lauren de Laurence in Chicago, click the label of his name at the bottom of this post.

Lauren De Laurence - Practical Lessons - Hypnotism and Magnetism

 Today I went with my fiancee to some antique malls in Edgewater.  I was looking at cases full of materials relating to Chicago's history at the Broadway Antique Mall and wondering why I never found anything relating to the people and organizations that I've been posting about here on Occult Chicago.

Of course, as soon as I finished complaining, I looked up to find this:

That's right:  Lauren de Laurence. This Lauren de Laurence, the man who founded the Order of the Black Rose and the Order of the White Willow.  The man who was eventually arrested for mail fraud (due to a judge not liking his explaination of the paranormal, after hitting an employee over the head for staring up his female employees' skirts).

What an amazing find.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the universe for answering my antique store wishes.

De Laurence himself, in every single photograph.

I'm looking forward to learning more about de Laurence's methods on hypnotism and his secrets regarding the OCCULT (he capitalizes the word throughout the text of the book).

Lauren De Laurence

Synchronicity is a funny thing.  Last summer I found an article about Lauren de Laurence and his Order of the Black Rose.  I posted it here two days ago.  Tonight I was reading Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davies, and who should be mentioned but Mr. de Laurence himself.

 photograph from de Laurence entry on Wikipedia

De Laurence (1868-1936) was born in Ohio and moved to Chicago as a hypnotist around 1900.  He began publishing books, mainly pirated versions of existing books on magic and "Hindu mysticism."  He did write a few books of his own, namely The Master Key which is available online in its entirety at this location on archive.org.

De Laurence founded two orders:  The Order of the White Willow (which apparently consisted entirely of women, whose initiation involved being weighed in the nude ) and the Order of the Black Rose.  A disgruntled worker filed a claim against him, leading to the mail fraud charges that I previously posted about.

From the Chicago Defender, June 13 1914:  "Slick Man Lures Boy from Africa; Beats and Robs Him."

According to Carolyn Morrow Long's book Spiritual Merchants:  Religion, Magic and Commerce, the beating was a result of Williams's being lecherous toward female employees.  Long states that much of what we know regarding Laurence today is due to his testimony in this case.

The Chicago Examiner, November 27, 1915

"Why, all book dealers sell books on magic."

Order of the Black Rose, 1915

From the now defunct Chicago Examiner, November 1915.  Lauren de Laurence apparently headed numerous magical orders in the area and wrote several books.  This article makes sure to let you know that "both men and women, both negroes and whites" took part in his ceremonies.