CoL49 (5) Sidney [Genghis] Cohen

[Robin Landseadel]

On Jun 30, 2009, at 7:40 AM, Paul Mackin wrote:

> On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 8:20 PM, Robin
> Landseadel<robinlandseadel at comcast.net> wrote:
>> For some, The Crying of Lot 49 is primarily a literary puzzle, for  
>> others
>> it’s a thin veil barely covering over great political  
>> conspiracies,  a
>> collection of very odd jokes and puns or a pure artifact of the  
>> time it was
>> written.
>
> I would choose all of the above except the "thin veiled" part if it
> implies there was some danger in not speaking openly. .
>
> What would have been the motivation to veil anything?
>
> Mark Lane didn't veil anything.
>
> Everyone and his brother was openly accusing the CIA, the Mafia,
> Castro, the Soviet Union, Lyndon Johnson, the National Association of
> Manufacturers, etc., of knocking off JFK and undermining America as we
> wanted to believe in it.
>
> Imploringly :-)
>
> P

Beg if you want—Charles Hollander was the one who speaks of Pynchon's  
disappearance as that of a political paranoid.

http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/magiceye.htm

In any case, a quick look at the "Official Stamp Collector's Bible" by  
Stephen R. Datz [ISBN: 0-609-80884-2] offers up this info in the  
"Forgeries and Fakes" section [chapter 8]:

	The term "forgery" generally refers to a fabrication created to
	defraud stamp collectors. Forged stamps simulate authentic
	stamps.

	A number of master craftsmen, such as the notorious Jean de
	Sperati and Francois Fournier, produced dangerously
	deceptive forgeries, most often of rare and valuable stamps,
	especially foreign stamps of the nineteenth century.

	Plenty of midrange stamps, and even some cheap ones, have
	been forged over the years. The vast majority, but not all, are
	forgeries of foreign stamps. In most cases, they do not exhibit
	the craftsmanship of the master forgers but are, nevertheless,
	often deceptive. Catalogue footnotes warn of some forgeries. In
	addition, several excellent reference books exist. The Serrane
	Guide, published by the American Philatelic Society, covers
	forgeries up to the year 1926. Focus on Forgeries, by Varro E.
	Tyler, is an illustrated guide that enables collectors to recognize
	a host of forged stamps from countries allover the world.
	Philatelic Forgers: Their Lives and Works, also by Varro E.
	Tyler, explores the lives and exploits of the best-known forgers.
	It's a fascinating read. Refer to Chapter 34, "Philatelic
	Reference Books," for more information.

	Ironically, some collectors specialize in collecting forgeries,
	especially inexpensive ones. Forgeries of the masters, such as
	Sperati, are avidly sought, often selling for hundreds of dollars
	at auction.

Focus on Forgeries: 1914 Merode Monument “Red Cross” Semipostals,  
Scott B28-30:

http://www.philatelicdatabase.com/forgeries/focus-on-forgeries-1914-merode-monument-red-cross-semipostals-scott-b28-30/

In this case we have the Varro/Varo hook-up here and he connections  
are every bit as meaningful [if not more so] that the Dude's citation  
of the Menippean satirist Marcus Terentius Varro. In the sixties, the  
very same Varro E. Tyler who was a specialist in stamp forgeries was  
working with the recently isolated psilocybin:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/u5t47w4376240265/

Here's his NYT obit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/26/us/varro-tyler-herbal-medicine-expert-74-dies.html

Back to square one: I think that there is a "notes from the  
underground" aspect to Pynchon's writing in and of the sixties, but it  
may have been a different underground than the one Charles Hollander  
was aiming for. Awful lot of citations of psychedelics in Pynchon's  
writings, if you catch my drift.