Correspondence from to Gerald Yorke to Karl Germer

25 March 1948

Dear Germer.

Your 21/3/48.

Glad to hear from you again. I was afraid you were sick. Very many thanks for arranging to send me a copy of In Residence. I have, since I sent you the list of my A.C. books, bought Book 4 Part 2 and Fuller's The Star in the West. Watkins [Bookshop] have a complete set of The Equinox including Vol I. I will tell Gardner as soon as he gets in touch with me.

I cannot now send my letter to Clymer [R. Swinburne Clymer] until after my return to London in May, as I have not his address down here. Achad [Charles Stansfeld Jones] has written to me: "Yes I do hold O.T.O. Charter direct from original headquarters [Theodor Reuss]. There is I think one other X° alive in Germany."—(I presume this is Tränker [Heinrich Tränker])—"It was this other and myself who established A.C. as O.H.O. [Outer Head of the Order]. A.C. was never in a position (even as O.H.O.) to expel me because my position was ad vitam, and for another his first written act as O.H.O. was to confirm, or re-confirm it. Therefore, strictly speaking, nothing legitimate has ever existed in the U.S.A.—at L.[os] A.[ngeles] or elsewhere. [Frater] 132 [Wilfred Talbot Smith] when he received A.C. notice to "expel" me only sent it along with a query, so to speak. I saw him in L.A. and had a long friendly chat with him later, and said I had no wish to interfere with his activities—nor have I now. I suppose A.C. could Will his O.H.O. job to Germer if he wanted to. He was probably quite unaware that X° in Germany still alive (and am sure he doesn't care). But that is all beyond my "Official" ken. I certainly don't come under Germer in that respect, or know anything about the matter except through your having told me it was A.C.'s will and wish. As long as they don't publish any untruths about actual past facts, it is not for me to concern myself at all at this stage. Let's let it lie fallow at this stage." In another letter he writes "I am glad things are as they are—which includes the fact that you wrote me as you did in the first instance re. the historical aspect. A.C. was labouring under a tragic misapprehension so far as I am concerned, or he would never have acted in just the way he did. I feel no ill-will whatever towards him, but, humanly, a deep regret that there should have been a misunderstanding. And from a wider view there seems no reason to oppose his will or ignore his wishes. At any rate you need have no fear that I shall use anything you have said in your long frank letter as ammunition in a quarrel relative to "succession". At present I am dealing solely with you, and simply along the lines you suggested and requested. I have never had any direct dealings or correspondence with Mr. Germer—and not with [Frater] 132 for a number of years. If any such correspondence crops up it will be dealt with according to my best light at the time. There is a great deal which perhaps should be straightened out—but then again time has a way of dealing with things". In his last letter to me he writes "I should be grateful if you will either quote me just what A.C. said in his Will in regard to Germer and the succession, or, better still, get me a copy of the Will from Somerset House. I must have A.C.'s own words in order to try and interpret his mind, will and wishes. My desire (or rather will) is not to try to interfere with A.C.'s Will (in the legal sense) or Will in the Magical sense, in any way; nor to interfere with the Will of Saturnus—or any other—so far as I am able to know what they are or were.

I do not like to send him a copy of A.C.'s Will without your permission. What however I do suggest, in view of the above extracts of Achad's letters to me, is that you send him a copy of A.C.'s Will, and a brief outline of your plans. There are so few followers of the old boy in the world, that I feel strongly that his death is a unique opportunity to heal old breaches. Achad has I an sure quite a lot of material that does not survive elsewhere, and it is really absurd for you to have to get it through me. Moreover he does not at the moment want you to have Liber 31. Do send him a copy of the Will. It is a unique opportunity for you to get together; moreover he can always get a copy by writing Somerset House, so you are not giving anything away. Don't quote passages of his letters to me back to him, as he may think I have sent you portions written to me in confidence. Honestly you ought to get together. If you do it now it may save complications in the future, because legally in accordance with the original constitutions of O.T.O. he has jurisdiction in U.S.A. and might be able to claim that his treasurer should give the executors the receipt for A.C.'s literary effects. He is not asking cash for transcript of Liber 31—I have not had it yet. I am favourably impressed by his letters.

Symonds [John Symonds] has listed the books, sending two copies to Wilkinson [Louis Wilkinson], so I expect you have had one by now. Annotated Yi King and 777 are the two important ones. I think the only copies of The Equinox to survive are vols. I, X and XI. Symonds has a complete set in his room but has made up the missing volumes from me and Lady Harris [Frieda Harris]. I cannot tell you from here how many of your diary typescripts survive. With the exception of Dr. Y.Z. [Karl Germer]—an annotated diary from 1927 to 1930 and possibly from 1925—there were one or two long portions which I placed in files with your letters to and from A.C.; I did not however read them and do not remember the dates.

The complete set of Magick without Tears, presumably as put in order by Miss Buddiscome [Jacintha Buddicom] survives in two cardboard files. I do not remember if it has any corrections. The carbon copy I have retained has no corrections. There are copies of the letters as you have them and some of the originals, possibly all, in A.C.'s handwriting, but I have not checked them. Frieda has taken A.C.'s Yi King sticks.

Being down in the country for my children's Easter holidays, I cannot go down to see the printer nor to see the [Official] Receiver. I enclose copies of letters I have written to Louis Wilkinson and the printer. My own view is this, that you should write to the Receiver stating that so much money is required to complete the printing of the two books. Will he take them over and pay up the balance, or will he immediately release them, in which case they become your property. As he released the Whitely stock when he found there was a bill of £40 to meet, he will certainly release these partially printed books. Ask for the favour of an immediate reply stating what are the monthly storage charges. This should have been done months ago. I cannot see that you will have any difficulty in getting this release. Whether you write the letter to the Receiver or ask Louis Wilkinson to write it, I do not know, as I do not know how you have been dealing with the Receiver in the past.

Yours,

Gerald Yorke.

P.S. will copy out the Constitution of the Order of Thelemites on my return to London. Achad's address is C. Stansfeld Jones, Post Office Box 365, Vancouver, B.C. Canada.

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