Book of Leaves

I dropped Fritz Jung at Witchvox a note about it. The author is the same guy whose claim to be the hereditary chieftain of Clan Akens was rejected by the Lord Lyon King of Arms for widespread fraud.

But... but a used copy could be hilarious! If a used copy shows up for a buck at the flea market, is that fair game?

I can see it now. "And then didst the mac Lir merrily traverse the waters to eat the delicious cookie, &c."

(I can't think of any way to warn the naive/ignorant, sadly, short of telling people there are recipes for barbecued chicken in it. And that might make it worse.)

Oh...dear...Seriously, this guy actually thinks that he can get away with this? Would this be the same guy that Wikipedia says:

"In or about 2001 an American, Steven Akins, styled himself as Steven L. Akins of that Ilk, Hereditary Chief of the name and arms of the Clan Akins[5] and even An t-Acainaich Mor.[6] Steven created a clan badge, crest and tartan for his clan[7] and petitioned the Lord Lyon King of Arms to claim the right to use a coat of arms of an alleged ancestor and legitimize his clan. On April 15, 2001 an article in the Sunday Mail, a Scottish newspaper, stated that Steven Akins allegedly attempted to bribe a Glasgow man in aiding him in his bid to be recognized as chief of Clan Akins. Akins allegedly wished to plant a forged tombstone with a coat of arms inscription, accompanied with forged genealogical records to prove his family was based in Lanarkshire in the 1700s.[8] Steven Akins' petition was ultimately rejected because of fraudulent information.[7][9] The Clan Akins Society headed by Steven and his wife, which had charged $15 per year membership,[8] has since become defunct.[7]"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Akins

Is it worth contacting witchvox or the publisher? Surely he's committing actual fraud by making claims that blatantly aren't true? Hmmm. I don't suppose it's as simple as that, is it? I googled the name of the manuscript he's claiming to have translated it all from and it brought up a copy of the preface posted on stormfront. It's worth a read, even only to give yourself a jawdropping moment. The mind boggles... I won't post a link, it seems kinda rude to link to a racist organisation on somebody else's blog, y'know?

One concrete thing that might be worth a go is to give it a good, honest, and thereby scathing review on a site like Amazon. Now, I'm not a super fan of Amazon, but a lot of people do buy from there, and seeing several very negative reviews might put them off, at least. The crazies (racists, etc) are going to go for it regardless, but we might be able to influence the bystanders, one hopes.

Druids left books? geez, I must have missed that fact. And the title.. it has SECRET in it, yeah, right, why not put in Revealed, Sacred and the other good buzz words?

and Da Vinci Code was marketed as fiction, pure and simple, not purporting to be the (revealed) Truth.

Wow.

Does it have an ancient Druidic ritual to the Irish Potato Goddess? Inquiring minds want to know.

...

I would say slam it on Amazon or anywhere else it's being advertised, although from the looks of it the racist publicity should keep most sane people away. Hopefully...

Wow. Just, wow.

I just read the website, and it *sounds* very convincing to someone who doesn't know anything; lots of Gaelic words used, lots of "ancient manuscripts" and even Nazis. Is there any grain of truth to the back story that can be used to document a refutation?

I'm looking into posting about this on The Wild Hunt, let me know if there are any further developments.

Um, hasn't this guy committed fraud before? He seems vaguely familiar, having thought about it.

Book = piece of shit. I say that not knowing exactly who he is and not having ever read it. I could tell by the synopsis and overall urge to run away screaming alone.

FYI:

http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/11/lost-racist-book-of-ancient-celtic.html

Wow, what the fuck? Thanks for the PSA.

Thanks for calling my attention to this.

I suggest someone with knowledge of the book and Druidry or Celtic studies should post a review of the book on Amazon.com and perhaps other widely available and widely read bookstore review sites. Right now on Amazon, for instance, there is only the publisher's blurb and one glowing review that seem to indicate that this is the real deal.
Amazon URL: http://www.amazon.com/Lebor-Feasa-Runda-Druidic-Grammar/dp/1440102821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227470673&sr=8-1

I think the word will get out in the Pagan online community, but it may be harder to inform people who are not tied into the community networks but have an interest in Druidry or Celtic studies. Sites with a wide readership are the place to present an alternate point of view.

I think care should be taken, though, about calling the author a fraud in public print, which might give him cause to retaliate. Saying that there is "reason to suspect that the original source is not genuine," or something like that, avoids making comments on the character of Atkins himself. One can imply that the author is either a fraud or a fool who has been duped into thinking the original German text (where ever that is) is genuine without actually out and out making accusations and opening oneself up to accusations of libel, etc.

One of the problems with fradulent works, unfortunately, is that the controversy itself can sell books. Oh, well.

Just a suggestion

Stephanie