Lucifer the Lightbearer Archives - The Libertarian Labyrinth

Voltairine de Cleyre in “Lucifer the Light-bearer”

April 7, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ A FIRST LETTER TO “LUCIFER” ] Phila., March 5, ’90. Dear Sir: I have for some time contemplated sending you a line, to let you know that I, at least, do not belong to that ultra-fine class of reformers who are afraid of facts. Certainly I do not make the sex question the prime issue, for the reason that I believe sexual freedom to be impossible short of economic independence; nevertheless I honor you for your fearlessness in fighting the battle which you believe to be most necessary; and certainly any one who takes the slightest pains to […]

And you thought “Lucifer” was an unfortunate name…

July 18, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

Yes, Virginia, there are worse names for your radical journal than Lucifer the Light-Bearer, although that may not be immediately clear. When Lucifer changed its name and format, becoming the American Journal of Eugenics, it was considered by many a step in the right direction, towards a more staid, respectable image that would appeal to more Americans. Bolton Hall, for example, wrote in to express his approval of the changes. The masthead of the new journal was, like that of Lucifer, quite striking. What do think, shall I have some t-shirts made? I’m afraid, however, that the American Journal of […]

Left-libertarian archive task-force

June 25, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve just been contacted by a library student and market anarchist who is interested in joining forces on archiving public domain material from the market anarchist traditions. And I’m feeling like there is sufficient interest (based on the reception of the Lucifer and Liberty issues I have posted) to make some better organized and more accessible archive a present priority. A couple of folks here have expressed interest interest in helping with technical matters, hosting, scanning, kibitzing, etc. I’m probably going to set up a “task force” mailing list this weekend to start hashing out some kind of plan. If […]

More Lucifer, plus some Liberty

June 17, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

Thanks to Jesse Walker at Reason Hit & Run and the folks at boing boing for making my rather off-hand announcement of the budding Lucifer the Light-Bearer archive something of a hit in the blogosphere. Apparently the interest is out there, so I’ve been adding to the archived issues as time allows: 52 down, and only 1057 issues to go! I’ve also begun an archive of Benjamin R. Tucker’s Liberty in pdf form, scanning from John Zube’s microfilm edition. Again, the quality is not perfect, and in some cases is not even particularly good, but hopefully I can put something […]

A Taste of Lucifer

June 8, 2007 Shawn P. Wilbur

Lucifer the Lightbearer, aside from having one of the more provocative and wonderful names ever, was an important anarchist newspaper. Originally the Kansas Liberal of Valley Falls, and eventually the American Journal of Eugenics, it was, throughout its incarnations, it was concerned with marital and sexual freedom, as well as more strictly political aspects of anarchism. I have made a number of issues available in scanned pdf form. They are unlovely, multi-generation reproductions, but scanned at a resolution where they are at least usable. Dana Ward’s Anarchy Archives also includes some transcriptions from Lucifer.