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Timothy Leary's software and the dream of post-literal culture (1985-1996)
12016-04-25T10:09:02-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67953631gallery2020-05-21T09:03:21-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Above: Select primary sources related to Timothy Leary's software projects. Click the titles for more information and larger window. Or, scroll to the bottom of this page for a table of contents.
This project examines the relationship between written and "post-literal" communication techniques in a digital archival setting, using the software of American psychologist Timothy Leary as a case study.
Although most famous for his status as a countercultural celebrity in the 1960s and 70s, Timothy Leary turned toward evangelizing for information technology in the 1980s, and pursued over one dozen software projects before his death in 1996.
While only one of Leary's software projects was ever commercially released (Mind Mirror, Electronic Arts 1985), his contributions to early technoculture include work moderating discussion on Stewart Brand's WELL network, a consulting credit on Interplay Entertainment's Neuromancer video game adaptation (1988), educational software trials at Pennsylvania State University, and a personal website/digital archive that won TIME magazine's 1996 "Cool Site of the Year" award (produced in collaboration with MIT media lab director Joi Ito's Digital Garage, Inc.).
Although most of Leary’s software-related materials are now housed at the New York Public Library’s (NYPL) Manuscripts and Archives division, digital materials have only been integrated within the broader Timothy Leary archives since 2007. Leary and his Futique Trust have previously made archival material available in various forms and locations since the 1990s, including the Internet Archive and Leary's personal website. This decentralization makes the Leary papers an ideal case study in new issues facing digital manuscript preservation, access, and interpretation. This project collects publicly-available resources from around the web in order to connect disparate sources in a more centralized fashion than has been previously available.
The "Table of Contents" below lists materials included on this site, most of which are usable via web. See "More on post-literal culture" for information on the themes present in Leary's work.
More information This project was enabled by Rutgers University's School of Communication & Information Support for Doctoral Student Research Training, Summer 2016. It was developed in part during the Digital Humanities Summer Institute 2016, University of Victoria, British Columbia.
Feedback may be directed to james.hodges@rutgers.edu.
Contents of this path:
12016-04-25T10:10:48-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Mind Mirror (1985, Electronic Arts) [playable]2May load slowly-- this is a working copy of Mind Mirror, Leary's only commercially released software. Provided with in-browser emulation via Internet Archive.plain2016-04-25T12:43:48-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-06-16T16:09:55-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Mind Mirror (1985) instructions1Black and white PDF scan of the instructions to Timothy Leary's Mind Mirror (Electronic Arts, IBM/Apple II, 1985-6). It is not immediately clear which edition or format of the program this manual originally accompanied. Scanned by Underdogs for Home of the Underdogs, mirrored at http://www.old-games.com/download/3320/mind-mirror.plain2016-06-16T16:09:55-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-04-25T10:39:33-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Mind Mirror DOS hex4Hex readout from a commercially available disk image of Mind Mirror. Left column contains byte addresses, middle column contains hex values, and right column contains ASCII (text) values where applicable. Personality charting based on Leary's written works begins at address 021260. Several additional classifications derived from the circumplex model are also found in the text, including several located at address 04B480.plain2016-06-26T15:01:59-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-06-16T15:50:53-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Archives of Timothy Leary: Appraisal (2008 report)1This document records a 2008 appraisal of Timothy Leary's archive, produced in 2008 and downloaded from the personal website of journalist Dennis McDougal. This document provides some of the earliest documentation of Leary's digital works being included within his broader ouvre. Retrieved from http://www.dennismcdougal.com/.plain2016-06-16T15:50:53-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-06-16T16:05:17-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Timothy Leary Archive (2007, Internet Archive)1A selection of videos from Leary's broader archive, uploaded beginning in 2007 by several of his close associates. Uploaders include Leary's original archivist Michael Horowitz, and Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle.plain2016-06-16T16:05:17-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-06-16T16:36:40-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67An annotated bibliography of Timothy Leary1Annotated bibliography of Timothy Leary's works, produced in 1988.plain2016-06-16T16:36:40-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-04-25T10:43:51-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality (1957) [PDF]2PDF file containing a scan of Leary's 1957 monograph, based on his (1950) doctoral thesis. Interpersonal circumplex chart can be found on page 65.plain2016-04-26T13:13:57-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-04-25T10:47:22-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Summary of 1950 PhD dissertation2Non-circulating full texts of dissertation available in New York Public Library and University of California, Berkeley.plain2016-04-25T10:48:19-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-06-16T15:59:25-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Neuromancer (Interplay 1988) instruction manual1This is a scan of the instructions produced to accompany Interplay's 1988 game adaptation of William Gibson's Cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. A "special thanks" to Timothy Leary is included on page 1, likely in acknowledgement of his role enlisting the rock band DEVO to provide licensed music, and possibly also for his production of several early drafts for game art and dialogue (see Timothy Leary papers, New York Public Library, box 217 for more information). This scan also includes a printed summary of the content from Neuromancer's "Code Wheel" on PDF pages 18-19. The code wheel was a paratextual game piece, required for gameplay, that was used as a printed/analog form of copy protection. The code wheel summary and scanning are date stamped 7/10/1989, author not credited.plain2016-06-16T15:59:25-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-06-16T15:37:25-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67Neuromancer video game adaptation (Interplay 1988)1Timothy Leary spent much of the mid-80s in negotiation for the rights to produce a video game adaptation of William Gibson's 1984 cyberpunk novel Neuromancer. Although the game eventually moved forward without Leary's direct participation, he still receives a "special thanks" in the game's instruction manual.plain2016-06-16T15:37:26-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67
12016-06-16T16:51:08-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67More on post-literal culture5About this projectplain2016-06-17T10:13:39-07:00james hodges6ac39e185bb250f23d0e0debb15e864740375d67