Weiser Antiquarian Books - Supplement to Catalog No. 21.
The biographical essay that follows is issued as an appendix to the catalog of of books from the collection of Jean Michaud offered for sale by Weiser Antiquarian Books. To view the two-parts of this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogtwentyone
and
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogtwentyoneparttwo
Jean Michaud, Occultist, Musician and Author.
Born Johan Bastiaan Grotendorst in 1884, in Amsterdam, the man who we would later know as Jean Michaud left school at just sixteen to join the army. An accomplished musician who could already play a wide variety of instruments, he was promptly given the position of Company bugler. Despite his abilities, he proved an unwise choice for that role, as his musician's temperament was more suited to late nights than early mornings, and he was punished a number of times for being late on the parade ground in the morning, a serious matter when you are the one who is supposed to play reveille and rouse the others! He served the full eight years for which he had signed up, and by the time he left the army, had risen to an Officer rank in the Music Corps attached to an infantry regiment.
In 1909 Michaud married a woman from Utrecht named Jacoba Verbon, and not long after the couple moved to London, where he established himself, first as a musician, and then as a publisher of music. It was also around this time that he abandoned his birth name Johan Grotendorst. His motives for doing this remain uncertain, but one story suggests that he was expelled by the family and simply picked the French-sounding 'Jean Michaud' at random.
Music remained a major passion of Michaud's throughout his life, but he was also a fervent devotee of folklore, mythology, and fable, so much so that he is said to have been able to recite all of Hans Christian Anderson's stories from memory by the time he had reached school-age. His fascination with these subjects was not tied to any particular time or culture, and his forays into them led him to explore many other varied fields: from Indian and Chinese philosophy, through Egyptology and the study of Middle Eastern cultures, to Catholicism, Mysticism and the Occult to name but a few. A natural linguist, he immersed himself in the study of languages so as to be able to read important texts that were unavailable in his native Dutch, or recently-acquired English, and eventually gained fluency in some twenty-six different tongues.
Whilst Michaud's interests remained broad, by his early adulthood he found himself increasingly focused on the occult. Like many of his contemporaries, Michaud was initially drawn to the Theosophical Society, but found it wanting and moved on from it, for a time drawing inspiration from his friendship with the esoterically-inclined composer and author Cyril Scott, some of whose work he published in the 1920s.
Later Michaud found fellowship with the like-minded patrons of the Atlantis Bookshop, which then, like now, served as a meeting place for the more serious members of London's occult fraternity. The Atlantis Bookshop had grown out of a small, rather slapdash enterprise founded in 1922 by Paul Brunton and Michael Houghton. Brunton soon moved on, eventually leaving the country to start his now-famous travels in India, but Houghton remained, turned the shop into a serious business, and he and Michaud became good friends.
It may well have been through Houghton that Michaud first came into contact with another Atlantis Bookshop regular, Aleister Crowley. The two first met in July 1937, at a time when Crowley was in the midst of a long and quite futile battle to seize the not insubstantial assets of A.M.O.R.C. (Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis), the American Rosicrucian group founded, and then headed by H. Spencer Lewis. It was Crowley's contention that A.M.O.R.C. was effectively an offshoot of the O.T.O., and that as such, he was the organizations' true head. Needless to say H. Spencer Lewis was not overly impressed with this claim, and refused to relinquish either the organization, or its coffers to Crowley.
There is no doubt that Jean Michaud knew Spencer Lewis and was held in high regard by him, and it may well be that – on account of his own experience in publishing – Michaud played a part in A.M.O.R.C.'s publishing activities in England. Crowley certainly was aware of the connection, referring to Michaud in his diaries on one occasion as "…. the A.M.O.R.C. publisher." Whatever the relationship between Michaud and A.M.O.R.C., Crowley was convinced that it was important, he and saw much of Michaud in late 1937 and early 1938. Although the two definitely spent time discussing Magick and philosophy, the major point of the meetings, at least from Crowley's perspective, was to give him the opportunity to convince Michaud of the merits of his case about A.M.O.R.C. As the chances of this became ever more remote, so their get-togethers become less frequent.
Up until 1935 Michaud's publishing endeavors had been strictly musical, representing such artists as Frederick Delius and becoming chairman of the first Delius Society of which Sir Thomas Beecham was the president, but then he began publishing works of an esoteric nature. Whilst he maintained the UMA Press (Universal Music Agencies Press) imprint that he had long used, this change of emphasis saw the actual words for which the letters UMA were abbreviations disappear from the title-pages of the books: their place taken by the catch-phrase "Publishers of Unusual Books."
Four of these "unusual books" came out in relatively rapid succession in the mid 1930s. These were: God's Gift to Man (1935), a book on herbalism by friend of Michaud's, Dr. Flora Ames, Rejuvenation (1936?), a work on alternative health by Henry Chellew, one of Michaud's fellow-travelers in A.M.O.R.C., and The Influence of Colours on our Mind and Health (1935) and The Power to Succeed (1936), both by Oscar Brunler, who with Max Freedom Long was prominent in the Huna movement.
In 1939 Michaud published a book of his own, with the title Occult Enigmas , which was well received and reviewed within esoteric circles in Britain. A couple of years later he gave a copy to Crowley, who observed in his diary, with characteristically caustic wit: "He gave me a copy of Occult Enigmas — but no answer to O[ccult] E[nigma] No. 1. 'Why did he write it?' Hard to place this man, rather like Lewis. He knows a lot, and talks good sense most of the time. Yet is mixed up with balderdash."
The year after publishing Occult Enigmas , Michaud apparently detached himself from Lewis and A.M.O.R.C. He had just turned 56, was about to retire from a successful career in the music industry. The publication of Occult Enigmas once more put him into the limelight, and he was approched by a wide variety of people interested in getting to know him and having him share his thoughts on particular esoteric matters. Those that found there way to him ranged from the unfortunate and simply crazy - to individuals who radiated that something special that is an indication of those who have reached some genuine spiritual attainment. One person- who perhaps fell somewhere in the middle of the two poles- was a gentleman who rather cultivated the manner of an ascetic, and who would indeed himself find fame later in life as a celebrated 'guru.' Michaud invited this individual round to dinner one night, however, upon discovering that his 'saintly' host was not only a carnivore, but also served wine at his table, the 'ascetic' threw up his hands in righteous indignation and beat a hasty retreat, never to darken the sinner's door again. It perhaps shouldn't come as a great surprise that the 'ascetic' wasn't quite as 'holy' as he made out - he was later accused of having improper relations with several young woman in the course of their supposed 'initiation,' and fell swiftly from grace.
Writing a few years later, Michaud recorded that, the year 1940 had seen "the establishment of a truly great Occult School in Great Britain," and that he had soon been "privileged to study its
wonderful teachings." (The Golden Star, page 196). Perhaps in keeping with the occultist's maxim, "To know, to dare, to will and to keep silent" (said by Eliphas Levi to have been embodied in the form of the Sphinx), this "Occult School" was a genuinely secret society. Those joining were obliged to take a strict vow of secrecy, and membership was by invitation only.
With the end of the Second World War the austerity measures that had seen paper and other essential commodities strictly rationed were gradually lifted, and Michaud was able once more to turn his attention to publishing. He had actually finished writing another lengthy occult work entitled The Golden Star , in September 1939, only days before the war had broken out, but had been forced to set it aside 'for the duration.' Then, in 1946, with the war at last over, and some normalcy returning to life in England, he was able to put it into print. In the years that followed he brought out four more works in rapid succession: The Teachings of Li Wang Ho (1947), a philosophical narrative with ancient Chinese setting, The Quest of Ru Ru (1948), a tale of magic and romance set in ancient India, Symphonie Fantastique , (1949) a bizarre esoterically-themed fantasy piece, in the form of a play, and The Book of Sa Heti (1950), a fictionalized account of a Krshna figure.
After this extraordinary burst of literary activity, Michaud seems to have taken a step back from public writing and publishing. It was also at around this time that Jean Michaud's personal life took a dramatic turn. He and his wife, Jacoba, had had two children, a daughter born in 1910, and a son born in 1927. For a time they had been a loving, happy, albeit eccentric family, but in the 1930s Jacoba, began to exhibit mental health problems, and Jean Michaud parted company with her, leaving her in the care of their daughter. The charismatic Michaud had never been lacking in female attention, but this aspect of his life usually remained discretely in the background, out of the public eye. It did not remain that way for long, however, once he became romantically involved with Michael Houghton's then-wife, Doreen.
In fact, when Doreen filed for divorce from Houghton and the details came into the public domain, the sorry saga even made it to the headlines of the daily papers.
The couple moved to Cambridge in 1951, and the following year Doreen gave birth to a daughter: a considerable surprise for all as Jean Michaud was then 67 and Doreen, although only 40, had long been told that she was infertile (a photograph of Michaud and his daughter in the front yard at Cambridge is at right)..
One of the advantages of the move to Cambridge was that it at last allowed Jean Michaud the space to properly set up his books. Always a great collector, he had amassed over 50,000 volumes which he was now able to house in a specially fitted out stable block. His daughter remembers it as being "stuffed to the rafters with books with very little space to move around in."
The books, were quite simply extraordinary, and there is no doubt that Michaud's library would have counted as one of the finest collections of occult books in private hands anywhere in the world. Seventeenth century folios on alchemy, nestled alongside nineteenth century works on the Kabbalah, and eighteenth century works on magic and astrology jostled for space with manuscripts by Aleister Crowley. Virtually every important work on folklore, myth, and hermetica, was represented in one form or another. A small, but not unrepresentative part of this once-great library, is listed in the catalog that this essay accompanies.
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogtwentyone
and
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogtwentyoneparttwo
Jean Michaud died in June 1961. Much of his collection was taken over by one of his closest friends, and when he too, died, some twenty years later, it was partially dispersed.
During his lifetime Jean Michaud had attracted quite a following of individuals interested in sharing his widsom and insight. Oddly it took quite some time for this energy to dissipate. Michaud's daughter recalls a curious incident that occurred at a time, well over a decade after his death, when she happened to be living at an address that had previously been associated with her father. One day, she answered a knock at her door, only to find a liveried chauffer before her, who politely demanded to see 'The Master.' As she explained that she was unable to produce him, the occupant of the limousine, who was clearly the actual inquirer, got out of the car and presented himself. He was an African Chief of some sort, magnificently dressed in sky blue robes and hat, both embroidered with gold thread. When she made clear that 'the Master' had now passed on to other realms, the Chief graciously took his leave, although he was obviously very disappointed.
Since writing the first draft of this piece I have been contacted by friends of the "Occult School" with whom Michaud was connected, who assure me that it still exists, and that it is as zealous as ever in its wish to preserve the anonymity of its members. I must say that my brief interactions with these individuals have left me with the utmost respect for these gentleman and the organisation that they revere. Consequently I have voluntarily abridged the material on the "Occult School" in this essay, at the same time removing some statements which I now know to have been factually incorrect. I thank them for their assistance with this, and salute them!
Keith Richmond.
(With Sincere thanks to S. M. – without whose assistance and research this piece could not have been written.)
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Last Update December 19, 2007.