Ibid

by H.P. Lovecraft

"Ibid" is a mock biography of the Roman scholar Ibidus (486-587), whose masterpiece was Op. Cit., "wherein all the significant undercurrents of Graeco-Roman thought were crystallized once and for all." The piece traces the skull of Ibidus, once the possession of Charlemagne, William the Conqueror and other notables, to the United States, where it travels via Salem, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island to a prairie dog hole in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Genres: Horror, Lovecraftian, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Humor

17 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, of Providence, Rhode Island, was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction.

Lovecraft's major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: life is incomprehensible to human minds and the universe is fundamentally alien. Those who genuinely reason, like his protagonists, gamble with sanity. Lovecraft has developed a cult following for his Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fictions featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities, as well as the Necronomicon, a fictional grimoire of magical rites and forbidden lore. His works were deeply pessimistic and cynical, challenging the values of the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Christianity. Lovecraft's protagonists usually achieve the mirror-opposite of traditional gnosis and mysticism by momentarily glimpsing the horror of ultimate reality.

Although Lovecraft's readership was limited during his life, his reputation has grown over the decades. He is now commonly regarded as one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th Century, exerting widespread and indirect influence, and frequently compared to Edgar Allan Poe.
See also Howard Phillips Lovecraft.

— Wikipedia

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story on a former Roman consul named Ibidus and the travels of his skull through history. You really get the impression this is a scientific essay. So many facts and figures! Do you want to know how the story of the skull ends? Well, then you have to read this fascinating historical story. Really recommended even if you're no history buff!

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovecraft's mocking biography of an ancient scholar Ibidus. And his head.

It's not really a horror story.

[Mika · Rating 1 out of 5]

Each parody never lands for me. This one was boring even if the ridiculous long name and the seriousness around the skull was so stupid that I silently mocked them for believing that this skull is somehow important for an academic study.

I don't like to read biographies and since I don't know anything about the real Roman scholar Ibidus I can't really say I understand a lot of what H.P. Lovecraft tried to convey with this short story.

[Baal Of · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, this is the only Lovecraft story I've read to exhibit any sense of humor. It's a fairly mild parody, and nowhere near the level of say Terry Pratchett or Christopher Moore, but an interesting anomaly in the collected works.

[José Monico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know Lovecraft is free to read, and can be found anywhere on the web. Depending on the medium, there are usually descriptions on what you should expect. That is why I decided to purchase the content instead of just browsing a web page. You really have to understand HP's objective with many stories, that actually might affect your disposition towards what you read.

This story is meant to be everything negative that the tale tells. The pomposity here is some of HP's most radical; it digresses like you wouldn't believe. The piece is parody in an extreme way. It pokes at elitist, and profligate scholarship writing. It is not supposed to be taken seriously. Enjoy it, and have some laughs. Sure, it comes in quick but take your time with it; and enjoy the skull ride.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft, which can be found free at the CthulhuChick website. This is an incredibly amusing and very funny bit of satirical pseudo-biography. I was especially amused by the prairie dogs.

"At first worshipped with dark rites by the prairie dogs, who saw in it a deity sent from the upper world..."

[John Yelverton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was absolutely hilarious! Who knew that Lovecraft could do comedy!? The puns are extremely witty, and I laughed out loud on several occasions. If you like to laugh, then you'll love this story.

[Austin Wright · Rating 1 out of 5]

1-STAR.

I am going through all 64 of Lovecraft's short stories. This i, by far, one of his worst. It is a failed satire. About a skull being handled from person to person.

[FameL · Rating 1 out of 5]

So-called parody on biographies with endlessly boring and random namedropping. Lovecraft had a very strange sense of humor.

[Claire Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divertido e interesante de un cráneo perteneciente a un romano. Y delirante. :D <3

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovecraft #72: Circa 1928: “Ibid”



[1928, September – Vrest Orton and Lovecraft in Vermont.]

“...for generations did the sainted skull of Caius Anicius Magnus Furius Camillus Æmilianus Cornelius Valerius Pompeius Julius Ibidus, consul of Rome, favourite of emperors, and saint of the Romish church, lie hidden beneath the soil of a growing town. At first worshipped with dark rites by the prairie-dogs, who saw in it a deity sent from the upper world, it afterward fell into dire neglect...”

“Ibid” gives us a rare glimpse into HPL’s sense of humor. This is arguably the 72nd oldest extant story by American weird fiction author Howard Philips Lovecraft (1890-1937). I am reading all of his fictional works in chronological order. “Ibid” provides a biography of a fictional ancient Roman scholar literally named Ibid and a history of the crazy antics that his skull got up to after his death, including being worshiped by prairie dogs in Wisconsin.

The word ibid is used in academic essays to identify when an author is referring to the same source. Many students have mistakenly thought that “ibid” was the name of a person. Joshi & Schultz (2001) write that “the target of the satire of ‘ibid’ is not so much the follies of students as the pomposity of academic scholarship” (p. 122). I find this story to be rather funny but can understand if many readers will not see the humor in all the “learned but preposterous footnotes” (p. 122), absurdly overlong names, and the “owlish references to real and fabricated events” (p. 122). “Ibid” is certainly an unusual story for Lovecraft.

Title: “Ibid”
Author: H.P. Lovecraft
Dates: circa 1928 (written), January 1940 (first published)
Genre: Fiction - Short story, pseudo-history
Word count: 1,720 words
Date(s) read: 4/7/22-4/8/22
Reading journal entry #120 in 2022

Sources:
Link to the story: https://hplovecraft.com/writings/fict...

First publication citation: O-Wash-Ta-Nong vol. 3, no. 1 (January 1938): 11–13.

Joshi, S. T., & Schultz, D. E. (2001). An H.P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press.

Link to the image: https://www.hplovecraft.com/life/gall...

[Divia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one isn't a horror but instead a biography which I think really points out the silliness of grandeur and power people give to certain things. It's the history of a skull of a great man bu in the end he dies and while his deeds have an impact, his skull is ultimately an inanimate object after his death. He should have been laid to rest and his skull returned to nature but no. The skull goes on more voyages throughout the Western world that most living people. Some attached a grand meaning to it but in the end it is just a skull once there is no one to attach such meaning to it.

H.P. Lovecraft's prejudices emerge here with words like half-breed and mongrel but I am not going to spend a lot of time on it. I am not certain who the narrator here is. When he uses such terms without a clear narrator it seems unnecessary and really reveals his own prejudices. However, there is value in using it with a character as a narrator or focaliser as it is quite revealing about the character and context. When Lovecraft does that, the prejudices add some meaning to the character and context of the story.

[Spencer McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

While H.P. Lovecraft is primarily remembered for his supernatural horror stories and mythos, his body of work also included an academic side which, as indicated by the low rating of "Ibid," seems to be sorely underappreciated by his modern readers. This, in the words of the Professor of English at Augustana University, Maxine Sic, marks a "clear lack of disrespect for scholarly writing in this age of social media and sensationalism." In this very short and easy-to-read but substantive essay, Lovecraft takes on the noble task of correcting a common misattribution to one of the greatest creative minds of the western world. This is followed by interesting details on the life and subsequent history of the quintessential Roman scholar, which are often marred by questions and distortions of fact. Lovecraft's "Ibid" will be a worthwhile read for anyone who appreciates classical literature and proper scholarship. I would also advise that anyone who, being woefully neglected by the education system, has managed to avoid actually reading Ibid's Op. Cit. should go and read it right away!

[Amelia Bujar · Rating 3 out of 5]

FULL REVIEW ON MY WEBSITE
https://thebookcornerchronicles.com/2...

This short story was a unique take on the biography category since it is a mocking biography of a Roman scholar Ibidus.

The plot itself was okay for the most part, but I was expecting something more from it. But it didn’t live up to my expectations as you might expect.

So far I need to say that this short story was the only one from H.P Lovecraft which exhibit any sense of humor. It did actually surprise me because I didn’t expect H.P Lovecraft to be into jokes.

The writing style was decent but nothing too impressive but at least it wasn’t bad like in some other short stories written by the man.

[A Mig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passionate that I am about the history of collecting and the biography of objects, I was pleased to read this detailed description of the chain-of-custody of Ibid’s skull from the Roman times to the 19th century. It is quite remarkable since objects that can be traced back to before the 15th century are very scarce (even in fantasies I would presume). A curator’s dream, I would have only hoped that the skull had kept its paper trail with antique labels neatly handwritten. At least, Lovecraft gives us a “half-effaced inscription carved in Lombardic minuscules”

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

"So for generations did the sainted skull of Caius Anicius Magnus Furius Camillus Æmilianus Cornelius Valerius Pompeius Julius Ibidus, consul of Rome, favourite of emperors, and saint of the Romish church, lie hidden beneath the soil of a growing town. At first worshipped with dark rites by the prairie-dogs, who saw in it a deity sent from the upper world"

That part made me actually laugh. Prairie dogs worshipping a skull of a Roman with dark rites. So good on Lovecraft for that. Mission accomplished.

[Oleksandr Fediienko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Іронічний нарис про загальновідомого Тамже, найплодовитішого автора усіх часів. Народився він у п'ятому столітті в Римській імперії і прожив насичене життя. Після смерті його діяння згадували з шанобливістю і з роками його почали вважати святим. Череп його мандрував Італією, Францією, Аннлією, Ірландією і Америкою, допоки не загубився у Вісконсині. Тамже досі шанується як величний автор і найавторитетніше джерело для посилань і цитат.

[Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short story that tells of a man called Ibidus - who's death is just the beginning of his journey and legacy.
Lovecraft's writes of how this man's skull moves around the world - traded, stolen and gifted through the highs and lows of our historic societies.

Not a scary story, in fact there were a couple of truly witty moments, and a joke or two that played somewhat like a Monty Python sketch.

Not what I expected, but it was different and interesting. I am glad it was short.

[J.L. Perish · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm re-reading and rating every Lovecraft story individually.

Not really a story as much as it is a tongue-in-cheek "history" of Ibid's skull and its travel through the ages. It serves its purpose, but is mainly just padding lore.

[Amy (Other Amy) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Lovecraftian flash of humor, with a healthy side of 'What the hell did I just read?' The history of a skull, that's what.

[Chris Purser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good

[Thor The Redbeard · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5*

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and fun.

[Fabio Zacà · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kovecraft shows he is versed in other genres than horror too!

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Take a pass on this one.

[John Mace · Rating 3 out of 5]

And... then what happened?

[Forked Radish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute.

[Esteban Martos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un relato entretenido, es la historia de un craneo de un antiguo Romano que viaja a través de los lugares tiempo hasta llegar a USA.

[Mohannad Hassan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A parody piece by Lovecraft … that, in itself, is interesting!

[Niklas Zenius Jespersen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vanvittig racistisk...