Ted Kaczynski

Letters to Library Staff

Dec. 1990 - Feb. 1993

  A Summary of Requested Books by Year

    1990

    1991

    1992

    1993

  The Full Letters

    Letter #1 - Dec(?) 1990

      A Note by Library Staff

    Letter #2 - Jan 14, 1991

    Letter #3 - May 16, 1991

    Letter #4 - June 29, 1991

    Letter #5 - Aug 26, 1991

    Letter #6 - Oct 6, 1991

    Letter #7 - Dec 16, 1991

    Letter #8 - Jan 16, 1992

    Letter #9 - Jan 27, 1992

    Letter #10 - Mar 11, 1992

    Letter #11 - Apr 15, 1992

    Letter #12 - June 30, 1992

    Letter #13 - Aug 3, 1992

    Letter #14 - Aug 14, 1992

    Letter #15 - Jan 14, 1993

    Letter #16 - Feb 9, 1993

A Summary of Requested Books by Year

1990

Human Psychological Differences: The Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (1990), by Thomas J. Bouchard Jr, David T. Lykken

1991

Tracking: a blueprint for learning how, by Jack Kearney

Doña Perfecta

Donald L. Kanter and Philip Mirvis, The cynical American: Living and working in an age of discontent and disillusion. Publisher: Jossey-Bass

T.M. Apostol, Advanced Calculus

Human Helplessness: Theory and Applications, Edited by Judy Garber and Martin E.P. Seligman, Academic Press, 1980.

Martin E.P. Seligman Depression

Thomas L. Creed, "Subliminal Deception," Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 11, no. 4, Summer, 1987, pp. 358-366

Richard Drinnon, White Savage: The case of John Dunn Hunter, Schocken Books, 1972.

Paul Hollander, The Survival of the Adversary Culture: Social Criticism and Political Escapism in American Society.

John L. Kelley, General Topology,

Jan Chrystostom Pasek, Memoirs (if available in English)

Robert White (editor), The Study of Lives: Essays on Personality in honor of Henry A. Murray

Martin E.P. Seligman, Learned Optimism

Justo Sierra, Juárez, su obra y su tiempo [1st choice]

Cristóbal A. Zamora, El Pastor: la persona y la obra de Benito Juárez vistas dentro del marco singular de su época. [2nd choice]

Jorge Fernando Iturribarria, Benito Juárez - Porfirio Díaz: hechos históricos de la vida de estos próceres de la reforma. [3rd choice]

Juárez, su vida y su obra by Manuel del Río González [Couldn’t afford the $4 fee]

1992

K.R. White, Psychological Bulletin, Volume 86, published in 1982.

K.J. Hayes, Psychol. Rep. 10, 299 (1962)

S. Scarr and K. McCartney, Child Dev. 54 424 (1983).

Ronald Segal, Leon Trotsky: A Biography

L.J. Eaves, H.J. Eyenck, and N.J. Martin, Genes, Culture and Personality: An Empirical Approach, Academic Press, 1989

R.E. Nisbett and L. Ross, Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgement

George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia

D. C. Glass and J. E. Singer, Urban Stress: Experiments on Noise and Social Stressors, Academic Press, 1972

Armando Palacio Valdes, La Novela de un Novelista

Jared Diamond, The Third Chimpanzee

Ross Terrill, Mao: A Biography, Harper and Row, 1980.

The Road, by Jack London

Jan Slomka, From serfdom to self-government Memoirs of a Polish village mayor, 1842-1927; translated by W. J. Rose

Colin Turnbull, Man in Africa (I believe this one is in the Lewis and Clark Library)

Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Arroz y Tartana (I would like to have this one in the original Spanish, not in translation.)

1993

I.. D. London, “Some consequences for history and psychology of Langmuir’s concept of convergence and divergence of phenomena”, Psychological Review, Volume 53 of Psychological Review, pages 170-188. (1946)

Isaac Deutscher, Stalin, a political biography

Maria Gimbutas, The Slavs

Lester Brooks, Great Civilizations of Ancient Africa

Galbraith Welch, Africa before they came,

W. I. Thomas and F. Znaniecki, The Polish peasant in Europe and America, Vol. I.

Wilcomb E. Washburn, “A Moral History of Indian-White Relations”, Ethnohistory, volume 4, number 1, pages 47-61. 1957.

The Full Letters

Letter #1 - Dec(?) 1990

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-100)

Dear Ms. McHugh:

You may remember that in a letter of October 20, 1990, I asked you to get me an article from the periodical Science. Since then I have heard nothing about the matter, so I am writing to remind you of my request and to ask you what its current status is.

The article I would like to get is the one that was referred to in a newspaper report (The Missoulian, Oct. 12, 1990) according to which there had appeared in a recent issue of Science an article on genetic versus environmental influences in the development of human personality. The newspaper report did not give the title of the article or the exact date on which it appeared, but the date would probably be somewhere near October 12, and the newspaper report did say that two of the authors were Thomas J. Bouchard and David T. Lykken, both of the University of Minnesota. I had clipped out the newspaper report and sent it to you with my letter of October 20.

If you can get this article for me, please send it to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library, as usual. If you cannot find the article, please let me know.

Thank you, and Merry Christmas

-Ted Kaczynski

A Note by Library Staff

12/12/90

Sherri –

We stamped this Oct 20, 1990 & sent article that day, but it may have gotten lost in the mail — here’s a second copy.

Sorry!

Sarah

Sent article again 12/12

Letter #2 - Jan 14, 1991

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-101)

Dear Ms. McHugh:

I would appreciate it if you could get for me a copy of the book Tracking: a blueprint for learning how, by Jack Kearney. This book is listed in Books in Print as being published by Pathways Press in 1978. However, I wrote to Pathways Press to ask the price of this book and they wrote back to inform me that the Books in Print listing was in error and that they had not published the book. They mentioned that there was another company called Pathway, and that this company might have published the book.

However that may be, I will be obligated to you if you can get me a copy of this book on an interlibrary loan. If you are able to get the book, please pass it on to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library, as you have done in the past, and I will pick it up there.

Thank you very much for your help - and thanks also for the help you've given me with other books and articles in the past.

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #3 - May 16, 1991

Click here here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-102)

Dear Ms. Vásquez-Terramin:

Through an unfortunate mishap I did not receive your message of 10-23-90 (concerning the novel Doña Perfecta) until a few weeks ago. Since you mentioned that you speak and read Spanish, I was tempted to write this letter in Spanish, just for practice; but I was afraid that that might cause problems if it were necessary for Ms. McHugh or some other librarian to handle my requests, so I write in English.

I would have preferred to wait until I got into Helena to order a copy of Doña Perfecta, so that I could consult with you or Ms. McHugh about the choice of a suitable edition. But I don't know when I will be making a trip to Helena, so rather than wait any longer I may as well make the choice on my own.

Attached to this letter you'll find two clippings from the lasercat printout that you sent me. Either of the two editions indicated on the clippings should be suitable for me, since each of these is probably in Spanish and each is apparently the novel Doña Perfecta and not the play of the same name. You can order for me either the one or the other of these editions, at your discretion.

In addition to Doña Perfecta I'd like to order two other books:

Donald L. Kanter and Philip Mirvis, The cynical American: Living and working in an age of discontent and disillusion. Publisher: Jossey-Bass

(This book was mentioned recently in the Missoulian and apparently was published only a very short time ago, so maybe it is not yet cataloged in your system. If you can't find it I'll try ordering it again at some time in future.)

T.M. Apostol, Advanced Calculus

(If this book is not available, any other textbook with the title Advanced Calculus would probably satisfy my needs.)

As usual, please send these books to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library.

Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely yours,

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #4 - June 29, 1991

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-103)

Dear Ms. McHugh and Ms. Vásquez-Terramin:

I'd like to order two books on inter-library loans:

Human Helplessness: Theory and Applications, Edited by Judy Garber and Martin E.P. Seligman, Academic Press, 1980.

A year or so ago I read in a newspaper that Martin E.P. Seligman was about to publish a new book with the title Depression - I would like to order this book too, if it is available now.

Incidentally, I'd like to remind you that some time ago I ordered the following article:

Thomas L. Creed, "Subliminal Deception," Skeptical Inquirer, vol. 11, no. 4, Summer, 1987, pp. 358-366

As yet I've had no word from you on this article.

Thanks very much for your help

-Ted Kaczynski

Letter #5 - Aug 26, 1991

Click here for a scan of the original letter (T-104)

Dear Ms. McHugh and Ms. Vásquez-Terramin:

I would appreciate it if you could get me the following two books:

Richard Drinnon, White Savage: The case of John Dunn Hunter, Schocken Books, 1972.

Paul Hollander, The Survival of the Adversary Culture: Social Criticism and Political Escapism in American Society.

As usual, please send these books to Sherri at the Lincoln Library.

Also, would it be convenient for you to provide me with Lasercat printouts listing available biographies of Joseph Stalin, Leon (Lev) Trotsky, and (a very different sort of man!) Benito Juárez?

Thank you very much for your help -- I appreciate your excellent services.

Sincerely yours,

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #6 - Oct 6, 1991

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-105)

Dear Ms. McHuge et al.:

I'm told that it would cost me $4.00 to borrow a copy of Juárez, su vida y su obra by Manuel del Río González. It is certainly quite reasonable for libraries to charge such a fee to cover their expenses in sending out books. I very much appreciate the fact that I can usually get books on interlibrary loan free of charge. Ideally I should pay the cost of mailing and handling. However, being a poor man, I would rather get a biography of Benito Juárez for nothing if I can, so instead of the book by Manuel del Río González, please get me one of the following books, if one of them is available free of charge. In order of preference:

1. Justo Sierra, Juárez, su obra y su tiempo

2. Cristóbal A. Zamora, El Pastor: la persona y la obra de Benito Juárez vistas dentro del marco singular de su época

3. Jorge Fernando Iturribarria, Benito Juárez - Porfirio Díaz: hechos históricos de la vida de estos próceres de la reforma.

In addition to a biography of Benito Juárez, please get me a copy of

John L. Kelley, General Topology,

if it can be obtained free of charge.

Thank you very much for your help, and thank you also for the other materials you've ordered for me.

Sincerely yours,

Ted Kaczynski

P.S. As usual, please send the books to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library.

Thanks. - T.K.

Letter #7 - Dec 16, 1991

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-106)

Dear Ms. McHugh et al:

Please get me the following three books, if you can get them free of charge:

1. Jan Chrystostom Pasek, Memoirs (if available in English)

2. Robert White (editor), The Study of Lives: Essays on Personality in honor of Henry A. Murray

3. Martin E.P. Seligman, Learned Optimism.

Some time ago you sent me a lasercat printout listing Seligman's Learned Optimism. For your convenience, I am enclosing the relevant part of the printout.

As usual, please send the books to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library.

Thank you very much for your help - and Merry Christmas to you!

Sincerely yours,

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #8 - Jan 16, 1992

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-107)

Dear Ms. McHugh et al:

I would appreciate it if you could get for me copies of the following three articles:

K.R. White, Psychol. BUll. 86, 461 (1982)

K.J. Hayes, Psychol. Rep. 10, 299 (1962)

S. Scarr and K. McCartney, Child Dev. 54 424 (1983).

I have given these references in exactly the same form in which they appear in an article published in Science. I assume that the references follow some standard form used by psychologists in citing articles. I think they are to be interpreted in the following way: In the first reference, Psychol. BUll. is an abbreviation for the name of the journal in which the article appears, 86 is the volume number, 461 is the page number, and 1982 is the date, so that the full reference should read (I think): K.R. White, Psychological Bulletin, Volume 86 page 461, published in 1982. (But I'd like to have a copy of the entire article, not just the one page.) And the other references would be interpreted similarly. I'd guess that Psychol. Rep. might mean Psychological Reports and that Child Dev. might mean Child Development. I hope these abbreviated references won't cause you any problems.

Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely yours,

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #9 - Jan 27, 1992

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-108)

Dear Ms. McHugh et al:

I'd like to order two more books on interlibrary loan:

Ronald Segal, Leon Trotsky: A Biography

L.J. Eaves, H.J. Eyenck, and N.J. Martin, Genes, Culture and Personality: An Empirical Approach, Academic Press, 1989

As usual, please send the books to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library. Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely yours,

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #10 - Mar 11, 1992

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-109

Dear Ms. McHugh et al:

I would appreciate it if you could get me copies of the following two books:

R.E. Nisbett and L. Ross, Human Inference: Strategies and Shortcomings of Social Judgement

George Orwell, Homage to Barcelona

With many thanks for your excellent services,

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #11 - Apr 15, 1992

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-110)

Dear Ms. McHugh et al:

I would appreciate it if you could get for me the following two books:

D. C. Glass and J. E. Singer, Urban Stress: Experiments on Noise and Social Stressors, Academic Press, 1972

Armando Palacio Valdes, La Novela de un Novelista.

I would like to have the book by Palacio Valdes in the original Spanish. If only an English translation is available, please don’t bother to get it for me.

With the usual thanks for your kind services —

Sincerely yours,
Ted Kaczynski

Letter #12 - June 30, 1992

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-111)

Dear Ms. McHugh et al:

I would appreciate it if you could get me copies of the following two books:

Jared Diamond, The Third Chimpanzee

Ross Terrill, Mao: A Biography, Harper and Row, 1980.

If the second book is not available, you can substitute for it any other biography of Mao Tse-Tung (or Mao Zedong, to use the spelling currently in vogue) published since the mid-1970’s that appears to be scholarly and objective as far as you can judge from the catalogue entry.

As usual, please send the books to Sherry Wood at the Lincoln Library.

Thank you very much for your help.

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #13 - Aug 3, 1992

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-112)

Dear Ms. McHugh:

I believe the Lewis and Clark Library has in its collection The Road, by Jack London. I would appreciate it if you would send this book out to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library, as I would like to check it out. Thanks very much for your help.

Sincerely yours,

Ted Kaczynski

Letter #14 - Aug 14, 1992

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-113)

Dear Ms. McHugh et al:

I would appreciate it if you could get the following books for me.

Jan Slomka, From serfdom to self-government Memoirs of a Polish village mayor, 1842-1927; translated by W. J. Rose

Colin Turnbull, Man in Africa (I believe this one is in the Lewis and Clark Library)

Vicente Blasco Ibanez, Arroz y Tartana (I would like to have this one in the original Spanish, not in translation.)

As usual, please send the books to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library.

Thank you very much for your help.

Sincerely yours,
Ted Kaczynski

Letter #15 - Jan 14, 1993

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-114)

Dear Ms. McHugh:

I would appreciate it very much if you could obtain for me the following materials.

First, an article:

I.. D. London, “Some consequences for history and psychology of Langmuir’s concept of convergence and divergence of phenomena”, Psychological Review, 53, 170-188. (I assume these numbers mean Volume 53 of Psychological Review, pages 170-188. The year of publication was 1946.)

Next, two books on interlibrary loan:

Isaac Deutscher, Stalin, a political biography

Maria Gimbutas, The Slavs

Finally, one book that I believe is in your collection at the Lewis and Clark Library:

Lester Brooks, Great Civilizations of Ancient Africa

Please send these materials to Sherry Wood at the Lincoln Library, as usual.

Sincerely yours,
Ted Kaczynski

Letter #16 - Feb 9, 1993

Click here for a photo scan of the original letter (T-115)

Dear Ms. McHugh:

I’d like to order more books and an article. A year or two ago I asked for Martin E.P. Seligman, Learned Optimism.

I was told that you were able to locate the book but that it was “too new to take out.” If it is now old enough to take out, I’d like to order it again.

I would also like to have

Galbraith Welch, Africa before they came,

Which I believe is in your collection at the Lewis and Clark Library.

Also,

W. I. Thomas and F. Znaniecki, The Polish peasant in Europe and America, Vol. I.

Note that this last is a five-volume sete, and I want only the first volume. If I ordered all 5 volumes at once, I couldn’t possibly read them all before the due date.

Finally, I’d like to have the following articles

Wilcomb E. Washburn, “A Moral History of Indian-White Relations”, Ethnohistory 4 (1) : 47-61.

I assume that the numbers mean Ethnohistory, volume 4, number 1, pages 47-61. The date of publication was 1957.

As usual, please send these materials to Sherri Wood at the Lincoln Library.

I appreciate very much all the trouble you go through to get books for me.

Thank you!

Sincerely yours,
Ted Kaczynski