- Timothy Leary became famous for advocating use of LSD and psychedelic mushrooms in 1960s
- Coined the phrase 'turn on, tune in, drop out' and was dubbed by President Nixon as 'the most dangerous man in America'
- Archive was sold by his estate to New York Public Library in 2011 for undisclosed sum
- Cache of papers includes letter Leary wrote in 1975 from prison to author of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' author Ken Kesey
Treasure trove: The New York Public Library has made public a cache of never-published papers of psychologist and 1960s icon Timothy Leary, seen in this 1950s photo giving a lecture on his first book, ìInterpersonal Diagnosis of Personality
A vast collection of Timothy Leary files, much of it previously unpublished, is being made public for the first time today at the New York Public Library, which purchased the materials from the LSD guru’s estate in 2011.
The archive ‘is the missing link in every attempt to piece together an account of research into Timothy Leary and the emergence of scientific research into psychedelic drugs and popular drug counterculture,’ said Denis Berry, a trustee for the Leary estate.
Leary, who coined the phrase ‘turn on, tune in, drop out,’ was one of the most polarizing figures of the counterculture. He advocated the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs including LSD and psychedelic mushrooms.
His illustrious contemporaries Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, Jack Kerouac, Aldous Huxley and other noted figures frequently visited Millbrook Estate in upstate New York where Leary continued to conduct his psychedelic experiments after being fired as a psychology lecturer at Harvard University.
Dubbed by President Richard Nixon 'the most dangerous man in America,' Leary spent several years in prison before pulling off a daring escape and going into exile in the 1970s.
He died in 1996 at age 75 from inoperable prostate cancer, uttering the last words 'why not?'. Leary's ashes were later shot into space on the Pegasus Rocket.
The New York Public Library acquired the trove of Leary's writings for an undisclosed sum in 2011 and announced that it would not be made public for 18 to 24 months.
A look back: In this circa 1961 file photo provided by the New York Public Library, a curled-up Timothy Leary reads a book
Archive highlights: The collection includes Leary's April 20, 1975, letter to friend Ken Kesey, written from inside California State Prison (left), and his handwritten outline of the Castalia Foundation - a spiritual retreat and center for experimentation with psychedelic drugs
The more than 300 boxes of files, filled with never-before-seen correspondence and manuscripts from leading scientific, artistic, literary and cultural figures of the day, ‘will force a reworking of the current narratives on Leary, his role in LSD research’ and the counterculture, Berry said.
The archive contains drug session reports, completed questionnaires and letters relating to the various organizations Leary formed to continue his drug research after Harvard, including the International Federation for Internal Freedom, Castalia Foundation and the League for Spiritual Discovery.
Among the highlights is a neatly typed description from 1966 of the psychedelic training courses Leary conducted at Millbrook and a 1975 letter he wrote from prison to ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’ author Ken Kesey.
In the letter to Kesey, Leary says, ‘I think the time has come for me to go public about what I've been doing and learning.’
Futuristic: This undated photo shows Leary's Nintendo power glove and sneakers
These and the many unpublished manuscripts and letters from prison provide a rich source for research, said William Stingone, the library's curator of manuscript and archives.
John McWhinnie, a rare-book dealer who appraised the archive for the Leary estate, said in his report that the archive ‘details a program into psychedelic research that was akin to (Alfred) Kinsey's research into human sexuality.’
The cache of documents embraces the lives and thoughts of all the players associated with the scientific and popular movement of LSD and drug counterculture, said McWhinnie, who died last year.
McWhinnie was an associate of bookseller Glenn Horowitz, who eventually brokered the sale of the archive to the Public Library.
Public enemy: Leary spent several years in prison on drug charges and was dubbed by President Richard Nixon 'the most dangerous man in America'
High priest of LSD: Leary talks to followers and guests on the porch of the Millbrook, New York, mansion that houses his Castalia Foundation in September 1966 (left); Leary meditating at the Village Gate Theatre (right)
Counterculture icon: Leary, left, pictured in 1995 with rock musician Todd Rundgren and pop musician/producer Don Was
Among the collection's many photographs is one of Leary standing at a chalkboard in the 1950s giving a lecture on his first book, ‘Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality.’
The book marked his reputation in the field of clinical psychology before he went to Harvard to begin his research with psychedelic drugs.
Among other things, it contains some 1,000 floppy discs that deal with Leary's intense interest in cyberculture and the development of computer software for his self-help games.
For now, the library has no plans to make the archive available online.
End of an era: Leary died in 1996 at age 75 from inoperable prostate cancer. His ashes were later blasted into space
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