Unaussprechlichen Kulten

Unaussprechlichen Kulten (also known as Nameless Cults or the Black Book) is a fictional work of arcane literature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The book first appeared in Robert E. Howard's short stories "The Children of the Night" (1931) and "The Black Stone" (1931) as Nameless Cults. Like the Necronomicon, it was later mentioned in several stories by H. P. Lovecraft.

The name is due to an effort of Lovecraft's to come up with a German translation of Nameless Cults. The title Unaussprechlichen Kulten is due to August Derleth.

Unaussprechliche Kulte would be the German for " cults". The form Unaussprechlichen Kulten is the dative case, suggesting a full title of Von unaussprechlichen Kulten ("Of Unspeakable Cults", as it were de cultis ineffabilibus) or similar.

Some observers have commented that since the German adjective may not only translate to "unspeakable, unutterable, ineffable", but also to "unpronouncable, tongue-twisting", the title is a good description of the names invented by Lovecraft.

The following is a fictional account of the origin of Unaussprechliche Kulten and its significance in the mythos.

Unaussprechliche Kulten is believed to have been written by Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt. The first edition of the German text (referred to by some as "the Black Book") appeared in 1839 in Düsseldorf. The English edition was issued by Bridewall in London in 1845, but (being meant to sell purely based on shock-value) contained numerous misprints and was badly translated. A heavily edition was later issued in New York by Golden Goblin Press in 1909, but sold few copies as its high production costs made it prohibitively expensive. Original editions in German have a heavy leather cover and iron hasps. Few copies of the earliest edition still exist because most were burnt by their owners when word of von Junzt's gruesome demise became common knowledge. An edition is known to be kept in a locked vault at the Miskatonic University library and some book collectors/occult scholars have managed to find copies.

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