Editing The Illuminatus! Trilogy (section)

== Publishing history ==
The trilogy was originally written between 1969 and 1971 while Wilson and Shea were both associate editors for ''[[Playboy]]'' magazine. As part of the role, they dealt with correspondence from the general public on the subject of [[civil liberties]], much of which involved paranoid rants about imagined conspiracies. The pair began to write a novel with the premise that "all these nuts are right, and every single conspiracy they complain about really exists".<ref name=nuts>[http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/Prometheus.htm The Illuminatus saga stumbles along by Robert Anton Wilson]. Retrieved 21 February 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060915092956/http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/Prometheus.htm Archived link].</ref> In a 1980 interview given to the science fiction magazine ''Starship'', Wilson suggested the novel was also an attempt to build a myth around [[Discordianism]]:

{{blockquote|It started with the Discordian Society, which is based on worship of Eris, the Greek goddess of confusion and chaos [...] We felt the Society needed some opposition, because the whole idea of it is based on conflict and dialectics. So, we created an opposition within the Discordian Society, which we called the Bavarian Illuminati [...] There were several Discordian newsletters written in the 1960s, and several Discordian members wrote for the underground press in various parts of the country. So, we built up this myth about the warfare between the Discordian Society and the Illuminati for quite a while, until one day Bob Shea said to me, "You know, we could write a novel about this!"<ref name="starship">[http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/Starship.htm "Robert Anton Wilson: Searching For Cosmic Intelligence" by Jeffrey Elliot] Interview discussing novel. Retrieved 21 February 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060614022635/http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/Starship.htm Archived link].</ref>}}

There was no specific division of labor in the collaborative writing process, although Shea's writing tended towards [[melodrama]], while Wilson's parts tended towards [[satire]]. Wilson states in a 1976 interview conducted by Neal Wilgus:

{{blockquote|In general, the melodrama is Shea and the satire is me; but some of the satire is definitely him and some of the melodrama is certainly me. "When Atlantis Ruled the Earth" is 99% Shea. The sections about Simon Moon, Robert Putney Drake and Markoff Chaney are 99% me. Everything else is impossible to untangle.<ref name=wilgus>Science Fiction Review #17, 1976, [http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/SFR17.htm An Interview with Robert Anton Wilson – Conducted by Neal Wilgus] (URL accessed 21 February 2006) [https://web.archive.org/web/20060219191930/http://www.rawilsonfans.com/articles/SFR17.htm Archived link].
<br />The Atlantis section referred to appears in "The Seventh Trip, or [[Netzach (Kabbalah)|Netzach]]" of ''The Golden Apple.''</ref>}}

According to [[Ken Campbell (actor)|Ken Campbell]], who created a stage adaptation of ''Illuminatus!'' with [[Chris Langham]], the writing process was treated as a game of one-upmanship between the two co-authors, and was an enjoyable experience for both:

{{blockquote|They had a lot of access to research staff. And so under the guise that it would be helpful writing articles for ''Playboy'' (I don't think it was really) they got into the Illuminati. Wilson would bung these memos to Shea as material came in from the researchers—like the memos in the book. When they got to memo 23, Shea said, "If we imagine a New York cop came across these memos, I think we've got the basis for a fine thriller!" So the next one Wilson wrote was episode one of the thriller. Shea replied with episode two. They were playing a game really. Like, I bet you can't continue this! The answer is, "No I can't, so we'll continue with this!"<ref name=memos>Interview given to James Nye, first published in ''Gneurosis'' 1991, available at [https://web.archive.org/web/20060712180409/http://www.frogboy.freeuk.com/ken.html Frogweb: Ken Campbell] (URL accessed 2 March 2006).<br />Campbell quotation taken from ''Recollections of a Furtive Nudist'' by Ken Campbell, published as part of ''The Bald Trilogy'' by Methuen in 1995</ref>}}

The unusual end product did not appeal to publishers, and it took several years before anybody agreed to take it on. According to Wilson, the division of ''Illuminatus!'' into three parts was a commercial decision of the publisher, not the authors, who had conceived it as a single continuous volume. Shea and Wilson were required to cut 500 pages to reduce printing costs on what was seen as a risky venture,<ref name="starship"/> although Wilson states that most of the ideas contained therein made it into his later works. The idea that the top secrets of the Illuminati were cut from the books because the printer decided to trim the number of pages is a joke typical of the trilogy.

[[Dell Publishing]] first released these individual editions (with covers illustrated by Carlos Victor Ochagavia) in the United States in [[1975 in literature|1975]], to favorable reviews and some commercial success. It became a cult favorite but did not cross over into large mainstream sales. In [[United Kingdom|Britain]], [[Sphere Books]] released the individual editions (with different cover art by Tony Roberts) in [[1976 in literature|1976]]. The individual editions sold steadily until [[1984 in literature|1984]], when the trilogy was republished in a single omnibus volume for the first time. This collected edition lost the "what has gone before" introduction to ''The Golden Apple'' and the "Prologue" to ''Leviathan''.  Some of the material in that foreword, such as the self-destruct [[myna]]h birds (taught to say "Here, kitty-kitty-kitty!"), appears nowhere else in the trilogy, likely a result of the 500 pages of cuts demanded by Dell. The omnibus edition gave a new lease on life to flagging sales, and became the most commonly available form of the trilogy from then on.

The trilogy was translated and published in German, again both as separate volumes (the three covers of which formed a [[triptych]]) and an omnibus. The face of [[J. R. "Bob" Dobbs]] was split across the first two volumes, despite the [[Church of the SubGenius]] not being featured in the novel (although Wilson had become a member). The Church was founded by ''Illuminatus!'' fans, and the image of "Bob" is widely considered to be a representation of Wilson himself.<ref name=bob>Bill Forman, Metro Santa Cruz August 12, 2005, available at [http://www.rawilson.com/metro.shtml rawilson.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060118044440/http://www.rawilson.com/metro.shtml |date=2006-01-18 }} . Retrieved 21 February 2006.</ref>