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[Men of Learning & University Education…for Pundit Tabore]

$150.00

[United States]. Circa 1930.

Circular, 8.5” x 4.75”. 4 pgs., illus. at front panel. One line of text at front panel in Gujarati, remainder in English. CONDITION: Very good, some chipping to extremities, otherwise fine.

An advertising leaflet for a mail-order scam deployed by the Astrological Advisor to the Select Few from Bombay, with testimonials by men and women from America, England, Canada, China, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and India.

This pamphlet presents the “honest opinions of a few from among the large number of people who believe” that “Pundit Tabore’s useful work…should be better known in the world.” It asserts that “Tabore has convinced…not only a large number of men and women of average intellect, but also some of the most enlightened people,” of the value and legitimacy of his readings of one’s stars and fortunes. Among the testimonies are words attributed to “an American Gentleman” from New Jersey who thought “that Tabore must be possessing some sort of SECOND SIGHT;” a report from a “SCEPTIC TURNS INTO A BELIEVER” in Lincolnshire, England; and a “A PRINCE’S APPRECIATION,” announcing the benefit that Prince Kamaluddin of Manawadar, in Padal, India, saw from Tabore’s sage counsel. We note that throughout these testimonials, frequent reference is made to Tabore’s providing horoscopes, but there are no precise details given as to what those horoscopes consist of, or how precisely the writers have benefited from them.

Along the lower margin of the interior panel reads a “NOTICE – as the Indian gentleman who has adopted the pen or trade name of ‘Pundit Tabore’ has registered it with the Government, its use by others will infringe the law.” This, along with the prices listed in American currency, indicates that Tabore had an American audience and that the circular was printed here rather than India.

Consulting the newspaper record, we find that Tabore’s first advertisement in the American press was in the Chicago Defender in July of 1927. Therein, he announced his abilities to tell people “about your business, travel, changes…lucky days, and many other interesting…affairs of your life as indicated by World’s Best system of Astrology.” Americans could pay for these services by sending “25 cents (stamps),” along with their “Name, address, date of birth,” to “Pundit Tabore, 217 Upper Forjett St., Bombay, British India.” Tabore ran ads in the papers throughout the 1930s, though by the end of the decade Tabore’s rate of payment changed to “15 cents,” which could be donated, rather than a strict requirement. We suspect that this change in language was an attempt to circumvent a 1938 finding issued by the “Postal Authorities” of Battle Creek, Michigan, who declared Tabore’s advertisements a “mail fraud” operation.

We have located Tabore as an individual worker in astrology and palmistry in Hartmann’s mammoth reference, Who’s Who in Occultism, New Thought, Psychism, and Spiritualism (NY 1927).

OCLC locates no holdings.

[United States]. Circa 1930.

Circular, 8.5” x 4.75”. 4 pgs., illus. at front panel. One line of text at front panel in Gujarati, remainder in English. CONDITION: Very good, some chipping to extremities, otherwise fine.

An advertising leaflet for a mail-order scam deployed by the Astrological Advisor to the Select Few from Bombay, with testimonials by men and women from America, England, Canada, China, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and India.

This pamphlet presents the “honest opinions of a few from among the large number of people who believe” that “Pundit Tabore’s useful work…should be better known in the world.” It asserts that “Tabore has convinced…not only a large number of men and women of average intellect, but also some of the most enlightened people,” of the value and legitimacy of his readings of one’s stars and fortunes. Among the testimonies are words attributed to “an American Gentleman” from New Jersey who thought “that Tabore must be possessing some sort of SECOND SIGHT;” a report from a “SCEPTIC TURNS INTO A BELIEVER” in Lincolnshire, England; and a “A PRINCE’S APPRECIATION,” announcing the benefit that Prince Kamaluddin of Manawadar, in Padal, India, saw from Tabore’s sage counsel. We note that throughout these testimonials, frequent reference is made to Tabore’s providing horoscopes, but there are no precise details given as to what those horoscopes consist of, or how precisely the writers have benefited from them.

Along the lower margin of the interior panel reads a “NOTICE – as the Indian gentleman who has adopted the pen or trade name of ‘Pundit Tabore’ has registered it with the Government, its use by others will infringe the law.” This, along with the prices listed in American currency, indicates that Tabore had an American audience and that the circular was printed here rather than India.

Consulting the newspaper record, we find that Tabore’s first advertisement in the American press was in the Chicago Defender in July of 1927. Therein, he announced his abilities to tell people “about your business, travel, changes…lucky days, and many other interesting…affairs of your life as indicated by World’s Best system of Astrology.” Americans could pay for these services by sending “25 cents (stamps),” along with their “Name, address, date of birth,” to “Pundit Tabore, 217 Upper Forjett St., Bombay, British India.” Tabore ran ads in the papers throughout the 1930s, though by the end of the decade Tabore’s rate of payment changed to “15 cents,” which could be donated, rather than a strict requirement. We suspect that this change in language was an attempt to circumvent a 1938 finding issued by the “Postal Authorities” of Battle Creek, Michigan, who declared Tabore’s advertisements a “mail fraud” operation.

We have located Tabore as an individual worker in astrology and palmistry in Hartmann’s mammoth reference, Who’s Who in Occultism, New Thought, Psychism, and Spiritualism (NY 1927).

OCLC locates no holdings.