A Beautiful, Complex Mess Illustrating the Entire Development of Human Society (1926)

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post   Outsider Logic series

 I'm not sure what is going on or not going on in these diagrams/charts from the unusually-titled proto-outider-humorist  Concerning Irascible Strong and Trixie-Cunning, and their sons: Cunning-Strong, Skilful-Strong, Simple-Strong, Tricksy-Cunning, and their descendants, by William H. Smyth (and printed in 1926).  It is a lot of title to live up to.  Or down to.  In any event, the meaning behind it all is a mystery to me, but the mystery behind not wanting to know what it was all about is not a mystery at all--after all, isn't a plate of spaghetti prettier as a mess than it is all straightened out? 

 I suspect that this was intentional as an intended mess of confusion, but I really don't need to know if this was a humorous work or not. But Mr. Smyth did produce a very involved display of something or other:

 [Source for graph images: here (Flickr account for Johnxlibris]

Source:  Hathi Trust, here.

The greatest element of this work--to me--is this graph of the Complete History of Human Social and Cultural Development. 

 

 [Source for graph images: here (Flickr account for Johnxlibris]