Marc Edmund Jones was born on October 1, 1888, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Edmund H. Jones and Annie Louise (née Holmes) Jones. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois and exhibited an early interest in patterns and sequences that would later fuel a passion for astrology and other occult patterns. One sister, Helen Jones (later Rentsch), was born in 1897.
A man of eclectic interests, Jones wore many hats throughout his life. At various—and often overlapping—times, he was a screenwriter, author, playwright, poet, Presbyterian minister, philosopher, educator, occultist, astrologer, and founder of a unique organization called the Sabian Assembly. The common thread throughout his professional life was writing; a prolific output spanned his intersecting pursuits.
After working odd jobs across the country in his early twenties, Jones entered the nascent film industry as a photoplay scenario writer and sold his first scenario (
Jones became a Christian as a teen, and in 1921, he served as the executive secretary of the New York Convention Committee for the Christian Endeavor Convention. During this time, he continued to write scenarios, as well as stories for pulp fiction magazines.
In early 1923, Jones moved to California, where he would meet his future wife, Priscilla Kennedy Chandler (1891-1976), and begin an experimental educational occult group known as the Sabian Assembly. According to Jones, the Sabian Assembly was born on October 17, 1923, though the name wasn't officially chosen until 1928. Described by Jones as a "philosophical laboratory," the Assembly grew in membership over the following decades, with Jones heading it for the rest of his life.
One of Jones's biggest contributions to the field of astrology was the Sabian Symbols. On an unrecorded date in 1925, Jones went to a San Diego park with medium Elsie Wheeler, where she channeled and he transcribed the symbols, one for each of the 360 degrees of the zodiac. In the following decades, Jones wrote and published many astrology textbooks.
On June 11, 1926, Jones and Priscilla were married in Riverside, California. In 1932, Jones graduated from Occidental College in Los Angeles. He then entered San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, California, graduating with a Bachelor of Divinity in 1934. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and served at a church in Esparto, California, a position he resigned from in 1938. The family then moved back to New York City so Jones could continue a doctorate program he began two years prior. He received his PhD in Philosophy from Columbia University in 1948.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the Joneses traveled the country extensively by car so Marc could give astrology lectures. For a time, they had a Florida address. Then in the mid-1950s, they returned to the west coast and established their permanent residence in Stanwood, Washington. After many years of health struggles, Priscilla died in February 1976. In the remaining years of his life, Jones continued to work and write, though his own health began to decline. After experiencing a fall outside his home in February 1980, Marc Edmund Jones died on March 5, 1980, at age 91.
In addition to material in the collection, the following sources were used:
Roche, Diane.
Swett, Hilary.
The Marc Edmund Jones Collection, 1893-2014 (bulk 1912-1979) consists of drafts of published and unpublished works, clippings, scrapbooks, personal and professional correspondence, and photographs belonging to early screenwriter, author, playwright, poet, minister, philosopher, educator, occultist, astrologer, and founder of the Sabian Assembly, Marc Edmund Jones. These professional and personal papers document Jones's diverse writing career and range of creative output and include scripts, short stories, philosophy and astrology writings, novels, poetry, articles, and astrological charts. The collection is organized into three series: I. Film and Literary Works, 1906-1964, undated (bulk 1912-1955); II. Astrology, Occult, and Sabian Assembly, 1916-2014, undated; III. Personal and Professional, 1893-1979 (bulk 1913-1978).
Jones's papers were left in the care of Stan Carnarius of the Sabian Assembly. Items known or assumed to have been added to the collection after Jones's death have been arranged in Series II. Subseries D. Material Collected by Sabian Assembly.
During processing, preservation photocopies were created for some original documents, such as fading astrological charts. The original materials were retained with the copies. Potentially harmful or damaging materials such as paperclips, metal brads, and rusty staples were also removed during physical processing. Groupings were maintained with paper sleeves as necessary.
Known gaps within the collection include manuscripts for most of Jones's astrology books,
Series I. Film and Literary Works contains drafts of published and unpublished film scenarios, short stories, plays, novels, and poetry. Works of fiction that involve occult subject matter are arranged in this first series. Non-fiction works on occult matters are arranged in Series II. For example,
Jones typically reused boxes of typewriter paper as containers for his writings, which made it easy to transport his work during his travels around the country. These boxes contained typescript drafts and often notes and research. The original boxes were not retained during processing, but where they were labeled on the side of the box, the label has been removed and placed in the first folder of the corresponding work. Where there were multiple titles for a given work, the title on the box label is the one under which the work is listed in the container list. In instances where there was no label from Jones, the final/latest dated title was used.
In cases where the typewriter paper box contained multiple works instead of material for one singular work, the title from the box was used as the entry in the container list and is indicated by single quotes. The order was generally undisturbed during processing, so the works within the entry are not arranged alphabetically by title. The one exception is 'Grandon Trine,' in which correspondence is arranged first for context, with the works following, alphabetized by title. Works arranged under Early Works did not arrive in a typewriter paper box, rather they were loose within the collection, and are thus arranged alphabetically.
In instances where drafts were unnumbered, undated, and arrived without any apparent order—such as with
Among literary works from 1946 to 1950, there was often a sealed envelope that Jones had mailed to himself through registered mail, possibly in an attempt to achieve a "poor man's copyright," or to at least date the contents in an official way. These unopened envelopes generally contained copies of ideas or outlines for his plays, not the works themselves. They were opened by staff during processing and placed in paper sleeves along with their contents.
Some works appear multiple places within the collection. Under the entry 'Manuscripts: Fairy Tales/Buse's non-Grandon,' works for Buse also appear by title elsewhere in Series I. The short stories featured in the entry 'Published Stories Extra Copies' also appear in unlabeled scrapbooks (osb 5 and osb 6) in Series III. Grandon Trine stories appear in unlabeled scrapbook (osb 6).
Series II. Astrology, Occult, and Sabian Assembly contains non-fiction works and material relating to astrology, the occult, or the Sabian Assembly. This series is subdivided into four subseries: A. Works, B. Works by Others, C. Material Collected by Marc Edmund Jones, and D. Material Collected by Sabian Assembly.
Subseries A. Works, arranged alphabetically, contains writings and astrology works created by Jones across many decades, from 1916 to 1979. Included are drafts, published copies, and unpublished materials.
Also included are digitized images of lessons written by Jones and originally released 1933 to 1967. These PDF files were created by Bob Kline and transferred to the Ransom Center on a USB drive. Where possible, digital content saved on storage media was migrated and transferred to a stable preservation environment and are listed under the entry Sabian Assembly lessons. Sabian Fundamentals, meant for newcomers, contains 26 lessons. Sabian Glossary contains five sets with 23-26 lessons in each electronic file. Second Cycle contains the Philosophy set—42 series with 26 lessons each—and the Bible set—36 series with 24-56 lessons each. Electronic records in the container list use names that are variations of original filenames and folder names. The entry includes a brief description, the number of files, the file formats, and the year timestamp. These dates do not necessarily reflect when the file was created or last saved. The original file directory is made available to researchers when using these materials.
Items of interest within Series II. Subseries A. Works include the original Sabian Symbol cards created by Jones in 1925 and astrological charts for world figures and historic events—such as Richard Nixon, the first instance of nuclear reactor criticality, and the launch of Sputnik I—under 'Mundane Current significant.'
The remaining subseries, also arranged alphabetically, contain original and collected material related to astrology and the occult, the Sabian Assembly, and Marc Edmund Jones. Included are biographical writings about Jones, and bibliographies of Jones's work.
Series III. Professional and Personal contains scrapbooks, a photo album, correspondence, scenario records, and material related to Jones's Christian ministry. The scrapbooks are arranged chronologically. Scrapbook (osb 1) from Jones's early life (1899-1926) is restricted due to its fragile condition. Access is available only with curatorial permission. The correspondence, mostly from the 1970s, arrived with no apparent order. During processing, it was arranged by topic into seven categories: Alma Maters, Astrological societies, Extracurriculars, Financial and legal, Personal, Publishing and copyright, and Requests from the public. There is no arranged order within categories.
Gift, 2018 (18-01-014-G)
Open for research. Due to its fragile condition, access to one original scrapbook (osb 6) is restricted and a digital surrogate is available for research use on the Reading Room portal. If access to the original scrapbook is necessary for research, curatorial permission is required.
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before using archival materials. To request access to electronic files, please email
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Certain restrictions apply to the use of electronic files. Researchers must agree to the Materials Use Policy for Electronic Files before accessing them. Original computer disks and forensic disk images are restricted. Copying electronic files, including screenshots and printouts, is not permitted.
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom Center's Open Access and Use Policies.
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. Marc Edmund Jones Collection (Manuscript Collection MS-54121).
Kelsey Handler, Brenna Edwards (electronic records), 2024
The Ransom Center's McManus-Young Collection contains one work by Marc Edmund Jones: