Unaussprechlichen Kulten (also known as Nameless Cults or the Black Book) is a fictional book of arcane literature in the Cthulhu Mythos. The book first appeared in Robert E. Howard's 1931 short stories "The Children of the Night" and "The Black Stone" as Nameless Cults. Like the Necronomicon, it was later mentioned in several stories by H. P. Lovecraft.
Name
The book was originally called Nameless Cults by Robert E. Howard in his stories "The Children of the Night" and "The Black Stone", published in Weird Tales in 1931. It's unclear whether the book is a complete invention by Howard, or if he based it on an enhancement of a real book. H. P. Lovecraft gave it a German title more in keeping with the German name of the fictional author, von Junzt, when he started using it in stories set in the Cthulhu Mythos. Not being a German speaker, Lovecraft asked his protege August Derleth for a translation. Unaussprechlichen Kulten was Derleth's suggestion. Derleth and others in the Lovecraft circle subsequently used both the book and the author in their stories.
Unaussprechliche Kulte would be the German for "unspeakable cults". The form Unaussprechlichen Kulten is the dative case, suggesting a full title of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten ("Of Unspeakable Cults", as it were de cultibus ineffabilibus) or similar or a dedication (i.e. (dedicated) to unspeakable cults). However, Derleth was a German speaker, and the title was also supported by German-born Weird Tales illustrator C.C. Senf, against the opposition of Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright and writer E. Hoffmann Price. According to Robert M. Price. "the initial [German] article 'die' must have stood in Von Junzt's original, since without it the title would read Unaussprechliche Kulten."
Since the German adjective may not only translate to "unspeakable, unutterable, ineffable", but also to "unpronounceable, tongue-twisting", the title might serve as a description of the names invented by Lovecraft. Part of Price's objection to the title, besides the grammatical issue, was this alternative meaning which he believed did not convey the required feeling of dread. He suggested instead Unnennbaren Kulten (Unnameable Cults), but was ignored.