Weiser Antiquarian Books.
Catalog Archive Page: # 1.
Catalogs 1 - 20.
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Our Previous Catalogs.
In addition to the regular listings on our website, Weiser Antiquarian Books began issuing a new series of on-line catalogs in February 2006. These catalogs give us the opportunity to present collections or groups of related items in a more detailed and sympathetic context than the normal website allows, and also enable us to give our established customers first choice at some of the more interesting new arrivals, as well as to offer them 'special' or bargain items. Most of the catalogs are put together around the works of a particular author or subject: say books by Aleister Crowley or books on Alchemy for example, although others might simply list new arrivals, or books that have come from a specific collection. The items in the catalogs are not advertised elsewhere - in the main body of our website or on other bookselling sites - for at least a few days after the catalogs have been posted on-line.
Obviously the catalogs go out of date quickly. Because we sell mostly secondhand and rare books, we usually only have only one copy of any given item. Many items sell within the first few days of the catalog's launch, with the remainder trickling out in the weeks and months that follow its release.
It was originally our intention just to leave the catalogs on-line for a month or two, and then to take them down. However a number of our customers liked having them available for bibliographical and other reference purposes and asked us to leave them up where they could access them. Unfortunately this can create some confusion: it is too time consuming for us to keep backtracking and marking off books that have sold, but if we do not do this it can cause lead to some confusion and disappointment to those who find their way to the site indirectly - via google for example - and do not realise they are looking at archived listings.
To try to minimise possible misunderstandings, but still provide access to the catalogs, we decided to mark off as SOLD, all items that sold within the first two weeks of any catalog's launch. After two weeks we will then 'archive' the catalog - adding it to this page. When doing that we will replace the item's price with the words 'Please check our website for current availability.' If the item is not listed on our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com it is probably safe to assume that it has sold, however you can always send us an enquiry by email, or phone us to be sure. If doing this, please tell us the item's author, title, and the 'unique book number' (the number in brackets at the end of the listing).
At present we issue one or two catalogs a month, with occasional email updates of new-releases etc. If you would like to be notified by email when we post a new catalog on-line, please send an email with 'subscribe' in the subject line to books@weiserantiquarian.com Of course ou can have your name removed from the list at any time, simply by asking, and of course we will not re-supply your details to anyone.
A chronological list of our first twenty catalogs - that is catalogs Nos.1 - 20 - follows. Later catalogs (from No 21 onwards) can be viewed at:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogarchivepagetwo
Please remember that, to see books that are currently available, please go to our website http://www.weiserantiquarian.com
Catalog One - Books by and about Aleister Crowley. Part One.
The first of our New Series of catalogs, was itself the first part of a two-part catalog devoted to Aleister Crowley, his life and works. It included a special section devoted solely to different editions of The Book of the Law, including a copy of the First British softcover edition inscribed by Crowley. Other treasures included a typescript of Liber Aleph, and rare First Editions of Crowley's Goetia,Konx om Pax, Magick Without Tear, The Equinox of the Gods, The Book of Lies, and a copy of Magick in Theory and Practice, with related signed ephemera. There was also a collection of signed 'Word of the Equinox' documents, and other interesting and unusual books and related ephemera.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogone
Catalog Two - Books by and about Aleister Crowley. Part Two.
In Catalog Two we were pleased to offer for sale a selection of important works by Aleister Crowley, from the personal library of Ray Burlingame (1893-1965) of California. A former member of C. F. Russell's 'Gnostic Body of God,' Burlingame joined Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis in 1941, taking the magical name of 'Frater Aquarias. ' He engaged in correspondence with Crowley, attained the IX°, and remained a committed Thelemite and practitioner of the magic for the rest of his life.
The small but significant collection of Crowley's works that he gathered together was central to his belief and practice: to him the books were not simply objects, but an essential part of his magical arsenal. Others coveted Burlingame's books on account of the power that they represented, and after his death the family home was burgled and part of the library was stolen.
Fortunately the theft was not total and his wife, Mildred, was left with a core group that included some of their most valued volumes. Amongst these was a rare copy of the private edition of Crowley’s Olla, (20 copies only!) with a superb full-page presentation inscription to the family from Crowley, a copy of the magnificent First Edition of The Book of Thoth and a number of other treasures including the The Book of Lies. Clouds Without Water , The [Collected] Works of Aleister Crowley (3 Volumes in 1). , Eight Lectures on Yoga (The Equinox Volume III, Number Four). , The Equinox Vol. I, Numbers I - X , The Gospel According to St. Bernard Shaw , The Heart Of The Master, Konx Om Pax Essays in Light, Little Essays Toward Truth . 777 , The Confessions and Magick Without Tears and others.. On her death the collection was passed to another family member, and thence to the present owner, who eventually decided to make it available for public sale through Weiser Antiquarian Books.
Other Crowley first editions in the catalog included a number of Deluxe Editions of the first series of The Equinox, as well as a miscellany of more recent works.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogtwo
Catalog Three - Hermetica – A Selection of New & Used Books On Alchemy, Magic, Mysticism, Roscicruciana & Kindred Subjects.
This Catalog comprised four sections, the first on 'Books relating to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and its offshoots.', the second 'Specials.v Three important books. New but out-of-print in these quality hardcover editions, the third 'General Hermetica, Including Alchemy, Magic, Mysticism & Rosicruciana,' and the fourth 'Alexandria. A Journal of Cosmology, Philosophy, Myth, and Culture.'
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogthree
Catalog Four - Austin Osman Spare - Artist & Occultist.
Our fourth Internet catalog was devoted to books by and about Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956). May 15, 2006 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the death of this extraordinarily talented individual, and it was perhaps fitting that the issue of this catalog – which included examples of most of his published work along with many significant studies of his life, art and magic –coincided with that milestone.
In particular we were pleased to offer an unusually good selection of Spare’s first editions, the majority of which were privately published in beautifully produced limited-edition printings, and are, of course, resplendent with his beguiling illustrations and profound and challenging text. The growth of interest in Spare over the last several decades has also witnessed the publication of a number of new books which focus on Spare and his art, notably by the specialist press Fulgur, and a good selection of these beautifully illustrated works is also available. The catalog was in three sections:
a) First and Early Editions by Austin Osman Spare.
b) Posthumous Works and Reprints.
c) Biographical and Artistic Studies, Exhibition Catalogs, etc.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogfour
Catalog Five - Aleister Crowley. From Agape Lodge to Thelema Publications.
Welcome to this, our fifth Internet catalog. As the title suggests this catalog is again devoted to the works of Aleister Crowley: specifically to books and typescripts that were owned and/or published by Helen Parsons Smith (1910-2003) and her friend Gabriel Montenegro Vargas (1907-1969), both of whom were IXth degree members of Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis. Following the actual book listings there is a short piece about Helen Parsons Smith, Gabriel Montenegro Vargas, their lives and their books, which includes details of the limited edition printed catalog, with original contributions by Martin P. Starr,which we have produced to accompany the sale of the collections. Information on how to purchase the books, as well as links to our earlier catalogs, are included in a separate section at the end of this webpage.
The books included a unique collection relating the the publication of the Thelema Publishing edition of Amrita : Essays in Magical Rejuvenation, including copy Number One (Helen Parsons Smith's own copy) of a limited issue of 33 copies bound in full leather , copies of the 'trade edition,' a bound collection of typescripts and manuscript Introductions to the work by: Israel Regardie, Mark Aguiar, William Breeze, Martin P. Starr and Lon DuQuette, which Helen Parsons Smith had solicited, a separate typescript mock up of a version of the book which never went to press comprising a 13 page typescript introduction by Regardie (still unpublished), etc. There were also a number of presentation copies of Thelemic works to Helen Parsons Smith, as well as examplese of books produced by her own Thelema Publications including the Khing Kang King: The Classic of Purity. Liber XXI. The Soul of the Desert,
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogfive
Catalog Six - Magic A Miscellany.
The sixth of our on-line catalogs presented a miscellany of recent arrivals from the 'Magic' section of our shop. It began with a section devoted to rarities such as the First English language edition (1651) of one of the foundation works of the Western Magical tradition, Henry Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, the second edition (1875) of Francis Barrett's The Magus, and a magnificently-bound copy of the 1865 edition of Richard Payne Knight's A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus, a book which Aleister Crowley recommended as "Invaluable to all students." The same section also listed some interesting association copies of magical works, including novelist Marie Corelli's set of The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, and Theosophist and author A. P. Sinnett's copy of The Real History Of The Rosicrucians.
Following the rarities came a mixture of books from our general shelves. Some of these were quite unusual - such as Arthur Machen's enigmatic House of the Hidden Light and Westcott's History of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia, both works with strong Golden Dawn connections. There is also a good selection of brand-new but now out-of-print Weiser hardcover titles from the rapidly-dwindling supplies in our storeroom.
Also 'new', but long out-of-print and in limited quantity, are copies of the revised edition of the Art of Rosaleen Norton. This book was first published in 1952, and was quickly withdrawn from sale on account of the uproar its sensuality and dark symbolism attracted. In 1982 its original publisher brought out a new edition, with extra plates and a new preface, in an edition of 1000 copies. We were lucky enough to acquire the small remaining stock several years ago.
The rest of this list is made up of several short sections on works by Papus, Israel Regardie, and Dion Fortune,as well as a small group of volumes from the important Collectanea Hermetica series.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogsix
Catalog Seven - Aleister Crowley & Your Interest in Magick.
Our Catalog Seven contained a further selection of books and typescripts from the libraries of Helen Parsons Smith (1910-2003) and her friend Gabriel Montenegro Vargas (1907-1969), both of whom were IXth degree members of Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis. Of particular note were choice early editions of Crowley's Ahab, and Carmen Saeculare, as well a number of 'one-off' items: a specially made up copy of The Book of the Law that belonged to Helen, and a beautifully bound typescript of The Tao Teh King presented to Monty by his friends and fellow Agape Lodge members, Ray and Mildred Burlingame. Oddly the Burlingames are also responsible for what is without doubt the shabbiest offering in this catalog, a copy of Crowley's Olla, which has been rather severely gnawed by the family dog.
This section is followed by two fascinating historical pieces: the original manuscript diaries for the years 1911-1914 of Eugene Wieland, who, along with his wife, the poet, Ethel Archer, was deeply involved with Crowley at the height of The Equinox period, and a corrected Proof Copy of the first volume of Crowley's Confessions. Equally intriguing is a small collection of material relating to Crowley's activities as a self-appointed propagandist for the Allies during the Second World War. In addition to a number of pieces of ephemera - including a signed copy of Thumbs Up, a work that was effectively a ritual curse on Hitler, there are the signed manuscripts of two unpublished and extremely vitriolic patriotic poems, one of which was clearly written in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. Also in Crowley's own hand are two letters, each with its original envelope with wax seal bearing the impression of the cartouche of Ankh-f-n-khonsu from Crowley's ring, which Crowley wrote to Mrs. Macky (Soror Fiat Yod) - the woman to whom most of the letters in Magick Without Tears were originally addressed.
The tone of the catalog is then lightened by two humorous works written by Jerry Cornelius of Red Flame fame: one an impious parody of the Gnostic Catholic Mass, the other a cheeky tilt at the Beast himself in the form of a spurious correspondence twixt Crowley and his milkman.
The penultimate section comprises a small but significant group of material relating to Marcelo Ramos Motta (1931-1987) and the Societas Ordo Templi Orientis, most of which is from the collection of one of his former students. It includes a number of rarities such as a signed limited edition of The Equinox. Vol. V, No. 2, and, scarcer still, the supressed Brazilian edition of Chamando Os Filhos Do Sol [Calling the Children of the Sun]. The final section comprises a small miscellany of Crowley's works, including a copy of the 'Your Interest in Magick Could be the Dawn of a New Life', from which we purloined the title for this catalog.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogseven
Supplement to Catalog # 7. - ‘Fraternally Yours, Karl’: letters from Karl Germer to Reea Leffingwell.
This supplemental list detailed a collection of original correspondence from Karl Germer (1885 – 1962) to Reea G. Leffingwell (1891 –1978) of Agape Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis which spanned the years 1946 – 1961. The correspondence started in January 1946, the very month that Jack Parsons resigned from Agape Lodge, and was succeeded as its Head by Reea’s husband, Roy, and ended with what was most likely the last letter that Germer ever wrote to Reea, dated April 15, 1961, some eighteen months before his death. Whilst some letters or parts of letters in the series have obviously been lost, the group appears to be largely intact. As such it provides a unique historical record of the Ordo Templi Orientis and Thelema in the United States during that period, as well as giving specific insight into the thought and activities of Karl Germer and other American followers of Aleister Crowley.
The collection comprised 47 letters and 2 greeting cards, from Karl Germer (1885 – 1962) to Reea G. Leffingwell (1891 –1978). In addition there were 3 letters to Reea from her husband, Roy Leffingwell (1886 –1952), an incomplete carbon draft of a letter from Reea to Karl Germer, and an astrological chart with a sheet of corresponding notes drawn up by Germer. .Forty-six of the forty-seven letters by Germer are signed, and a number of them have manuscript corrections and additional notes in his handwriting. The catalog included a descriptive essay with quotations from the correspondence, and a detailed list of the letters which comprised this collection.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogsevensupplement
Catalog Eight. A Miscellany of Recent Acquisitions.
Catalog Eight was our most varied list to date, comprising 100 books from across a number of the categories that we stock. Highlights included some magnificent multi-volume editions of works by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, such as Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, (2 volumes: 1911. First Edition) The Book of Governors. The Historia Monastica of Thomas, Bishop of Marga A. D. 480 , (2 Volumes 1893. First Edition) and b>Baralâm and Yewâsef. Being the Ethiopic Version of a Christianized Recension of the Buddhist Legend of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva. (2 volumes - 1923. First Edition).
There was also a nice copy of one of the most famous - and impressive - books in the Western esoteric canon, the 'King Solomon Edition' - limited to 550 numbered copies - of Manly P. Hall's, [The Secret Teachings of All Ages] An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy, Being an Interpretation of the Secret Teachings concealed within the Rituals, Allegories and Mysteries of All Ages. (1928), this copy inscribed by the author. One of the more interesting association items listed was a copy of J. K. Huysmans' Là-Bas. ( 1893) bound in custom red cloth, with gilt title etc to spine, and gilt emblem of The Socieas Rosicruciana in Anglia stamped on front cover and the book plate of the S.R.I.A. on front pastedown. The S.R.I.A., was of course the occult fraternity which begat the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and was arguably in its heyday at the time of Huysman's writing.
Given the disparate nature of the books listed it is hard to do justice to them in a short space, but a list of the category sub-titles will give some idea of their diversity: 'Alchemy,' 'Budge, Sir E. A. Wallis - works,' 'Channeled Writings', 'Curiosa,' 'Druids', 'Eleusis & The Mysteries', 'Fairies', 'Folklore & Mythology', 'Freemasonry', 'Gnosticism', 'Goddess', 'Grail-lore', 'Heresies & Heretics', 'Hermetica', 'Hermetica - Biography, History & Philosophy', 'Indo-Tibetan Religion', 'Japanese Religions', 'Kabbalah', 'Magic', 'Mysticism', 'Numerology', 'Occultism', 'Paganism and its Interpreters', 'Pre-Columbian American Religions', 'Rosicrucianism', 'Sacred Geometry', 'Serpent Worship', 'Shamanism', 'Sufism', 'Symbols & Symbolism', 'Tantric Symoblism', 'Theosophy', 'Witchcraft','Yeats & The Golden Dawn', & 'Yoga'.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogeight
Catalog Nine. Aleister Crowley: 'The Old Devil.'
The ninth of our on-line catalogs contained another eclectic selection of works by and about Aleister Crowley and his Ordo Templi Orientis. It began with an interesting selection of documents, manuscript and typescript, by the Beast himself. There is a delightful quirkiness to some of the pieces: such as the program for a 1942 production of Faust, directed by Peter Brook, complete with harsh comments about some of the actors' abilities in the margins by Crowley, who served as the now-famous director's technical advisor on matters magical. Quirkier still was a railway timetable, written out in Crowley's hand, which is sure to bring delight to someone, combining as it does two quintessentially British enthusiasms: Trainspotting and Crowleyana. Perhaps not as odd, but nonetheless amusing, is a letter in which Crowley observes 'I sometimes need repose from this accursed Qabalah. I do it in my bloody Dreams, damn it!'
Other sections of the catalog include a general selection of books by Crowley, a group of ephemeral items - which included several extremely rare O.T.O. pamphlets from the First World War period - and a good collection of Crowley-related books and periodicals in the German language, mostly published by the Swiss O.T.O. in the 1950s & 1960s. There followed a small group of items of similar vintage but more modest execution, produced by Alexander Watt (1890-1961), a Canadian occultist, who is thought to have been a member of the O.T.O. and who was in contact with both Crowley and Karl Germer. The catalog concluded with a group of biographies and autobiographies, all of which to greater or lesser extent touch upon Crowley, his life and times. A number of these focus on Crowley's Abbey of Thelema at Cefalu, with interesting first-hand accounts of life there by Betty May and Arthur Calder-Marshall, as well as a rather more sensationalist depiction which was published in three consecutive issues of the British magazine Picture Post in 1955, and which included details of a visit made to the site of the Abbey by Kenneth Anger and Dr. Kinsey earlier that year.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalognine
Catalog Ten. Aleister Crowley: Books, Ephemera & A Drawing.
The tenth of our on-line catalogs offered another selection of scarce and unusual works by and about Aleister Crowley. The first - and certainly the most eye-catching - of the pieces on offer was a rare charcoal sketch by the Beast: a portrait of an unidentified young woman with distinctive 'flapper' hair-style. Crowley's poetic artistry is also well represented in the catalog, notably by a typescript copy of his unpublished, Book of Oaths, a signed typescript of his war-time poem 'Rheims,' and a number of First Editions of books of his verse, including signed and inscribed copies of Konx om Pax and The Collected Works, and a signed copy of his Fun of the Fair. Other interesting and unusual items include the manuscript draft of a letter from Crowley to the famous Himalayan explorer Sir Francis Younghusband, a small selection of horoscopes drawn up by Crowley, and a beautifully engraved O.T.O. Rose Croix Obligation and Affiliation Certificate, signed by Crowley and C. Stansfeld Jones.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogten
Catalog Eleven. A Holiday Miscellany.
Catalog Eleven was a 'Holiday Miscellany,' and was divided into three main parts. The first part comprised a small selection of fine new books, some of which were limited editions, and some of which were signed by their authors. The second part was the 'miscellany,' and included choice secondhand and rare books from a number of the different subject areas in which we specialize (a brief outline of some of the books follows). In keeping with the season, the third part comprises a few works on Christmas and Hanukkah, including a rather gory Victorian illustrated nursery book: certainly not one for the squeamish child!
The 'miscellany' section includes a number of interesting signed and inscribed books by authors such as Evangeline Adams, Emma Curtis Hopkins, Godfre Ray King, George Frederick Kunz, Sir Oliver Lodge, Max Freedom Long, A. E. Waite as well as works from the libraries of Eric J. Dingwall, & W. B. Crow. Antiquarian works include William Law's monumental 4 Volume Works of Jacob Behmen (1764-81), Faber's 3 volume, The Origin of Pagan Idolatry (1816), and Forlong's, Rivers Of Life (2 Volumes plus chart in separate slipcase, 1883), a work that was highly recommended by Aleister Crowley. Also of antiquarian interest are Stanley's, The History of Philosophy with an appended History of the Chaldaick Philosophy (1701), the first significant translation into English of the 'Chaldean Oracles.'
The subject of astrology was well represented by works as diverse as Manzolli's Zodiacus Vitae (1576), Evangeline Adams, Astrology Your Place Among the Stars (1931 - inscribed copy), Roback's, The Mysteries Of Astrology And The Wonders Of Magic (1854), Raphael's The Familiar Astrologer (1849) and a handsome modern facsimile of William Lilly's Christian Astrology. On a more eccentric note there were works such as Tebb's Premature Burial and How it May Be Prevented (1905), with it's illustrations of a bizarre semaphore like device by which the not-dead-but-buried can communicate with the living, Claridge's Cold Water, Tepid Water and Friction-Cure (1849), which prescribes water - in some form or another - as a cure for just about every ailment, and Warren's Paradise Found (1886), which locates the Biblical Eden in the vicinity of the North Pole.
Also offered are the leather-bound First Edition (limited to 666 copies) of The Necronomicon, Thorndike's 8 Volume History of Magic & Experimental Science, and some classic works of travel and exploration: Layard's, Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia... (1887), Bonvalot's Through the Heart of Asia, Over the Pamir to India, 2 Volumes, (1889), and Borrow's The Bible in Spain; or, the Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman..., 3 Volumes (1843).
Other books not mentioned above are from the categories of Alternative Medicine, Apparitions, Folk-Lore, Magic, Freemasonry, Divination, Witchcraft, Spiritualism, the Goddess, Mesmerism, Tarot, Travel, Mythology, Prophecy, Prognostication, Druidry, Shamanism, Stonehenge, and others. Many of the books were genuinely rare, and sometimes had rather interesting and quirky histories.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogeleven
Catalog Twelve. Books on the Ancient Middle East.
The twelfth of our on-line catalogs was devoted to the Ancient Middle East, with a special emphasis on Egyptian archaeology, art, culture, language, history and religion.
The catalog began with a number of different editions of the text known as the Book of the Dead ('The Book of Coming Forth by Day.') Outstanding amongst these was the magnificent 1894 / 1895 Budge translation of The Papyrus of Ani, with accompanying folio volume of color reproductions of the original papyrus scroll. A number of other different editions by Budge are also offered, as well as the less common Le Page Renouf translation, and the more recent, and very highly regarded Faulkner edition.
The second section of the catalog contained more works by the remarkable E. A. Wallis Budge, including scarce editions such as The Book of Governors , The Life of Takla Haymanot , The Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary,and By Nile and Tigris. A Narrative of Journeys in Egypt and Mesopotamia . There was also a good selection of his better known works; Egyptian Magic, An Egyptian Reading Book, From Fetish to God in Ancient Egypt, The Gods Of The Egyptians, The Mummy, Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, The Rosetta Stone, Tutankhamen, Amenism, Atenism and Egyptian Monotheism, etc. etc.
Section three of the catalog comprises nearly one hundred books, including many core texts such as Mercer's, Pyramid Texts in Translation and Commentary (4 volumes) , Neugebauer & Parker's Egyptian Astronomical Texts (4 Volumes) and Piankoff's Mythological Papyri. . (2 Volumes ) , and antiquarian and collectible works including a superbly bound copy of Pettigrew's A History Of Egyptian Mummies (1834) Smith, & Dawson's Egyptian Mummies. 1924, and Clarke's extremely scarce volume on Christian Antiquities in the Nile Valley. 1912. The fourth section has some rare works on travel and exploration in the region, including a signed presentation copy of Layard's Early Adventures in Persia, Susiana, and Babylonia (2 Volumes, 1853) , a scarce First English Edition of Savary's, Letters on Egypt. (2 Volumes, 1786) in attractive contemporary leather binding, and the best edition of Shaw's, Travels or Observations Relating to Several Parts of Barbary and the Levant (Two Volumes, 1808) . The fifth and final section comprises a small collection of works on pyramid metrology and prophecy, the once-popular belief that a Divine message was hidden in the design and structure of the Great Pyramid.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogtwelve
Catalog Thirteen: Aleister Crowley - Books from Two Important Collections.
The thirteenth of our on-line catalogs contained books drawn from two collections, each of which was assembled by a contemporary of Crowley's, but on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
The majority of the catalog was made up of books and ephemera from the library of a little known, but significant figure in the history of Thelema, Edward Noel FitzGerald (1908-1958). FitzGerald, or to give him the name he took as a IXth degree member of the O.T.O., Frater Agape, was a long term friend of Crowley's and avid collector of his books, who went on to become Karl Germer's representative in Britain. A short biographical sketch of FitzGerald precedes the listings.
Perhaps the most outstanding of the items offered was Aleister Crowley's own copy of Eliphas Levi's The History of Magic, with copious annotations by Crowley himself. The copy is was particularly significant, because Crowley considered Levi to have been an earlier incarnation of himself, so it is effectively the Beast annotating and commenting upon his own work - with plenty of brickbats for the translator, his old bête noire A. E. Waite. Also of great importance were the original Galley Proofs of the third volume of Crowley's Confessions. The closure of the Mandrake Press prevented this volume from being published at the time, and the text of the volume has still never been published in its entirety. Until their recent rediscovery, this set of Galleys was thought to have been permanently lost.
Also in FitzGerald's collection were a few brand-new copies of the wrappered edition of the first separate British publication of the Book of the Law (1938) , and sets of the camel-hair wrappered edition of Crowley's Collected Works (1905-1907) . As there are a few copies of each, we were in the unusual position of being able to offer them at a price that is well below that which they would usually fetch.
Documents and ephemera from FitzGerald's collection included a sheaf of letters by Crowley - a number of which are to his collaborator on the Thoth tarot deck, Lady Harris, an original typescript (circa 1913) of The Mystical Lecture of the IV° (Lodge of Perfection) , and a German-language proposal to found a Thelemic publishing company from the 1920s. There are also letters to FitzGerald himself from a number of former Crowley associates, including J. F. C. Fuller, Ethel Archer, and Hermann Metzger. On a lighter note there were several oddities, including - rather inexplicably - a scrap of paper with a recipe for sloe gin, written in Crowley's handwriting and initialed by him, and a number of menu cards, also handwritten by the Beast, in which he wrote out the components of some fine meals he served to friends.
The smaller, but by no means less significant group of items came from the collection of Helen Parsons Smith (1910-2003), and included material that once belonged to a number of her former brethren in Agape Lodge of the O.T.O. in California. Most reading this catalog will probably be aware that Helen was a IXth degree member of the O.T.O, the former wife of Jack Parsons and W. T. Smith, founder of Thelema Publications, and for over fifty years a quiet but constant presence in the development of Thelema in the United States.
Amongst the papers from her collection is a group of typescript chapters entitled "Aleister Explains Everything," an early version of the text that was published by Karl Germer in 1954 as Magick Without Tears. There is also a good selection of Crowley's 'Word of the Equinox' pronouncements, some typed and initialed or signed, and some handwritten with Crowley's signature in a bold flourish, as well as an unusual internal document from Agape Lodge, circa 1946.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogthirteen
Catalog Fourteen: Books on The Kabbalah.
Although entitled 'Books on the Kabbalah', our fourteenth on-line catalog could more accurately be called 'Books on the Kabbalah in the Western Hermetic and Philosophical Traditions,' as that was its particular emphasis.
The first section, on Rare Books, contained a number of works that are landmarks in the history of the engagement of Western Hermeticism with Kabbalistic thought. The most famous, and earliest of these works, is a First English language edition of, Mosaicall Philosophy (1659) by the English physician, Rosicrucian and mystic Robert Fludd (1574 - 1637). Another significant early work is the Collection Of Several Philosophical Writings (1712-1713) of Dr. Henry More, which includes his Conjectura Cabbalistica, and Defence of the Threefold Cabbala. More, who is most widely remembered as one of the Cambridge Platonists, was greatly influenced by his friend Francis Mercurius van Helmont, who with Knorr von Rosenroth, compiled the famous Kabbala Denudata. A copy of the First Edition of the English language translation of the Kabbala Denudata, published by S. L. MacGregror Mathers under the title The Kabbalah Unveiled, (1887) was also available. Mathers was of course one of the originators of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which was founded not long after his publication of The Kabbalah Unveiled, and the work became a textbook for the study of the Kabbalah which was used not only by his brethren in the Golden Dawn, but by generations of occultists thereafter.
Isaac Myer's weighty work Qabbalah, The Philosophical Writings ..(etc).. which was published just a year after Mathers' The Kabbalah Unveiled, is another serious study, and one that was highly regarded by the likes of Mme. Blavatsky. Unfortunately for Myer a certain confusion about the sequence and roles of the Sephiroth (p 258 - 263) has tended to overshadow the importance of the rest of the work. There were two printings of the First Edition of Myer's Qabbalah, - one on large paper, and one on standard size paper - both in limited number. A copy of each was included in this catalog. Less problematic, and arguably even more influential, are the first editions of three books by Arthur Edward Waite, which conclude our rare books listings: The Doctrine and Literature of the Kabalah, (1902), The Secret Doctrine in Israel, (1913), and The Holy Kabbalah, (1929) which was effectively a revised consolidation of the two earlier books.
The second section of the catalog comprised a collection of different editions of Aleister Crowley's famous Kabbalistic study, Seven Seven Seven. Noteable amongst these is a nice copy of the First Edition of the book, complete with the often-lacking errata page with the Tree of Life design on the verso. These were followed by a selection of limited editions of the three major works on the Kabbalah by Frater Achad: Charles Stansfeld Jones (1886-1950), the man whom Aleister Crowley accepted - at least temporarily - as his 'magical son.' Achad published his controversial reassignment of the attributions of the paths linking the sephiroth in an appendix to his book Q.B.L., or The Bride's Reception (1922), and later expanded upon them in The Egyptian Revival (1923). His third major Kabbalistic study: The Anatomy of the Body of God, (1925) focused particularly on the relationship between the Tarot and the Tree of Life. Signed First Editions of all three works are offered, as well as two limited edition reprints.
The final section of the catalog listed over seventy New, Used and Out-of-Print Works on the history and practice of the Kabbalah, including books by Frater Albertus, Franz Bardon, John Bonner, W. E. Butler, Fabre D'Olivet, Perle Epstein, Dion Fortune, David Godwin, William G. Gray, Z'ev ben Shimon Halevi, Aryeh Kaplan, Gareth Knight, Eliphas Levi, S. L. MacGregor Mathers, Israel Regardie, Gershom G. Scholem, Stephen Skinner, William Stirling, A. E. Waite, and many others.
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Catalog Fifteen: Alchemy and the Hermetic Tradition.
This catalog contained an interesting and varied selection of books, with a particularly strong emphasis on works by and about Doctor John Dee. The first section was made up entirely of different editions of Meric Casaubon's famous A True And Faithful Relation Of What Passed For Many Years Between Dr. John Dee .... and Some Spirits ..... It is of course one of the most significant magical records ever written and a book that stands out as a landmark in the Western Magical / Hermetic Tradition. The collection included a lovely copy of the notoriously rare first edition (1659), as well as a number of recent facsimile reprints, one of which was the working copy of a serious Dee scholar and has his pencil annotations and additional loosely-inserted research materials. The Dee theme continues in the second section of the catalog, which includes a number of biographies and other studies of the Doctor, his life, thought, and practices.
The third part of the catalog contained just one work: a nineteenth century alchemical manuscript transcribed from an original that was supposed to have been written in the fifteenth century by Nicolas Flamel. The text appears to differ quite significantly from the only known published version, and is adorned with a number of charming colored illustrations, capitals, and symbols. The manuscript was transcribed by Albert Poisson, the French alchemist and author who is considered to be one of the great alchemical Adepts of the nineteenth century, and who died in 1893, aged only twenty-four.
Section four comprised a selection of rare books including First English language editions of Agrippa's Vanity of the Arts and Sciences, (1676), Jacob Böhme's Aurora, (1656), and Johann Rudolf Glauber, The Works, (1689). Other books included an extremely rare work by Eirenaeus Philalethes, A True Light of Alchymy (1709), the second English language edition of Michael Sandivogius' A New Light of Alchymy (1674), Morley's The Life of Henry Cornelius Agrippa (Two volumes - 1856), and an unusual work on the prolongation of life Hermippus Redivivus (1749) by John Henry Cohausen, which whilst not strictly itself a work of Hermetica, certainly quotes liberally from many well-known authorities on the Great Work.
The penultimate section contained a number of now out-of-print works produced by Adam McLean, the highly-regarded scholar of alchemical texts, who is well known as editor and publisher of the Hermetic Journal, and the Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks series. The sixth and final section comprised a number of secondhand and out-of-print works, some of which are both scarce and unusual.
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Catalog Sixteen: Aleister Crowley. Holy Books & Holy Days.
The Thelemic Holidays (The 'Feast for the Three Days of the Writing of The Book of the Law' that are observed on April 8, 9 and 10), provided the inspiration for the title of this catalog, which was another list of works by and about Aleister Crowley
Five items in particular stood out. Three of these were books, one being a First Edition of the first volume of Crowley's Thelema (also known as The Holy Books), the second an inscribed copy of Crowley's Little Essays Toward Truth that was formerly in the collection of the well known film-maker Kenneth Anger and carries his bookplate, and the third Crowley's own heavily annotated copy of his friend J. W. N. Sullivan's book, The Bases of Modern Science, a work which Crowley held in such high regard that he quoted it extensively in his Eight Lectures on Yoga. The other two items are manuscripts, one being an original pocket notebook, carried by Crowley in the late 1930s, and the other the original two-page manuscript of the Chorus to the Gnostic Catholic Mass. Each of these pieces is an amazing artifact with its own unique history, further details of which were given in their respective listings. The five were grouped together in the first section of the catalog.
The second section of the catalog lists three works by Crowley, with original lithographs after sketches by Auguste Rodin. All three books are limited editions, but are in fact far scarcer than their limitations suggest. In at least one case - that of Rodin in Rime - many copies were lost or damaged in a warehouse flood, although it seems likely that many others fell victim to 'breakers' who destroyed them to remove and sell separately the Rodin lithographs. The third section of the catalog presents a number of rare Crowley manuscript items, including several manuscript poems and hand-drawn astrological charts, with Crowley's annotations.
The fourth section is devoted to books by Crowley, and included some rare and early editions such as a clean set of the First Edition of Crowley's Confessions, and copies of The Heart Of The Master, An Open Letter to Lord Beaverbrook, Carmen Saeculare. and. Wege Zum Sanktuarium, the latter a rare German-language collection of Crowley's works published in 1925 by Heinrich Tränker and Karl Germer. The fifth and final section of the catalog is made up of books about Aleister Crowley. Included are several volumes from the collection of Victor Neuburg's biographer, Jean Overton Fuller, with her bookplate, some unusual works by Crowley associate W. B. Crow, and a scarce, contemporary (1916) Rosicrucian work by R. Swinburne Clymer, with a scathing attack on Crowley.
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Catalog Seventeen: Witchcraft.
Catalog Seventeen presented an interesting selection of rare, used, and out-of-print books on the subject of Witchcraft, with an emphasis on works relating to the witch-panics of medieval and post- medieval Europe (and later North-America) and on the twentieth century 'wiccan' or 'neo-pagan' revival.
Amongst the volumes listed were a number of early works from either side of the debate over the reality of witchcraft, most of which were written either in support of or, in opposition to, the persecution of the alleged witches and the now-infamous witchcraft trials. The books included an extremely rare copy of what is arguably one of the most sinister books of the time, Henry Boguet's, Discours des Sorciers (1610). Boguet (1550-1619), was a notorious judge who is said to have personally pronounced or confirmed the death sentence on over six hundred 'witches,' and his Discours des Sorciers became one of the text books of French witch-hunters. Just as influential, though infinitely less malignant, was Sadducismus Triumphatus: Or, A full and plain Evidence, Concerning Witches and Apparitions ... , here represented by a copy of the Fourth Edition (1726). The book's author, Joseph Glanvil, wrote the volume in reaction to a growing skepticism about the reality of witchcraft, and attempted to provide scientific and philosophical evidence of it existence. Several of the works to which Glanvil took exception are also presented, notably Reginald Scot's, The Discovery Of Witchcraft. (Third Impression, 1665) and John Webster's, The Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft (First Edition, 1677) Both works contain considerable source material on the alleged witchcraft practices whose existence they doubted, with Scot's including the text of an unusual manuscript on methods of infernal conjuration.
In spite of the circulation of such refutations the 'witch-panic' re-surfaced in colonial New England - most famously in Salem, Massachusetts - and the third section of the catalog comprises a selection of important studies of the American witch persecutions. Perhaps the scarcest of the works presented in this section is a First Edition of Charles W. Upham's, Salem Witchcraft. With an Account of Salem Village and A History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. (1867) in the extremely scarce four volume issue, which was limited to 100 numbered sets. There were also a number of other important histories, including a First Edition of Kittredge's, Witchcraft in Old and New England, (1928) and a three-volume set of the reprint edition of Lea's Materials Toward A History Of Witchcraft (1957) , as well as some rather charming local works such as M. V. B. Perley's A Short History of the Salem Village Witchcraft Illustrated by a Verbatim Report of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe's Trial. (1911) .
The fourth section of the catalog focused on books relating to the twentieth century 'wiccan' or 'neo-pagan' revival. Included are First Editions of two works by Charles Leland that arguably provided the initial impetus for the movement, his Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune-Telling. Illustrated by Numerous Incantations, Specimens of Medical Magic, Anecdotes and Tales, (1891) and Aradia. or The Gospel of the Witches of Italy (1899) . It was of course Leland who first publicly promoted the idea that witchcraft was a survival of an ancient, pre-Christian religion, an idea refined by Margaret Murray in her important if controversial bookThe Witch-Cult In Western Europe (1921) . Murray's work was a great influence on later witchcraft revivalists like Gerald Gardner and Alex Saunders, and she contributed an Introduction to Gardner's Witchcraft Today , several different editions of which are offered for sale, along with other works by members of Gardner's circle.
To view this catalog please go to:
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Catalog Eighteen: Aleister Crowley. A Miscellany of Books and Manuscripts.
The first section of our Catalog Eighteen was devoted to 'Rare Manuscript & Typescript Items,' and contained a number of quite exceptional items, including two scarce examples of erotica. Crowley's excursions into the subject are of course well known, and range from his spectacularly obscene poem 'Leah Sublime,' to books such as Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden, White Stains, and the Bagh-I-Muattar. Manuscript examples of Crowley's erotica are extremely scarce, with some of the material presumably destroyed alongside his printed books in customs seizures, and other of it disposed of by unappreciative individuals into whose hands it fell. We had two items from the genre in this catalog: the first being an extremely crude paen to one of his 'tarts,' written along with his daily appointments in a manuscript notebook from 1938. The second is the manuscript of what at first glance appeared to be a conventional love poem, but can actually be read as a sustained erotic double entendre, the point being driven home by a lewd doodle which Crowley has drawn at the bottom of the page.
Another item in this section displays a very different preoccupation of Crowley's: his love of chess. It is a hefty scrapbook or album that contains a large number of newspaper clippings of chess games, letters [not by Crowley] addressed to chess clubs, and manuscript records of games that Crowley had played. More conventional - though also extremely unusual - is an original typescript of 'The Secret Conference,' which was a short essay on the "mysterious Brotherhood" of occult initiates, the advent of The Book of the Law, and Crowley's position as prophet. It was written pseudonymously by Crowley in 1925 in Tunisia, and was probably intended for publication as part of his 'World Teacher' campaign. Another interesting manuscript item is the original typescript of an O.T.O. First Degree Ritual, circa 1945, used in Agape Lodge of the O.T.O.
The second section of the catalog comprised a typescript, note, and several letters, sent by Crowley to his friend and student Edward Bryant. The typescript, mentioned by Crowley in his diaries as his 'literature Century of Questions,' comprises one hundred questions on the subject of classical literature, which Crowley composed entirely from memory. It is a stunning testament not only to his erudition, but also to his memory. Another small typescript / manuscript collection - this time concerning Crowley's association with thespian John B. Jameson, formed the body of the third section of the catalog. The Jameson typescript is a detailed and very curious account by Crowley of his relationship with this friend and one time-business partner in the Amrita venture, whilst the manuscript is an original natal chart of Jameson drawn up by Crowley.
Another natal chart, this time drawn up not by Crowley, but by former follower and Head of Agape Lodge, Jack Parsons, is the sole item in section four. It is without doubt one of the most remarkable of the many rarities we have had of late, being the hand-drawn chart which Parsons drew tracing the nativity of Marjorie Cameron, the woman whom he believed came into his life as a consequence of a magical working he had undertaken aimed at bringing forth a 'scarlet woman', who would act as his magical partner. Parson's desire to bring forth a 'Moonchild', and Crowley's acid comments on the subject are almost legendary, and this document is a direct link with that dubious endeavour.
Section Five of the catalog contained a selection of printed books and ephemera by Crowley, including first editions of, The Banned Lecture, Clouds Without Water, The [Collected] Works of Aleister Crowley, The Scientific Solution to the Problem of Government, The Sword of Song, and The Winged Beetle. Of particular interest is a First Edition of the first volume of Crowley's Thelema (popularly known as The Holy Books), which originally belonged to Olivia Haddon, a friend of Victor Neuburg's, who joined the A.'. A.'. in 1912, as a Probationer under his guidance.
The penultimate section contains a small selection of works edited and compiled by Marcelo Ramos Motta, whilst the final section comprised a group of works from the Crowley section of a private library of considerable breadth that was put together by a European-born occultist who lived in the United States from the early 1960s onwards.
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Catalog Nineteen: A Miscellany of Secondhand & Rare Books by Israel Regardie & Dion Fortune.
Catalog Nineteen was devoted to secondhand, rare, and out-of-print works by two authors who played a significant role in the development of Western occult and magical practice during the twentieth century: Dion Fortune and Israel Regardie.
It is divided into five sections. The first section lists a handful of rarities relating to Israel Regardie, including several books from Regardie's personal library, with his bookplate and ownership signature, two typed letters, signed, and a handwritten and drawn Natal Chart, prepared for Regardie in the 1930s by his one-time mentor, Aleister Crowley. The second section is made up of a broad selection of books by Regardie, and ranges from paperback reprints to signed and inscribed First Editions, as well as sets of the first three series of the Golden Dawn audio tapes. Section three contains books about Regardie, and edited volumes with contributions by him, such as his selection of Crowley's writings, Gems from the Equinox, and his edition of Magick Without Tears.
The fourth and fifth sections of the catalog concentrate on works by Dion Fortune. Section four is again an eclectic mix, ranging from modern paperback reprints, to relatively rare books such as the First Editions of The Winged Bull, The Cosmic Doctrine, and Sane Occultism. All the works in Section Five were originally the property of an English gentleman, who was involved with Dion Fortune's magical fraternity, The Society of the Inner Light, in the late 1940s. The gentleman died in the 1950s, and his wife kept the books for the best part of half-a-century, until her own death several years ago. Unfortunately both were smokers, and the books bear testament to this, with some browning and a faint tobacco scent. Still, it is an interesting, if modest grouping, which includes a number of unusual First Edition titles.
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Catalog Twenty: Aleister Crowley, Frieda Harris, and the Thoth Tarot.
The twentieth of our on-line catalogs was another of our special-subject lists, in this case devoted to Aleister Crowley, Frieda Harris, and the Thoth Tarot. Most of the items in this catalog are from the collection of Edward Noel Fitzgerald (1908-1958), Frater Agape, a IX degree member of the O.T.O., and friend and follower of Aleister Crowley's, who was also closely acquainted with Frieda Harris, the 'artist executant' of the Tarot designs. Fitzgerald had a passion for all things Crowley-related, and over the years Lady Harris indulged him by giving him what amounted to a small collection of mementos of her collaboration with Crowley on the tarot.
It is rather difficult to focus on any single item when faced with an embarrassment of riches like those that made up Fitzgerald's Thoth collection, but to us one of the most exciting discoveries in it was a crate containing eleven sets of unbound sheets of the First Edition of The Book of Thoth. After considerable deliberation we decided to have each of these bound in a facsimile of the original magnificent half-leather binding. Great effort was taken to match the original materials and style as closely as possible, leather was sourced from a supplier in England, the Egyptian-patterned paper and color plates were specially commissioned from a craftsman printer, and even the original dies - also in Fitzgerald's possession - were unearthed and used to stamp the gold OTO lamen and Crowley's seal of Ankh-f-n-khonsu on the spine. Included with each copy sold is an original handwritten letter, signed, by Crowley, to Frieda Harris, and a printed booklet outlining the history and provenance of these particular copies. A detailed description of this new issue of a vintage book, is in Section One of the catalog.
In historical terms, perhaps the most significant single piece in the collection - and indeed arguably one of the most important single items we have handled - is the original typed manuscript, with numerous holograph insertions and additions in Crowley's handwriting, of The Book of Thoth. A full description of this remarkable piece can be found in Section Two of the catalog.
Section Three of the catalog also contains just one item: a much travelled First Edition of The Book of Thoth, with a rather long and interesting provenance, whilst the Fourth Section comprises a collection of materials relating to the publication of that work. This includes original rough sketches and notes on the Tarot designs which Crowley gave to Harris, proof printings of some of the designs, a signed receipt for a copy of the book, and even the original check - counter-signed by Crowley, which someone used to pay for a copy.
The items in the Fifth Section all revolve around the 1941 exhibition of the original Tarot card designs, held in Oxford, and includes original congratulatory telegrams, catalogs, and even a (very) rough pencil sketch of the layout of the exhibition space by Harris, and the Sixth and Seventh Section contain, respectively, letters from Crowley to Harris, and Harris to Crowley. The final section of the catalog comprises a number of the original metal blocks from which the color plates in the first edition of The Book Of Thoth were printed. These were also used to print the very first, trial printing of some of the Thoth tarot cards in 1943, and are quite unique pieces in the history of the development of the tarot.
To view this catalog please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogtwenty
To view our later catalogs (those from No 21 onwards) please go to:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogarchivepagetwo
Please not that the above 'old' catalogs are primarily stored for interest’s sake only, and many of the books listed in them have already sold.
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Last Updated Thursday February 28, 2008.
