Weiser Antiquarian Used and Rare Books. Aleister Crowley: A Selection of Used and Rare Books and Ephemera.
Weiser Antiquarian Books Catalogue # 101
Aleister Crowley.
A Selection of Beastly Books, Magazines, and Ephemera.
IMPORTANT. Please note that this is an out-of-date catalog and is stored here for interest's sake only. Many of the books listed have already sold. Those that are still available are listed in the searchable database on the main page of our website at http://www.weiserantiquarian.com , or you can inquire direct by email
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Welcome to this, one hundred-and-first of our on-line catalogues, this being another of our specialised Aleister Crowley lists. For those not interested in Crowley, do not be dismayed: we are working on another of our "Miscellany Lists" and several catalogues on other topics are slowly edging towards completion. We are also making a concerted effort to add fresh titles to our website on a weekly basis, so don't forget to click the "new arrivals" link at the left side of our homepage regularly.
This catalogue starts with two new items, the first being signed copies of Frater Shiva's, City of the Sun an "examination of the nature of the Holy Guardian Angel and the methods used to invoke its 'Knowledge and Conversation'." The second is an Edition Deluxe of Martin P. Starr's, The Unknown God: W. T. Smith and the Thelemites, limited to 13 copies only, each in a navy-blue morocco leather binding with custom-made felt-lined slip case, signed by the author and with an original booklet, "The Creed of the Thelemites from the Gnostic Catholic Mass" published by Wilfred T. Smith in 1949, inserted in a cloth pocket on the rear pastedown. The binding was specially commissioned from a craft bookbinder, and is without doubt one of the most handsome to grace an occult publication in recent years.
The next section comprises books by Crowley. Amongst the rarities are: a first edition of Magick In Theory and Practice [1929], four sections bound in one volume, with the suppressed colour plate, from the library of Ray Burlingame (1893-1965) a IX degree member of the Agape Lodge of the O.T.O. There are also first editions of
The Argonauts (1904), The Gospel According to St. Bernard Shaw (1953), The Heart of the Master (1938) and The Winged Beetle (1910), as well as some particularly unusual booklets, notably The Rites of Eleusis [1910], The Scientific Solution to the Problem of Government, [1937] and The Banned Lecture (1930). These are followed by several autograph letters signed, from Crowley to Soror Fiat Yod [Anne Macky] the woman who commissioned from him the series of teachings which would form the basis of his posthumously published book Magick Without Tears. Both of the letters are on Crowley's letterhead, and importantly each comes with its original envelope, sealed in wax with the cartouche of Ankh-f-n-khonsu from Crowley's personal seal ring impressed into it. In the past some have unkindly suggested that we would even sell Crowley's laundry list. While not quite that extreme the next two items are getting close: one is an original pharmacist's invoice for the supply of drugs and syringes to Aleister Crowley, and the other an order form for a Smythson's "Royal Court" Diary, completed by Crowley with his [signed] name and address, and - a short shopping list on the back!
The fifth section of the catalogue comprises "books relating to Aleister Crowley." Amongst the more unusual items are The Cambridge University Calendar for the Year 1897 - 1898, which is interesting in the details of Crowley's contemporaries that it gives, a lovely example of Lady Frieda Harris' Bump! Into Heaven (1956) as well as a nice copy of Kenneth Grant's Beyond the Mauve Zone (1999) and an Edition Deluxe of Kenneth Grant's The Ninth Arch (2002), limited to 97 copies signed by Kenneth and Steffi Grant. Unusual bibliographical items include the first edition of Keith Hogg's catalogue of the Crowley collection of Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, Bibliotheca Crowleyana (1966), a special Crowley catalogue by the great bookseller George Frederick Sims, Magick. Books by the Master Therion (circa 1951?), and an original four page flyer advertising Crowley books published by the Mandrake Press Ltd: Works by Aleister Crowley (1930). From the bibliographically sublime, to the somewhat ridiculous, we move to the penultimate section of the catalogue, which comprises a selection of "Gentleman's Magazines" (i.e. soft-core porn) from the 1960s - 1990s, each of which has an article relating to Crowley in it!
The final section of the catalogue comprises a group of 101 novels and collections of short stories, all of which bear some relation to Aleister Crowley: either by direct reference to him, or - in many cases - by the inclusion of a character who is (thought to be) based upon him. The extent of the references varies greatly, some are quite significant, others tenuous in the extreme. The vast majority of these books were assembled by our old friend, Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, who sadly passed from us early last year, and in many of cases Nick was actually the first in Crowleyan circles to identify the book as being of some relevance to the Beast. Due to the number of titles, we have given them a separate page which can be accessed via a link below.
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As usual we have a variety of other catalogues in preparation, with topics including
Astrology, Alchemy and Hermetica, Mythology, Theosophy, Grimoires, and other of our specialties, and with a few surprises along the way. Of course we will also continue to regularly issue our Aleister Crowley and "Miscellany" catalogues.
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Contents of this Catalog:
An Interesting New Release.
A Special Edition Deluxe from the Teitan Press.
Books and Ephemera by Aleister Crowley.
Letters and Documents Relating to Aleister Crowley.
Books Relating to Aleister Crowley.
Some Beastly Smut.
The Fictitious Beast.
About This Catalog & How To Purchase From It.
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An Interesting New Release.
Frater Shiva, City of the Sun: Heliopolis and the Causual Plane A Travelogue of the Inner Order. Los Lunas, NM: Desert Star Temple, 2012. First Edition - Hardcover. Hardcover. Glossy printed boards (no dustjacket). 8vo. xxviii + 64 pp. B/W Ills. & Diagrams. This hardcover edition limited to 150 copies (there is also a softcover issue). Signed by the author on a specially-made colour bookplate tipped onto the inside front cover.
The author, Frater Shiva, a senior member of "Solar Lodge," the 1960s US occult fraternity that drew many of its teachings from the works of Aleister Crowley, resigned his position as Grand Secretary General and his membership in the Lodge, and went on to explore the central teaching of Thelema, the formal, solitary, Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel. He describes "City of the Sun" as "a Travelogue of Heliopolis and the Causal Plane, that is, a tour of the Inner Order, being a detailed description of the grade of Dominus Liminis and the task of the Adeptus Minor. This book offers an examination of the nature of the Holy Guardian Angel and the methods used to invoke its 'Knowledge and Conversation'." The viewpoint of the text is informed by the author's own experience, and the concepts are supported by works such as "The Vision and the Voice," "The Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage," and "The Rays and the Initiations." It has been further said of "City of the Sun" that it "inserts a rather powerful, but subtle, infusion of existentialism right into the heart of the Thelemic paradigm."
New book. Print-on-demand type production values. A hint of rubbing to covers (received this way from publisher). Otherwise Fine. (42162) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
A soft cover edition (not limited or signed) is also available. As above except glossy wrappers: (42163) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
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A Special Edition Deluxe from the Teitan Press.
Martin P. Starr, The Unknown God: W. T. Smith and the Thelemites. Bolingbrook, IL / York Beach, ME: The Teitan Press, 2003 / 2012 . Edition Deluxe. Hardcover. Large 8vo. xii + 416pp. Full navy-blue morocco leather binding with gilt titling and gilt sigil on top board. Raised bands and gilt-titling on spine. Patterned silk endpapers. Housed in a custom-made felt-lined cloth slip case. This specially-bound deluxe issue is limited to thirteen copies, numbered I - XIII , signed by the author on the colophon leaf. Each copy includes an original booklet, "The Creed of the Thelemites from the Gnostic Catholic Mass" published by Wilfred T. Smith in 1949, which is inserted in a cloth pocket on the rear pastedown. This special edition prepared from 13 sets of sheets that were put aside expressly for that purpose at the time of original publication.
The first documentary study of Aleister Crowley's contemporary followers in North America, told through the life of their de facto leader, Wilfred Talbot Smith (1885-1957). Introduced to Crowley's works by Charles Stansfeld Jones in Canada, Smith met Crowley only once, but their twenty year correspondence provided a major link between the Beast and his followers in the United States and Canada. Smith's spiritual life centered first on the initiatic structure of the Order of the A.•.A.•., complemented by the emerging fraternal and social schemes of the Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO). Smith followed Jones into a few all but-forgotten movements like the Universal Brotherhood and the Psychomagian Society.
New Book: Fine. (41118) SOLD OUT
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Books by Aleister Crowley.
Aleister Crowley, Commentary by Israel Regardie & Frater Achad Afterword by James Wasserman, AHA! (being Liber CCXLII). Tempe, AZ: New Falcon Publications, 1996. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 8vo. 96 pp. frontis. Loosely inserted is a letter from the editor, James Wasserman, to Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr dated 10/10/96 with Starr's note in the upper corner indicating he had responded to the letter.
Contents of the book include: The Sevenfold Mystery of the Ineffable Love; The Coming of the Lord in the Air as King and Judge of this Corrupted World.
ISBN: 1-56184-035-1. Some very light shelf rubbing to edges, otherwise near Fine condition. (40954) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, Edited and Introduced by James Wasserman, with assistance of Genevieve Mikolajczak, Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the Magical Diary Including "John St. John (Equinox I, 1), 'A Master of the Temple' (Equinox III, 1) and Other Material. Phoenix, AZ: New Falcon Publications, 1993. First edition thus. Softcover. 8vo, xlvi + 174 pp (iipp adverts). Bibliography. Presentation inscription from James Wasserman to Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr, dated in the year of publication, on the front blank.
An important study of the theory and practice of the Magical Diary drawn largely from Crowley's writings in "The Equinox."
ISBN: 1-56184-068-8. Light bump to lower corner, edges lightly rubbed, pages lightly thumbed, otherwise a VG copy. (41002) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, contributes a 'humorous' piece "How to tell an Englishman from an American" to Richard Bennett (ed), The Bedside Lilliput. London: Hulton Press Limited, 1950. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. 8vo. x + 470 pp. Green cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine, illustrations, color plates.
Includes the first publication in book form of a strange little one page 'humorous' piece by Crowley "How to tell an Englishman from an American" which was originally published in Lilliput Magazine in 1946.
Cloth lightly rubbed overall, upper corners bumped, spine ends and corners lightly bruised and rubbed, spine a little faded, edges slightly darkened and foxed, owner's name in pencil on front pastedown, some very light foxing to first and lasts leaves, otherwise a solid unmarked VG copy in just Good dust jacket. (Dust jacket rubbed and creased at edges, a few good sized chips now reinforced from the opposite side with matching paper, clipped). (39748) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, The Argonauts. Boleskine, Foyers: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth , 1904. First Edition. Softcover. Octavo, (vi) 18 (ii) 20 (ii) 20 (ii) 24 (ii) 24pp., Dark green "camel hair" wrappers with title in red on upper wrapper, and "Jason. Argo. Medea. Sirenae. Ares" lettered up spine. Machine made paper. According to Duncombe-Jewell only 200 copies were printed thus, on machine made paper (there were also 2 on Roman vellum).
A play in five parts - each act of which is "a separate play on the Greek model, separately paginated." The play was to have been published by Kegan Paul, but when Crowley discovered how poor the sales of his earlier works had been, he decided to published and distribute his works himself under the S.P.R.T. (Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth) imprint (the name being a none-too-subtle jest at the expense of the well-known Christian publishing house the S.P.C.K. - Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge). The Argonauts was thus the first book to be published under this new imprint.
The "camel hair" binding material is notoriously fragile and this - along with the small print run - means that comparatively few copies have survived, and copies in good condition are genuinely scarce. All edges rubbed with some minor chipping - particularly at spine ends, page edges darkened, some glue residue on endpapers at inner hinges (as common), pages lightly browned. Still overall a solid VG+ copy. (41294) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, The Banned Lecture. Gilles de Rais, to Have Been Delivered before the Oxford University Poetry Society by Aleister Crowley on the Evening of Monday February 3rd, 1930 .... for sale to Members of University of Oxford. London: P. R. Stephensen, 1930. First Edition. Softcover. 8vo. 16pp. Original pale blue-grey stapled printed wrappers.
In February 1930 Crowley was invited to give a lecture to the Oxford University Poetry Society on the notorious medieval French occultist and mass-murderer Gilles de Rais. However the lecture was cancelled at the last moment after pressure was brought to bear by the University's Catholic Chaplain, Father Ronald Knox. Crowley retaliated by having his friend and publisher P. R. Stephensen quickly print copies of the lecture in booklet form, which were then sold on the streets of Oxford, thereby reaching a far greater audience than his original lecture would ever have attracted. Due to their ephemeral nature, the original booklets are now quite scarce, despite having probably had a relatively large print-run.
From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Wrappers a little darkened and rubbed at edges, paper lightly browned, otherwise an unmarked VG copy. (39641) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Introduced by Andrew J. Barker, The Banned Lecture: Gilles de Rais. Great Britain: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1982. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 8vo. Not paginated. [ 24pp ] Stapled wrappers.
The text of a lecture which was to have been delivered before The Oxford University Poetry Society on the Evening of Monday, February 3rd, 1930. The lecture was cancelled at the last moment, and Crowley had the text printed, and distributed in booklet form. An unusual reissue of that text with a new introduction by the compiler / publisher (?) Andrew J. Barker and a short biographical entry on Gilles de Rais. Curiously the publisher has revived Crowley's "Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth" imprint for this edition. Loosely inserted signed "SPRT" business card, with a short note from Barker to Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper on the verso.
From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Covers a little faded at spine, edges lightly rubbed, otherwise Fine condition. (39787) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Black Magic is Not a Myth and Other Writings. Dallas, Texas: Midnight Press, 2003. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 8vo. 44pp. Stapled card covers illustrated and titled in black on upper cover, endnotes.
A lecture and a selection of essays by Crowley. Comprises: "A Lecture on the Philosophy of Magick," "After Agnosticism," "The 'Worst Man in the World" tells the Astounding Story of His Life," "I Make Myself Invisible," "Black Magic is not a Myth," "The Antecedents of Thelema," "Concerning Blasphemy in General and the Rites of Eleusis in Particular," and "The Rites of Eleusis: their Origin and Meaning." Most are reproduced from newspapers, and this would appear to be the first US publication of some of the pieces.
From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label inside front cover. Covers very lightly rubbed otherwise near Fine condition. Unusual. (42133) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, Edits, etc., The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King: Translated into English Tongue by a Dead Hand and Adorned with Divers Other Matters Germane Delightful to the Wise. New York, NY: Magickal Childe Publishing, 1989. Facsimile edition. Hardcover. 4to. x + 66 pp + 8 pp of adverts. Black faux leather with gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, frontis.
The famous grimoire of talismanic magic, the Lemegeton of Solomon. Crowley first published his edition of the book at Boleskine in 1904, under the title 'The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King' in an edition of only 200 copies using translations which had been prepared by S. L. MacGregor Mathers, his former mentor in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. This new edition was published by Herman Slater of the famous Magickal Childe Book Store of New York under the Magickal Childe imprint.
ISBN: 0-939-708-29-9. From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley aficianado Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book label on the front pastedown. A little very light shelf rubbing and a few minor scratches to boards, still Near fine condition inside and out and unusual thus. (no dust jacket issued). (39554) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, The City of God: A Rhapsody. South Stukely, Canada: 93 Publishing, 1979. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 4to. 12pp. Glossy pictorial wrappers over card covers. An important association copy inscribed on the first blank to Aleister Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr: "For Martin - 93 - First fruit of youth, ... 93 93/93 Bill."
The Bill of the inscription is Hymenaeus Beta, Frater Superior of the O.T.O., who had a youthful involvement with 93 Publishing who produced this edition (hence the "First fruit of youth.") This was the last (or near-last) book to be produced under the original, Canadian, incarnation of 93 Publishing, the imprint being later revived by Hymenaeus Beta in New York in the 1990s. Crowley wrote "The City of God" during his travels in pre-revolutionary Russia, and first published it in "The English Review" in 1914 and then separately, under the imprint of the O.T.O.in 1943. He recalled in his 'Confessions' that "I expressed the soul of Moscow in a poem "The City of God" .... it is a "hashish dream come true." The 93 Publishing edition is perhaps the most attractive of the modern reprints.
ISBN: 0-919690-06-x. Some darkening and minor creasing to wrappers, still overall an internally clean VG+ copy. (40949) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, H.P. Blavatsky; J.F.C. Fuller and Charles Stansfeld Jones. Commentaries on the Holy Books and Other Papers [being] The Equinox Volume Four, Number One. York Beach, Maine: Samuel Weiser, Inc., 1996. First edition thus. Hardcover. Large 8vo, x + 382pp. Black cloth with gilt print and embellishments, color & b&w illustrations, frontis, fold-out chart. Editorial notes, list of works cited, index. Promotional (?) post-card sized reproduction of the central image from the dust jacket loosely inserted at front.
The major collection of Crowley's commentaries to the Holy Book's. Includes his extensive commentary to Liber LXV, which provides an important account of the attainment of the "Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel."
There is a crease across the back board and rear pastedown, presumably a binding flaw as there is no other damage to the book. This is largely hidden by the dust jacket, and doesn't affect the strength or solidity of the book. ISBN: 0-87728-888-7. Otherwise it is a bright clean, near fine copy in VG+ dust jacket. (Dust jacket panels and edges lightly rubbed, one long, light scratch across upper panel, not clipped). (42097) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, An Essay Upon Number. Edmonds, WA: Sure Fire Press, 1988. First Edition Thus. Softcover booklet. 8vo. 28 pp. Medium blue stapled printed wrappers.
Although not identified as such in the publication, this essay on number and the Kabbala is reprinted from "The Equinox" Vol. I, No. V (1911).
From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. ISBN: 1-55818-106-7. A Fine copy. (42103) SOLD
[Aleister Crowley] Edits etc. S. L. MacGregor Mathers, Translator, newly edited by Hymenaeus Beta, The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King. Lemegeton, Book I. Clavicula Salomonis Regis. York Beach, Maine, USA: Samuel Weiser Publishing, Inc., 1995. [ Revised & Corrected ] First thus. Softcover. Small 4to. xxvi + 138pp. b&w illustrations, frontis, appendix, tables. Presentation inscription on the front blank from the editor (Hymenaeus Beta) to Aleister Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr "For Martin, .. 93 93/93. Bill."
This well-known grimoire with Crowley's introduction and annotations, edited and with a Foreword by Hymenaeus Beta.
ISBN: 0-87728-847-X. Upper corners bumped, covers lightly rubbed, corners and spine ends lightly chafed, very slight ripple to pages (possibly a paper fault) - otherwise a solid unmarked VG copy. (41016) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, The Gospel According to St. Bernard Shaw. Barstow California.: Thelema Publishing Company, 1953. First edition. Hardcover, Quarto, [viii] + 238pp, Original maroon textured limp boards, with simple gilt titling, 10 ring spiral back strip securing duplicated (gestetnered) quarto sheets which make up the text block. Very unusual: although not stated the print run of this first edition almost certainly did not exceed 100 copies.
A fascinating study of Christianity by Crowley, built around a critique of Shaw's 'Androcles and the Lion.' Published by Crowley's follower, Karl Germer.
From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Covers rubbed, corners and spine ends bumped and lightly chafed, spine ends creased, page edges darkened and a bit thumbed, endpages discoloured and browned, a few light creases to page edges. Overall a solid VG copy of a scarce work (no dustjacket - none issued). (39509) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, A Handbook of Geomancy. Edmonds, WA: Sure Fire Press, 1989. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 8vo. 28 pp. Stapled printed wrappers. Line illustration by Austin Osman Spare, table.
Although not identified as such in the publication, this is an essay reprinted from "The Equinox" Vol. I, No. II (1910).
ISBN: 1-55818-157-1. From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. A Fine copy. (42102) SOLD
[Aleister Crowley] Khaled Khan. The Heart of the Master. London: Privately issued by the O.T.O., 1938 . First edition. Hardcover. Small 8vo. 40pp. ( + viii pp. adverts at rear) Original yellow buckram, purple stamped title and A.'. A.'. seal on front board.
Crowley wrote the bulk of this text in Tunisia in 1925 although the book was not published until 1938 when it appeared in this edition, in a print run which some have said was as small as a 100 copies: whatever it was, there is no doubt that it was small as this is a genuinely scarce book (there was also an issue 11 numbered copies bound in suede). There are two binding variants of the buckram issue - in one the "S" in "MASTER" on the front board is a classic rounded serif font, in the other the "S" is still serif, but has a longer "tail." This copy has the first-mentioned "rounded" version (precedence of the issues has not been established).
From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Yellow buckram unevenly darkened & discoloured (as common), spine darkened, page edges and endpapers unevenly toned, pages browned. Still a solid, clean VG+ copy, of one of Crowley's scarcer and more important works. (No dust jacket - as far as is known, none was issued). (39444) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, writing as Khaled Khan, Intro. by Kenneth Grant, The Heart of the Master. Montreal, Canada: 93 Publishing, 1973. First edition thus. Hardcover. 12 mo. 41pp plus 3pp advertisements. White buckram with Crowley's Baphomet seal design in gilt and red on the front cover.
Crowley wrote the bulk of The Heart of the Master in 1924, although the book was not published until 1938 when it appeared in a very small edition. In his introduction to this edition Kenneth Grant refers to this "small and cryptic volume" as containing "the One True Occult Tradition" and says that it "declares openly the Magical formulae of the New Aeon." Grant explains Crowley's choice of pseudonym by telling that Crowley was "inspired by the spirit of Khaled Khan while on the 'Holy Hill' of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia, the present site of ancient Carthage. Khan was a great warrior who delivered the Arabs from the stranglehold of Christianity at the battle of Damascus. Both the Khan and Crowley were therefore avatars of the anti-Christian Current represented in the Apocalypse as the Beast 666."
ISBN: 0919690009. Cloth very lightly rubbed with slight darkened at spine and edges of boards, lower corners lightly bumped, modern generic bookplate on pastedown, pages a lightly browned. Otherwise a tight, bright VG+ copy. No jacket (as issued). (41291) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, (Ko Yuen). Khing Kang King: The Classic of Purity. Liber XXI. King's Beach, CA: Thelema Publications, 1974. Second edition - later issue. Hardcover. Small 8vo. 6 3/4" x 5 1/2" 22 pp (printed only on recto side of page). Royal blue cloth with gold stamped title, etc. to spine and front cover. Printed in blue.
Originally published by Crowley in 1939 in an edition of 100 copies (of which arguably less than a quarter were distributed) the book was first reprinted by Helen Parsons-Smith, ex-wife of Jack Parsons and long-time member of Agape Lodge of the OTO, in 1973. In 1974 she brought out this new edition. Aside from a binding difference, the text has been reset, and this new edition has a reproduction of a drawing by Crowley not previously published. There were two main issues of this new edition, one (with silver titling on the front board) was limited to 100 numbered copies, and the other (with gold titling on the front board) was un-numbered. Precedence of issue is not known, although it seems safe to assume that the numbered issues preceded the unnumbered issue. This copy is the unnumbered issue.
ISBN: 0-913576-32-8. A little light rubbing to the cloth, corners and spine ends very lightly chafed - otherwise a bright near Fine copy. No dustjacket - as issued. (41293) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, Liber Aleph Vel CXI: The Book of Wisdom or Folly. In the Form of an Epistle of 666 The Great Wild Beast to his Son 777. Being the Equinox Volume III Number VI. Seattle, WA: Unicorn Press, ND (circa 1975). Reprint. Softcover. 8vo. 220pp. Original grey printed wrappers, index.
An unusual edition of this quirky magical / philosophical masterpiece by Crowley. Although the rear cover is printed "Unicorn, Seattle" the booklet was actually produced by The Unicorn Bookshop of Brighton, England, which semi-clandestinely reproduced a number of Crowley booklets in the early 1970s. As far as we know this edition of "Liber Aleph" - which faithfully reproduces the Karl Germer' publication of1961 but in smaller format and with errata corrected on the page - is the only substantial Crowley book that Unicorn published.
From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. A few light marks to wrappers, spine a bit darkened, upper wrapper creased at hinge, top edge a bit darkened and dusty, pages lightly thumbed otherwise a tight, unmarked VG copy. (39704) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Little Essays Toward Truth. Northampton, UK: Sut Anubis, 1985. Facsimile Edition. Softcover. 8vo. 96 + ii pages plates. Light blue wrappers printed in dark blue, thick cream paper, b&w illustrations.
An unusual facsimile reprint of this collection of essays that was first published in 1938. The essays cover matters Kabbalistic, Magical and Philosophical: an important collection by Crowley at his mature best.
From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Spine slightly sun faded, a few light bumps and creases at edges and corners of wrappers, top edge a little dusty, otherwise a tight clean VG+ copy. (39706) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Edited & annotated by John Symonds & Kenneth Grant, The Magical Record of the Beast 666: The Diaries of Aleister Crowley 1914-1920. Montreal, Canada: Next Step Publications, 1972. First Canadian Edition Thus. Hardcover. Large octavo. xvi + 326pp. Red cloth, gilt-lettered on spine. Index.
The significant first publication of Crowley's diaries, which cover virtually the whole of Crowley's American sojourn, from shortly after his arrival in 1914 to his departure in 1919, his subsequent travels, and early days at Cefalu in 1920. In it recorded not only day to day events, but his magical workings, experiments with sex magick and drugs (hence he termed them his "Magical Record"). The book was jointly published by Next Step Publications, in Canada, and Duckworth in the UK, with the former apparently being the main movers in the project. Next Step was founded by Peter Macfarlane (best known for his role in 93 Publishing) and Pierre Robert. When the partnership dissolved, some copies were sold and distributed via Weiser (then in New York). Those that were distributed from Canada usually had a slip with a Thelemic lamen logo pasted over the Next Step imprint and date on the title page. This is one such copy. It also has a large A.: A.: seal neatly stamped on the first blank, but we don't know if this was something the publisher/distributor did, or whether it was applied by a later owner.
Spine ends and corners lightly chafed, lower spine lightly bruised, top-edge a little dusty, pages lightly browned - otherwise a tight clean VG+ copy in near-VG dust jacket (Dust jacket has a few closed tears at upper edge & chips to top-edge, inner flaps browned, rear flap creased). (41966) SOLD
[Aleister Crowley] The Master Therion. Magick In Theory and Practice (being part III of Book 4). Paris, France: Lecram Press, [1929]. First Edition. Hardcover. Four sections bound in one volume. Quarto. xxxii + 122pp.; [82pp.]; [94pp.]; [132pp.]. Bound in full red leather with gilt titling and embellishments, fore- & bottom-edges untrimmed. Colour plate. Tables, diagrams, etc. etc. From the library of Ray Burlingame (1893-1965) 'Frater Aquarius,' a IX degree member of the Agape Lodge of the O.T.O., with his signature & address and pencilled notes.
The book comprises the four parts of the true first issue of Crowley's magnum opus, "Magick in Theory and Practice" (also known as Book 4, Part III), specially bound on behalf of Burlingame. This issue, which originally came out in wrappers (not bound-in) includes a colour plate which was omitted from the later "subscriber's edition." The book itself was hailed by Crowley as "the first complete treatise on Magick to be published," and is commonly regarded as his "Magnum Opus."
Edges & ends of spine and corners a bit chafed, leather lightly rubbed overall with some light scratches, endpapers unevenly faded, paper browned, upper corners of a few pages creased, some scattered pencilled notes to text. Overall a VG copy with an interesting and important provenance. (41040) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley [?], Foreword by the publisher – presumably W. N. Schors, Oefenboek voor Astraal-en Symboolmagie. Amsterdam: Uitgeverij Schors, 1987. First Edition. Softcover. Large 8vo. viii + 186pp. b&w illustrations. Dutch language.
This work purports to be a translation into Dutch of three works written by Crowley under the name the Master Therion in Berlin in the 1920s. Unfortunately neither author nor publisher identifies the works from which the translations are supposed to have been made, although there seems to be a vague similarity to some parts of "Book Four." There is however much that does not seem like Crowley - and in the absence of further information it might be best to say this text seems to be "after" Crowley rather than by him.
ISBN: 9063781415. From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Covers lightly rubbed overall, edges lightly chafed, spine slightly faded, edges darkened and a bit foxed, otherwise a tight, unmarked VG copy. (42136) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, The O.T.O. Collection from The Blue Equinox, San Francisco, CA: Stellar Visions, 1986. First Edition thus. Softcover. 8vo. Stapled in printed wrappers. approx. 76pp. B&W illustrations. Multi-colored endsheets.
As the title suggests, this work contains facsimiles of a number of O.T.O. related texts that were originally collected in Crowley's "Blue Equinox" (1919), comprising "Liber LII," "Liber CI," "Liber CLXI," "Liber CXCIV," and "Liber XV." The book was obviously officially sanctioned by the O.T.O. under Grady McMurtry: on the verso of the title page it prints a number of short excerpts from the July 1985 California ruling against Motta and the S.O.T.O., and the adjacent page has the addresses of Agape Grand Lodge (New York) and Thelema Lodge (California).
Covers darkened at spine and outer edges, pages lightly thumbed, slight diagonal creases to pages at upper corner, otherwise a tight clean VG copy of a surprisingly scarce booklet. (42098) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Edited, with additional notes by Adrian Axworthy, The Psychology of Hashish, an Essay on Mysticism Crowley - Thelema Study Series No. 1. Edmonds, WA: Holmes Publishing Group, 2001. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 8vo. 40pp. Purple stapled wrappers illustrated and titled in black on upper cover, endnotes by the editor.
Although not noted as such, this essay was originally published in "The Equinox," Vol.I No.2 (1919).
ISBN: 1-55818-437-6. From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label inside front cover. Covers faded at edges and spine, lower spine bumped, old price inked inside rear cover. Otherwise a clean better than VG copy. (42132) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
[Aleister Crowley] The Rites of Eleusis. London: Privately Printed, 1910. First Edition. Softcover. Large 8vo. (ii) + 10pp. (+ 2 plates). Sewn in original dark grey-brown wrappers, with printed title and swastika device stamped in black on front wrapper. Finely printed sepia portraits of Crowley and Leilah Waddell.
A booklet that was essentially the programme for Crowley's mystical play sequence, "The Rites of Eleusis," which was performed in London in 1910.
Although not marked as such, this is from the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. Covers lightly rubbed with a few light creases, lightly faded, some spot browning to text pages and plates, penciled notes to upper corner of title page - but otherwise clean. Overall VG. A very Scarce ephemeral item. (39538) SOLD
[Aleister Crowley] writing as the Comte de Fenix, The Scientific Solution to the Problem of Government. London: Issued by the O.T.O., ND [circa 1937]. First Edition. Softcover. Tall octavo. 4pp., Original printed wrappers. Intact serated order form for "The Equinox of the Gods" on the bottom wrapper.
A short pseudonymous work expounding Crowley's Law of Thelema - presumably distributed to create interest in Crowley's "The Equinox of the Gods" and forthcoming new editions of "The Book of the Law." Amongst the scarcer of the Crowley booklets.
Yorke. 96. From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label loosely inserted. Small bookplate inside front cover, staples slightly rusty, otherwise a clean VG+ copy. Quite scarce. (39534) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, 777 Revised Vel Prolegomena Symbolica Ad Systemam Sceptico-Mysticae Viae Explicandae, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicum Sanctissimorum Scientiae Summae. A Reprint of 777 with Much Additional Matter by the Late Aleister Crowley. London: The Neptune Press, 1955 . First Edition thus. Hardcover. xxviii + 156pp. Demy 8vo. White parchment spine with gilt-decorated buckram boards. Top edge gold. Tables & hexagrams. Edition limited to 1100 copies (There was also a vellum-bound edition of 12 copies and a full morocco edition of 7 copies).
A reprint of Crowley's Qabalistic masterwork, with much additional material. Crowley's former student and follower Gerald Yorke had worked on the revised edition of this Qabalistic masterwork in the 1920s, but was unable to take it to press at the time. He finally published it in collaboration with Crowley's American student and occult heir Karl Germer in 1955.
Apart from a few faint marks the spine and boards are in superb condition - as close to Fine as a copy is ever likely to be found, however rather oddly there is light to moderate foxing throughout the text block, and the pages are somewhat browned. Otherwise it is tight, clean and unmarked. No dustjacket (none issued, although copies came from the printer in a disposeable glassine wrapper which was sometimes retained). (41431) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, 777. Second Revision., Vel Prolegomena Symbolica Ad Systemam Sceptico-Mysticae Viae Explicandae, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicum Sanctissimorum Scientiae Summae (A Reprint of 777 with Much Additional Matter by the Late Aleister Crowley). NP: Privately Printed by O.T.O., ND (circa 1970?). Reprint. Hardcover. xxviii + 156pp. 8vo. Very dark maroon/brown cloth (almost black), with a double rule at head and tail of spine and 777 lettered vertically down the upper middle of the spine stamped in silver. Tables & hexagrams.
This edition is essentially a photo-litho reprint of the revised edition of 777 which was published in 1955 by Crowley's American student and occult heir Karl Germer in collaboration with Gerald Yorke. No date or place of publication is given, but it was apparently published in the US in the 1970s.
Cloth a bit rubbed overall, spine ends & corners bumped and lightly chafed, page edges a bit darkened and thumbed, endpapers a little discoloured, owner's name & address stamp on front blank, some underlining, owner's penned notes on rear endpapers. Both the A.: A.: seal and the O.T.O. lamen facing the title page have been rather clumsily hand-coloured, as has the "777" on the title page. Overall a solid Good only copy. Unusual. (no dustjacket). (41013) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Introduction by "Thessalonius Loyola" (Ray Sherwin). Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden. NP [East Morton, England]: [Morton Press], ND 1981. Facsimile Edition. Softcover. 8vo. (viii) + 163pp. Plain white paper wrappers. A facsmile printing of Aleister Crowley's most infamous pornographic work, with a one-page Introduction by "Thessalonius Loyola" (Ray Sherwin).
The original work was apparently penned by Crowley with the intention of producing the most ridiculously extreme sexual fantasy ever written - for the edification of his wife Rose. Most copies of the first edition (circa 1904) were subsequently destroyed by British Customs. Although published without date or imprint, the present edition is known to have issued by Ray Sherwin and the Morton Press in 1981. As such it is the first ever reprint of "Snowdrops" predating the Teitan Press edition by two years. It is evidently reproduced from the Yorke copy in the Warburg Institute, as several pages have the text of "Leah Sublime" added in holograph, seemingly in Gerald Yorke's handwriting. Contemporary announcements in occult journals suggested that only 100 copies were produced, although it is likely the actual number was much smaller that. On top of that it was "perfect bound," meaning that unless the book was treated with utmost care, it tended to fall apart, so the book is truly hard to find.
This copy from the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book label on the inside front cover. Cheap, almost photocopy-like production values. Wrappers a little darkened and lightly bowed - otherwise near Fine condition. A genuinely rare book, dating from the small Crowley-resurgence that took place in late 1970s and early 1980s Britain. (39604) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, The Soul of the Desert. Kings Beach, CA: Thelema Publications, 1974. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Small 8vo. 36 pages (printed on recto only). Brown cloth with gilt title on spine and front cover.
A poem 'Written at Jozeur 17 March 1914,' it was first published in an issue of the Occult Review of the same year. This edition, published by Thelema Publications, the company run by Helen Parsons-Smith (ex-wife of Jack Parsons and W. T. Smith and long time member of Agape Lodge of the OTO,) is its first separate publication.
ISBN: 0-913576-08-5. Cloth a little rubbed with some darkening at edges, a few faint marks to cloth, gilt lettering a bit darkened, corners lightly chafed, otherwise a tight, bright VG+ copy. (no dustjacket - none issued) (41292) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, (Ko Hsüan) Translation, Introduction, and Commentary, Edited by Hymenaeus Beta, Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching, The Equinox. Volume Three Number Eight. Liber CLVII. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1995. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 8vo. xvi + 112 pp. Frontis, references and index. Presentation inscription on the first blank from the editor (Hymenaeus Beta) to Aleister Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr: "For Fra.: SVA, Fraternally, 93 93/93 V.V."
The book contains the texts of Crowley's editions of the Tao Te Ching (Liber CLVII) and the Khing Kang King (Liber XXI) with an Introduction by Hymenaeus Beta.
ISBN: 0-87728-846-1. Cover features a painting by Austin Osman Spare. Just a hint of rubbing to edges, otherwise near Fine condition. (40961) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
[Aleister Crowley] Introduction and Explanation of Footnotes by Israel Regardie. The Vision and the Voice. Liber XXX Aervm vel Saecvli svb Figura. Being of the Angels of the 30 Aethyrs. Dallas, TX: Sangreal Foundation, Inc., 1972. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. 8vo. 262 pp. Blue cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover, frontis and illustrations, list of works by Regardie.
In addition to the core text of the "Vision and the Voice" working, this edition includes Crowley's commentary on this important Enochian rite, along with an Introduction written in 1929 by Crowley's former Secretary and student, Israel Regardie, both of which were first published by Crowley's successor Karl J. Germer in his 1952 edition of the work. It also includes the first publication of a 10 page Postscript especially written for this edition by Regardie. From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the front pastedown and pencilled ownership signature on the front free endpaper.
ISBN: 0-87913-001-6. Lower spine and lower corners lightly bumped, lower spine lightly rubbed, page edges dusty & lightly foxed, otherwise a tight, unmarked VG+ copy in VG dust jacket (Dust jacket lightly rubbed at all edges with some tiny chips and tears at spine ends and corners, not price clipped) (39646) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, With Victor B. Neuburg & Mary Desti. The Vision and the Voice. With Commentary and Other Papers. The Equinox Vol. IV, Number II. The Collected Diaries of Aleister Crowley. Volume II. 1909 - 1914 E.V. York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1998. First edition thus. Hardcover. Large 8vo, xiv + 454pp. Black cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine, gilt device on front cover, illustrations, index. Presentation inscription on the first blank from the editor (Hymenaeus Beta) to Aleister Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr: "For V.H. Frater A.T., Fraternally 93 93/93, V.V".
In addition to the details of 'Vision and the Voice' working this volume includes details of a number of Crowley's other magical operations The Paris Working (with Victor Neuburg), The Ab-ul-Diz Working, and the Bartzabel Working. It also includes a number of his diary entries for the years 1909-1914.
ISBN: 0-87728-887-9. Spine ends lightly bumped, top edge a bit dusty, some discolouration to endpapers at inner margins - otherwise a bright Near fine copy in lightly rubbed VG+ dust jacket. (40989) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Why Jesus Wept . A Study of Society and of The Grace of God. London: First Impressions, 1992. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Small 4to. 80pp, (iv), 8pp, (iv). Black pressed paper boards with gilt title etc to spine. Volume No.18 of the First Impressions series which reproduced a number of scarce Crowley works.
"Why Jesus Wept" is a play in verse, part love song, part snipe at Christianity, witty and crude, serious and sophisticated. A typically enigmatic early Crowley work, originally published in 1904. The text of this edition is reproduced from the first printing and includes the Advertisement, "Letter from the author's mother," "Dedicatio Maxima," "Mr. Crowley and The Creeds and The Creed of Mr. Chesterton with a postscript entitled A Child of Ephraim Chesterton’s Colossal Collapse" (originally issued as a separate booklet) and the "Note to pages 75 and 76" and "Further Note" all of which were omitted from some later printings. It also includes a facsimile of Crowley's holograph MS prospectus for the first edition.
ISBN: 1872736394. From the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley aficianado Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book label on the front pastedown. Cloth very lightly rubbed, very slight browning on front endpapers at inner hinge, otherwise Fine condition. (39610) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, The Winged Beetle. London: Privately Printed, 1910. First edition. Hardcover. 8vo. x + 228pp. Original pressed-paper boards with gilt titling and winged scarab design on top board. 'Glossary of Obscure Terms' bound in at rear. Edition limited to 300 copies numbered from 51 - 350 (there was also a printing of 50 copies on handmade paper numbered 1 - 50).
"The Winged Beetle" is a collection of poetry by Crowley with some extremely memorable dedications and a "Glossary of Obscure Terms" which gives an alarming and rather blasphemous alternative meaning to the third stanza of the main dedication, which could probably have only been published in this encrypted form. The book is far scarcer than its limitation suggests, a circumstance explained both by its non-durable binding and the loss to flood damage of nearly a third of the print run (see Martin Starr's Introduction to the facsimile edition).
This copy has the armorial bookplate of one A. L. J. Ewbank, B.A., Queens College Cambridge, who was apparently at Cambridge at around the same time as Crowley and might perhaps have been acquainted with him. Boards a bit rubbed with some light chafing, all edges rubbed & a bit chafed with some light chipping at lower edges and corners, half inch repaired tear across lower spine, contemporary armorial bookplate, endpapers unevenly browned and lightly foxed, short closed tear at upper inner margin of front blank, pages darkened - more so at extreme outer edges. Still overall a solid unmarked VG copy. A scarce book at the best of times - it is seldom found in such good condition on account of its notoriously frail binding. (41295) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, The [Collected] Works of Aleister Crowley (Volume II ONLY). Foyers: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1906. First Edition. Softcover. Vol. II only (of III) 8vo. viii, (2), 282pp, Original black "Camel hair" wrappers with white lettering. Text printed on "India paper." This, the "Essay Competition" issue (the words "Essay Competition Copy" are printed on the page facing the title page), arguably represents the true first issue of "The Collected Works," being simply and cheaply bound so that it could be distributed soon after printing to anyone planning on entering the competition for the best essay on his own works, which Crowley was then running.
The second volume of Crowley's "Collected Works." He compiled the volume shortly after receiving "The Book of the Law," and by his own account - and actions - had not yet accepted its teaching and ramifications. The volume is, in a way, transitional, linking Crowley's early delight in poetry and drama with his increasing fascination with magic and esoteric philosophy. It starts with five collections of poetry "Oracles: the Autobiography of an Art," "Alice an Adultery," "The Argonauts;" "Ahab and other Poems;" and "The God-Eater." Then comes "The Sword of Song," a book dedicated to his mentor in the Golden Dawn, Allen Bennett, and the one in which Crowley first really accepted for himself the title of "the Beast" (the subtitle of the work is "Called by Christians the Book of the Beast.") It comprised two long poems "Ascension Day" and "Pentacoste", an experimental satire "Ambrosii Magi Hortus Rosarum" and a number of essays including "William Shakespeare", "Pansil", "Science and Buddhism," "Berashith: an Essay in Ontology;" (arguably Crowley's first published magical work) and "The Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magick" (which also served as the introduction to his edition of "The Goetia"). In typical Crowleyan fashion, the marginal notes for "Ambrosii Magi Hortus Rosarum" include acrostics of a number of words that were then considered highly improper: Quim, Arse, Frig, etc., as well as one that is still regarded as the most vulgar of four-letter words (the "c-word"). This volume of the "Collected Works" closes with two philosophical satires, "The Excluded Middle, or the Skeptic Refuted" and "Time: A Dialogue Between a British Sceptic and an Indian Mystic" both of which were previously unpublished (although the latter incorporated the Crowley-Chesterton exchange that was published as a supplement to "Why Jesus Wept.")
Wrappers a little rubbed overall, with the white lettering on the top wrapper starting to flake. Spine ends and corners a little chafed and lightly chipped as always. Still, overall a sound, clean VG+ copy of a notoriously fragile work. (41928) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Aleister Crowley, Foreword by Christopher S. Hyatt, and Lon Milo Duquette. Introduction by Israel Regardie. The World's Tragedy. Scottsdale, AZ: New Falcon Publications, 1991. Collector's Limited Edition. Hardcover, 8vo, xl+ 114 pp. Brown cloth, gilt title, etc. to spine and front cover. Includes a foreword by Christopher S. Hyatt, Ph.D., and Lon Milo Duquette not in the 1985 Falcon Press publication.
"The World's Tragedy" was originally privately printed in Paris in 1910 in an edition of 100 copies, but most copies of this play were destroyed in a customs seizure or seizures, on account of the frank discussion of homosexuality in Crowley's autobiographical Preface. The play itself was a work which Crowley particularly valued, writing in his "Confessions" that "This is beyond all question the high-water mark of my imagination, my metrical fluency, my wealth of expression, and my power of bringing together the most incongruous ideas so as to enrich my matter to the utmost. At the same time, I succeeded in reaching the greatest height of spiritual enthusiasm, human indignation, and demoniac satire." Regardie writes: "This long, almost epic poem/play is one of the most bitter and vicious diatribes against Christianity that I have ever read. …. Crowley's hatred of Christianity was not a blind unreasoned prejudicial emotion. It was indelibly rooted in his own personal experience, amplified and added to by extensive study and research all throughout his adult years."
The words 'Collector's Limited Edition,' are gilt stamped on the front cover, but otherwise there is no other information concerning a possible limitation (some copies seen also had a limitation stamp on the title page). ISBN: 1-56184-047-5. Fine condition. (Issued without dustjacket) (41950) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
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Letters and Documents Relating to Aleister Crowley.
Aleister Crowley, A handwritten Letter, Signed, from Aleister Crowley to Soror Fiat Yod [Anne Macky], London, November 19, 1943. With original accompanying envelope, hand-addressed by Crowley, and sealed in wax with the cartouche of Ankh-f-n-khonsu from Crowley's personal seal ring impressed into it. London: 1943. A letter from Aleister Crowley to Soror Fiat Yod who commissioned from him a series of teachings in the forms of letters which would form the basis of his posthumously published book "Magick Without Tears." Approx. 200 words, written on both sides of a sheet of thick, good quality cream letterhead (6" x 8") headed with Crowley's "Mark of the Beast" sigil printed in red. To the left of the sigil Crowley has written his address of the time: 93 Jermyn Street S.W.1, and to its right the date, Nov. 19 '43 e.v.
The letter begins and ends with the full Thelemic greetings. A little over half of it is a charmingly written letter of condolence - apparently in sympathy for the loss of a friend. Crowley explores the idea of such events in magical and philosophical terms, making four main points, the first of which is that "'It is a play of Nuit' (Liber Aleph), the second that "Every experience, however painful, is a gain; for it expands the Universe of the mind, and enriches it," the third "Every experience is a necessary step, and in accord with one's True Will, for it is oneself, and not another, that originally determined the conditions of this life," and so on. Crowley then begs forgiveness to change the topic to "our own affairs" and tells her that "the bulk of the book [presumably "The Book of Thoth"] is now being printed off, and this releases the metal and labour required to print the small book Olla." He goes on to tell of the necessity to place a firm order for the work shortly, and appeals to her - or any friend of hers - to "take up all or part of the loan necessary." The letter ends "Yours Fraternally" and is signed by Crowley simply "666."
The letter is in VG+ condition, with just the usual light creases that could be expected from it having once been folded into an envelope. The accompanying envelope is addressed to Mrs. Macky in Crowley's hand, and is postmarked Nov. 19, 1943 from London. The reverse of the envelope has a blob of dark grey-green sealing-wax, about an inch in diameter, which has the cartouche of Ankh-f-n-khonsu from Crowley's seal ring impressed into it. The seal on the reverse of the envelope is 98% intact - there is one small chip missing from its outer edge (not touching the cartouche) and there are a couple of minute cracks. Still it is clear, with the hieroglyphs standing out more sharply than is often the case. The envelope itself had been neatly slit across the bottom to open it, and is overall in Very Good condition. (41800) SOLD
Aleister Crowley, A two page handwritten letter, signed, from Crowley to Soror Fiat Yod [Anne Macky], London, December 30, [1943]. With original accompanying envelope, hand-addressed by Crowley, and sealed in wax with the cartouche of Ankh-f-n-khonsu from Crowley's personal seal ring impressed into it. London: [1943] . A handwritten letter, approx. 500 words, written on all four sides of two (differently sized) sheets of paper. The first sheet is thick, good quality off-white letterhead (6" x 8") headed with the O.T.O. lamen (pyramid, dove and chalice) printed in red, the second sheet is small (4.5" x 6"), not so thick, and more of a cream colour. To the left of the lamen on the first page Crowley has written his address of the time: 93 Jermyn Street S.W.1, and to its right the date, "Dec. 30," and the astrological symbol for Jupiter (symbolising Thursday).
The letter begins and ends with the full Thelemic greetings. In it Crowley takes umbrage with Macky who had apparently earlier pointed out that the O.T.O. was not really a functioning organisation (at the time the only operating Thelemic Lodge was Agape). He replies indignantly "The O.T.O. is not dying, if "the majority of members are dead," that is true also of the human species! Why do you hate the O.T.O. so much? I regret (in that sense) to inform you that a new Lodge was founded last month, and another is in contemplation." After discussing her attitudes to the A.: A.: and Golden Dawn, which he writes show considerable ignorance, Crowley devotes much of the rest of the letter to a discussion of different facets of the teachings- in the forms of letters - which Macky had commissioned and on which he was then working (they would later form the basis of his posthumously published book "Magick Without Tears.") At the time he had just "written a whole 'Letter' on the Magical Memory to supplement Chap. VII of 'Magick' and Liber Thisarb. You'll get it as soon as it has been typed." Crowley then discourses briefly on astral travel, and questions various aspects of Macky's attitude - "The 'dangers and difficulties' of the Path arise more from all this sentimental and romantic speculation than from anything else. You simply ask to be bewildered and bedeviled" - before going into some detail on the progress of the "letters" and the costs etc. involved. He then seemingly refers to another letter from Macky (presumably written after the 27th) which he plans to answer on the weekend. He closes the letter with the Thelemic greetings, and "Fraternally", signing it simply "666."
The pages of the letter are in VG+ condition, with just the usual light crease across the centre that could be expected from it having once been folded into an envelope. The accompanying envelope is addressed to Mrs. Macky in Crowley's hand, and is postmarked 31 Decmeber, 1943 from London. The reverse of the envelope has a blob of dark grey-green sealing-wax, about an inch in diameter, which has the cartouche of Ankh-f-n-khonsu from Crowley's seal ring impressed into it. The seal is in very good condition, clear, with just a few small cracks. The envelope itself had been neatly slit across the top to open it, and is overall in VG+ condition. (41804) SOLD
[Aleister Crowley - related materials], An original pharmacist's invoice for the supply of drugs and syringes to Aleister Crowley, with two receipts for payment made attached. Torquay, England: 1941. A single 10" x 5" printed pharmacist's invoice, with the printed heading Quant, Wellswood, Torquay. The invoice is made out (by hand) to "Mr Crowley, The Gardens" and dated "Feb 28, 1941."
The page lists several purchases of "the mixture" (probably either an atrophine-morphine mix or digitalis concoction that Crowley was sometimes given for his bronchitis, or a prescription for heroin to which he was then addicted) and 20 needles (syringes). Other medications supplied are listed, but the receipts - on two smallers of paper - are pasted onto the invoice obscuring the details.
An unusual curiosity. VG condition. (42108) SOLD
[Aleister Crowley - related materials], An order form for a Smythson's "Royal Court" Diary, completed by Aleister Crowley with his name and address, and with a short shopping list on the back. London: circa 1938. A single 6 1/2" x 4 1/2" printed order form for "Frank Smythson's 'Royal Court' Diary." It has been filled in by Aleister Crowley, with his "formal" (ie non-phallic) "A. Crowley" signature, and the address "6 Hasker Street, [London] SW3 2R." On the blank reverse, is a short shopping list in his handwriting, on which he has jotted "Optrex [and eye lotion] / X.O. [?] / Madeira [wine] / Creole or Flan / Spinach." The 'Royal Court' were the Rolls Royce of diaries at the time, and much favoured by Crowley who used them through the 1930s and 1940s. He evidently completed this order form, but then failed to submit it, using it instead as scrap for a shopping list.
Although undated - the form only refers to a diary for "next year" - the Hasker Street address was that of John B. Jameson, (b. 1915), an associate of Crowley's during the years 1938-1939. Jameson was then a wealthy young man, a member of the Theatre Arts Club, who divided his time between partying, travelling, and his thespian activities. He also had an interest in the occult, and collected Crowley's books, and eventually contacted the Beast with the hope of receiving occult tuition. Crowley apparently persuaded Jameson to purchase a 'founder's share' in his venture selling Amrita, and it was from Jameson's flat at 6 Hasker Street, SW1, that Crowley tried to launch the business. Crowley also took up temporary residence in the building, with Jameson his landlord. For a time relations were close, and Crowley suggested making Jameson an 'heir' of sorts, and apparently even declared him "Acting Grand Treasurer General of the O.T.O.," although whether he ever did anything with respect to this office is unknown. Perhaps not surprisingly the two fell out bitterly, most likely over disagreements about their financial and tenancy arrangements. Given the short lived nature of their friendship, it seems most likely that the form is from 1938, with just a small chance that it is from 1939.
A small chip out of the top left corner (not affecting text), otherwise VG condition. (42115) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
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Books Relating to Aleister Crowley.
[Anonymous], Ararita. Elaborations on the Star Sapphire by a Traveller in Darkness. [England]: Exploration-5 Publishing, 2010. First Edition. Hardback 8vo. 104pp. Some diagrams. Hand bound in purple/blue cloth, blocked with title and symbolic design in gilt. Edition limited to 250 numbered copies.
A study of Crowley's exposition of sex magick, "Liber XXXVI, The Star Sapphire," with detailed instructions. The author is anonymous, but according to the publisher has written another book that was very well received. This new work certainly attracted considerable attention and sold out quickly.
Fine condition (no dustjacket - none issued). (38730) SOLD
Arthur Calder-Marshall, The Magic of My Youth. London: Cardinal, 1990. Reprint. Softcover. Small 8vo. 226pp.
A memoir by British novelist, biographer and popular historian Arthur Calder-Marshall (1908 - 1992) with extensive references to Victor Neuburg, Aleister Crowley, Betty May, Raoul Loveday etc. Includes two chapters largely devoted to the Abbey of Thelema at Cefalu.
ISBN: 0747406251. Covers rubbed with some chafing at edges, page edges thumbed, pages browned. Still a tight, clean near VG copy. (41006) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
[Cambridge University] Anon., The Cambridge University Calendar for the Year 1897 - 1898. Cambridge, UK: Deighton Bell and Co., 1897. First Edition. Hardcover. Small 8vo. 1040pp. Beige cloth with black title, etc. to spine and upper board, index.
Contains lists of student enrollments, details of prizes, examinations and such like. This volume includes two references to Aleister Crowley (E.A. Crowley) and is particularly interesting in who it reveals as his contemporaries: including E. F. Benson, Warwick Deeping, M. R. James, Gerald Kelly, Herbert Pollitt, etc. etc. From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the front pastedown and pencilled ownership signature on front free endpaper. *Facsimile* bookplate of Herbert Charles Jerome Pollitt after an original by Beardsley on front pastedown (Pollitt was a lover of Crowley's and contemporary at Cambridge).
Professionally rebacked with black titling etc to new matching spine, original boards, fresh endpapers. Cloth of boards a little darkened and slightly grubby, corners lightly bumped and a bit chafed, top edge darkened, pages browned - more so at margins, still overall a solid, unmarked near VG copy. (42135) SOLD
Amado Crowley, [Andrew Standish] The Riddles of Aleister Crowley. Leatherhead, England: Diamond Books, 1992. First edition. Softcover 8vo, vi + 188 pp.
The first edition of the second "conventionally-published" (as opposed to privately printed and distributed) book about 'The Beast' by Amado Crowley [Andrew Standish, 1930-2010?], who purported to be the illegitimate son of Aleister, and to have received occult training from the Beast, although these claims are almost universally dismissed by Crowley scholars.
This copy from the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley aficianado Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book label on the inside front cover. ISBN: 0-9517528-1-2. Covers & edges lightly rubbed, light crease on upper cover at hinge, a few marks to page edges, top edge darkened and a bit foxed, otherwise a clean, unmarked VG + copy. (39657) SOLD
Amado Crowley, [Andrew Standish] The Secrets of Aleister Crowley. Leatherhead, England: Diamond Books, 1991. First edition. Softcover. 8vo. 182 pp.
The first edition of the first "conventionally-published" (as opposed to privately printed and distributed) book about 'The Beast' by Amado Crowley [Andrew Standish, 1930-2010?], who purported to be the illegitimate son of Aleister, and to have received occult training from the Beast, although these claims are almost universally dismissed by Crowley scholars.
This copy from the library of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley aficianado Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book label on the inside front cover. ISBN: 0951752804. Covers & edges lightly rubbed, light crease on upper cover at hinge, a few marks to page edges, top edge darkened and a bit foxed, otherwise a clean, unmarked VG+ copy. (39658) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Kenneth Grant, Beyond the Mauve Zone. London: Starfire Publishing Ltd., 1999. First Edition. Hardcover. Thick 8vo. xii + 368 pp. Black cloth with gilt title etc. to spine. Colour frontis reproduces an artwork by Steffi Grant. 18 pages of black and white plates, + 3 illustrations / diagrams in text. Standard Edition limited to 929 copies thus (there was also a deluxe edition of 71 numbered and signed copies).
Beyond The Mauve Zone is the second volume in the third group of books by Grant known as the 'Typhonian Trilogies.'
ISBN: 0952782456 .Slight bump to cloth at head of spine, edges a trifle darkened, otherwise a Fine, seemingly unread copy, in Fine dustjacket. (42164) SOLD
Kenneth Grant, The Ninth Arch. London: Starfire Publishing Ltd., 2002. First edition, Edition Deluxe. Hardcover. Thick 8vo. xxxviii + 604 pp. Bound in quarter leather with decorated gold paper covered boards, gilt title etc. to spine, grey endpages. Colour frontispiece of an artwork in pastel by Austin Osman Spare. 26 black and white plates of work by Kenneth & Steffi Grant, et al. A coloured plate bound in at the rear reproduces the front panel designs of the dustwrappers of the nine books which make up Grant's three trilogies. Index, glossary and appendices. Edition deluxe. Limited to 97 numbered copies signed by Kenneth and Steffi Grant (there was also a cloth bound standard edition of 903 unsigned copies).
"The Ninth Arch" contains the text and commentary on the "Book of the Spider," a "received" text revealed to members of the Nu Isis Lodge of Grant's Typhonian O.T.O. The work completes Grant's trilogy of trilogies (The Magical Revival, Aleister Crowley and the Hidden God, & Cults of the Shadow) + (Nightside of Eden, Outside the Circles of Time, Hecate's Fountain) + (Outer Gateways, Beyond the Mauve Zone, Ninth Arch).
Dust jacket design by Steffi Grant. ISBN: 0-9527824-9-9. Very faint whiff of tobacco smoke, edges a trifle darkened, otherwise a Fine seemingly-unread copy in Fine dustjacket (hint of yellowing at edges). (42165) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Barry William Hale, Art editor and main contributor, Oliva Dimitrije Mitevski, Editor, Waratah 2, Oceanic Currents. Sydney: House 418 Publishing, 2004. (First Edition). Softcover. Large Quarto. Approx. 238 pages. Edition limited to 200 copies (there were also14 special numbered and inscribed subscriber issues and an "archival release" of 11 signed and hand-illustrated issues).
A beautifully produced and illustrated journal produced by members of the Oceania Lodge of the Ordo Templi Orientis. Much of the text and art work is by former Lodge Master Barry Hale, whose work has since appeared in Fulgur publications. The journal includes details of magical workings, art, prose, and poetry.
Fine. (41255) SOLD
Barry W. Hale & Ian Drummond, editors, main contributor Frater Numa, Waratah III, Star Building. Sydney, Australia: House 418 / OTO, 2006. First Edition - Limited. Softcover. Quarto. 154pp. Color and black and white illustrations, printed on high quality matte art paper. Edition limited to 190 copies (there was also an artist's edition of 20 copies).
A beautifully presented journal, produced by House 418, the publishing arm of the O.T.O. in Australia. It includes ten essays centered around the OTO, magick and Thelema, eight of which were written by Frater Numa, a major figure in the development of the O.T.O. in Australia, and one each by Fratres Soma 156 and Baltan. Although the essays were mostly written in the nineties, they sparkle with innovation and new perspectives: and typical Australian candor! They are accompanied by selections from six series of artwork by Barry William Hale and collaborators, as well the "art diaries" of the late Steven McCubben.
ISBN: 1322-9389. Very light rubbing to edges otherwise near Fine condition. (42158) SOLD
Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, Translated from the German by Oswald Charles Wood, The History of the Assassins (Derived from Oriental Sources). New York NY: Burt Franklin, 1968. Reprint. Hardcover. 8vo. x + 240pp. Red cloth with gilt titling to spine, end notes. A facsimile reprint of the 1835 First edition of this work. Signed gift inscription from the the head of a somewhat more benign secret society (Hymenaeus Beta, the O.T.O.) to Aleister Crowley scholar Martin Starr on front blank.
The author of the work, the Viennese orientalist Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall (1774-1856), also wrote one of the first studies "Mysterium Baphometis revelatum" (1818) in which he argued a connection between supposedly Templar artefacts and the Gnostic deity Baphomet. His "History of the Assassins" was first published in German ("Geschichte der Assassinen" 1818) and then translated into English and published in London in 1835. Although now superceded by more modern works, it was one of the first significant western-language works on the Nizari Ismailis sect.
Cloth lightly rubbed and slightly darkened, corners lightly chafed, pages slightly browned otherwise a tight, clean VG+ copy (no dust jacket issued). (41046) SOLD
Nina Hamnett, new Introduction by Edward Booth-Clibborn, Laughing Torso. London: Virago Press, 1984. Reprint. Softcover. 8vo, x + 322pp. + 16 b&w plates.
Memoirs and reminiscences of British artist Nina Hamnett. In 1934, Aleister Crowley famously and tried to sue the publisher of the first British edition of this book, Constable, for libel because of comments in it such as "Crowley had a temple in Cefalu in Sicily. He was supposed to practice Black Magic there, and one day a baby was said to have disappeared mysteriously. " Sadly for Crowley his own writings were used in evidence against him, with the judge declaring of his works that "I have never heard such dreadful, horrible, blasphemous and abominable stuff as that which has been produced by the man who describes himself to you as the greatest living poet." He lost. This modern softcover edition with a new introduction by Edward Booth-Clibborn.
Owner's sig. on title-page. A previous owner has added in ink the "dedication" that appeared in the original Constable edition, and underlined or annotated a few passages relating to that edition or Crowley and associates. ISBN: 0860686507. Covers lightly rubbed overall and a bit chafed at spine ends and corners, page edges and outer margins browned. Spine uncreased, Good condition. (41007) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Lady Frieda Harris, Bump! Into Heaven. London: Mitre Press, 1956. First edition. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Blue cloth with gilt stamping.
A selection of mystical and other verse by the 'artist executant' of Aleister Crowley's Thoth tarot cards. Dust jacket incorporates a design of a wanderer - not unlike the fool of the Tarot - which although unsigned is presumably by Harris.
Pages a little browned otherwise appears unused. The top edge of the dustjacket appears to have been cut short by about an eighth of an inch - presumably a printer's flaw, as the jacket is otherwise fine and it is hard to imagine why it would otherwise have been trimmed thus. Tiny snag on fore-edge of dustjacket, all else Fine. (41004) SOLD
Muriel Bruce Hasbrouck, Pursuit of Destiny. London: John Gifford, 1949. First UK Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. 244pp. Dark blue cloth lettered in gilt on spine.
The author proposes a new formula of understanding through "time and birthdate conditioning" which divides the solar year into thirty-six ten-day cycles which she relates to the symbolism of the tarot. Curiously one of the three dedicatees of the book is "Perdurabo" and the author mentions Crowley's "The Equinox" in relation to the publication of Golden Dawn tarot documents, including their "Book T."
From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the front pastedown. B/w illustrations. Spine rubbed at head & foot, title-page browned, previous owner's initials on front free endpaper, edges age-browned, still a solid near-VG copy in Good+ dust jacket (dust jacket rubbed & slightly discolored, chipping & slight loss at head & foot of spine, several small edge tears, unclipped). (41679) SOLD
Keith Hogg, compiler, Introductory Essay, by Major-General J.F.C. Fuller, Bibliotheca Crowleyana Catalogue of a unique Collection of BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, PROOF COPIES, MSS., etc. by, about, or connected with Aleister Crowley formed with an Introductory Essay, by Major-General J.F.C. Fuller (for Sale as a Collection, Keith Hogg, 82 High Street, Tenterden, Kent). Kent: Keith Hogg, nd (1966). First edition. Softcover Booklet. A5 Stapled soft paper wrappers, pale green w/ black print to cover, 28 pp.
The catalogue produced for the sale of the Crowley collection of J.F.C. Fuller in 1966. Fuller had first met Crowley in 1905 and, despite a later rift, had kept an extraordinary collection of material relating to the Beast and the Golden Dawn which he had collected during and after their acquaintance. The catalogue includes a specially-written 7-page introductory essay by Fuller, and is also an excellent bibliographical reference to many rare and unique Crowley items.
Loosely inserted is a duplicated sheet on Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper's distinctive letterhead advertising the availability of copies of the catalogue for sale, and a separate note typed note, from the catalogue's compiler, Keith Hogg, to Bishop-Culpeper quoting copies. Pages a little age-browned but clean, a VG+ copy. (42155) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Francis King, Sexuality, Magic and Perversion. London: Neville Spearman, 1971. First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. 208 pp. Original black cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine, b&w illustrations. Appendices, biblio and index. From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his penciled ownership signature on front blank and his book-label on front pastedown. Also inscribed by the author to Culpeper opposite the title page "To Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, Francis King".
King was well-known as the author of "Ritual Magic in England," and editor of "The Secret Rituals of the O.T.O." and other works. This volume is a serious yet entertaining examination of the origins and development of sex as it relates to the occult. Not surprisingly it includes numerous references to Crowley.
Very light bumping to corners and spine ends, page edges a little darkened, a little uneven browning to pastedowns. Otherwise a tight, bright VG+ copy in VG dust jacket. (Dust jacket lightly rubbed at edges, one half inch closed tear at upper edge of rear panel, inner flaps lightly creased, not clipped). (41135) SOLD
Arnoldo Krumm-Heller, Foreword by Parsival Krumm-Heller and Edited by Stephen J. King Logos Mantram Magic, Sydney & Melbourne: [House] 418 / Helios Books, 2005. First Edition thus. Softcover, 8vo. xx + 90pp. Ills. This copy inscribed by the editor, Stephen J. King, to Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr on the half-title page.
A printed slip, giving the publication details etc. of the book has been loosely inserted. The first English translation of a work by Krumm-Heller's which was originally published in Spanish and German in 1930. Krumm-Heller was a charismatic figure, founder of the Fraternitas Rosicruciana Antiqua, who had live and travelled in Latin America and sought to fuse local esoteric traditions with those of the West. He was also a student of Theodor Reuss, Papus, and Crowley, and this volume is published under the house imprint of the Australian O.T.O.
Fine condition. (40951) SOLD
[Mandrake Press Ltd] Works by Aleister Crowley [Mandrake Press Ltd advertising flyer]. London: Mandrake Press Ltd., May, 1930. First edition. A single sheet of very pale green thick paper, folded once to make 4 pages, printed in black with a Mandrake root and Works by Aleister Crowley" on first leaf.
An advertising flyer or prospectus for Crowley titles published by Mandrake Press Ltd. (previously just Mandrake Press) in 1930. Includes advertisements for: "Moonchild" (1929), "The Stratagem" (1930), "Gilles de Rais" (1930), and the ill-fated "Golden Twigs" which had only reached proof stage when the press closed. A full page is devoted to Crowley's "Confessions in six volumes" - the first two of which were all (then) published. The final page is an advertisement for P.R. Stephensen's "The Legend of Aleister Crowley," which had only just been released shortly before he left the press.
Although not marked as such, this is from the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. Bookseller's ink stamp to dover ceaf, edge at fold faded, lightly rubbed. Overall VG. (39791) SOLD
Ethel Mannin, Confessions and Impressions. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1938. 5th Impression, revised. Softcover. Small 8vo. 282pp. Pocket-sized paperback, index.
Memoirs and biographical portraits by Mannin, a popular novelist and travel writer. She includes a three page piece on Aleister Crowley's good friend, Gwen Otter, which has a couple of passing references to "the Beast."
Covers a bit rubbed and lightly chipped at edges and spine ends, short tear to foreedge of cover, spine and rear cover darkened, pages browned, - more so at margins, with some light chipping to edges. Overall a clean Good copy. (40997) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Daniel P. Mannix, An essay "The Great Beast" extracted from "True. The Man's Magazine." October, 1956. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett Publications, Inc., October, 1956. Loose pages. 4to.
Sixteen pages extracted from "True. The Man's Magazine," October, 1956. Colour and black and white illustrations. 14 of the pages make up a "book length" trash biography of Aleister Crowley by Daniel Mannix entitled "The Great Beast" / "Wickedest Man in the World" (it was later expanded and published as a pocket paperback entitled "The Beast").
Tears at inner margin. (42125) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
John Cowper Powys, Letters of John Cowper Powys to Louis Wilkinson 1935 - 1956. London: Village Press, 1974. Reprint. Softcover. Small 8vo. 400pp. Original printed wrappers, index.
Louis Wilkinson (aka Louis Marlow) was a close friend of Crowley's and one of his literary executors. Wilkinson's friend the author John Cowper Powys, had also met Crowley, and he featured frequently in their letters (the Index notes at least 20 references).
Spine faded and lightly creased, some light chafing to the edges, otherwise a clean VG copy. (41015) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
Sunny Shah, Sexual Imagery in the Early Poetry of Aleister Crowley. Edmonds, WA: Holmes Publishing Group, 1997. First Edition Thus. Softcover. 8vo. 24pp. Stapled card covers illustrated and titled in black on upper cover, endnotes, Spare illustration on first leaf. Appendix, bibliography.
From the publisher: "Shah's study of the early erotic verse (mostly undergraduate) leading up to "White Stains" exposes some rather interesting sidelights on the character and needs of the literary side of Crowley - a facet of his personality much neglected."
ISBN: 1558183558. From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label inside front cover. Lower corner lightly bumped, otherwise a clean unmarked copy in near Fine condition. (42134) SOLD
G. F. Sims [George Frederick Sims] Magick. Books by the Master Therion. Middlesex UK: G. F. Sims, ND (circa 1951 ? ). Softcover. 8vo. (i), 23pp. Stapled printed card covers, with black titling.
A catalog of nearly 400 books that were offered by antiquarian bookseller and writer, George Frederick Sims (1923 - 1999). Nearly 100 of those listed are titles by Aleister Crowley, most First Editions, and including many rare, and sometimes unique copies.
Covers lightly rubbed with some light foxing, otherwise a better than VG copy. (39790) SOLD
[Helen Parsons Smith] S. L. MacGregor Mathers, Translator, [Kabbalah Denudata] The Kabbalah Unveiled. Containing the following books of the Zohar. The Book of Concealed Mystery, the Greater Holy Assembly, the Lesser Holy Assembly. Translated into English from the Latin version of Knorr von Rosenroth, and collated with the original Chaldee and Hebrew Text. London: George Redway, 1887. First Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. xiv + 360 pp. (+ 56pp publisher's catalog bound in at rear). Modern black faux leather with gilt title etc. on spine, fresh endpapers, b&w illustrations, charts + 3 folding plates.
The first esoteric work to be published by Mathers (1854-1918), one of the most famous magicians of the time, and one of the founders of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the fraternity in which Aleister Crowley got his early magical training, and which had such a profound influence on his own occult career. The Kabbalah Unveiled is a translation of the Kabbala Denudata of Knorr von Rosenroth (1677) which contained translations into Latin of parts of the Zohar and other Kabbalistic texts. Mather's Introduction is still held by many to be one of the best and most cogent written on the subject.
Although not marked as such, this copy is from the personal collection of Helen Parsons Smith (1910 - 2003). Parsons Smith was the ex-wife of both Jack Parsons and W. T. Smith, and long-time member of Agape Lodge of the OTO, who later pioneered Crowley publishing in the USA in the 1970s with her Thelema publications imprint. (A certificate of provenance will be included with the book). The binding is somewhat amateurish - it is too tight and the gatherings seem to have been "stab sewn" across the inner margin rather than sewn at the join in the conventional manner. Boards fresh with little wear, pages browned and slightly brittle with some light chipping and closed tears to page edges. All plates present and complete but two folding plates (iv and ix) are split or splitting at folds. A sound clean VG copy of this scarce first edition, albeit in a not particularly appealing binding. (41043) SOLD
[Martin P. Starr] Michael Maier, Introductory preface by Manly P. Hall, [Themis Aurea] Laws of the Fraternity of the Rosie Crosse. Los Angeles, CA: The Philosophical Research Society, 1976. Limited Edition, Reprint. Hardcover. Small 8vo. (iv)+ 136pp. Brown cloth with gilt titling to spine, frontis. Limited edition. From the library of Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr with his ownership signatures - and details of a review of the book he published in the Motta "Equinox Vol. 3, No. V" on the front blank.
The books itself is a facsimile reprint of the 1656 first English edition of "Themis Aurea, Laws of the Fraternity of the Rosie Crosse," by Count Michael Maier - referred to by Waite as "The greatest adept of his age." With a new Introduction by Manly P. Hall.
ISBN: 0-89314-400-9. Very light chafing to spine ends and corners, top edge a little darkened and dusty - otherwise a tight, clean VG + copy in Good dust jacket. (White printed dust jacket: panels lightly rubbed with some light discolouration, rubbed at edges with a few light creases and short closed tears). (41008) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
P. R. Stephensen [in collaboration with Aleister Crowley], Introduction by Stephen J. King, The Legend of Aleister Crowley. A Study of the Facts. Sydney, Australia: Helios Books and Ordo Templi Orientis (Australia), 2007. New Edition, Softcover. 8vo. (174mm X 240 mm) 200 pages, printed on matt art paper. Illustrated.
Originally published by the Mandrake Press in 1930, this is the first modern edition authorized by the Stephensen estate and makes substantial use of surviving Stephensen papers from the period. Stephensen had become manager of the Mandrake Press of London in the 1920s and made what he described as his own style of "magical oath" to get Aleister Crowley's writings into print, and defend the "Great Beast" against the allegations and accusations levied at him by a hostile British press. Stephensen described "The Legend of Aleister Crowley" as both a "short literary biography" and "a study of the documentary evidence relating to a campaign of personal vilification unparalleled in literary history." This new edition includes the first publication of the opening "Epistle" that was suppressed from the first edition as being too risky. It comes with a comprehensive introductory narrative by Stephen J. King, a senior member and archivist of the Australian O.T.O., and includes a number of Aleister Crowley's autobiographical newspaper articles, 1933-35, the vast majority of which had not appeared in print since their original publication.
Loosely inserted is a letter from the distributor (Weiser Antiquarian) to Crowley scholar Martin P. Starr, saying that the book was forwarded to him with the compliments of the editor, Stephen J. King. ISBN: 0975773399. Covers lightly rubbed, otherwise VG+ condition. (41003) SOLD
Lawrence Sutin, Do What Thou Wilt: A Life of Aleister Crowley [Advanced Proof copy]. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 2000. First edition. Softcover. Large 8vo, x + 470pp. Grey printed wrappers. An advanced proof copy with correction in an unknown hand – probably that of the author.
"An exploration into the life and works of a modern mystic, occultist, poet, mountaineer, and bisexual adventurer known to his contemporaries as 'the Great Beast.'" Although largely overshadowed by Richard Kaczynski's "Perdurabo" and other later works, this remains of the most interesting and well written biographies of "The Beast."
ISBN: 0-312-25243-9. Covers rubbed and creased with some light marks from use (as one would expect), pages a bit dog-eared. Overall a Good copy. (40994) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
John Symonds, The Great Beast The Life and Magick of Aleister Crowley. London: Macdonald & Co., 1971. First edition thus. Hardcover. 8vo, x + 414pp. Black cloth with gilt title, etc. to spine. Frontis, illustrations.
The 1971 revised edition of Symond's biography of Crowley. Published twenty years after the first edition, this reissue reflected the changed times, and as the blurb on the dustjacket noting: "The author is now able to go into far greater detail about Crowley's use of sex and drugs than was possible before." It also included a lot of material that was originally published separately in the author's "The Magic of Aleister Crowley."
ISBN: 0-356-03631-6. Cloth slightly faded, corners and edges lightly rubbed, spine very slightly canted, page edges a little darkened and dusty - still a tight, unmarked better than VG copy in near VG dust jacket. (As usual the fragile gold foil dust jacket is rubbed in places, and has some creasing etc., price clipped). (41000) Please check our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com for current availability.
John Symonds, The Great Beast. The Life of Aleister Crowley. London: Panther, 1956. First Edition Thus. Softcover. Small 8vo. 320pp. Pocket-sized paperback.
The first paperback edition of Symond's biography of Aleister Crowley, the book which introduced the children of the Fifties and Sixties to the Great Beast.
From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Covers a little rubbed and lightly creased, pages browned, a few early pages slightly loose. Still a tight unmarked VG copy of a fragile printing. (39500) SOLD
John Symonds, The Great Beast. The Life and Magick of Aleister Crowley. London: Mayflower, 1973. Reprint. Softcover. Small 8vo. 464pp. Pocket-sized paperback. Index.
A unabridged and revised reprint of Symond's biography of Crowley, the book which introduced the children of the Fifties and Sixties to the Great Beast. This revised edition includes additional chapters on Crowley reprinted from Symonds' second book on the Beast, "The Magic of Aleister Crowley."
From the collection of English bibliophile and Aleister Crowley scholar Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper, with his book-label on the inside front cover. Covers a little rubbed and lightly creased, page edges yellowed & foxed, pages browned at outer margins. Still a tight unmarked about VG copy. (39501) SOLD
___________________________
Some Beastly Smut.
Anon, "People in Erotic History: Aleister Crowley" - an article in Fiesta [Magazine], Vol.19, No.8 [c. 1980s]. London: Galaxy Publications, ND [c. 1980s]. First edition. Softcover. Quarto Magazine. 98pp. Color & b/w photos & illustrations.
This issue of the British men's magazine includes an uncredited two-page article on Aleister Crowley, illustrated with four b/w photos.
Warning - definitely an "Adult" publication, with explicit material. From the collection of English Aleister Crowley scholar and bibliophile Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. Wrappers very slightly rubbed, otherwise a clean VG+ copy. (42114) SOLD
Anon, "Rogues, Rakes & Debauchers, Part 2: The Great Beast" - an article in Knave [Magazine], Vol.25, No.8, 1993. Witham, Essex: Galaxy Publications, 1993. First edition. Softcover. Quarto Magazine. 114pp. Color & b/w photos & illustrations.
This issue of the British men's magazine includes an uncredited four-page article on Aleister Crowley, illustrated with two b/w photos and a full-page color illustration (also uncredited).
From the collection of English Aleister Crowley scholar and bibliophile Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. Warning - definitely an "Adult" publication, with explicit material. A clean VG+ copy. (42112) SOLD
Adam Martin, "Hellzapoppin" - an article in Men Only [Magazine], Vol. 43, No.11, 1978. London: Paul Raymond, 1978. First edition. Softcover. Quarto Magazine. 130pp. Color & b/w photos & illustrations.
This issue of the British men's magazine includes a four-page article on the historical connections between sex and magic, with several paragraphs referring to Aleister Crowley; the (almost) two-page opening spread features a design by Geoff Halpin depicting a photo of Crowley's face above an altar arranged with a chicken's head, bloody dagger, two Thoth tarot cards and an open book of erotic photos. This issue also contains an (unrelated) five-page interview with George Harrison.
Warning - definitely an "Adult" publication, with explicit material. From the collection of English Aleister Crowley scholar and bibliophile Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. Wrappers very slightly rubbed, otherwise a clean VG+ copy. (42113) SOLD
Tony Slinn, "Cafe of the Kings" - an article in Mayfair [Magazine], Vol.12, No.1, January 1977. London: Fisk Publishing, 1977. First edition. Softcover. Quarto Magazine. 130pp. B/w & color photos & illustrations.
This issue of this "Playboy" like British men's magazine includes a six-page article on the history of the Cafe Royal in London; one paragraph relates Aleister Crowley's involvement with the establishment. The article also mentions famous habitues of the restaurant such as Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas.
From the collection of English Aleister Crowley scholar and bibliophile Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. A clean VG+ copy. (42110) SOLD
Peter Soke, "High Priest of Evil" - an article in Escort [Magazine]March Issue [undated, c. late 1960s]. London: City Magazines, ND [c. late 1960s]. First edition. Softcover. Quarto Magazine. 70pp. B/w & color photos & illustrations.
This issue of the British men's magazine includes a three-page article on Aleister Crowley by Peter Sokes, illustrated with b/w photographs.
From the collection of English Aleister Crowley scholar and bibliophile Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. Wrappers a little rubbed, tiny tear at bottom of spine, else a clean VG+ copy. (42109) SOLD
Brian Ward, "Did the Devil Taker Her?" - an article in Mayfair [Magazine], Vol.8, No.1, [1973]. London: Fisk Publishing, [1973]. First edition. Softcover. Quarto Magazine. 98pp. B/w & color photos & illustrations.
This issue of the "Playboy" style British men's magazine includes a six-page article (printed over non-consecutive pages) by Brian Ward, exploring the historical attraction of witchcraft to young women, especially concerning its erotic aspects; there are several passing references to Aleister Crowley, though Gerald Gardner features more strongly in the article.
From the collection of English Aleister Crowley scholar and bibliophile Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper. Minor chafing to edges of wrappers, tiny top-edge tear to back cover, else a solid, internally-clean VG copy. (42111) SOLD
Due to the large number of listings for works of fiction which feature a Crowley-based character, we have placed them
on a separate page which can be accessed via the link below:
Click Here to View Works of Fiction with a Crowley-based Character
___________________________
About This Catalog & How To Purchase From It.
This is Weiser's eighty-sixth year of business as specialist sellers of esoteric books. For many decades the company issued printed catalogs, however, the
high costs involved and the advent of the internet brought an end to these, and for some years we only listed our books on various internet book-sites and
directly on to our own website. In January 2006 we began issuing a new series of on-line catalogues, of which this is the one hundred and first. Whilst we will
continue to add stock weekly to the 10,000 books currently listed on our website, http://www.weiserantiquarian.com we will also issue regular on-line catalogs like this on various of our
specialist subjects.
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 will 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. The items
in this catalog will not be advertised on other bookselling sites
until at least several days after the emails advertising the catalog have been sent out and it has been posted on-line. If you would like to be notified by email when
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Please keep in mind that in most cases we only have one copy of the book listed available for sale, and that it is
therefore advisable to order promptly if you wish to secure it.
The books can be ordered either through our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com
by telephone, mail, or email. If you wish to order through our website, simply go to the homepage and locate the book or books using the author and title, and use the 'shopping cart' and secure check out facilities. When ordering a book by telephone, mail, or email please tell us the author, title, and, most importantly, the 'unique book number' (that is the number in brackets next to the price) of the book or books you wish to purchase. Postage and insurance, where applicable,
will be charged to the purchaser at cost.
We will advise promptly whether the book or books you ordered are still available, and the postage options.
Customers from within the United States may pay by Credit Card (Visa, Mastercard, or Amex), money order, or check
(or in-person by cash). Overseas customers can pay by Credit Card, or by International Money Order or Bank Draft
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Please contact us if you have any queries. Our email for enquiries or orders is:
books@weiserantiquarian.com
or you can telephone us on: 207 NoSkype363 7253
If calling from overseas please dial your international access code, followed by the country code for the US (1) and
then 207 NoSkype363 7253.
As our business is 95% internet / phone / and mail-order we do not keep regular 'shop hours.' However, we are
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Our Previous Catalogs
Copies of our previous catalogs are now accessible on-line at our Catalog Archive Page:
http://www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogarchivepage
Please note that these are 'old,' out-of-date catalogs and are primarily stored for interest’s sake only. Most of the books listed in them have already sold.
Those that are still available will be listed on our main website: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com or you can inquire direct by
email.
Weiser Antiquarian Books
P.O. Box 2050
York Beach, ME, 03910-2050
USA.
COPYRIGHT: The Text and Images on this page are © Weiser Antiquarian Books, 2012.
No reproduction without permission please.