Ambergris. A Selection From the Poems of Aleister Crowley.
London: Elkin Mathews, 1910. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. xiii + 98pp (+ 2pp. adverts). Original composite boards with titling in gilt. Fore- & bottom-edges untrimmed. Gilt title etc. to spine and cover. Frontis Portrait-photograph. Now housed in a custom-made portfolio with brown cloth boards, black buckram spine, gilt-stamped leather title-label. "Ambergris" contains a selection of Crowley's early published poetry, made by himself and a group of friends. Writing in the Preface, Crowley declared that "In response to a widely-spread lack of interest in my writings, I have consented to publish a small and unrepresentative selection from the same. ..... This volume .... is therefore now submitted to the British Public with the fullest confidence that it will be received with exactly the same amount of acclamation as that to which I have become accustomed." Crowley was correct, and the book was widely ignored in literary circles. Porfolio Fine. Spine quite rubbed and missing an eighth of an inch sliver from the tail and with a few short, closed tears, corner's bruised and rubbed, some discoloration to boards, edges dusty, light browning to endpapers. Still a tight, clean near-VG copy of a book which is often encountered in much worse shape. (no dustjacket, none issued). Item #25674
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