CRADDOCK, Ida, Edited and with an Introduction by Theodore Schroeder, [ Aleister Crowley: related works ].

Heavenly Bridegrooms. An Unintentional Contribution to the Erotogenetic Interpretation of Religion. [with] Bibliography.

New York: Privately printed, 1918. First Edition Thus. Softcover. Octavo. 121 + (I) I - III (iv-vi - blank)pp. Original printed wrappers. The first edition in book form of this posthumously-published collection of erotic autobiographical material by Ida Craddock, that was originally appeared as a series of articles in the journal "Alienist and Neurologist," between 1915 and 1917. Craddock, 1857-1902, was a remarkable woman, a pioneering feminist and occultist who studied and wrote knowledgeably about sexual occultism in the late nineteenth century. She claimed to be married to an angel named "Soph," who furthered her initiation into the sexual-magical arts. This book, in which she described her relationship with her "heavenly bridegroom," was originally written in 1894 - although the author committed suicide whilst awaiting sentence on charges of circulating obscene literature in 1902, and never saw it go to print. Not long after its publication Crowley came upon the book and gave it a glowing review in 'The Blue Equinox' (1919): "This book …. is one of the most remarkable human documents ever produced … The authoress of the MS. claims that she was the wife of an angel. She expounds at the greatest length the philosophy connected with this thesis. Her learning is enormous. She finds traces of similar beliefs in every country in the world, and (having a similar experience of her own) she can hardly be blamed for arguing that one thing confirms the other. …. I am very far from agreeing with all that this most talented woman sets forth in her paper, but she certainly obtained initiated knowledge of extraordinary depth. She seems to have had access to certain most concealed sanctuaries. I should personally be inclined to attribute her suicide rather to the vengeance of the guardians of those palaces than to any more obvious cause. She has put down statements in plain English which are positively staggering. This book is of incalculable value to every student of occult matters. No Magick library is complete without it." Spine darkened, probably through a glue treatment many years ago, and with some chips and cracks at the folds and head and tail. Wrappers darkened (but no unpleasantly so) and with a few small chips and tears. Old tape reinforcement to the inside fore-edge margin of rear wrapper. The volume has obviously suffered damp exposure at some stage, as internally a pale brown tide mark frames the margins of most pages - though oddly it has not affected the covers. Small crease and tear to one leaf. Due to the tide mark it only rates as G+ but it is still a basically sound copy of a flimsy and extremely scarce edition. Item #58008

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