The Equinox. Vol. I, No. III ( Volume One, Number Three ); The Official Organ of the A.:.A.:.; The Review of Scientific Illuminism
London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd., March 1910. First Trade Edition. Hardcover. Small quarto. (9.5 x 7.38 inches). 332pp, (i), 76pp plus adverts. Original printed papered boards, with original fabric spine with paper title label. Various plates. Crowley was the editor and principal author of most of the volumes of The Equinox, which contained a variety of poetry, fiction, and reviews - generally with esoteric themes - alongside a number of articles of occult instruction. A copy of the historically important Vol. I, No. III of "The Equinox." Crowley had included the previously unpublished Outer Order rituals of the Golden Dawn in an installment of his magical autobiography, "The Temple of Solomon the King, Book II," in the preceding issue and at the same time declared his intention to publish further Golden Dawn rituals, including the pivotal "Ritual of the 5 = 6 Adeptus Minor" in the continuation of "The Temple of Solomon the King, Book II," in the Equinox Vol. I, No. III. Not surprisingly Crowley's erstwhile mentor in the Golden Dawn, S. L. MacGregor-Mathers, was outraged by this betrayal of trust, and obtained an order restraining Crowley from releasing the newly printed third number in anticipation of another legal action in which he hoped to halt publication permanently. The copies of the 'Edition de Luxe' had already been sent out when the order not to publish came through included an editorial in which - aside from normal business - Crowley made the outrageous claim that "the gang of soi-disant Rosicrucian swindlers whose profits have suffered through our exposures, having failed to frighten Mr. Aleister Crowley, decided to assassinate him," and went on to tell of a misdirected attack on one Aloysius Crowley, which he ascribed to them! When shortly afterwards Crowley had the order restraining publication dissolved by the Court of Appeal, he released this, the 'Standard' edition. Before doing this he rewrote the text of the Editorial so that it included a short paragraph about Mather's action and the consequent delay in the release of the issue. Interestingly he also revised the paragraph about the alleged assault on Aloysius Crowley, removing the reference to "soi-disant Rosicrucian swindlers," perhaps reasoning that the identity of those he accused would be obvious to all as a result of the recent court case, and that he would therefore be leaving himself open to accusations of libel unless he could justify his claims. The original editorial leaf was removed from the 'Standard Issue' and this new one tipped into its place. The volume also included the "Ritual of the 5 = 6 Adeptus Minor" and a substantial amount of other Golden Dawn material in the continuation of "The Temple of Solomon the King, Book II," as well as "Liber XIII", "AHA!", "The Herb Dangerous" (part III), "An Origin" by Victor Neuburg, "The Soul-Hunter", "Madelaine" by Arthur F. Grimble, "The Coming of Apollo" by Victor Neuburg, "The Brighton Mystery" by George Raffalovich, "The Shadowy Dill-waters" by A. Quiller, Jr. and the 76 page supplement "The Treasure House of Images." PLEASE NOTE THIS IS COPY LACKING the plate: "The Student", but all remaining plates are present and in very good condition. The thin fabric used for the spines of the First Trade Editions of "The Equinox" was notoriously fragile, and is often damaged or missing altogether. In this case the volume has its original cloth spine, with the original paper title label, although it is a bit darkened and fragile. The boards show a little light chipping at the corners and edges (as common) with some discolouration and marks. Pages are uniformly toned, but not brittle. Page edges a bit darkened and thumbed. Overall the volume is one of the more solid examples around, given the notoriously fragile nature of the series and would rate as VG+ were in not for the MISSING plate. Item #60264
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