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. Octavo. 16pp. Stapled booklet. Original pale-green printed wrappers with black lettering. 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 had a relatively large print-run of 1000 copies. Wrappers a little darkened and rubbed at edges, paper lightly browned, otherwise an unmarked VG + copy. Item #64365
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