Konx Om Pax. Essays in Light.
London: Walter Scott Publishing / Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1907. First Edition. Hardcover, Octavo. (8" x 6 3/4"), xii [+ ii] + 108pp [+ 12 pp adverts]. Frontispiece portrait. First edition, second issue. Original white buckram, with intricate highly stylized title design of book's title stamped in gilt to upper board. A magnificent piece of book design. The first edition of "Konx om Pax" was supposed to have been limited to 500 numbered and signed copies, although the majority of copies seen are neither signed nor numbered. This copy is numbered 121 and SIGNED TWICE by Crowley simply as "Aleister" - one on the limitation page, and once under the portrait. Approximately half the print run of "Konx om Pax" was bound in black buckram with white printing (symbolising light out of darkness), with the other half bound in gilt stamped white buckram, as is this copy. The white buckram edition is commonly regarded as the second issue. The book itself is a collection of poetry, plays and essays and was clearly one of Crowley's own favorite works. He wrote glowingly of it in his '"Confessions", in particular describing the final essay "The Stone of the Philosophers" as being "really beyond praise." The buckram and the gilt of the front cover are bright and fresh, the spine is somewhat darkened and dulled, and there are some discolored patches on the buckram of the rear panel, which is also starting to bubble a little. Endpapers lightly toned, as always there is a "ghost" of the frontis-portrait offset onto the title page, despite the presence of the (somewhat foxed) tissue guard. Otherwise the internals are bright and fresh. Were it not for the marks to the rear cover this would rate as unusually good copy - it is otherwise VG+. The double signature makes it genuinely rare. Item #64742
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