Forth, Beast!
London: Faber and Faber, 1946. First Edition. Hardcover. Small Octavo. 200pp. Original blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine. The author, Louis Umfreville Wilkinson (1881-1966), was an English literary figure who wrote a number of satirical autobiographical and fictional works, mostly under the pseudonym "Louis Marlow." Wilkinson was a good friend of Aleister Crowley's, who made him one of his executors, and it was Wilkinson who caused some uproar amongst the more excitable members of the press by reading from Crowley's "Hymn to Pan" and other of his works at the Beast's funeral. Wilkinson published "Forth Beast!" - a work which is arguably autobiography and opinion thinly veiled as fiction - in the year before Crowley died. Although the title is from a Chaucer poem, and not - it seems - a direct reference to Crowley, the book contains a Crowley-based character and nearly twenty references to Crowley by name, including a number of quotes from him. Crowley was obviously delighted with the book, as he acquired a considerable number of copies - perhaps a gift from Marlow / Wilkinson - which he then gave away. From the collection of Clive Harper with his discrete book-label neatly tipped in at the rear. Harper is well-known as the bibliographer of Austin Osman Spare, for updating the Aleister Crowley bibliography in the 2011 Teitan Press collection of Gerald Yorke's writings, and as someone who has lent his expertise to numerous other publications. The label can easily be removed without affecting the page, although it would be a shame not to preserve this record of the book's provenance. Being published just after the end of the Second World War, when paper rationing in Britain was still very severe, the dust jacket with which the book was issued was made of very poor quality, thin, brittle paper, which quickly fell apart, and thus most copies, like this, are without the dust jacket. A hint of bruising and rubbing to the points, but overall a bright, clean VG+ copy - and unusual thus (lacks dust jacket). Item #65137
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