Item #66795 The Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius. APULEIUS., William Adlington., E. B. Osborn., Jean de Bosschere.
The Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius.
The Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius.
The Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius.

The Golden Asse of Lucius Apuleius.

London: John Lane / Bodley Head Ltd, 1923. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Tall octavo. xxxvi + 284pp, ivpp adverts. Brick cloth brightly lettered & decorated in gilt on spine and upper board, bibliography, top edge gilt. Colour frontis and plates with tissue guards and b&w illustrations. Edition limited to 3,000 hand numbered copies, this being copy No. 332. A beautifully produced and attractively illustrated edition of the comedy "The Golden Ass," the best known work of the Roman author Lucius Apuleius (circa 123 - 180 CE). "The Golden Ass" is a bawdy, humorous tale of a young man whose passion for magic, and overzealous foolishness, result in his inadvertently being transformed into an ass (donkey). The work was somewhat notorious on account of its sexual references, and its passing mentions of "golden showers" and "threesomes" (for example) gave early translators a headache. The book was a favourite of Aleister Crowley's, who went so far as to include it in the list of recommended reading for his students in the A.'. A.'. explaining that it is "Valuable for those who have wit to understand it." Curiously there is another Crowley connection with this edition in that the superb art deco illustrations in it are by the renowned decadent artist Jean de Bosschère, who also provided the illustrations for the 1928 Edward Titus edition of Crowley's translation of Baudelaire's "Little Poems in Prose." A bit of light overall shelfwear, spine somewhat darkened with bruising and light rubbing at ends, pages lightly toned. Overall a tight, clean VG+ copy (no dust jacket). A lovely edition. Item #66795

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