The Mother's Tragedy.
NP [ London ]: Privately Printed, 1901. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. xii + 112pp . Original quarter cloth - white backstrip with blue-grey papered boards. Paper title label on spine. Crowley wrote that the love lyrics in this collection: "treat love not as an object in itself, but on the contrary, as a dragon ready to devour any one less than St. George." Contents: Prologue: Sin: An Ode; The Mother’s Tragedy; The Fatal Force; The Summit of the Amorous Mountain; The Mother at the Sabbath; The Bridegroom; The Course of True Love; Madonna of the Golden Eyes; Conventional Wickedness; Mora Janua Amoris; Sidonia the Sorceress; The Whore in Heaven; The Lesbian Hell; The Reaper; The Lord’s Day; The Growth of God; Love’s Wisdom; The Pessimist’s Progress; Nephthys; Against the Tide; Styx; Epilogue; A Death in Thessaly. This First edition was reportedly published in an edition of 500 copies in 1901, but it seems highly likely that only a small number of copies were actually bound up, and that the rest of the sheets were used as the basis for the later 'new edition' which Crowley released under his S.P.R.T. - Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth - imprint (the name being a none-too-subtle jest at the expense of the well known Christian publishing house the S.P.C.K. - Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge). Thus this edition is quite scarce. 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. Linen spine a little discoloured and darkened as always, paper title-label darkened but complete (unusually so). Boards and spine rather darkened and discoloured, particularly towards the edges. Paper covering the boards rubbed, more so at bottom corners, boards showing through at points. Spine label darkened and a little rubbed, but 99% complete. End papers a little browned, a hint foxing here and there. Small pencil note on title-page (could be erased in seconds). Overall a solid, better-than VG copy of a scarce edition. Item #67521
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