Item #69195 The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III). Aleister CROWLEY.
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).
The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).

The Equinox of the Gods (being The Equinox Vol. III, No. III).

London: The O.T.O., 1937. First Edition - Second Issue. Hardcover, Quarto, vi + 138pp (+ 65 single-sided quarto sheets in a printed folder contained in a pocket at the rear of the volume ). Original white buckram, heavily stamped in gilt with title and sigils on upper board and spine. Text block printed on "Japanese Vellum," with color reproductions of the obverse and reverse of the "Stele of Revealing." "The Equinox of the Gods" was Crowley's first real attempt to do justice to "The Book of the Law." A magnificent example of book production, buckram bound and printed on quality paper. It includes the text of Liber AL, essays on its history and meaning, color reproductions and translations of the "Stele of Revealing" (which thanks to a rather apt typo is misnamed the "Stele of Revelling") and - for the first time - a full size facsimile of the original manuscript of the book, contained in a printed folder housed in a specially designed "wallet" or pocket at the rear of the book. Aleister Crowley released "The Equinox of the Gods" late in 1936, after an intensive letter writing campaign aimed at drumming up subscribers. His efforts evidently paid off as he was able to order a second printing in 1937. Clearly the printers had not distributed the type, as the second printing is identical to the first, even the year on the title page is unchanged and the typographical errors uncorrected. In fact the only obvious difference is that there is a label pasted over the imprint on the title page changing the publication date and the address of the O.T.O., and an expanded errata of 17 items, adding an extra 7 to those that had been spotted at the time the first issue went to press. It was this second issue that Crowley used in his attempts to push "The Book of the Law" into the public arena, and which was therefore the focal point of the now famous ceremony, in which he presented copies of it to "representatives of all races of the world" at dawn of December 23, 1937, at Cleopatra's Needle, following a night of drunken excess. Clearly a used copy. It has been professionally rebacked, with the original backstrip laid down (original cloth has a couple of small chips at head and tail of spine). Boards darkened and lightly marked, bruised corners, with some light fraying. Someone has done a reasonably good COPY of Aleister Crowley's signature on the front free-endpaper. Sadly we are sure it is not authentic. The words "Nov. 3 1985 / Minerval Ritual" and a previous owner's name on the neatly printed in ink on the copyright page. One or two small ink spots to pages, otherwise the text is clean. The copy of the manuscript of "The Book of the Law" at the rear is in VG+ condition, although the printed folder that houses it is darkened and has some significant chips to the fore-edge (quite common as the edges of the folder protude beyond the "wallet" bound in at the rear of the book in which it is kept). Rebacked, and with imitation signature, as noted, still VG+ of an important Thelemic work, increasingly uncommon in any edition. Item #69195

Price: $2,450.00

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