Aleister Crowley: The Man: The Mage: The Poet.
London: The Richards Press, 1951. First edition. Hardcover. Octavo. xvi + 232pp. Maroon cloth with gilt title, etc. to front cover, b&w frontisportrait of Crowley, b&w illustrations, bibliography, index. An ASSOCIATION COPY - SIGNED and INSCRIBED by Charles Richard Cammell to a fellow friend of Aleister Crowley's, Louis Umfreville Wilkinson. Additionally signed SIGNED and INSCRIBED by the publisher, Martin Secker. More recently from the library of Oliver Marlow Wilkinson (1915-1999) dramatist, author, and educator. The book itself is a very under-rated biographical memoir of Crowley. It was largely overlooked at the time of publication as its release happened to be almost simultaneous with that of John Symonds' far more sensationalist - and thus attention grabbing - biogrpahy "The Great Beast." The author, Charles Richard Cammell, was a friend, but never a follower, of Crowley's, and this memoir is a more personal reflection on the man than is usually found. As Cammell wrote: "I saw A.C. frequently. I came to know him well: better mentally, I believe, than many who knew him longer and, in a sense, more intimately." Includes Edward Noel FitzGerald's short bibliography of works by Crowley. Cammell's inscription, on the front free endpaper, reads: "To / Louis Wilkinson / With compliments / from the Author / [Signed C. R. Cammell]. Beneath this the book's publisher, Martin Seckler, has written "and the publisher / [Signed] Martin Secker / December 3, 1951." The recipient Louis Umfreville Wilkinson (1881-1966) was an English man-of-letters who wrote a number of satirical autobiographical and fictional works, mostly under the pseudonym "Louis Marlow." He was a good friend of Crowley's, the two had an extensive correspondence, and Crowley respected Louis Wilkinson's literary skills to the extent that he engaged him to prepare a popular edition of Crowley's commentaries on "Liber AL." Crowley also made Louis Wilkinson one of his executors, and it was Wilkinson who caused some uproar amongst the more excitable members of the press and public by reading from Crowley's "Hymn to Pan" and other of his works at the Beast's funeral. Several of his works included mentions of Crowley, most notably his collection "Seven Friends", a collection of biographical essays, one of which was devoted to Crowley (it was indeed the publisher of this work - Martin Secker / The Richards Press - who took "Seven Friends" to press, two years later, in 1953. Louis's son, Oliver Marlow Wilkinson was also well acquainted with Crowley, indeed he was the one that found Crowley the rooms at Netherwood that became his final home. On Louis Wilkinson's death Oliver inherited many of the Crowley books and papers that had belonged to father, including many signed and inscribed items, and this inscribed copy of Cammell's book on "the Beast." In the 1980s Oliver refreshed his interest in Crowley, meeting with a number of contemporary Crowley afficiandos including Hymenaeus Beta, Clive Harper, Tony Naylor, Keith Richmond, Martin P. Starr, et al. At Tony Naylor's urging he also wrote an Introduction to a new edition of his father's book "Seven Friends" which Naylor published under his Mandrake Press Ltd. imprint in 1992. Oliver Marlow died in 1999, and in 2021 Weiser Antiquarian books acquired the remains of Oliver's Crowley collection, which comprised some of the books and pieces of ephemera that had belonged to his father, as well as books, such as this, that he himself had bought or was given in the 1980s and 1990s. A small posthumous book-label, tipped in at the rear, identifies it as having come from his collection. The book is somewhat leaned and unfortunately the boards have obvious water damage: the cloth has lost most of its colour and has a somewhat soft feel where the sizing has gone, and there is a match head sized hole in the cloth of the front hinge. Oddly the spine is unmarked, save for a little rubbing, and the internals are tight and clean, save for some browning to the endpapers and edges. A thumbnail sized chip from the blank bottom margin of the half-title page. Fortunately the damp staining to the covers is effectively hidden by the dust jacket: which is original, although possibly a replacement. The spine and edges of the jacket are darkened and there is some chipping at the head of the spine, and the rear fold, but it is basically intact and quite presentable in G+ condition. Now protected by a removable mylar sleeve. Externally a somewhat distressed copy, but with an important association, having been given by Crowley's friend the author, Charles Richard Cammell, to another close friend, Louis Wilkinson. Item #69736
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