THE WRAPPERS ONLY OF A TEST PRINTING of Aleister Crowley ... The Last Ritual. Read From His Own Works, According To His Wish, on December 5th, 1947, at Brighton.
NP [Brighton, England]: NP (Privately Printed), 1947. First Edition. Softcover. Large octavo (10 x 7 ½") The original pale green-grey printed wrappers ONLY of a test or proof printing of the first edition of "The Last Ritual." Woodcut designs on both the front and back of the wrappers by Frieda Harris, "artist executant" of the Thoth tarot deck.
These wrappers are identical to the published version except that they have never been stapled (no pin holes in the gutter) and they are without any contents. Presumably this Proof Copy of the wrappers was a test printing to make sure that they were satisfactory before actually going to press with the final version.
"The Last Ritual" was the Order of Service for Aleister Crowley's funeral, distributed to the small band of friends and well-wishers who gathered prior to his cremation. It included excerpts from Crowley's own works. Crowley's friend, English man-of-letters Louis Umfreville Wilkinson (1881-1966), famously read from the work at the Beast's funeral, with his booming rendition of Crowley's "Hymn to Pan" causing some uproar amongst the more excitable members of the press.
These wrappers have an interesting provenance, having been found, along with the original printing blocks and some other artefacts of the First Edition, in the attic of the company that original printed them. In October 1988 two members of a neo-pagan occult group, the Centre for Earth Mysteries Studies, called on a printer in Brecon, Wales, to arrange the printing of some literature pertaining to a visit to Egypt that the group was then planning. At the time of their visit the attic of the building was being refurbished, and the proprietor produced a box that he had found there and asked if they could explain the nature of its contents to him.
It turned out that the box housed the original printing blocks of "The Last Ritual," along with these wrappers, a proof copy, a first edition, and some original related material, all of which had been stowed away for safe-keeping some 41 years earlier. Perhaps needless to say the visitors gave an explanation and quickly acquired the material in question. There followed all manner of synchronicities associated with the rediscovery, and the group felt that they were duty bound to produce a new edition, which they did in April, 1989, under the Empress / Earth Mysteries Press imprint. These proof wrappers, along with some other material, and some copies of the new edition (see separate listings) were retained by Paul and Charla Devereux of Empress / Earth Mysteries Press until recently acquired from them by Weiser Antiquarian Books.
It is interesting that the wrappers are in pale green-grey, which was considered by some to be the first state binding, a speculation that would seem to be confirmed by their discovery (another issue had dark green wrappers)
PLEASE NOTE that what is offered here is a test-printing of the wrappers (covers) ONLY, without any of the contents. The wrappers show a little of creasing, and there are to small printer's ink marks to the front panel. Generally VG +. A rare - presumably unique - souvenir of the printing of his friends' final salute to "the Beast." Item #74734
Price: $300.00