Aleister Crowley.  Holy Books & Holy Days.

may now be viewed at:

www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalog

(To view the catalog simply click on the link above.  If the link does not work direct from your email, please cut and paste it into your web browser.)

Weiser Antiquarian Books are pleased to announce the issue of our sixteenth on-line catalog.  Perhaps appropriately - given the forthcoming Thelemic Holidays (The 'Feast for the Three Days of the Writing of The Book of the Law' that is observed on April 8, 9 and 10), the catalog is again devoted to works by and about Aleister Crowley. Once again we count ourselves lucky to be able to offer some truly rare and unusual items, from a number of different private collections.

Five items in particular stand out. Three of these are books, one being a First Edition of the first volume of Crowley's THELEMA (also known as The Holy Books), the second an inscribed copy of Crowley's Little Essays Toward Truth that was formerly in the collection of the well known film-maker Kenneth Anger and carries his bookplate, and the third Crowley's own heavily annotated copy of his friend J. W. N. Sullivan's book, The Bases of Modern Science, a work which Crowley held in such high regard that he quoted it extensively in his Eight Lectures on Yoga. The other two items are manuscripts, one being an original pocket notebook, carried by Crowley in the late 1930s, and the other the original two-page manuscript of the Chorus to the Gnostic Catholic Mass. Each of these pieces is an amazing artifact with its own unique history, further details of which are given in their respective listings. The five are grouped together in the first section of the catalog.

The second section of the catalog lists three works by Crowley, with original lithographs after sketches by Auguste Rodin. All three books are limited editions, but are in fact far scarcer than their limitations suggest. In at least one case - that of Rodin in Rime - many copies were lost or damaged in a warehouse flood, although it seems likely that many others fell victim to 'breakers' who destroyed them to remove and sell separately the Rodin lithographs. The third section of the catalog presents a number of rare Crowley manuscript items, including several manuscript poems and hand-drawn astrological charts, with Crowley's annotations.

The fourth section is devoted to books by Crowley, and includes some rare and early editions such as a clean set of the First Edition of Crowley's Confessions, and copies of The Heart Of The Master, An Open Letter to Lord Beaverbrook, Carmen Saeculare. and. Pansophia. Wege Zum Sanktuarium, the latter a rare German-language collection of Crowley's works published in 1925 by Heinrich Tränker and Karl Germer. The fifth and final section of the catalog is made up of books about Aleister Crowley. Included are several volumes from the collection of Victor Neuburg's biographer, Jean Overton Fuller, with her bookplate, some unusual works by Crowley associate W. B. Crow, and a scarce, contemporary (1916) Rosicrucian work by R. Swinburne Clymer, with a scathing attack on Crowley.

At this juncture it is perhaps well to remind readers that not all our books are as rarified as those in this catalog.  At present we are listing well over 300 Crowley-related books on our website, with prices starting at as little as $5-.  We also list over 12,000 other mostly esoteric-related titles on the same site: http://www.weiserantiquarian.com with new stock added weekly.  Remember though that the catalog books are not added to our website until a few days after the catalog is sent out - by which time many will have sold.

Please note that the business will be temporarily closed from April 14 - May 2, 2007. When we reopen we will be in the process of moving the shop: a mammoth task to put it mildly. Fortunately we are staying in the area, so all our contact details, email, telephone numbers, and Post Box address, will stay the same. If all goes well disruption to our activities will be minimal, and we will continue to issue catalogs and conduct our regular sales as per usual throughout the move.

You have received this email because you have been asked to be put on our our subscriber's list.   To be removed from this list please send us an email with 'unsubscribe' in the subject line.