Aleister Crowley Rarities.
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www.weiserantiquarian.com/catalogthirtyfive
Weiser Antiquarian Books is pleased to announce the release of the
thirty-fifth of our on-line catalogs: which is another of our special lists on
rare books, typescripts, and ephemera relating to Aleister Crowley. For the most
part the material on offer has come from one collection, and a number of the
items have previously passed through the hands of Weiser Antiquarian, thus
affording our customers an unusual 'second chance' to acquire items that they
missed out on when we first offered them for sale.
The catalog starts with an important bound typescript of Crowley's
Commentary on Liber AL Vel Legis, undated, but almost certainly from the 1930s.
It was subsequently acquired by 'Frater Zopiron' (Gabriel Montenegro Vargas:
1907-1969), IX degree, O.T.O., who was the last initiate of the Agape Lodge of
the O.T.O. in California. Zopiron added his Thelemically-inspired bookplate to
it, and especially commissioned its handsome black cloth binding.
The second section of the catalog comprises a selection of rare, scarce and
unusual books and ephemera by Crowley. Amongst the stand-out items are a signed
and inscribed copy of the First separate UK edition of The Book Of The Law,
London (1938). Despite it's importance in his life Crowley was extremely
reticent about signing copies of the work, and inscribed copies as this are
truly rare. A related work is Crowley's The Equinox of the Gods (1936), which
was The Beast's first real attempt to do justice to The Book of the Law, and the
injunctions it contained about its publication. The copy cataloged is a
magnificent example of the First Printing of the First Edition, probably the
finest copy we have seen. Another significant work is a First Edition of The
Sword of Song (1904), the first book in which Crowley publicly identified
himself as 'The Beast,' and a work described by Richard Kaczynski as 'Crowley's
first great talismanic book.' Other First Editions in the section include The
Banned Lecture , The Book of Lies , Eight Lectures on Yoga , The Heart Of The
Master, Magick Without Tears, and more.
The third section of the catalog comprises a small collection of material
sent by Crowley and his associates to one Walter R. Hixenbaugh of Chicago.
Hixenbaugh apparently contacted Crowley, then in Tunisia, in early 1926 with an
enquiry about purchasing some of his books. Perhaps scenting money, Crowley
responded fulsomely, sending him information about his then-current 'World
Teacher' campaign, an original typescript of The Secret Conference, a short
essay on the "mysterious Brotherhood" of occult initiates, the advent of The
Book of the Law, and Crowley's position as prophet. In addition to the
typescript the collection comprises several incomplete letters from Crowley to
Hixenbaugh, as well as typed, signed letters from Crowley's American-based
followers Karl Germer and Max Schneider.
The penultimate section is made up of First and Early editions of "Works
Recommended for Study by Aleister Crowley." It includes First Editions of
William Stirling's qabalistic treatise, The Canon (1897), and Ida Craddock's
posthumously published autobiographical work on sexual occultism Heavenly
Bridegrooms, (1918), a book about which Crowley declared: "No Magick library is
complete without it." Another book that was highly influential in the
development of sex-magick practices and that was recommended to his pupils in
the A.'. A.'. by Crowley as "Invaluable to all students," was Richard Payne
Knight's A Discourse on the Worship of Priapus, here represented by an
attractive Privately Printed edition from 1865. The section concludes with a
rare First English Edition of the classic mystical work by Michael De Molinos,
The Spiritual Guide (1688). Crowley held this work by the chief apostle of the
religious revival known as Quietism in such high esteem that he listed de
Molinos as one of the 'Saints' of the O.T.O. Gnostic Mass, and recommended the
'serious study' of The Spiritual Guide as 'a simple manual of Christian
Mysticism.'
The catalog ends with a small collection of letters from Aleister Crowley
to W. Dawson Sadler, and one from Crowley to Frieda Harris. Sadler was a
conventional Freemason, with esoteric leanings, with whom Crowley was in regular
contact from 1944 though 1946. He initially contacted Crowley about purchasing
copies of The Book of Thoth, and an acquaintance developed. Crowley clearly
regarded him as a potential candidate for membership in the O.T.O., and put
considerable effort into answering his questions, etc., in their correspondence.
Although not certain, it seems likely that Crowley initiated him into the Order
during one of their meetings. A number of the letters are accompanied by their
original envelopes, each resplendent with a large blob of wax, stamped with the
impression of the cartouche of Ankh-f-n-khonsu from Crowley's personal seal
ring.
As always we have a number of other catalogs in preparation. Sometime in
the next few weeks we plan to issue a list on the Elizabethan Magus John Dee
that will be followed by another on Rosicrucianism. Shortly after that we plan
to issue a special list on Magick and then another of our special Aleister
Crowley catalogs. Our Occult Review catalog is also slowly nearing completion,
although we're not quite sure when that will finally see the light of day.
Future catalogs will be devoted to Alchemy & Hermetica, Astrology,
Mythology, Spiritualism (Part III) , Theosophy, Grimoires, and other of our
specialties. Of course we will also continue to regularly issue our Aleister
Crowley catalogs.
The books in these catalogs represent just a minute fraction of our overall
holdings. We currently list nearly 10,000 other mostly esoteric-related titles
on our main website:
www.weiserantiquarian.com with new
stock added weekly.
Again, if you wish to view the books in this current catalog simply click
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