Aleister Crowley.  A Miscellany of Books and Manuscripts.

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Weiser Antiquarian Books are pleased to announce the issue of our eighteenth on-line catalog.  Once again the subject is Aleister Crowley, and we are pleased to be able to offer a selection of rare and unusual items, drawn from a number of private collections.

The first section of the catalog is devoted to 'Rare Manuscript & Typescript Items,' and contains a number of quite exceptional items, including two scarce examples of erotica. Crowley's excursions into the subject are of course well known, and range from his spectacularly obscene poem 'Leah Sublime,' to books such as Snowdrops from a Curate's Garden, White Stains, and the Bagh-I-Muattar. Manuscript examples of Crowley's erotica are extremely scarce, with some of the material presumably destroyed alongside his printed books in customs seizures, and other of it disposed of by unappreciative individuals into whose hands it fell.  We have two items from the genre in this catalog: the first being an extremely crude paen to one of his 'tarts,' written along with his daily appointments in a manuscript notebook from 1938. The second is the manuscript of what at first glance appears to be a conventional love poem, but can actually be read as a sustained erotic double entendre, the point being driven home by a lewd doodle which Crowley has drawn at the bottom of the page..

Another item in this section displays a very different preoccupation of Crowley's: his love of chess. It is a hefty scrapbook or album that contains a large number of newspaper clippings of chess games, letters [not by Crowley] addressed to chess clubs, and manuscript records of games that Crowley had played. More conventional - though also extremely unusual - is an original typescript of 'The Secret Conference,' which was a short essay on the "mysterious Brotherhood" of occult initiates, the advent of The Book of the Law, and Crowley's position as prophet. It was written pseudonymously by Crowley in 1925 in Tunisia, and was probably intended for publication as part of his 'World Teacher' campaign. Another interesting manuscript item is the original typescript of an O.T.O. First Degree Ritual, circa 1945, used in Agape Lodge of the O.T.O.

The second section of the catalog comprises a typescript, note, and several letters, sent by Crowley to his friend and student Edward Bryant. The typescript, mentioned by Crowley in his diaries as his 'literature Century of Questions,' comprises one hundred questions on the subject of classical literature, which Crowley composed entirely from memory. It is a stunning testament not only to his erudition, but also to his memory. Another small typescript / manuscript collection - this time concerning Crowley's association with thespian John B. Jameson, forms the body of the third section of the catalog. The Jameson typescript is a detailed and very curious account by Crowley of his relationship with this friend and one time-business partner in the Amrita venture, whilst the manuscript is an original natal chart of Jameson drawn up by Crowley.

Another natal chart, this time drawn up not by Crowley, but by former follower and Head of Agape Lodge, Jack Parsons, is the sole item in section four. It is without doubt one of the most remarkable of the many rarities we have had of late, being the hand-drawn chart which Parsons drew tracing the nativity of Marjorie Cameron, the woman whom he believed came into his life as a consequence of a magical working he had undertaken aimed at bringing forth a 'scarlet woman', who would act as his magical partner. Parson's desire to bring forth a 'Moonchild', and Crowley's acid comments on the subject are almost legendary, and this document is a direct link with that dubious endeavour.

Section Five of the catalog contains a selection of printed books and ephemera by Crowley, including first editions of, The Banned Lecture, Clouds Without Water, The [Collected] Works of Aleister Crowley, The Scientific Solution to the Problem of Government, The Sword of Song, and The Winged Beetle. Of particular interest is a First Edition of the first volume of Crowley's Thelema (popularly known as The Holy Books), which originally belonged to Olivia Haddon, a friend of Victor Neuburg's, who joined the A.'. A.'. in 1912, as a Probationer under his guidance.

The penultimate section contains a small selection of works edited and compiled by Marcelo Ramos Motta, whilst the final section comprises a group of works from the Crowley section of a private library of considerable breadth that was put together by a European-born occultist who lived in the United States from the early 1960s onwards.

Our next catalog, Number 19, will contain a selection of works by authors Israel Regardie & Dion Fortune. It should be out late in June or early in July, 2007. Future catalogs will be devoted to Austin Osman Spare, Spiritualism, Mythology, Theosophy, Magic, Grimoires, and other of our specialties, and there will of course be more of our specialist lists on Aleister 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 11,000 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.

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