Thanks to fama_fraternitatis…
Mr A. E. Richardson was a student of Aleister Crowley from about 1928 to sometime in the early 1930s; the memory of his son who inherited this collection, is a little vague on this point. He does remember Crowley visiting his parents house on a number of occasions ( I was shown some wonderful black and white photographs of A.C. in the house and gardens, that were sadly not for sale) and even recalls him helping with some Latin homework.
In a not untypical Crowley tale, as funds and perhaps enthusiasm from Mr Richardson dried up, he became less enamoured of his student and after being shown the door for the last time, he apparently informed the neighbours, via notes through the door, of Mrs Richardson’s apparent loose morals. An instructional chess book, signed by Crowley, was an unfortunate victim of this occasion, since it was destroyed by the Richardson’s son in revenge.
Some highlights of the collection include Crowley’s own inscribed and annoted copy of Konx Om Pax featuring some extensive notes regarding a restaurant venture in Paris; a rare copy of the first printing of Liber L vel Legis (Book of the Law), in Vol. III of the Holy Books; a fine copy of The Goetia; an inscribed first issue of Magick in Theory and Practice, in a contemporary leather binding; a collection of carbon copied Holy Books with a manuscript of Liber Aleph copied by Mr Richardson and copies of Little Essays Towards Truth and The Heart of the Master still in their original glassine wraps.
I thought other members might be interested in this Crowley collection I have for sale. Pictures of these books and other Crowley and Occult items can be viewed at: www.harringtonbooks.co.uk/crowley.html
Crowley’s Own Inscribed Library Copy
1. [CROWLEY, Aleister.] Amphora. London: Burns and Oates, 1908. [28650]
FIRST TRADE EDITION. Slim octavo (170 x 110mm) pp. iv, 80. Publisher’s pale blue cloth, gilt rule to edge of upper board with title and image of an amphora also in gilt within a smaller border. Title in gilt within another border to spine. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed with pale blue marbled endpapers. A little light soiling and rubbing to boards and edges, the spine has a blue ink mark to the top third. Foxing to rough edges and occasional spotting, though pages generally clean. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. INSCRIBED IN GREEN PENCIL TO FIRST BLANK: ‘Aleister Crowley | Library Copy | 14. XII. 8’. A rare book in the Crowley canon, since it was withdrawn by the publisher on the discovery of the identity of the anonymous author. The whole story is a classic piece of Crowley humour. A small edition appeared just before this: “privately printed for the Authoress and her Intimates”, and it was finally published under Crowley’s own name as Hail Mary in 1912. It consists of a series of poems in worship of the Virgin Mary, although they were originally written with the Divine Feminine in mind and with certain lesbian undertones. Burns and Oates, a Roman Catholic publisher, picked up on it and agreed to publish the supposedly reverential work. In the original version an epilogue (not however printed in this edition) contained one of Crowley’s famous obscene acrostics: the first and last letters of the verses spelt out a far from religious statement… The shorter prologue does appear however with the short and sweet “TWAT” appearing as the first letters of the second verse. When they finally discovered they had published “The Beast” and the “Wickedest Man in the World” the unsold sheets were returned to Crowley and any bound copies were withdrawn from sale. £1,750[SOLD]
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [pp. 28-29]; Yorke [28(b)]
2. [CROWLEY, Aleister; STURGES, Mary d’Este.] FRATER PERDURABO AND SOROR VIRAKAM. Book Four, Part One. London: Weiland and Co., n.d. [1912] [28661]
FIRST EDITION, second issue of with South Kensington address. Small square octavo (135 x 135mm). pp. x, 94, [2 order form] Publisher’s yellow paper flush boards over black cloth spine. Titles printed boldly in black to upper, white endpapers. Two photographic plates of Crowley. Near fine with only light soiling to the yellow boards, clean internally. A folded receipt from Foyles Bookshop is loosely inserted. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. £150
Yorke [62A]
3. [CROWLEY, Aleister; STURGES, Mary d’Este.] FRATER PERDURABO AND SOROR VIRAKAM. Book Four, Part Two. London: Weiland and Co., n.d.[1913] [29637]
FIRST EDITION. Small square octavo (135 x 135mm). pp. vii, [errata], 186. Publisher’s blue paper flush boards over black cloth spine, titled paper label to spine. Titles printed boldly in black to upper, white endpapers. Photographic plate of Crowley (the famous Magician portrait) and 9 further black and white plates. A little creasing and rubbing to the boards, but the paper spine label is free from damage or browning. Occasional spotting, but pages generally clean. A folded receipt from Foyles Bookshop is loosely inserted. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. A very good copy of the uncommon Part II – Crowley recalled only 500 being printed. £225
Yorke [62B]
4. VEREY, Rev. C. (CROWLEY, Aleister). Clouds Without Water. Edited From a Private M. S. by The Rev. C. Verey. London: Privately Printed for Circulation Among Ministers of Religion, 1909. [28660]
FIRST EDITION. Small octavo (160 x 125mm) pp. xxi, 139, [4] Original orange and white marbled card wraps, black titles to upper and spine. This copy printed on machine-made paper – there were some copies on handmade Van Gelder. Light rubbing to the head and foot of spine, otherwise an excellent copy of one of Crowley’s more fragile and uncommon items. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. Among the poems can be found acrostics to Lola (‘one of the most exquisitely beautiful young girls, by English standards, that ever breathed or blushed’) and, somewhat scandalous at the time, Kathleen Bruce, the sculptor and wife of Captain Scott. £750
Fine Collected Works
5. CROWLEY, Aleister. The Collected Works of Aleister Crowley. Foyers: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1905-1907. [29562]
FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. Octavo. Three volumes in one pp. 269; 282, [1 epilogue]; vii, 248. Original white limp buckram, titled in gilt to upper only. Printed on India paper, top edge gilt, others untrimmed. A little light soiling to boards, but essentially a fine copy of a delicate edition. Bookplate of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, to front pastedown. This Collected Works has the three volumes of the separately published Essay Competition edition (originally bound in camel hair wraps) bound together in one, without the portraits found in the vellum bound Traveller’s Edition. £675
Yorke [23]
A Near Fine Copy in Dust Jacket
6. CROWLEY, Aleister. Eight Lectures on Yoga by Mahatma Guru Sri Paramahansa Shivaji being The Equinox Volume III, Number Four. London: O.T.O., 1939. [28659]
FIRST EDITION. Large octavo (290 x 220mm) pp. 84, [erratum], [4 ads.] Publisher’s light brown buckram, gilt titles and A.A. sigil to upper. All edges untrimmed with white endpapers. Original white dust jacket, titled in brown and with photographic portrait of Crowley in yogic pose to upper. Photographic portrait as frontispiece and one black and white plate of the Tree of Life. Some spotting to top edge and a little rubbing to the edges of the dust jacket, but essentially a near fine copy and uncommon thus. Small Atlantis Bookshop label to bottom of front pastedown. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. A highly regarded set of lectures, considered by many to be some of the best Western writing on the subject up to that time. An excellent example of one of Crowley’s scarcer first editions. £1,250
Yorke [63c4]
7. CROWLEY, Aleister. The Equinox. The Official Organ of the A.’.A.’. The Official Organ of the O. T. O. The Review of Scientific Illuminism. The Method of Science; the Aim of Religion. Vol. III. No. I. [Blue Equinox] Detroit: The Universal Publishing Company, 1919. [28653]
FIRST EDITION. Quarto (250 x 190mm) pp. 307, 132 [10 ads.] Publisher’s blue cloth with red design and titles to upper and spine, white endpapers and edges untrimmed. Title printed in red and black, colour portrait frontispiece and 6 further plates one of which also in colour. Rubbing to extremities and tanning to spine; general fading to boards, red titles remain bright. Internally clean and fresh, with all text printed tissue guards present. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. An important publication, the “Blue Equinox” contains among other items: Hymn to Pan; a manifesto of the A.’.A.’. and reading list for prospective students; The Sevenfold Sacrament; The Book of the Heart Girt with the Serpent; The Gnostic Mass and the supplement is H. P. Blavatsky’s The Voice of Silence, with a commentary by Crowley. £450
Yorke [63C.1]
A Stunning Copy of The Goetia
8. CROWLEY, Aleister. [MACGREGOR MATHERS, S. L.] The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King. Translated into the English Tongue by a Dead Hand and Adorned with Divers other matters Germane Delightful to the Wise the Whole Edited, Verified, Introduced and Commented by Aleister Crowley. [Lesser Key of Solomon] Foyers: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1904. [29632]
FIRST EDITION. Slim quarto. pp. ix, 65. Original camel hair wraps, title and typographical design in red to upper, all edges untrimmed. Illustrated with three plates of talismans. 200 copies printed. A notoriously fragile production; but for a small chip to the head of the spine, a truly fine copy and rare thus. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. The ‘Dead Hand’ was actually MacGregor Mathers, who was very much alive in 1904, and in fact did most of the translating a few years earlier, following his similar work on the Greater Key of Solomon (1889). It is alleged Crowley took these papers from Mathers during the schism of the Golden Dawn in 1900, when he acted as his representative in London, and subsequently fell out with his mentor. The Lesser Key of Solomon is to some extant based on the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, the first printing of which appeared in Weyer’s De Praestigiis Daemonum (1577). £1,450
Yorke [55]
Near Fine Copy with Original Glassine
9. KHALED KHAN [CROWLEY, Aleister.] The Heart of the Master. London: Privately issued by the O. T. O., 1938. [29555]
FIRST EDITION. Small octavo pp. 40, [8 ads.] Publisher’s yellow buckram, title and A.’.A.’. seal stamped in dark purple to upper. A little light spotting to edges, but essentially a fine copy. The glassine wrapper is a little chipped and creased, with some loss to the rear lower corner. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. First published in German as part of the Pansophia journal and as a separate off print in 1925. Uncommon in this condition and truly rare with the (previously unrecorded) glassine wrapper. £975
Yorke [64]
10. KHALED KHAN [CROWLEY, Aleister.] Das Herz des Meisters. [Heart of the Master] Germany, [c.1925] [29656]
FIRST SEPARATE EDITION. Slim quarto pp. 28. Textured white card wraps, stapled. Title page printed in Egyptian decorative border. Foxing to wraps and browning to page edges; a very good copy. From the collection of A. E. Richardson,a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. A rare off-print from Volume VII No. 1 of the Pansophia periodical, published in Germany in the 1920s. This was probably published by Karl Germer, a member of the Pansophical Society which disbanded in 1927 and head of the O.T.O. after Crowley’s death in 1947. The English translation was not published until 1938. £95[SOLD]
Crowley’s Own Annoted Copy and Plans for a Restaurant in Paris
11. CROWLEY, Aleister. Konx Om Pax. Essays in Light. New York and Boleskine: Walter Scott Publishing Co. and S. P. R. T. 1907. [28658]
SIGNED LIMITED EDITION No. 93 of 500 copies on handmade paper. Octavo (195 x 160mm) pp. xii, 108, 12 ads. White buckram with elongated title in gold, designed by Crowley, to upper board, title printed in red and black, all edges untrimmed. Frontispiece photographic portrait by Aimé Dupont (1906). Rubbing to extremities, abrasion to the cloth of lower board and the general soiling that can be expected with a book bound in white cloth. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. CROWLEY’S OWN INSCRIBED COPY, WITH ANNOTATIONS AND A THREE PAGE PLAN FOR OPENING A RESTAURANT. As well as being numbered, most appropriately copy 93, and signed on the limitation page, there is an inscription to the front free endpaper: ‘The Beast 666 | Private Copy | reserved for the City of | Paris. | An XVII Sun in Pisces Moon in Pisces (in symbols – approximately 7th to the 9th of March, 1921)’ Crowley spent February and March in Paris that year, trying to recruit new disciples for his Abbey of Thelema at Cefalu in Sicily. As well as various annotations in the margins, mainly to the first Wake of the World section, there are a remarkable three pages of extensive notes to the rear endpapers, concerning a plan for an Aleister Crowley Restaurant. Some examples: ‘A. Situation. Obscure ill famed quarter, but not too inaccessible. Narrow dark alley’ ‘D. Furniture. No chairs or tables, but mattresses, armchairs, bolsters… dyed to appear dirty.’ ‘F. Merchandise. Featuring extraordinary concoctions by a.c. both food and drink (Crowley Mixed Grill: Crowley Cup) A. C.s books and pictures…’ ‘H. Attractions. (1) Myself…’ The title is a phrase traditionally used to close the Eleusinian Mysteries. It may have come from the Egyptian Khabs Am Pekht (light in extension or light rushing out in a single ray) probably in connection with an Isiac cult and used by members of the Golden Dawn. A collection of four essays on various occult themes, this was one of Crowley’s own favourite works. He wrote glowingly of it in his ‘Confessions’, in particular describing the final essay ‘The Stone of the Philosophers’ as being ‘really beyond praise’ and further described the volume as ‘the most remarkable book on the Mystic Path ever written’. £6,750
Yorke [56]
12. CROWLEY, Aleister. Liber CCCXXXIII The Book of Lies. Which is Also Falsely Called Breaks. The Wanderings or Falsifications of the One Thought of Frater Perdurabo Which Thought is itself Untrue. London: Wieland and Co., 1913. [28652]
FIRST EDITION. Small octavo (140 x 80mm) pp. [2], 7-130, [1] Publisher’s black buckram, gilt titles within Egyptian design to upper, gilt title to spine, white endpapers. Errata slip, between pages 60 and 61 as called for. Illustrated with two photogravure portraits, one of Crowley on an ass in the Himalayas and a fantastic ritualistic image of Leila Waddell. A little rubbing to extremities, gilt design still bright. Bookplate of A. E, Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, to front pastedown, otherwise clean internally, with a little browning to endpapers. A near fine copy of an undoubted highlight in the Crowley canon. In his own words: ‘This book deals with many matters on all planes of the very highest importance. It is an official publication for Babes of the Abyss, but is recommended even to beginners as highly suggestive.’ Full of in jokes, cryptic poetry and mystical musings, there is much to meditate upon and digest of a Kabbalistic and Thelemic nature among its pages. Also included at the end is a brilliantly self-deprecating list of his books to date, ‘The Excreta of Mr. Aleister Crowley’, filled with real and self penned critiques of his works. £975
Yorke [58]
Near Fine Copy in Dust Jacket with Original Glassine
13. CROWLEY, Aleister. Little Essays Toward Truth. London: Privately issued by the O. T. O., 1938. [29510]
FIRST EDITION. Small octavo in fours pp. 96, [2 addendum],[8 ads.] Publisher’s blue buckram, title and A.’.A.’. seal stamped in dark yellow to upper, in the original cream dust jacket with titles and an illustration of the Tree of Life printed in black, with the original glassine. Illustrated with a folding diagram of the Tree of Life. A little spotting to pages edges, otherwise a near fine copy in like dust jacket. The glassine wrapper is a little chipped and creased, but has survived remarkably well. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. Work on these insightful and inspirational essays began as early as 1925. The jacket image was drawn by Soror Tzaba (Lady Frieda Harris) after Crowley’s design. Uncommon in this condition and truly rare with the (previously unrecorded) glassine wrapper. £975
Yorke [65]
Inscribed First Issue in Custom Binding
14. CROWLEY, Aleister. Magick in Theory and Practice. [Book Four, Part Three] By the Master Therion (being part III of Book 4). Paris: Printed at the Lecram Press, 1929. [28654]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, IN UNUSUAL CUSTOM BINDING. Large octavo (280 x 190mm) pp. xxxi, 436. Original four volumes bound in one. Contemporary half red calf, flat spine with gilt rules and titles and red cloth boards. The original title and unicursal hexagram design, printed to the upper of each of the original four volumes (that were bound in orange wraps), is reproduced in black to the upper board. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. With original folded prospectus loosely inserted. One colour plate and tables and diagrams within the text. INSCRIBED BY CROWLEY IN GREEK LETTERS OPPOSITE TITLE PAGE: ‘To Mega Therion 666 | 9 = 2 A.A. | Logos Aionos Thelema 93.’ The prospectus is one sheet, folded and printed on all four sides. It gives a list of the proposed chapters and appendices, which differ from the final publication. The bookplate of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, on the front pastedown, also has in ink a date in symbols of Sun in Aries An. XXVI. (i.e. Spring Equinox in 1930 – or 26 years after the reception of the Book of the Law in 1904). This would make the binding contemporary with the time of publication. Occasional pencil notes and diagrams by Mr Richardson, mainly to the rituals at the end and to the listings on the prospectus, otherwise internally clean. Signed or inscribed copies of Crowley’s magnum opus are uncommon. £2,500
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [p.15];Yorke [62 C(a)]
Outstanding Dust Jacket
15. CROWLEY, Aleister. Moonchild. A Prologue. London: The Mandrake Press, 1929. [28651]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. pp. vii, 335. Publisher’s green cloth, gilt titles and double rules to spine, white endpapers. Original dust jacket printed in black, blue and yellow. Very slight wear to extremities and a little browning to endpapers, otherwise the book is a lovely near fine example. Bookplate of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, to front pastedown. He has also written in ink on the title page: ‘Liber LXXXI. The Butterfly Net’, which was the original title of the novel when first written during 1917. The colours on the fantastic Beresford Egan designed dust jacket are simply stunning.
Mr Richardson obviously bought the book at the time of publication, and seems to have immediately protected the jacket with coarse brown paper. Unfortunately, during the trimming of this paper he appears to have cut a thin slit to the upper part of the front flap and subsequently repaired it with a small label.. This does not detract too much from what is easily the best copy of Moonchild we have seen. £2,250
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [pp. 31-32]; Yorke [51]
16. CROWLEY, Aleister. 777. Vel Prolegomena Symbolica Ad Systemam Sceptico-Mysticae Viae Explicandae, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicum Sanctissimorum Scientiae Summae. London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., 1909. [28656]
FIRST EDITION. Limited to 500 copies. Slim octavo (220 x 140mm). pp. x, errata, 54. Publisher’s scarlet buckram over bevelled boards, 777 in gilt to upper, white endpapers, edges untrimmed. A little rubbing to extremities and light browning to endpapers, otherwise a near fine copy. Bookplate of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, to front pastedown. The perforated Equinox subscription form at rear is intact but lacking the loosely inserted additional errta slip with the Tree of Life diagram. Crowley’s extensive tables of magical correspondences, based on Allan Bennett’s notes from material gathered by Macgregor Mathers, and assisted by George Cecil Jones. £750
Yorke [57]
17. CROWLEY, Aleister. The Spirit of Solitude. An Autohagiography Subsequently re-Antichristened The Confessions of Aleister Crowley. London: The Mandrake Press, 1929. [29631]
FIRST EDITION. Two volumes, large octavos. pp. 284; 307 with errata slip at rear of vol. II. Publisher’s white buckram over bevelled boards, self-portrait and hand written titles in black to upper boards, gilt titles to spine. Top edges gilt, others trimmed. Printed on Japanese vellum. Frontispiece photographic portrait to each volume plus 23 plates, one astrological diagram, two maps and three small sketches of mountains within the text. Some soiling to boards as is often the case. Five leaves of volume I have staple holes in the margins, with two of the affected pages also having a few blue pencil lines. Whatever was originally stapled to the pages is no longer with the book. Apart from this the pages are clean in both volumes. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. A very good set of the only two volumes (of a proposed six) published in Crowley’s lifetime. £975
Yorke [53]
18. CROWLEY, Aleister. The Stratagem and Other Stories. London: The Mandrake Press, n.d. [1930.] [28655]
FIRST EDITION. Small 8vo. pp. 139. Publisher’s quarter black cloth over faux black and gold snakeskin, paper title label to spine, white endpapers. Original cream dust jacket, printed in black. Near fine in like dust jacket, lightly browned to spine. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. Contains the title story and two others: The Testament of Magdalen Blair and His Secret Sin. £150
Yorke [52]
Scarce Signed Limited Edition
19. CROWLEY, Aleister. Temperance. A Tract for the Times. London: Privately issued by the O.T.O., 1939. [29582]
FIRST EDITION, LIMITED TO 100 COPIES, this being number 41. Small folio, 10 leaves: [half-title, blank] [title, dedication] [Contents, blank] [11, blank] [2 blanks] Original cream card wraps, printed in red to upper and tied with gold cord. Printed on Homeric Antiquarian paper, edges untrimmed. A little light soiling to covers, but essentially a fine copy with fresh clean pages. SIGNED AND NUMBERED BY CROWLEY TO TITLE PAGE. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. A collection of five poems all dedicated individually, including one for Augustus John and another for Lady Frieda Harris, who would soon begin working on the Book of Thoth with him. An excellent copy of a seldom seen work. £1,450
Yorke [41]
The Rare First Printing of The Book of the Law
20. CROWLEY, Aleister. [Aiwass] THELEMA (Greek letters) Vol. III. Liber L. Vel Legis Sub Figura CCXX as Delivered by LXXVIII unto DCLXVI; Liber Trigrammaton Sub Figura XXVII Being the Book of the Mutations of the Tao with the Yin and the Yang; Liber DCCCXIII Vel Ararita Sub Figura DLXX. [The Holy Books] London: Privately printed, n.d. [c.1909] [29583]
FIRST EDITION. Duodecimo in eights pp.64, [1] Original full vellum, blocked in gold to upper. Printed on Japanese vellum, within a gold border. Vellum boards a little bowed as usual with this style of binding, otherwise a fine copy. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, with his bookplate to front pastedown and his signature on the final ownership page. The rare editio princeps of the Book of the Law and a landmark publication in the Crowley canon. Received from a being named Aiwass or Aiwaz by Crowley over three days in Cairo during 1904, the Book of the Law is the cornerstone of Thelema and central to his philosophy. It’s initial importance to him was not immediately recognised and it wasn’t until he rediscovered the hastily written sheets in the attic of his Scottish house, Boleskine, five years later, that he realised it confirmed him as a prophet of a new aeon. He would go on to publish it in varying forms for the rest of his life, notably in a facsimile edition of the original written pages, in a folder at the rear of The Equinox of the Gods in 1936. This volume also contains Liber Trigrammaton, 27 trigrams resulting from the synthesis of the I Ching and the Tao and Liber Ararita, a mystical process of initiation. £2,250
Yorke [60c]
Meredith Starr’s Inscribed Review Copy
21. CROWLEY, Aleister. The Winged Beetle. Privately printed, 1910. [28771]
FIRST EDITION. COPY 69 OF A LIMITED EDITION OF 300. Octavo (220 x 140mm) pp. ix, 228, [1 Glossary of Obscure Terms] Original brown paper over boards with gilt scarab design and titles to upper and spine Light rubbing to boards and edges, rebacked with original spine laid on, gilt titles and design remain bright. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. INSCRIBED BY CROWLEY TO THE FLYLEAF IN BLACK INK: ‘With the Author’s compliments | for review’. Meredith Starr (real name Herbert Close) has also written, in pencil: ‘Ex Libris | Herbert Close | 10 Sussex Square | Hyde Park | W. | Reviewed for ‘Occult Review’ | March 1911. As to be expected in a review copy there is much pencil underlining and some occasional notes throughout. On the title page, Close has written: ‘For the tragedy of Crowley’s life see | Rosa Coeli and Rosa Decidua. | ‘This is no tragedy of little tears!’’. Meredith Starr (1890 – 1971) wrote many reviews and articles for the Occult Review and also contributed to Crowley’s The Equinox – an occasional part of the group working at The Equinox office that included Victor Neuburg, Ethel Archer, George Raffalovich and of course Crowley himself. His review appeared in Vol. XIII No. 4 April 1911, and must have pleased Crowley beginning as it does with: ‘In the face of the whole horde of reviewers, critics, and in the face of the British public, I declare that Aleister Crowley is among the first of English living poets.’ and ending with this bravado flourish: ‘What is not least remarkable in Crowley’s poetry is his amazing variety. Frequently he is reminiscent of Swinburne. in some respects he is not unlike William Blake, but he is free from Blake’s metrical deficiencies while retaining all the sublimity of his conceptions. The range of his subjects is almost infinite, and the majority of his poems are literally ablaze with the white heat of ecstasy, the passionate desire of the Overman towards his ultimate consummation, re-union with God.’ £1,450
Yorke [33]
Carbon Copied Holy Books and a Handwritten Liber Aleph
22. CROWLEY, Aleister. (RICHARDSON, A. E.) A Collection of Carbon Copied Works, Including the Book of the Law and Other Holy Books and a Handwritten copy of Liber Aleph. London: Privately Printed by the A.’.A.’., c.1929 [29718]
Four volumes, from the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. Folios, printed on recto only, with Hebrew and Greek letters, and other symbols added in ink by hand. First volume, bound in a black hard back, sprung file contains Liber L vel Legis (Book of the Law); Liber Legis The Comment and Liber XV O.T.O. Ecclesiae Gnosticae Catholicae Canon Missae (The Gnostic Mass). ff. 28; 30; 26. Carbon copy on ‘Silver Linen’ watermarked laid paper, trimmed to top and bottom edge, fore-edge untrimmed. The second volume, in green card wraps bound with cord, contains Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli; Liber Trigrammaton and Liber DCCCXIII vel Ararita. ff. 60 (continuous pagination). Carbon copy on ‘Tower Bond’ watermarked paper. The third volume, in green card wraps bound with cord, contains the Preliminary Comment to Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente. ff. 116. Carbon copy on ‘Tower Bond’ watermarked paper. The fourth volume, bound in a black hard back, sprung file contains an autograph manuscript of Liber Aleph The Book of Wisdom and Folly signed by A. E. Richardson on the last page: ‘The labour of copying | done by | A. E. Richardson | Aug. 1929.’ ff. 210. An interesting selection of working copies of key Thelemic texts, purchased from the A.’.A.’. by the student as he progressed through the grades, or in the case of Liber Aleph, as an exercise of magickal meditation and learning. These privately printed editions rarely appear for sale, and were the only source of such material until later printed versions. For example, Liber Aleph was finally published in 1962 and The Preliminary Comment to Liber Cordis Cincti Serpente was not published until the 1970s. £500[SOLD]
23. ARCHER, Ethel. (CROWLEY, Aleister.) The Whirlpool. London: Wieland and Co., 1911. [28824]
FIRST EDITION. Slim octavo pp. [4], 7-45, [1],[4 ads.] White paper boards with illustration in orange and black to upper. Title printed in red and black. Boards and spine a little grubby, occasional light spotting to pages, but essentially a very good copy of a fragile production. Small Foyle’s Bookshop label to front pastedown and original Foyle’s receipt loosely inserted. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, with his bookplate to rear pastedown (applied upside-down). There is a two page introduction by Aleister Crowley. Ethel Archer was a member of the A.’.A.’. and contributed poems to The Equinox. She was married to Crowley’s publisher at the time, Eugene Wieland, who also contributed the striking cover image, which has occasionally been attributed to Austin Osman Spare. £475
Yorke [103]
24. FULLER, Capt. J. F. C. The Star in the West. A Critical Essay Upon the Works of Aleister Crowley. London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., 1907. [29561]
SECOND EDITION (FIRST TRADE EDITION). Octavo pp. 327, [printer’s device], [3 ads.] Publisher’s red cloth, white titles and lamen to upper and spine. Symbolic frontispiece in red, title page printed in red and black. A little rubbing to extremities and some fading to the boards, more so to the spine. As common with this book, the white titles to the spine have nearly completely flaked off, though they are still strong to the upper board. A little spotting to edges, but internally clean. Bookplate of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, to front pastedown and a picture of Fuller, removed from a newspaper and loosely inserted at the front. Written as an entry to a competition on Crowley’s works, this was apparently the first and only entry. Fuller was therefore the winner, and Crowley, pleased with the extensive praise, had the essay published, originally in a limited edition of 100 copies, signed by Crowley and Fuller. £175
Yorke [101]
25. FULLER, J. F. C. The Secret Wisdom of the Qabalah. [Kabbalah] A Study in Jewish Mystical Thought. London: Rider and Co., n.d. [1936] [29573]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION. Octavo. pp. xxvii, 29-224, [8 ads.] Publisher’s black cloth, titles in red to spine in original printed dust jacket. Illustrated with seven black and white plates and six diagrams within the text. A little dusty to page edges and a small Atlantis Bookshop label to front pastedown, otherwise the book is fine. The jacket is rubbed to edges with a little chipping to the head and tail of the spine, where there is also a small hole about a third of the way down. Some soiling to the white background, but still a very good example of the uncommon dust jacket. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s, with his name in ink to the front free endpaper. Fuller was a one time member of the A.’.A.’., and close friend of Aleister Crowley. He fell out with him in 1911 after a libel case involving their mutual friend and practitioner George Cecil Jones with the Looking-Glass magazine, because Crowley chose not to defend himself or his friends in court from further slanders. £175
Inscribed to a Disciple of Aleister Crowley
26. JUSTE, Michael. The White Brother. An Occult Autobiography. London: Rider and Co., n.d. [1927] [29580]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION. Octavo pp. 216. Publisher’s purple cloth, with blind-stamped title spine and double rule to upper board. Original cream dust jacket printed in purple. Rubbed to edges and a little spotting to page edges. The jacket is browned, has some light water staining and is rubbed to the corners and head and tail of spine. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED to A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s: ‘To A. E. Richardson | Hoping this work will | turn him from black | magic to white. | With regards and | best wishes | from | Michael Juste | 21st Oct 1929’. Michael Juste (Michael Houghton) was the proprietor of the famous Atlantis Bookshop. It would appear Mr Juste’s opinion of Crowley’s magick was not favourable… £95
Rare Wrap-Around Band
27. SYMONDS, John. The Great Beast. The Life of Aleister Crowley. London: Rider and Company, 1951. [29557]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION. Octavo pp. 316. Publisher’s blue cloth, gilt tiles to spine. Original pictorial dust jacket with light blue wrap-around band, printed in blue. Near fine book in very good plus jacket with a little chipping to head and tail of spine and some small closed tears to edges. The rare wrap-around band is slightly soiled but undamged. It reads, to the front: ‘THE PRESS CALLED ALEISTER CROWLEY: ‘The Wickedest man in the World’ ‘The King of Depravity’ and on the rear: ‘OTHER PRESS COMMENTS: ‘A man we’d like to hang’ A cannibal at large’. From the collection of A. E. Richardson, a student of Crowley’s in the late 1920s and early 30s. The first biography of Crowley, by his literary executor, which also contains a bibliography of his works compiled by Gerald Yorke. £175