Went for £9635 including commission, I believe…
LOT105 ALEISTER CROWLEY: 2 ttls: THE SWORD OF SONG CALLED BY CHRISTIANS THE BOOK OF THE BEAST, Benares
By Keys Fine Art Auctioneers
Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1904, one of a small number of copies printed on vellum, long autographed presentation inscription… “I the Beast 666… give this third vellum copy of The Sword of Song… to Edmund Saayman on his 26th birthday and his day of reception as a probationer….”
Edmund Saayman (died 1971) was a Mathematics scholar at Oxford University during his time of association with Aleister Crowley. Inscription reads as follows: ‘An XIX…[series of unknown symbols] city of tunis, do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law ○ I, the beast 666 9°=2… [more symbols including A∴ A∴ spiritual order symbol] give this third vellum copy of The Sword of Song (the other two being in my own possession and that of John Quinn) to Edmund Saayman on this his 26th birthday and his day of reception as a probationer of A∴ A∴ with the motto of [series of characters of Hebrew like appearance] “then the scribe knew the narcissus in his heart” with all good will for his attainment of the…[illegible] time wisdom & perfect happiness”
Source: ALEISTER CROWLEY: 2 ttls: THE SWORD OF SONG CALLED BY CHRISTIANS THE BOOK OF THE BEAST, Benares,
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[…] This morning Keys Fine Art Auctioneers sold a pair of Crowley first editions from 1904: a copy of the Crowley/Mathers Goetia and a rare vellum edition of The Sword of Song. Judging from the photographs, both books have seen better days; however the Sword of Song is not only a rare variant but contains a long inscription to mathematician Edmund Saayman. LAShTAL.com reports that the pair of books sold for £9,635 including commission. […]