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[CROWLEY, Aleister; STURGES, Mary d’Este.] FRATER PERDURABO AND SOROR VIRAKAM Book Four, Part One. Meditation or the Way of Attainment of Genius or Godhead Considered as a Development of the Human Brain. London: Weiland and Co., n.d. [c.1912] [25169]
FIRST EDITION. 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. Apart from a light red (pencil?) mark to upper, the boards are still bright and yellow, with just a little soiling. Fading and rubbing to spine, pages bright and fresh with occasional small pencil marginal lines. An excellent copy of a fragile and uncommon book. The first of a projected set of four books (Part 1 and 2, Part 3 which was Magick in Theory and Practice (1929), Part 4 was Equinox of the Gods (1936), but was regarded as No. 3 of Volume III of the Equinox), this work dealing, with yoga and spirituality was dictated to his Scarlet Woman of the time, Mary d’Este Sturges, in a villa near Naples. £150
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [p. 15]; Yorke [62A]
[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]
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
Yorke [29]
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. [28286]
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. Old glue repair to upper joint, now splitting at foot of spine, small chip to fore-edge of rear cover. A very good copy of one of Crowley’s more fragile and uncommon items. 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. £600
Yorke [29]
Fine Collected WorksCROWLEY, 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]
CROWLEY, Aleister. The Diary of a Drug Fiend. London: W. Collins Sons and Co. Ltd., 1922. [28073]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION. Octavo pp. x, 368, [6 ads.] Publisher’s blue cloth titled in red. Light rubbing to edges and corners, a little heavier to head and foot of spine. Pages clean with only a little light foxing to half-title, and a couple of light tape marks to the front and rear pastedowns. This has been a poular copy since there are three seperate bookplates: F. Ivan Bright’s to pastedown, the armorial bookplate of Ian Richard Monins to flyleaf and finally the Baphomet bookplate of Sandy Robertson (author of The Aleister Crowley Scrapbook) to verso of flyleaf. A very good copy of Crowley’s first published novel. £475
Yorke [50(a)]
A Near Fine Copy in Dust JacketCROWLEY, 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]
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]
The Book of the LawCROWLEY, Aleister. The Equinox of the Gods. The Official Organ of the A.’.A.’. Vol. III No. III. Comprising LIBER AL vel LEGIS Sub Figura CCXX as Delivered by XCIII = 418 to DCLXVI and GENESIS LIBRI AL. London: Issued by the O.T.O. BM/JPKH, 1936. [30220]
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Quarto (290 X 220mm) pp. v, 137 together with 65 loose page facsimile manuscript of the Book of the Law in card cover, titles printed in red and black, inserted into a pocket at the end of the book. Publisher's white buckram, gilt titles and designs to upper and spine, white endpapers, printed on Japon paper with untrimmed edges. The small errata slip, usually tipped in to final page, has been removed. Original advertisement and order form loosely inserted - single sheet, printed both sides and folded twice. Two colour plates showing the Stele of Revealing and additional pictorial title pages for Liber Al vel Legis and Genesis Libri AL . A little bumped to head and foot of spine and some browning to boards as is often the case with the white buckram, though the gilt titles remain sharp and bright. A little spotting to top edge otherwise pages clean and without writing or other marks. The card cover for the Book of the Law is clean and undamaged, only a little browned at the fore-edges where it protrudes from the pocket. The facsimile sheets are all present and have only the occasional small corner fold. Published 19 years after Vol. III No. I (the Blue Equinox) The Equinox of the Gods was No. III in the series, No. II not reaching publication. In it The Book of the Law was printed for the first time in full size facsimile, as Crowley desired for magickal reasons, after five attempts during the previous 27 years. This work, received over three days in Cairo, 1904, was to become the basis of his Order the A.’.A.’. and the cornerstone of Thelema. An very good copy of this uncommon and important work. £1,450
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [BL6]; Yorke [63C.3(b)]
CROWLEY, Aleister. The Equinox of the Gods. The Official Organ of the A. A. Vol. III No. III. California: O. T. O. c.1950s [1936] [28347]
GERMER RE-ISSUE EDITION. Large octavo pp. v, 137. Original full maroon cloth, A. A. sigil in gilt to upper, gilt titles to spine and plain endpapers. Very light rubbing to corners, otherwise in excellent condition. Bookplate to front pastedown of Gabriel Montenegro Vargas, a IX degree member of the O.T.O., and the last to be initiated in Agape Lodge. Label of Occult Research Press on the title page, and a small rectangle of blank paper pasted on verso of half-title page. This edition was bound from the original 1936 first edition sheets, printed on Japon paper, by Karl Germer. It was not published with the facsimile sheets of the hand-written Book of the Law, found at the rear of the original book. £225
CROWLEY, Aleister. Gargoyles. Being Strangely Wrought Images of Life and Death. Foyers: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1906. [26723]
FIRST EDITION OF 300 COPIES. Small octavo (160 x 90mm) pp.vi, 113. Original blue/grey cloth, titles stamped in red to upper and spine. White endpapers with all edges untrimmed. Title printed in red and black;final page in red. A little rubbing to extremeties, some browning to spine and a couple of very small ink spots to lower board. The pages are clean, without writing or other marks. As usual of Crowley, this was published in different formats: 2 copies printed on vellum and bound in red morocco, 50 signed copies in white wrappers and 300 in blue/grey cloth. A very good copy that shows well. £495
Yorke [24]
Near Fine Copy with Original GlassineKHALED 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]
CROWLEY, Aleister. The High History of Good Sir Palamedes the Saracen Knight and of His Following of the Questing Beast by Aleister Crowley Rightly Set Forth in Rime. London: Wieland and Company, 1912. [31038]
FIRST EDITION. Octavo pp.viii, 113. Publisher’s white buckram with gilt titles to upper and spine. Top edge gilt, others untrimmed. Some browning to the spine and a little light grubbiness to the boards, but essentialy a fine copy with very clean pages. Written during a visit to Allan Bennett (his friend and early mentor on his magical path) in 1905, this long poem is an allegory of the path of an initiate towards the Great Work. An excellent copy of an uncommon Crowley title. £975
Yorke [35]
RARE SIGNED EDITION CROWLEY, Aleister. Konx Om Pax. Essays in Light. New York and Boleskine: Walter Scott Publishing Co. and S. P. R. T. 1907. [26584]
SIGNED LIMITED EDITION No. 80 of 500 copies on handmade paper. Octavo (195 x 160mm) pp. xii, 108, 11 ads. First issue black buckram with white elongated title, designed by Crowley, to upper board, title printed in red and black, all edges untrimmed. Frontispiece photographic portrait by Aimé Dupont (1906), SIGNED UNDERNEATH BY CROWLEY. Rubbing to extremeties, small hole in the cloth to lower board. Some flaking to the white title design, which is common to most copies seen. Browning to endpapers, otherwise clean internally. The title is a phrase traditionally used to close the Eleusinian Mysteries. It may have come from the Egyptian Khabs Am Pekh (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’.£1,750
Yorke [56]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Liber Aleph Vel CXI. The Book of Wisdom or Folly in the Form of an Epistle of 666 The Great Wild Beast to his Son 777 being The Equinox Volume III No. vi by The Master Therion (Alesiter Crowley) West Point: Thelema Publishing Company, 1962. [28351]
FIRST EDITION. Large octavo pp. xii, [errata], 219. Publisher’s bright red cloth with gilt titles to spine and white endpapers. Original pictorial dust jacket designed by Lady Frieda Harris. A few small white spots to boards, otherwise the book is in fine condition, with clean fresh pages. The jacket has some loss to the top of spine and rubbed corners, and there are one or two old tape repairs to the reverse, not visible from the printed side, but it still shows well. Crowley stated this was: ‘ an extended and elaborate commentary on the Book of the Law, in the form of a letter from the Master Therion to his magical son.’ £375
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]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Magick in Theory and Practice. [Book Four, Part Three] By the Master Therion (Aleister Crowley). Paris, Published for Subscribers Only, Printed at the Lecram Press, 1929 (actually 1930). [26647]
SUBSCRIBER’S EDITION WITH DUST JACKET. Large 8vo (260mm x 190mm). pp. xxxiv, 436. Publisher’s red buckram, gilt titles to spine, white endpapers and top edge gilt, in original mottled deep salmon pink dust jacket, decorated and titled in black. The appendices contain a number of tables and some diagrams in the text. The dust jacket has protected the boards well; the corners are sharp with no bumping and the gilt titles are clear and bright. A little browning to front and rear endpapers otherwise the pages are clean and fresh. The dust jacket is wonderfully preserved, with some fading to the spine as is almost inevitable, but still showing it’s original colour to front and back. Minor chipping to foot of spine. There is some neat early paper tape strengthening to the inside of the jacket, at the top of the spine, a couple of the folded corners and to a small closed tear at the middle of the top edge of the back. This is not visible from the outside. A near fine copy of Crowley’s masterwork, in a very good dust jacket. Scarce in this condition. £975
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [pp.15-16];Yorke [62 C(b)]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Moonchild. A Prologue London: The Mandrake Press, 1929. [27880]
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. Light wear to extremities, some waterstaining to the lower board but internally clean. The fantastic Beresford Egan designed dust jacket has some loss to the top left of the front, affecting the title and a little loss to the top of the spine. Some creasing and browning with tape repairs to the reverse, not visible from the outside. Overall a very good, presentable copy of Crowley’s entertaining tale of rival magickal lodges. One of 2500 copies. £675
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [pp. 31-32]; Yorke [51]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Moonchild. A Prologue. London: The Mandrake Press, 1929. [29658]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. pp. vii, 335. Bound in recent half green morocco, cloth sides, raised bands and gilt titles to spine. Top edge gilt. Original cloth spine bound at rear. An excellent copy of Crowley’s entertaining tale of rival magickal lodges. One of 2500 copies. £275
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [pp. 31-32]; Yorke [51]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Moonchild. A Prologue London: The Mandrake Press, 1929. [23534]
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. pp. vii, 335. Publisher’s green cloth, gilt titles and double rules to spine, white endpapers. Boards clean, book is slightly cocked. Pages lightly browned with portions of the original dust jacket pasted onto front endpapers. A very good copy of Crowley’s entertaining tale of rival magickal lodges. One of 2500 copies only. £275
d’Arch Smith: Books of the Beast [pp. 31-32]; Yorke [51]
Dear Wheatley...CROWLEY, Aleister. [WHEATLEY, Dennis] Mortadello or the Angel of Venice. A Comedy. [Together With] A Three Page Signed Autograph Letter. London: Wieland and Company (Barabbas and Company), 1912. [28519]
FIRST EDITION. RARE, PREVIOUSLY UNRECORDED ISSUE WITH TWO TITLE PAGES. LONG INSCRIPTION TO DENNIS WHEATLEY, WITH HIS BOOKPLATE. Octavo (210 x 167mm) pp. xvi, 2-110, 111-122 The Works of Mr Aleister Crowley. Bound in original grey cloth, untitled. Occasional light spotting, otherwise the pages are clean. The second title page, with an imprint of Barabbas and Company, has the lower corner cut to denote a cancel leaf, and is bound after the dedication page. Wheatley’s fabulous allegorical bookplate to front pastedown. Twelve line inscription to Dennis Wheatley to the verso of regular title page, apparently as a reciprocal gift having received a first edition from Wheatley: ‘May 14 ‘34 e.v. | Dear Wheatley | Most ingenious, but really a | little Ely Cuthbertson, to advertise your | love of rare editions in a thriller | blurb! | At least my (underlined) heart was touched, | and I hope you will appreciate this | ‘sample’ copy with the double title. | I don’t know how many were printed like | this: I have a vague idea that there were | six. But where the others are no man - except the ‘Occult Committee’ of the | ‘Magic Circle’- knows. | Yours Aleister Crowley’ The autograph letter to Wheatley is on blue Claridge's Hotel headed note-paper dated 16 June (no year). Crowley has crossed out Claridges and written his address at 21 Upper Montague Street (for a few days). The letter is "mourning" Wheatley’s absence at a recent lunch and informing him that "Liveright is interested in Black August - in case you haven't placed it in U.S.A..". Wheatley's third novel Black August, which first introduced the character of Gregory Sallust, was published by Hutchinson in London and by Dutton in New York in 1934. A truly rare Crowley item with a wonderful association. £7,500
Yorke [49]
CROWLEY, Aleister. The Mother’s Tragedy and Other Poems. London: Privately Printed., 1901. [30931]
FIRST EDITION. Octavo pp. xii, 111. Original blue paper boards with white cloth spine and paper title label. Staining and soiling to boards and cloth spine, corners rubbed, chipping to the title label, not affecting text. Some browning to pages and occasional spotting. A very good copy. The uncommon first edition, of which 500 copies were printed, but probably only a small number bound and distributed. The remaining sheets were published as a ‘New Edition’ in 1907 under his S.P.R.T. imprint. Although having suffered a little, this is still a presentable copy of one of the more difficult early Crowley titles. £475
Yorke [7(a)]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Olla. An anthology of Sixty Years of Song. London: O.T.O., 1946. [27892]
FIRST EDITION. Quarto pp. 128. Publisher’s brown cloth, gilt titles and design (upside down!) to upper and spine, white endpapers, with Frieda Harris designed dust jacket. Frontispiece portrait by Augustus John. A little white marking to the fore-edges of the boards, otherwise a near fine copy with clean pages. The uncommon white dust jacket is a little grubby, more so to the back with small losses at the corners and about an inch missing from the top of the spine, not affecting the titles, but is overall in much better condition than normally seen. A very presentable copy of Crowley’s last work to be published in his lifetime. One of 500 copies printed. £375
Yorke [45]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Olla. An anthology of Sixty Years of Song. London: O.T.O., 1946. [26375]
FIRST EDITION. Quarto pp. 128. Publisher’s brown cloth, gilt titles and design (upside down!) to upper and spine, white endpapers, with Frieda Harris designed dust jacket. Frontispiece portrait by Augustus John. Light spotting to endpapers, hinges starting though book remains quite tight. Dust jacket is poor only with some soiling, tears and loss. A very good copy of Crowley’s last work to be published in his lifetime. One of 500 copies only. £275
Yorke [45]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Orpheus. A Lyrical Legend. Foyers: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1905. [28346]
FIRST EDITION. 2 Vols. Octavo (230 x 140mm) pp. 155. 146, [1]. Original white cloth backs over coloured paper boards. Paper labels to spine, titles printed in red and black, plain endpapers with fore and bottom edges untrimmed. A little light soiling to boards and browning to spines with title label a little chipped to voume 1. Both volumes very clean and fresh internally. In yet another marketing ploy, Crowley had this work issued in five different coloured boards - white, yellow, red, blue and green; all with an ‘edition’ printed on the verso of the title page. This is a mixed set comprising a ‘fourth edition’ in blue boards of volume 1, and a ‘second edition’ in yellow boards of volume 2. £495
Yorke [21]
“Borrowed Plumes” CROWLEY, Aleister. [GARDNER, F. Leigh.] 777. Vel Prolegomena Symbolica Ad Systemam Sceptico-Mysticae Viae Explicandae, Fundamentum Hieroglyphicum Sanctissimorum Scientiae Summae. London: The Walter Scott Publishing Co., Ltd., 1909. [24968]
FIRST EDITION. Limited to 500 copies. Slim octavo (220 x 140mm). pp. x, 54. Publisher’s scarlet buckram over bevelled boards, 777 in gilt to upper, white endpapers, edges untrimmed. A little bumping to corners, light water staining to top of front board and spine, not affecting pages, small 777 written in black ink to spine. Browning to endpapers, otherwise pages are clean. Lacking the perforated Equinox subscription form at rear, the remaining stub has been cut out, with an early processed copy of the errata slip with the Tree of Life diagram looselt inserted. A very good copy of 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. F. LEIGH GARDNER’S COPY, WITH HIS PERTINENT INSCRIPTION TO FRONT PASTEDOWN: “Borrowed Plumes (underlined) | a valuable book written by | a Renegade Frater, who passed | off & posed as a Hierophant. | F. L. Gardner.” Gardner (De Profundis Ad Lucem) was a member of the Isis-Urania Temple of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, joining in 1894. He contributed to the writing of rituals and also sponsored the research of MacGregor Mathers’ (Deo Duce Comite Ferro) translation of The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, published in 1898, the same year that Crowley (Perdurabo) also joined the Golden Dawn. Gardner however sided with the majority of members against Mathers and Crowley in the split of 1900. He was also a confidante of W. Wynn Westcott’s (Sapere Aude), a founding member of the Order, who supplied introductions to Gardner’s three occult bibliographies on Rosicrucian, Astrological and Masonic books. £1,250
Yorke [57]
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 errata 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]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Songs of the Spirit. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co., 1898. [28079]
FIRST EDITION, one of 200 copies. Publisher’s blue/grey cloth, titles in red to upper and spine. All edges untrimmed with plain endpapers, title page printed in red and black. A sharp, near fine copy with just some browning to spine and minimal foxing to the otherwise clean pages. Crowley’s first regularly published book, since The Tale of Archais, number 3 in Yorke’s bibliography; Songs of the Spirit is number 4, was actually issued in January 1899. (See ‘Perdurabo’ by Richard Kaczynski [2002] note 6 of chapter 3) £975
Yorke [4(a)]
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]
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]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Tannhauser. A Story of All Time. Foyers: Society for the Propagation of Religious Truth, 1907. [28345]
NEW EDITION. Slim quarto (290 x 220mm) pp. 141, [1], [2 ads.] Publisher’s bright blue cloth; gilt titles to upper. Plain endpapers with top edge trimmed; others left. A little light rubbing to edges, spine faded. Occasional light foxing; no writing or other marks. First published by Kegan Paul in 1902, this was among some earlier works that Crowley re-issued under his S.P.R.T. imprint. A lovely copy. £450
Yorke [10.(b)]
CROWLEY, Aleister. Thumbs Up! A pentagram-a pantacle to win the war by Aleister Crowley The Beast 666. Adelaide: OTO, 1996. [25690]
LIMITED EDITION OF 22 COPIES ONLY, each with a Thoth Tarot Card by Lady Frieda Harris tipped in to the inside cover, this being number 16 with The Devil card. Pamphlet, unpaginated (11 leaves), in green card wraps. A little fading to edges of covers, otherwise fine. A reprint of the 1941 signed limited edition, containing the poems: The Pentagram; England, Stand Fast!; A Toast; Hymn For July 4 and Anthem. £35
CROWLEY, Aleister. (REGARDIE, Israel.) The Vision and The Voice With Commentary by the Master Therion. Liber XXX Aerum. Vel Saeculi Sub Figura CCCCXVIII Being of the Angels of the 30 Aethyrs. Barstow: Thelema Publishing Company, 1952. [28322]
FIRST EDITION. Quarto pp. 163. Original maroon, leather effect, limp covers, titled in gilt to upper. Sheets spiral bound and reproduced from tyescript. A little rubbing to extremeties with clean, unmarked pages - essentially a fine copy. This expansion of the sections originally published in The Equinox vol. 1, part 5, was published by Karl Gemer, has an introduction by Israel Regardie and an extensive commentary by Crowley himself. In 1909, Crowley and Victor Neuberg travelled to the Algerian Sahara to continue an experiment with the 30 Enochian Aires or Calls that he had begun in Mexico 9 years before. Over a period of many days, Crowley performed each Call and his visions and experiences were noted down by Neuberg. This edition was undoubtably printed in fairly low numbers and is rarely seen in such excellent condition. £495
Meredith Starr’s Inscribed Review CopyCROWLEY, 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]
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]
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