Aleister Crowley - The Equinox of the Gods - 1955

The auction features a historically fascinating exemplar of Aleister Crowley’s fundamental Thelemic work “The Equinox of the Gods” (Volume III, Number III). This specific copy is a highly sought-after mid-20th-century issue among collectors. After Crowley’s death, his successor Karl Germer sold the remaining, unbound text pages of the London first edition of 1936 to the famous New York occultism publisher Samuel Weiser. Thus, this book consists of the genuine text pages of the 1936 first edition, bound in the distinctive dark red maroon cloth with beautiful gold stamping on the spine and the A∴A∴ seal on the front cover. A special historical rarity is the pasted-in distributor label from the legendary Aries Press (Chicago). Aries Press was closely linked to Crowley’s former private secretary Israel Regardie. This label documents impressively the early provenance of the book and its path through the American occultism movement of the 1940s and 1950s. As is absolutely correct and customary for this particular historical Weiser/Aries-Press edition, this book was shipped from the factory without the slipcase and the loose facsimile sheets in the rear. Clean and solid text block. The pages are made from the original thick paper of the 1936 first edition. The hardcover binding is sturdy and firm, showing only the usual signs of use. The gold stamping on the cover and spine is wonderfully preserved and shines brightly.