NEW ARRIVALS
[CROWLEY, Aleister] The Sword of Song: Called by Christians The Book of the Beast (Standard Edition of 333 Copies)
[CROWLEY, Aleister] The Sword of Song: Called by Christians The Book of the Beast (Standard Edition of 333 Copies)
Edited, annotated and introduced by Richard Kaczynski
London: Kamuret Press, 2021. First Edition Thus. Hardcover. Large octavo. lvi + 407 pp. Limited to 333 copies. Inscribed (and signed) by the author on half title to "Bob" (Robert C. Stein). Bound in blue cloth. Blue end papers. Blue page marker ribbon. In the original dust jacket. One tiny corner bump otherwise a fine copy in like dust jacket.
The Sword of Song (1904) is the most important of Aleister Crowley’s early works. His first talismanic book, it synthesized his interests in poetry, religion, mysticism and magick into a work that is at turns witty, profound and baffling. It would serve as the template to his celebrated Konx Om Pax (1907), and his unsurpassed mix of profundity and absurdity in The Book of Lies (1912/3). Significantly, it also offers insight into his mindset around the time of his received text, The Book of the Law, in 1904.
This new edition follows the layout of The Sword of Song’s rare first edition, while incorporating subsequent revisions and additions from its republication in volume 2 of Crowley’s Collected Works (1906). The introduction by Crowley biographer Richard Kaczynski’s documents this book’s genesis and extensive revisions, while editorial footnotes illuminate obscure references, kabbalistic riddles, altered or deleted passages, and much more.
This copy is from the collection of Thelemic author Robert C. Stein (1931 – 2024), who wrote "The Mystery of the Letters and The Tree of Life" and other works. Stein was a Professor Emeritus of Biology in the New York State University System, whose involvement in the study and practice of Thelema spanned three decades and travels in five continents.