Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - photo 1
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - photo 2
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - photo 3
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - photo 4
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - photo 5
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - photo 6

Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)

Lot 108
15.12.2023 11:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 5 040
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1108907
Lot 108 | Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Estimate value
£ 3 000 – 5 000
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963)
Three typed letters signed (‘Aldous Huxley’, ‘Aldous’) to J.R. Smythies, 740 North Kings Road, Los Angeles, 1 March 1953 – 1 February 1955
Five pages in total, 278 x 215mm, autograph corrections in ink. [With:] copy reply from Smythies, 5 February 1955, three pages. Provenance: Sotheby’s, 14 December 1989, lot 132.

Experiments in mescaline in the 1950s: Huxley asks his correspondent for advice on its supply and effects, later reporting on his experiences with the drug and giving his views on the importance of self-transcendence. Huxley sends Smythies a copy of The Devils of Loudun – ‘an account of a most extraordinary case involving mass demonic possession […] You will, I am sure, be interested in the case histories – and I hope, too, that you may find something of value in the discussions of the history of psychology and physiology’ – and asks for a copy of Smythies’ paper on mescaline and schizophrenia: ‘I have for long been greatly interested in mescaline, and have recently got in touch with some people – some medical, some laymen – who are making use of it in psychological experiments. I have not as yet used the drug myself; but hope to be able to do so as soon as we can get hold of a supplier of purified mescaline’. Huxley forgets which ‘drug house in the East’ it has been ordered from, but it should arrive soon; he asks his correspondent for any information he can give regarding its psycho-physical effects and on how he sources the drug, before adding a point on Ptolemaic model of the world (1 March 1953). Two years later, he reports on his experiments with mescaline – ‘the experience was This World-Transcendental, not (as on the previous occasion) Other World-Transcendental. It was an experience of Mind in its width, rather than in its height. The concern was with the human order, not with the visionary and non-human’ – before commenting on peyote and Smythies’ negative experience with mescaline, which he suggests might be down to a traumatic experience in childhood or during the War and encourages him to try it again (11 January 1955). His final letter discusses at length the unfavourable reaction to [The Doors of Perception], which he attributes to ‘ancient puritanical prejudices, and disagrees with Smythies that the appetite for self-transcendence is exclusively a cultural phenomenon (1 February 1955).

John Raymond Smythies (1922-2019) was a British neuropsychiatrist, neuroscientist and neurophilosopher who developed the first specific biochemical theory of schizophrenia; his research was inspired by the remarkable effects of mescaline on the human brain and the interdisciplinary work of Albert Schweitzer.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
09.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
10.12.2023 12:00 – 17:00
11.12.2023 09:00 – 20:00
12.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
13.12.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Brave New World
Brave New World
£100

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.