[CROWLEY, Aleister (1875-1947)] - photo 1
[CROWLEY, Aleister (1875-1947)] - photo 2
[CROWLEY, Aleister (1875-1947)] - photo 3
[CROWLEY, Aleister (1875-1947)] - photo 4

[CROWLEY, Aleister (1875-1947)]

Lot 92
13.02.2025 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1362921
Lot 92 | [CROWLEY, Aleister (1875-1947)]
Estimate value
£ 5 000 – 8 000
[CROWLEY, Aleister (1875-1947)]
White Stains. The Literary Remains of George Archibald Bishop A Neuropath of the Second Empire. [Amsterdam: Leonard Smithers], 1898
Rare first edition of Crowley’s infamous first publication: one of 100 copies only of which fewer than 20 are believed to have survived. Inspired by Krafft-Ebing's study of sexual perversity, Psychopathia Sexualis, this is perhaps the most difficult of the legendary occultist's books to acquire. Given the anonymous publication, small limitation and the obscene and/or erotic nature of the poems and their omnisexual content, surviving copies are few and far between on the market: many copies are believed to have been destroyed by H.M. Customs in 1924.

Crowley later wrote that his examination of sexual deviance is 'commonly quoted by my admirers as evidence of my addiction to every kind of unmentionable vice. Asses! It is, indeed, technically an obscene book, and yet the fact that I wrote it proves the purity of my heart and mind in the most extraordinary fashion... I wrote the book in absolute seriousness and in all innocence. It never occurred to me that a demonstration of the terrible results of misguided passion might be mistaken for pornography'.

Quarto (222 x 180mm). (Half-title browned, very faint stain in upper margin.) Original black cloth lettered in white (small bumps to spine and corners, traces of slight restoration to cloth at head and foot of boards); custom black quarter morocco box. Provenance: Barry Humphries (1934-2023; bookplate).
Auction house category:Books, Books and manuscripts
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.02.2025 – 13.02.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

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