The books of the beast : essays on Aleister Crowley, Montague Summers, Francis Barrett and others

Timothy d'Arch Smith is a well-known bibliographer, reviewer and antiquarian bookseller with a special interest in the by-ways of literature, notably the occult and the curious. For Aleister Crowley a book was a talisman and their every part right down to colour, dimension, and price was symbolic. He also used magical techniques to gain literary success--thus new editions of Crowley's writing multiply daily, tantalising the bibliographer. All the more indispensable is this authoritative guide to his magical first editions. Timothy d'Arch Smith, widely acknowledged as a leading expert on Crowley and on underground literature, offers several shorter articles on: Oxford's demonologist Montague Summers; R A Caton and his Fortune Press; Sexual prophet Ralph Chubb; Florence Farr; The British Library Private Case and Timothy d'Arch Smith. This new edition also includes an extra chapter on Crowley.… (more)