Ambergris: A Selection From the Poems.

CROWLEY, Aleister.

$12,500.00

Item Number: 146395

London: Elkin Mathews, 1910.

First edition of this scarce collection of Crowley’s poetry. Octavo, original publisher’s boards lettered in gilt, rebacked, frontispiece portrait. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the rear free endpaper, “Henry Mond from Aleister Crowley.” The recipient, Sir Henry Ludwig Mond, 2nd Baron Melchett was an English politician, industrialist and Zionist. He served as Member of Parliament for the Isle of Ely 1923-24 as a Liberal and deputy chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries from 1940 to 1947. Having been brought up in the Church of England, he reverted in the 1930s to his family’s original Judaism and became a champion of Zionism. He advocated for the evacuation of Jews from Germany to Palestine and supported the formation of an independent state of Palestine as part of the British Commonwealth. Following his first public speech in support of Zionism in 1931, he was appointed Hon. President of the Maccabi World Union and devoted himself to that office in the conviction (as he put it in an interview with The Jewish Chronicle in 1932) that “ in a physically fit world Jewry is essential if the great work of rebuilding the National Home is to be achieved.” The European Maccabi tour which he made the following year together with Dr. Lelewer was a tremendous success and developed Maccabi from a sporting association into a symbol of Jewish renaissance. Poland, Galacia, Romania and Bulgaria were visited before the tour ended in Palestine. The masses of young Jews, subjected to numerous clauses in universities and to organized anti-Semitism at large, were inspired by the Maccabi idea: 8,000 of them mobbed Lord Melchett in the streets of Warsaw, more thousands packed into meetings at Bucharest, Sofia, and Czernowitz, and smaller gatherings welcomed the train at almost every rail station on the route of the tour. On reaching Eretz Yisrael, Lord Melchett was given a great ovation by the crowds who heard his stirring speeches, and parades were held in his honor. In very good condition, rebacked. Armorial bookplate of Henry and Gwen Melchett to the pastedown. Scarce with only a handful of copies (one being signed) traced at auction over the past century.

Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) was a pivotal figure in the development of modern esotericism and occult practices. He is primarily recognized for founding Thelema, a religious and philosophical system detailed in his text "The Book of the Law." The central tenet of Thelema is the assertion that the individual's will is paramount, summarized by the phrase "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." In addition to his esoteric writings, Crowley was also a prolific poet, producing works that often reflect his occult interests and philosophical perspectives. His poetry, which includes collections such as "The Sword of Song" and "The Book of Thoth," integrates mystical and symbolic themes, further illustrating his complex engagement with spiritual and philosophical ideas.