122 - CROWLEY (Aleister), ed.

CROWLEY (Aleister), ed. The Equinox. The Official Organ of the A.: A.: The Review of Scientific Illuminism. London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., then The Office of the Equinox, 1909–1910. 4 in-8 volumes, corresponding to the first four issues of Volume I (Spring 1909, Autumn 1909, Spring 1910, and Autumn 1910; paperback; color-illustrated covers; beige cloth spines with title labels. The front cover of No. 2 is missing; some minor wear, but in good overall condition. First edition of the first four issues of the famous occult journal founded and edited by Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), the primary vehicle for disseminating Crowley’s magical and mystical teachings during this period. *The Equinox*, with the motto “The Method of Science — The Aim of Religion,” served as the official publication of the A.: A.:, an initiatory society founded by Crowley and George Cecil Jones in the wake of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The journal was published twice a year, at the spring and fall equinoxes. Doctrinal texts and rituals of the A.: A.: appear alongside essays on the occult, yoga, Kabbalah, and altered states of consciousness, as well as poetry, short stories, plays, and various reviews. A rare collection of the first four issues of one of the major publications of early 20th-century British occultism, an essential document for the history of the A.: A.:, modern ceremonial magic, and the thought of Aleister Crowley.