Aleister Crowley : The Last Ritual : One of Only 200 Copies Issued

Aleister Crowley's funeral 'last ritual' book, privately printed in 1987 and issued in a limited number of 200, this being number '61'. Issued to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Crowley's death on 1st December 1947. The BOOK is in very Good++ condition. 12 pages stapled with printed green card covers. A little light creasing and marking to the card covers. A penned inscription with symbols to the upper verso of the front cover. Light toning to the page edges. This is the first reissue of the funeral book. The Foreword states that 'this is an exact facsimile of the book issued to mourners upon the event of his cremation Brighton. The original was a limited edition 200, & printed in a great hurry ( the reason behind the date of his birth on the cover being wrong, he was born on the 12th October!). As this is an exact copy, the error has been left in!.This edition being number 61 out of 200. It will not be reprinted , the plates are destroyed'. B/W cover design and full page illustration by Frieda Harris, the designer of the Thoth Tarot deck. The book is protected in a loose Mylar archival cover. This edition is not to be confused with a later edition issued by The Mandrake Press some years later as part of the Mandrake Press booklets in which Crowleys' birth date has been corrected. Crowley died at Netherwood of chronic bronchitis aged 72 years. His funeral was held at Brighton Crematorium on the 5th of December 1947. About a dozen people attended and Louis Wilkinson read excerpts from 'The Gnostic Mass','The Book of Law' and 'Hymn to Pan'. The funeral generated press controversy and was labelled a Black Mass by the tabloids. Crowley's ashes were sent to Karl Germer in the USA, who buried them in his garden in Hampton, New Jersey. A very scarce publication. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.