State (a):

Printed on Glastonbury paper.¹

Bound in dark blue buckram.¹

Upper cover stamped in gilt ‘LITTLE ESSAYS | TOWARD TRUTH | [seal of the A\A\]’.²

Buff colored dust jacket with a Tree of Life on front.¹  Lettered in black ‘LITTLE ESSAYS TOWARD TRUTH | by ALEISTER CROWLEY’.³ 

6 1/4” x 4 3/4”.²

Some copies have an "addendum" tipped in between page 22 and 23.³  

   - Binding variant #1 - The bottom of the sloping leg of the "R" in "Toward" and "Truth" is even with the bottom edge of the other words on the line.⁶   

   - Binding variant #2 - The bottom of the sloping leg of the "R" in "Toward" and "Truth" extends below the bottom edge of the other words on the line.⁶   

State (b):

A U.S. variant of this edition exists.  In order to save on shipping costs Crowley sent a number of unbound sheets to California to be bound in America.  According to a 23 August 1939 letter from Crowley to Wilfred Talbot Smith the shipment of unbound sheets was returned to Crowley because of a new regulation requiring books sent to America to clearly state the country of origin.  Crowley then re-sent 50 sets of unbound sheets to Smith which clearly stated "Printed in England" on them.⁸  These sheets were locally bound in California.⁶

Bound in blue buckram (lighter in color than that of state (a)).⁶

Upper cover stamped in gilt ‘LITTLE ESSAYS | TOWARD TRUTH | [seal of the A\A\] (The seal is much smaller that that of state (a))’.⁶

This variant may not have had a dust jacket issued.⁶

Page(s)

[  1]

Half-title

[  2]

Ornament:  Dove descending

[  3]

Title-page

[  4]

A\A\ PUBLICATION IN CLASS B.

[  5]

Contents

[  6]

Quotation from Zoroaster

[7-89]

Text

[90-96]

Glossary

[97-104]

Advertisements

-

Man

-

Memory

-

Sorrow

-

Wonder

-

Beatitude

-

Laughter

-

Indifference

-

Mastery

-

Trance

-

Energy

-

Knowledge

-

Understanding

-

Chastity

-

Silence

-

Love

-

Truth

-

Glossary

1.

Gerald Yorke, “A Bibliography of the Works of Aleister Crowley” (Expanded and Corrected by Clive Harper from Aleister Crowley, the Golden Dawn and Buddhism:  Reminiscences and Writings of Gerald Yorke, Keith Richmond, editor, The Teitan Press, York Beach, ME, 2011, p. 56.  

2.

Dianne Frances Rivers, A Bibliographic List with Special Reference To the Collection at the University of Texas,  Master of Arts Thesis, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1967, p. 134.     

3.

Personal observation of the item.

4.

Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 1, Group 2, Pamphlets, Leaflets, Contributions to Newspapers or Periodicals, etc., Lectures, Sermons, Addresses for Oral Delivery, Maps, Library of Congress, Copyright Offices, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1936, p. 110.

5.

Weiser Antiquarian Books, Catalog # 91, Aleister Crowley.  Books from the Nicholas Bishop-Culpeper Collection (Part I).”

6.

Weiser Antiquarian Books, Catalog # 10, “Aleister Crowley:  Books, Ephemera & A Drawing.”

7.

Richard Kaczynski, Ph.D., Perdurabo:  The Life of Aleister Crowley, North Atlantic Books, Berkeley, California, 2010, p. 504.

8.

Aleister Crowley's Letters, Binder 10, Letters to American Disciples, Warburg Institute, NS 15.