{"product_id":"deluxe-edition-aleister-crowley-s-cambridge-poetry-1895-1898","title":"Early Poetic Works (Deluxe Edition) by Aleister Crowley","description":"\u003cp\u003eDeluxe Edition – Aleister Crowley’s Cambridge Poetry (1895–1898)\u003cbr\u003ePublished by Kamuret Press in 2019 \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis sumptuous deluxe edition presents a remarkable collection of Aleister Crowley’s early poetic works, written during his formative years as a Cambridge undergraduate (1895–1898). Beautifully produced and strictly limited, this volume offers collectors and scholars a rare glimpse into the literary and emotional world of the young Crowley — before he became the most influential occultist of the twentieth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFull-bound in the finest Nigerian black goatskin\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpine foil-blocked in gold with five raised bands\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRounded and backed binding\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDecadent purple colour plan-end papers\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePurple and white headbands\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePurple ribbon marker\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoyal Quarto format\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e304 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e16 pages of photographs (many previously unpublished) featuring Crowley, Jerome Pollitt, Aubrey Beardsley, Leonard Smithers and others\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Also includes a previously unpublished facsimile of one of Jerome Pollitt’s photographic calling cards.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough Crowley is celebrated as a giant of modern esotericism, comparatively little attention has been paid to his Cambridge years — a period in which he wrote and privately published a significant body of verse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis anthology gathers four early works:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAceldama: A Place to Bury Strangers In\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJezebel and Other Tragic Poems\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSongs of the Spirit\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Tale of Archais: A Romance in Verse\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese poems explore two themes that would shape Crowley’s life and legend:\u003cbr\u003ehis intense and ultimately doomed love affair with actor and female impersonator Jerome Pollitt, and his first serious steps toward the occult sciences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHomosexual love and spiritual yearning intertwine throughout these verses, revealing a young poet influenced by the Decadent and Symbolist movements. Echoes of Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, Arthur Symons and A. C. Swinburne can be felt in these pages — alongside the unmistakable voice of a writer already pushing against social and moral boundaries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis edition is both a scholarly contribution and a finely executed work of bookcraft — ideal for serious collectors of Crowley, fin-de-siècle literature, LGBTQ literary history, and the occult revival of the late nineteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exceptional volume for the discerning bibliophile.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Watkins Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57287334920566,"sku":null,"price":350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0578\/0635\/6656\/files\/Screenshot2026-02-13at15.16.49.png?v=1770996514","url":"https:\/\/shop.watkinsbooks.com\/products\/deluxe-edition-aleister-crowley-s-cambridge-poetry-1895-1898","provider":"Watkins Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}