Auction: "Commentary on Liber AL Vel Legis An original bound typescript"

Hardbound, thick quarto. Carbon typescript, 627 leaves, 7 ¾ x 9 ½ inches, each printed on one side only, numbered [ii] 308, [vi] 190 [vi] 122pp. Attractively bound in black cloth, with 'Liber AL Vel Legis / decoration / Commentary' stamped in gilt across spine, and 'Z . ' (a symbolic abbreviation of 'Frater Zopiron') gilt stamped on the front board. A carbon typescript of Crowley's Commentaries on The Book of the Law, most likely prepared for Crowley in the UK at some time in the 1930s, and sent to his followers in the United States. It was acquired by 'Frater Zopiron' who specially commissioned its present binding. Gabriel Montenegro Vargas (Frater Zopiron: 1907-1969), IX degree, O.T.O., was the last initiate of the Agape Lodge of the O.T.O. in California. His Thelemically-inspired bookplate is on the front pastedown. The volume is divided into three sections - one for each chapter of Liber AL - with the first and the second chapters containing both the 'old comment' and the 'new comment', and the third chapter the 'new comment' only. A magnificent, handsome edition of a rarely-seen work. The typescript appears to represent a somewhat earlier state than that used by Symonds and Grant in their publication the 'Magical and Philosophical Commentaries' [hereafter MPC]. Thus although the majority of the text is the same as that of MPC, it omits a number of the passages of commentary included in that edition (particularly in the third chapter) but includes several paragraphs not present in the published version. There are also a number of smaller textual differences: for example in MPC the first sentence of the New Comment to I, 7, reads simply 'Aiwass is the Intelligence Communicating' whereas the typescript has 'Aiwass is the name given by Ouarda the Seer as that of the Intelligence Communicating,' and the typescript contains an additional footnote to II, 73, etc. etc. There is a small tear and abrasion to the upper margin of the title page, and a couple of light scratches to the cloth of the boards, otherwise the volume is overall in fine condition. A genuinely scarce work, attractively bound, and with an interesting provenance. Despite the importance of this work, the text remained unpublished until well Crowley's death, and is long out-of-print. Typescript copies do not appear to have been widely circulated during Crowley's lifetime, and contemporary copies such as this virtually never appear on the market.