Autograph Letter, Signed, from Aleister Crowley to Nicholson & Venn.
Maidenhead, England: 1941. Original two-page autograph letter signed by Aleister Crowley to Nicholson & Venn. Written on both sides of a single sheet of 7 x 5 inch blue paper, with printed letterhead at the head reading: “Thames Hotel / (On the Promenade) / Maidenhead / Berks” The letter is undated but was almost certainly written in late May or early June 1941. Approximately 100 words. The letter opens and closes with the Thelemic greetings in full.
Crowley writes to Nicholson & Venn, the gallery scheduled to hold an exhibition of Lady Frieda Harris’s Thoth Tarot paintings, asking whether they could spare 25 copies of the exhibition catalogue. The letter concludes: “Love is the law, love under will. Yours faithfully Aleister Crowley,” followed by Crowley’s characteristic phallic “A” signature.
This particular letter was passed by Nicholson & Venn to Lady Frieda Harris. The exhibition created considerable tension between Harris, the gallery, and Crowley, and it may have been for this reason, or another related circumstance, that Harris tore the letter cleanly in two down the middle, presumably intending to discard it. She appears to have had a change of heart, however, as she retained the letter with a group of other correspondence received from Crowley. Harris eventually gave this material to another Crowley associate, Edward Noel Fitzgerald (1908–1958), from whose collection the letter comes. Fitzgerald, also known as Frater Agape, was a IX° member of the O.T.O. and was reportedly being groomed by Karl Germer to head the O.T.O. in Britain when he died unexpectedly.
Also included is a certificate of authenticity signed by Marilyn Rinn of Weiser Antiquarian Books, dated December 3, 2010. The letter has a few creases, and the large vertical tear resulting in it being in two pieces, else in very good condition. Item #400
Price: $2,500.00