White Stains (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781440416194)

Variations of sodomy, pederasty, bestiality, and necrophilia are interwoven with gleeful blasphemy in this seminal collection of poetry by Aleister Crowley. Inspired by Krafft-Ebing's study of sexual perversity, Psychopathia Sexualis, it purports to be "the literary remains of George Archibald Bishop, a neuropath of the Second Empire." Crowley's infamous first book, White Stains was clandestinely printed in 1898 by Leonard Smithers. Of the one hundred numbered copies that were originally printed, only a handful were spared destruction by Her Majesty's Customs; an outcome which speaks against Crowley's decision to invoke the blessing of the Virgin Mary in his prefatory sonnet. Crowley would go on to establish himself as a leading figure in the Western occult tradition. A drug addict, bisexual, and proponent of sex magick, Crowley's flamboyantly impious lifestyle would lead the tabloid press to crown him "The Wickedest Man in the World."

Author: Aleister Crowley
ISBN-10: 1440416192
ISBN-13: 9781440416194
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Language: English
Published: 09/11/2008
Pages: 112
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.39lbs
Size: 9.02h x 5.98w x 0.27d