2020 has proven to be a very difficult year for Kamuret, and all publishing projects have been postponed to a later date. I do hope that you have been able to cope well during these times of global pandemic and long lockdowns, and I am pleased to give you a publication update, now that I seem to have caught up with all the work that had been disrupted at the beginning of 2020.
The Sword of Song: Called by Christians The Book of the Beast, edited, annotated and introduced by Richard Kaczynski
Publication Date: December 2020
(* the cover is not definitive and may be subject to changes)
333 standard copies; Royal Quarto; red & black ink, dust jacket; blue cloth cover; stitched; blue end-papers; 330 pp.
31 deluxe copies; Royal Quarto; red & black ink, blue leather; gold embossing; blue end papers; 330 pp.
The Sword of Song (1904) is the most important of Aleister Crowley’s early works. His first talismanic book, it synthesized his interests in poetry, religion, mysticism and magick into a work that is at turns witty, profound and baffling. It would serve as the template to his celebrated Konx Om Pax (1907), and his unsurpassed mix of profundity and absurdity in The Book of Lies (1912/3). Significantly, it also offers insight into his mindset around the time of his received text, The Book of the Law, in 1904.
This edition follows the layout of The Sword of Song’s rare first edition, while incorporating subsequent revisions and additions from its republication in volume 2 of Crowley’s Collected Works (1906). The introduction by Crowley biographer Richard Kaczynski’s documents this book’s genesis and extensive revisions, while editorial footnotes illuminate obscure references, kabbalistic riddles, altered or deleted passages, and much more.
From the Introduction
“In Aleister Crowley’s oeuvre, The Sword of Song is arguably the greatest story never told. It is a book of firsts: his first manifesto, his first talismanic book, his first mystical essays, his first nod to sexual mysteries, and an enticing preview of what was to come in The Book of the Law, the spirit-writing that would form the cornerstone of his philosophy. This foreshadowing of his revealed text has received surprisingly little comment among Crowley scholars; on this ground alone, The Sword of Song deserves further study, for it uniquely reveals the workings of Crowley’s mind in the years leading up to penning The Book of the Law”.
Women of Thelema: Selected Essays, edited by Manon Hedenborg White and Christian Giudice
Publication Date: March 2021
(* the cover is not definitive and may be subject to changes)
From the Introduction
“A remarkable feature of the occultism of the fin-de-siècle was its high preponderance of female leaders. This is also true of Aleister Crowley’s Thelema, in which a number of women throughout the 20th century have played key roles as mediums, ritualists, initiatrixes, artists, writers, translators, publishers, and financial benefactors. The first book to take a deep, cross-historical look at Thelemic women, Women of Thelema comprises a collection of essays detailing the lives and works of some of the most important women within and beyond the Thelemic movement, including Rose Kelly, Roddie Minor, Leah Hirsig, Jane Wolfe, Martha Küntzel, Steffi Grant, and Annemarie Aeschbach.
In this volume, these women appear not only as essential figures in the development, transmission, and transformation of Thelema from its emergence until the present, but as occult visionaries and leaders in their own right, many of whom transcended the gendered conventions of their age”.
I wish you all the best and I thank you for your continued interest in Kamuret’s publications. Stay safe and stay tuned for more detailed updates!
Chris, Kamuret Press