|
Correspondence from Louis Wilkinson to Karl Germer
From Louis Wilkinson,
17 St. Leonard's Terrace London, S.W.3. England
27th December 1947.
Dear Mr. Germer,
I am sorry not to have written before this in reply to your letter of the 13th, with enclosed copy of your letter to Aleister's solicitors; but I have been away, and things have gotten into arrears. You may be sure that any letters that you may write either to Lady Harris [Frieda Harris], Mr. Symonds [John Symonds], or myself, will have the attention of all three.
You were, I am sorry to say, right in thinking that some hitch might arise. The money that Aleister left in cash should be enough to pay outstanding debts, including funeral expenses; though, as about £100 is owing to the printers and there are fairly large amounts claimed by the "Netherwood" proprietor [Vernon Symonds], the doctor, and certain others, I do not anticipate that much, if any, of the £460 or so that he left will remain. (Of this sum, about £30 was in the Bank of England notes that have been "called in," but the banker assured us that, after delay, they would be encashed.—Hence the statement of £430 by the solicitors.) However, the Official Receiver in Bankruptcy has now declined to allow Aleister's goods to be removed from William Whiteley's where they have been in storage since March, '41. The idea is, I suppose that he should sell them to pay a further dividend to the old-time creditors who received only twopence in the nineteen-thirties. But, when it is realized that practically all of Aleister's estate will be swallowed up in payment of recent debts—which I understand from his lawyer take precedence over pre-bankruptcy debts—and that the goods stored at Whiteley's are almost entirely books and manuscripts, we hope that the Official Receiver will see that there is no money for the former creditors. If, on the other hand, he insists on taking everything into his own hands, that will mean that the cash which Lady Harris and I have lodged at Lloyds Bank, Hastings, will continue not to be available for us to pay the debts with, but that the Official Receiver will take over and pay the debts himself. How much further delay there will be before all this is cleared up, I can't tell. We are trying to expedite it as far as possible. But I can assure you that Mr. [John] Symonds and myself will see that the books and papers now in storage are not sold to others or destroyed. We shall make the Official Receiver an offer for them, or, if he insists on putting them up for auction, we shall acquire them there. Should this prove to be necessary, we would take advantage of your considerate suggestion and apply to you for funds for the purchase of the books and papers concerned. Lady Harris and I have already paid the storage bill at Whiteley's. We did this because they requested it urgently and informed me that they had been for some time legally entitled to sell all the goods to defray storage charges, and we wished to make quite sure that no calamity of this kind would happen. This was before we had heard of the Official Receiver's intervention. The storage charges were rather over, and Lady Harris has also paid the* bill of the man who looked after Aleister and made disbursements for him, as he could not afford to wait; and the nurses' bill. However, she and I will be reimbursed either by the Official Receiver or, if he decides to withdraw, by ourselves from the cash in the Bank at Hastings which at present we cannot touch. In any event we cannot touch it until you as co-Executor, give your consent via Messrs Mennser, Idle & Brackett, in legal form.
You may already know that all the books and papers which were at Netherwood are now lodged at Mr. Symonds' house, and we have sorted them. Mr. Symonds has been to view the goods at Whiteley's and reports that there does not appear to be anything of the first importance there. But of course he could not examine thoroughly, and certainly no chances must be taken. The difficulty in the way of sending you the books and papers, as stipulated in the Will, is that the U.S. Customs may quite conceivably confiscate them. We are apprehensive of this, and would be glad to hear what you think. Also I do not think there is any way of insuring goods in transit across the Atlantic, and, if there were, this would only ensure a more inquisitive survey on the part of the Customs authorities. The most satisfactory way of getting the books and papers to you would be for some responsible person to take them in his charge, when leaving England for U.S.A. Would it be possible for your friend, the member of the O.T.O., to do this, or could you find another responsible man? We are all very sorry that you cannot be in England yourself. Of course, as things are, nothing can be done until this unfortunate matter of the Official Receiver is cleared up; for he may insist on access to the goods of Aleister's that are at Mr. Symonds' as well as on access to the goods stored at Whiteley's. The mere name of A.C. may be likely to start the Customs people off, I shall think?
As to the printer, I suspended all work on the books when I was at Hastings because there seems a good chance of them being published by William Rider, who in this case would complete the work themselves. We feel that the books would have a wider circulation if they were issued by a publisher. I should be glad to know your opinion of this. I understand that another £200 or so would be required for the printing and binding to be completed, and this sum would not be chargeable to the estate (even if there were enough money to meet it) as it would be incurred after Aleister's death. If you wish to send Lady Harris or myself funds to pay the printers for this further work (supposing either that you prefer this to publication by Rider, or supposing that Rider decides not to publish) and to pay the Official Receiver for any payments that we may have to make to him for books and papers, we would put the same into a separate executors' bank account and would, of course, render you a full account of it. But it is not urgent, or even really necessary that you should do this. It is merely that, if we were suddenly called upon for larger payments than anticipated, it might be rather inconvenient.
I am sending this by airmail, as posting it has already been too long delayed. I will send you all the press-cuttings that I have relative to Aleister's death and cremation, but I have lent them so cannot enclose with this. I will get them back as soon as I can. They are mainly of the contemptible gutter-press sort, just as they have been in U.S.A. I have not actually seen any U.S.A. press-cuttings but will look out for them, as I generally se Time and some other American publications. I am afraid it would be no use taking out a Press-cutting Bureau subscription as they do not undertake to secure cuttings from past issues, and the vicious and ignoble clamour about Aleister has now subsided. James Laver wrote a good article upon him for the London Times, which they said they would print, but then it seems that they funked it. I have recently lectured upon him in Suffolk and what I said was sympathetically received.
I wonder if you would kindly send on the cuttings which I will send you, or a typewritten copy of them, to my daughter Mrs. Vernon Kirchner, 215 Fairbanks Road, Dedham, Mass., as that would save them two journeys across the Atlantic?
To my personal knowledge, the original of the Book of the Law, the copy of the Stele [Stele of Revealing], and the Seal Ring, are all at Mr. Symonds' house. The Urn will be despatched from N. Brighton where the cremation took place, very shortly. I was not present when Aleister died, but was told by one who was present that he died most peacefully. Lady Harris was with him the day before and found him failing fast, but not in any pain. I had seen him not long before and my impression also was that he was very weak and unable generally. He said to me, "I am sorry that you should have come to visit a log." But he was not in pain at any time. The Urn will be kept either with Lady Harris or with Mr. Symonds until it can be sent to America. Yes, Gerald Yorke was present at the cremation, but he would not read any of the passages that Aleister had selected (naming either Gerald Yorke or myself as readers) so I read them all.
As to the work that I did in connection with the Commentary on the Book of the Law, I have heard from Mr. Jack Parsons on this matter, but not very satisfactorily. He offers, rather vaguely to do what he can. The position is that I finished the abridgement and it was sent duly, but the second half of the payment to me for the work (according to the contract which I have signed by Aleister), i.e. half of £50, has not been paid. However, this can wait: there is so much else of more importance.
Sincerely yours,
Louis Wilkinson
* I think it important not to pay any bills except those that must be paid, until this matter of the Official Receiver is cleared up. It seems best to avoid the trouble & delay of reclaiming disbursements from him. (if he takes over) The printers seemed to understand that they would have to wait & I expect the other creditors do too.
|