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Correspondence from Philip Kaplan to Gerald Yorke
May 21st 1956
Dear Mr. Yorke:
So much to write about that I hardly know where to begin. Germer [Karl Germer] must have written you about our meeting in N.Y. if not here it is. Sam Jacobs [Samuel Jacobs] and I met Carl [sic] and young Alaister [sic] [Aleister Ataturk] (Mc Alpin. I think that is his name) we had dinner together and to me it was a wonderful meeting. Sam and Carl had known each other many years ago and they had quite a bit to exchange. Too bad that Carl was packed and on the way to the coast as I would have liked to have seen some of the Crowley books in his collection. We talked about the possibility of publishing some of A.C.'s unpublished material and Carl was quite enthusiastic when he gets settled we may do something about it. After all Sam is one of the great American typographers we should take advantage of that. Sam was one of the committee who picked out A.C.'s Star and Garter as one of the great typographical layouts in the Books of Our Time Exhibit held in 1951, (stat enclosed).
The Mss for Baudelaire [Charles Baudelaire] are by Cheever Dunning not by A.C. Dunning is a British poet who Ezra Pound thought a great deal of.
I got the six nos. of the Occult Observer and enjoyed your articles on A.C. as well as the other magical subjects you covered. I am afraid I am not in your class as a student of the occult, my knowledge is limited. I approach the occult more from the viewpoint of the modern artist who associated himself with the mystics for extension.
My Fatherland copies lie buried in my basement I hope to get at them soon. Did you get any A.C.'s at the Sotheby sale on May 8th? I bid on all of them but my price was about half of what they brought. Which brings me to the subject of Monty Evans [Montgomery Evans] books and letter which my dealer finally offered to me. Here is a list of books he offered:
Cammel, Richard [Charles Cammell] A.C. Confessions [The Confessions of Aleister Crowley] Magic Master Therion Star and Garter Book 4 (6 copies) Sword of Song Vellum Ed. Beautifully Bound with original design in relief 8 vols Equinox Large Ltd. Ed. Holy Books [Volume I, Volume II, Volume III] (3) vellum ed vellum binding Book of Lies vellum ed Magician (Maugham) Legend of AC [The Legend of Aleister Crowley] High History [Sir Palamedes] Diary of a Dope Fiend [The Diary of a Drug Fiend] Plus letters and some Mss. nothing important.
My dealer has asked me $800.00 for the lot. I thought that his price was a way out of line. I offered him $500.00. What do you think? Of course I have most of the books but there are some real rarities here.
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