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Correspondence from Karl Germer to Philip Kaplan
2432 Laurel Pass Hollywood 46, Cal.
July 13, 1957.
My dear Philip Kaplan:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
The registered book came safely thanks! Also your letter of July which surprised me very much as I see what a wonderful collection of Crowleyana you have. You must have been collecting for many years, your collection is in many ways more complete than mine. I used to have much more, but my Odyssean life, plus seizures by the Nazis forced me to start all over again when I arrived in New York once again in 1941.
I shall make ready a parcel with the following items which you do not list:
79. La Gauloise
85. The Message of the Master Therion (Cal.[ifornia] ed.)
96. Scientific Solution . . . [Scientific Solution of the Problem of Government] by Comte de Fenix
97. The Creed of the Thelemites
98. Oriflamme No I
100. Your Interest in Magick
42. Thumbs Up!
41. Temperance [Temperance: A Tract for the Times]
I add a few odd prospectuses which you might like to put in your collection and a copy of the California copy of Liber OZ.
The copy of Temperance is the only spare I have; you should keep it as a rarity.
21. I have one set of Orpheus, new, uncut, but I am afraid this would be too expensive for you. I have a standing offer for this and hate to part with it. The book is in the Collected Works, thus otherwise available. Would you want to buy it?
48. Bagh-i-Muattar—do you actually have the bound book? Please tell me. My copy was lost during my hectic years in Europe. I would do very much to acquire this book. Could we make a deal or a swap? I am not a collector in the technical sense. I do not care about First ed. or so. I have the manuscript of the World's Tragedy—is here an opening?
60. The Holy Books [Volume I, Volume II, Volume III]. What actually do you have? There is a vellum ed. in three volumes. Montgomery Evans had it and loaned it to me in 1926, so that I could learn the books by heart. You knew him. Did you possibly acquire them after his death? I am much interested in this. I have made a multigraph reproduction of these (except LXI), of which I have some copies left; but they are very awkward, 14" sheets. Still, they contain the "Preliminary Analysis" to LXV, not printed yet.
63. Do you have 63, C. No. 3, which, a, b, c ?
65. Little Essays Toward Truth. I'm surprised you don't have this. If so, I know of a party in L.A. who have a few copies. They distribute to members only of the Order, I think $5.00 It is the edition that was bound by them from sheets in 1939 or so.
66. Khing Kang King. I may have a set of sheets, loose, rather dirty of this. You are the only one to whom I would give these, would you want them?
81. Rosicrucian Scandal. I used to have a spare, but it is too difficult at this stage to search for it. You might remind me of it.
I am wondering what object you have in your collection. Did you ever meet Crowley? You can count on me to do my best to make your collection more complete. But then, have you made provision to safeguard it against expected, and unexpected calamities? These are bound to come, and possibly not too far off. You know, of course, that there are several people in various parts of the planet who have made such collections of Crowleiana so as to preserve this material against contingencies.
The next step will be to pick out some rare ephemera such as Broadsheets etc. which I could let you have on loan for photostating. As to the diaries? That seems a problem. All this here is temporary. I'm still searching for a place in the country where I can set up my archive definitely. Until that time my things are not in proper order. But I won't forget it.
Love is the low, love under will.
Sincerely
Karl Germer
[P.S.] There are some publications made here which you don't have. I'll come back to this.
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