CROWLEY, Aleister. The Diary of a Drug Fiend.

(New Hyde Park, NY): University Books, 1970. First edition thus. Octavo. 368 pages. New Foreword by Leslie Shepard. A new edition of what is at once the most notorious and one of the most brilliant works of 20th-century drug literature. Crowley, who took it upon himself, to experiment with every available drug, wrote the diary in a very short period, in order to get an advance from the publisher to purchase the heroin he needed for his own addiction. After publication of the original in 1923, Crowley was forced to leave England and relocated in Italy. This is a very good copy, small signs of label removal on front pastedown, in good dust jacket. Jacket with some closed tears, and light edgewear.