WAITE, Arthur Edward .: The Quest of the Golden Stairs. A Mystery of KInghood in Faerie, By Arthur Edward Waite. , London: Theosophical Publishing House, 38, Great Ormond Street, London, W.C.I ,1927 .

Mystical adult fairy-tale fantasies with strong interplanetary connotations; a modification and enlargement of two books of the 1890s: 'The Golden Stairs' and 'Prince Starbeam'". Scarce first edition, in a very good original binding. 10.25" x 7.5" x 1" . pp.6/pp.176/ Red cloth spine with gilt titles, over blue papered boards. Board edges a little rubbed. Light toning to endpapers, otherwise clean throughout, with no library marks or handwritten notes. Original owner's bookplate: "Sidney A. Cook". ( A member of the Theosophical Society in America and an author in his own right). Also; a small label to the verso of the front boad: "N. J. Doris, Antiquarian & Secondhand Book Dealer, Back Room Bookshop, 170 Derby Road, Nottingham..." Clean throughout. A well preserved copy VG. .** " ...During his lifetime Waite was castigated, and with justification, for his peculiarities of style, for his frequent errors of historical fact and for his cavalier attitude and contemptuous references to his contemporaries. All this must be admitted against him, but he was also a highly original thinker who broke completely new ground with his studies of what he termed the ’secret Tradition', while, for the esoteric school of thought within Freemasonry, he has been the most pervasive and powerful influence of this century..." - See The Masonic Career of A. E. Waite by R. A. Gilbert . *** " Arthur Edward Waite (October 2, 1857 – May 19, 1942), while born in America, is better known as an English mystic, occultist and prolific writer on Masonic and esoteric subjects. A member of the famous occult order, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Waite has had published a number of important books on esoteric matters. His most lasting legacy however, is not through his books, but via the Tarot deck he created. Called the Rider Waite Tarot Deck, it is perhaps the most popular tarot deck to have come out of the twentieth century.... " - See, A. E. Waite's biography by George Knowles . (Book ref. 37452)  £75.00

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