The Selected Letters of Kenneth Grant
Apr 18, 2024 12:21:10 GMT
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Post by Michael Staley on Apr 18, 2024 12:21:10 GMT
Work continues on preparing the first volume of The Selected Letters of Kenneth Grant for publication towards the end of this year. Although I did the groundwork for this a few years ago with Steffi Grant – sourcing the letters from a diversity of archives, and typing them – I had to leave further work aside for a while due to other demands on my time. At one time I was thinking that this first volume would go up to the end of 1969, but as time has gone by I have unearthed yet more material and thus this span of time in one volume is wildly unrealistic.
This first volume, then, is now likely to run from 1944 – when Grant first established contact with Crowley – to the end of 1951. It takes in the letters which Grant wrote to Steffi whilst living at ‘Netherwood’ in the Spring of 1945. This is a fascinating series of letters, throughout which can be glimpsed life with Crowley and the day-to-day life at ‘Netherwood’. These letters will be augmented with diary entries describing, for instance, an experiment with ether under Crowley’s supervision; there is also an account of an astral journey, again undertaken with Crowley’s supervision.
After Crowley’s death, Grant made contact with Gerald Yorke in 1948, and after consultation with Crowley’s successor Karl Germer they embarked on the mammoth task of making typed copies of Crowley’s papers before they were shipped to Germer in the USA. At the same time, Grant opened correspondence with Germer, and this led to Germer issuing Grant with a charter to establish a Camp of the O.T.O. On the basis of this, Grant founded the British Branch of the O.T.O., itself in effect the forerunner of New Isis Lodge.
Editing of the letters goes no further than the silent correction of obvious typos and occasional changes of punctuation. Footnotes are added sparingly where they are deemed to be helpful.
I’ll post more of this topic as the work of preparation progresses.
This first volume, then, is now likely to run from 1944 – when Grant first established contact with Crowley – to the end of 1951. It takes in the letters which Grant wrote to Steffi whilst living at ‘Netherwood’ in the Spring of 1945. This is a fascinating series of letters, throughout which can be glimpsed life with Crowley and the day-to-day life at ‘Netherwood’. These letters will be augmented with diary entries describing, for instance, an experiment with ether under Crowley’s supervision; there is also an account of an astral journey, again undertaken with Crowley’s supervision.
After Crowley’s death, Grant made contact with Gerald Yorke in 1948, and after consultation with Crowley’s successor Karl Germer they embarked on the mammoth task of making typed copies of Crowley’s papers before they were shipped to Germer in the USA. At the same time, Grant opened correspondence with Germer, and this led to Germer issuing Grant with a charter to establish a Camp of the O.T.O. On the basis of this, Grant founded the British Branch of the O.T.O., itself in effect the forerunner of New Isis Lodge.
Editing of the letters goes no further than the silent correction of obvious typos and occasional changes of punctuation. Footnotes are added sparingly where they are deemed to be helpful.
I’ll post more of this topic as the work of preparation progresses.
