GLEADOW, Rupert. The Origin of the Zodiac.
London, Jonathan Cape, 1968.
£ 250
FIRST EDITION. 8vo. 239 pp., with 23 ill. and 24 plates. Quarter green cloth, gilt and marbled paper over boards. Original dust jacket in excellent condition, with only minor wear to head and tail of spine. With half-title and autographed title page. Dedication from the author to British writer John Symonds on the upper pastedown: ‘To John / with love and thanks from / Rupert / “Not from the stars do I my judgement pluck” / Shaxper [sic!], sonnet XIV’. Rupert Gleadow was a lawyer and author who served in the secret services during the Second World War. He wrote extensively about astrology and drew Alister Crowley’s horoscope for Symonds’ biographic Alister Crowley: The Beast 666. A fine copy.