{"product_id":"white-stains-9781440416194","title":"White Stains","description":"Variations of sodomy, pederasty, bestiality, and necrophilia are interwoven with gleeful blasphemy in this seminal collection of poetry by Aleister Crowley. Inspired by Krafft-Ebing's study of sexual perversity, Psychopathia Sexualis, it purports to be \"the literary remains of George Archibald Bishop, a neuropath of the Second Empire.\" Crowley's infamous first book, White Stains was clandestinely printed in 1898 by Leonard Smithers. Of the one hundred numbered copies that were originally printed, only a handful were spared destruction by Her Majesty's Customs; an outcome which speaks against Crowley's decision to invoke the blessing of the Virgin Mary in his prefatory sonnet. Crowley would go on to establish himself as a leading figure in the Western occult tradition. A drug addict, bisexual, and proponent of sex magick, Crowley's flamboyantly impious lifestyle would lead the tabloid press to crown him \"The Wickedest Man in the World.\"\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Createspace Independent Publishing Platform","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50556732604690,"sku":"9781440416194","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_c99ffa77-5c6f-46b9-add3-b3ee6a4522c1.jpg?v=1737237578","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/white-stains-9781440416194","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}