The Doors of Perception.
London: Chatto & Windus, 1954. First UK edition, first printing. Publisher's full light blue cloth, in John Woodcock dust jacket (6s. Net). 62, [2]. 7.5" x 5" Rubbing to spine tips and corners, light toning to endpapers, owner inscription from year of publication to ffep, near fine in near fine dust jacket, spine and rear toned a shade, light wear to corners and tips, several short closed tears to upper edge, in mylar cover. Item #242980
A SACRED TRIP
Aldous Huxley's 1953 experience with psychedelics thrust him from the realm of respectable English authorship to psychedelic evangelism. In Humphry Osmond's LA home, the psychiatrist who coined the term "psychedelic" gave Huxley his first mescaline dose. While Osmond worried away at rendering the great literary mind insane, Huxley's mind opened to the sublime. Before recounting his experience in The Doors of Perception, drug-induced hallucinations were regarded as distortions, but the mystic author's trip introduced the possibility that psychedelics allowed philosophical and spiritual exploration, laying the groundwork for psychiatric research in the 60s and mainstream drug use in the 70s.
Presented here is a first UK edition, first printing.
Price: $725.00