Mandrake Press

{{distinguish|Mandrake of Oxford}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox publisher

|name = Mandrake Press

|image =

|parent =

|founded = {{Start date and age|1929}}
(as Mandrake Press Ltd)

|founder = Edward Goldston, P. R. Stephensen

| defunct = {{end date and age|1930}}

|country = United Kingdom

|headquarters = London, United Kingdom

|keypeople = Aleister Crowley
(Chairman & CEO)

|publications = Books

|topics = Magic, Occultism, Thelema

|revenue =

|imprints =

}}

The Mandrake Press was a British small press founded by Edward Goldston and P. R. Stephensen in 1929. In 1930, the company had financial problems and a consortium led by Aleister Crowley formed Mandrake Press Ltd to take it over. The consortium was likewise unsuccessful, and the company was dissolved in 1930.{{Cite journal |title=The Companies Act, 1929. • MANDRAKE PRESS Limited |journal=The London Gazette |date=9 December 1930 |issue=33668 |page=7940 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33668/page/7940 |accessdate=30 December 2017}}

Notable authors

Mandrake Press published over 30 items, including D. H. Lawrence, The Paintings of D H Lawrence together with works by Liam O'Flaherty, Rhys Davies, Giovanni Boccaccio, Peter Warlock under the pseudonym Rab Noolas, S. S. Koteliansky, Aleister Crowley, Thomas Burke, Cecil Roth, Beresford Egan, W. J. Turner, Brinsley MacNamara, Edgell Rickword, Richard Barham Middleton, V. V. Rozanov, Philip Owens, Vernon Knowles, and others.The Mandrake Press 1929–1930 Catalogue of an exhibition at Cambridge University Library September to November 1985. Limited to 300 copies. With a prefatory essay by Jack Lindsay, arranged and with a tabulation of items published by the Mandrake Press. New edition published by Cambridge: Cambridge University Library, 1985.

Notable publications

At the 1985 Cambridge University Exhibition of the works of The Mandrake Press, it was believed that no copies of the Book of Tobit, a part of the Catholic bible, had been produced, even though the book had been announced and a prospectus issued. Since then, three copies have been discovered – one in an Australian library and two in private collections.The Book of Tobit decorated by Ann Gillmore Carter [http://nla.gov.au/anbd.bib-an6751781 Australian Library Collections]

Book series

  • Black Lodge Booklets
  • Mandrake Booklets[https://seriesofseries.com/mandrake-booklets/ Mandrake Booklets], seriesofseries.com. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  • Mandrake Press Booklets[https://bookcollectors.org.au/the-mandrake-press-booklets/ The Mandrake Press Booklets], bookcollectors.org.au. Retrieved 26 February 2023.

Notes

References

  • {{cite book |title=Wild Man of Letters: The Story of P. R. Stephensen |first=Craig |last=Munro |publisher=Melbourne University Press |year=1984}}
  • {{Cite web |last=Munro |first=Craig |title=Stephensen, Percy Reginald (1901–1965) |publisher=Melbourne University Press |year=2000 |url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120084b.htm |accessdate=2007-05-24}}
  • Mandrake Press: Cambridge University Exhibition Catalogue, 1985

Further reading

  • {{cite book |first=Dave |last=Evans |year=2007 |title=The History of British Magic After Crowley: Kenneth Grant, Amado Crowley, Chaos Magic, Satanism, Lovecraft, the Left Hand Path, Blasphemy and Magical Morality |publisher=Hidden Design Ltd |isbn=0-9555237-0-2}}

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Category:1929 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom

Category:British companies established in 1929

Category:Publishing companies established in 1929

Category:1930 disestablishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Defunct companies of the United Kingdom