27                                      
(el)u80icf36   Records dating the writing of the Holy Books show that they were received during the years 1904(ss)-11 E.V.  Crowley received Liber XXXI, the MS. of Liber Legis, on April 8(ss)-10, 1904 E.V..  According to Crowley, Liber CCXX (the edited form of Liber XXXI) was prepared shortly thereafter:

(el)i2li2rp10l11.5Three typed copies of Liber Legis(ss)m made in Cairo in 1904 E.V..  One used by publishers of Zaeehnsdorf edition (Chiswick Press)                previous to rediscovery of MSS. Errors in vellum books                due to the fact that this typescript not properly checked from MSS.

ic   Thus, Liber CCXX existed in typescript soon after Liber Legis was received.  It was given its first publication in                in 1909 E.V., but this first edition was flawed.  (el)f37Liber CCXX and Liber XXXI were both published in (el)f37The Equinox two years later, marking the first publication of Liber XXXI, and the first appearance of Liber CCXX(el)f36 as Crowley intended it.

   Crowley's Diary for 1907 E.V. clearly records the writing of Libri X, XXVII, LXV, LXVI, and CD in the fall of 1907 E.V.  Several other books are mentioned in the Diary and in other sources as having been writtin in this year, but pose problems of exact identification and provenance.

   In his Confessions (page        and quoted above) Crowley suggests that Liber VII was received during the same period as (el)f37Liber LXV.  An obscure entry in his 907 E.V. for 1:30 a.m. of October 30 (just prior to Liber LXV's reception) may record this: About 11 p.m. of October 29 (I suppose) I began the 7 fold Word & finished the same.

   Crowley writes in his Confessions that these books were written with the utmost rapidity, without pausing for thought for a single moment.  The Diary entry confirms this: Liber VII, a book of over 5700 words, was written in only 21/2 hours.  For comparative purposes, Liber VII is slightly longer than the MS. of Liber Legis, which was taken from dictation in 3 hours.

   The Diary for 1907 E.V. also records the writing of two parts of Liber CCXXXI, but not the text proper.  In the Confessions Crowley attributes Liber CCXXXI to 1911 E.V.; the textual portion of this book may have been written in that year.  However, in the same section of his Confessions, Crowley mistakenly attributes three of the books written in 1907 E.V. to the year 1911 E.V.  These are Libri X, LXVI  and CD.  Such confusion is understandable since Crowley had lost his diaries for both 1907 and 1911 E.V., and was writing from memory for The Confessions roughly a decade later.  However, Libri I, XC, CLVI and CCCLXX(el)f36 are also listed in the Confessions as being produced in 1911 E.V., as may well have been the case.