Mushrooms, Russia, and History

New York: Pantheon Books, 1957. First Edition. First edition. Copy 494 of 510 numbered copies. xxi, [1], 212, [4]; xii, [213]- 433, [3] pp. With eighty-two full pages plates and three vignettes. Twenty-six of the plates are watercolors of mushrooms by Jean Henri Fabri. The remaining collotypes were printed by Fratelli Alinari. Fold-out chart in rear pocket. All plates with captioned tissue guards. Two folio volumes bound in publisher's green cloth with crimson spine labels, lettered in gilt with gilt topstain. Fine volumes in the original glassine jackets, which despite shrinking and toning with age as they inevitably do, are in excellent shape. In a Fine slipcase. Rare in any shape but especially this beautiful. A brilliant set of this attractive, profusely-illustrated examination of mycology and mushrooms in world history. It includes the famous first appearance (later reprinted in a diluted form in Life magazine) of the Wasson's first encounter with Maria Sabina and their first experience with psilocybine, a trip funded by the CIA. Their account inspired Timothy Leary and many others to try psychedelic mushrooms. A seminal book in the search for alternate realities. (Inventory #: 140947032)