If you’re a fan of leafie there is a good chance you’re a fan of reading, just like we are. Over the last 12 months, we’ve been digging around book fairs, charity shops and other dusty places to dig out rare, limited edition, or just downright interesting books related to cannabis, psychedelics, drugs and the culture that connects us all.
With Christmas looming, you might be looking for a unique gift for the cannabis lover in your life. You might want to find something special for your psychedelic crush, or perhaps you just want to treat yourself to something different to curl up in front of the fire with this winter.
It’s fair to say that we think every book in our bookshop is special, but we’ve picked out seven of the titles we think deserve your attention.
Leaves of Grass: A Compendium of Marijuana
Published in 1971 by the legendary Unicorn bookshop in Brighton, this book is perfect for anyone who loves the rich history of cannabis. Featuring a series of essays, illustrations, recipes and articles, the book is a snapshot of an emerging cannabis culture. So good is this title, our resident book collector doesn’t actually want it to sell.
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Tom Wolfe’s account of Ken Kesey and The Merry Prakster’s is legendary in its own right, and owes a lot to why leafie exists. What could be cooler than owning a rare UK first edition of this seminal story? While this copy is priced high due to its hard to find nature, we also stock a cheaper but equally seminal US first edition here. Either of these books would make an ideal addition to anyone’s psychedelic library.
Albion Dreaming
So much has been written about the psychedelic revolution in America, but the story of LSD in the UK is less well told. Arguably, the UK played a more significant role in the rise and rise of LSD, here Andy Roberts documents the unique British contribution to psychedelia and documents in detail the history of acid on our own shores. Not only is this book fascinating, but this rare copy is signed by the author himself.
Cannabis Britannica
Staying on our own shores, Cannabis Britannica documents the origins of the UK’s legislation and regulations on cannabis before 1928 through the lens of colonialism. In the mid-nineteenth century, the British government was the world’s largest and most powerful drug cartel, controlling the sale of opium and cannabis, but by 1928 it had been outlawed. A fascinating look into the history of cannabis before prohibition as more of the world loosens laws around adult use.
The Glastonbury Festivals
No festival is more synonymous with counterculture than Glastonbury, and while the 200,000-strong event now runs with the efficiency of a small city, its origins are more bohemian and organic. This book, published in the 1980s, documents the festival’s formative years through words and pictures, highlighting its links to the hippie and traveller movements that helped make it the event it is today. What could be better to banish the winter blues than a book that conjures up images of dancing under the summer sun?
The Politics of Ecstasy
Timothy Leary was allegedly called “The most dangerous man in America” by Richard Nixon due to his status as the poster boy of the psychedelic movement. This book is full of essays, articles and insights that formed much of Leary’s rise to popularity and arguably led to his incarceration. Perfect for delving into the formative moments that changed America and the world.
The Hashish Club
This hard-to-find book collects stories by renowned authors such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Alan Poe and W. B. Yeats, all of whom wrote stories under the influence of or directly influenced by drugs. Many of the works are either long out of print or are generally unavailable, including such classics as Havelock Ellis’s account of his first experiments with mescaline in 1898 and Algernon Blackwood’s extraordinary hashish tale A Psychical Invasion. A fascinating look into a practice as old as time, man’s quest to find inspiration through the ingesting of substances for creativity.
