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FIRST EDITION with SIGNED page laid in. The single sheet is SIGNED in full in black ink by author Aldous Huxley. The otherwise-blank sheet measures 18.5 x 12cm, almost the same size as the pages of the book, & appears to be very similar paper to the endpapers - possibly either tipped-in at some point or removed from another volume. FIRST EDITION, stated on copyright page. Additionally, the printed letters "M-C" appear below the First Edition statement, indicating the month & year of printing (December 1953). The first US edition (Harper & Brothers) was published simultaneously with the first UK edition (Chatto & Windus), both 1954. Huxley's well-known classic work, an account of his use of mescaline, which has been described as "the most influential single work on the use of psychedelic drugs". This mid-1950s work sparked a generation of drug experimentation. The Doors famously took their band name from the title. From inner flaps of dustjacket (in full): "'One bright May morning', writes Mr Huxley, 'I swallowed four-tenths of a gram of mescalin dissolved in half a glass of water and sat down to wait for the results'. One of the results was this most unusual and compelling book. Mescalin is the active principle of peyote - the desert cactus long used by the Indians of Mexico and the Southwest in their religious rites. Though harmless, at any rate for persons in good health, the drug produces profound alterations of consciousness. In Blake's phrase, it 'cleanses the doors of perception', so that the world is transfigured and takes on a beauty, a significance, a quality of infiniteness, undreamed of at ordinary times. Mr. Huxley describes these cleansed perceptions and discusses, as he goes along, a number of the problems in philosophy, in art, in religious experience, on which they throw a new and revealing light. Whether the reader agrees with Mr. Huxley's conclusions or not, The Doors of Perception remains a unique glimpse into the mind of one of the greatest living writers, and a challenging discussion of the human personality". Set in Linotype Times Roman. Format by Robert Cheney. Manufactured by The Haddon Craftsmen. Printed in the USA. Bound in publisher's original light blue cloth backed by black cloth spine with bright silver lettering. NO DUSTJACKET (Lacking both front & rear panels). The only remnants of the original dustjacket are the two INNER FLAPS, both of which are laid in (with original first edition published price of $1.50 intact). Mild bump to top edge of front board, very slight shelfwear, otherwise a nice clean tight solid hardcover copy. 79pp. Scarce SIGNED copy of the uncommon first edition of this cult classic. RARE.
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