1957 ❧ The author's copy of this visionary treatise on mushrooms. WASSON, VALENTINA PAVLOVNA. 1901-1958. WASSON, R. GORDON. 1898-1986. Mushrooms, Russia and History. New York: Pantheon Books, 1957. 2 volumes, 8vo (328 x 240 mm). Title page printed in red and black with a monochrome fungal vignette, 82 full-page plates; ethnomycological chart folding into rear pocket of Vol. II. Original green-gray buckram, spines with crimson fabric lettering-pieces stamped in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut; original glassines; original slipcase. Provenance: R. Gordon Wasson (bookplate). LIMITED EDITION, number 130 of 512 copies. Written over several decades by J.P. Morgan Vice President R. Gordon Wasson and his Russian-born pediatrician wife, Valentina, this work explores the deep, bifurcated historical attitudes toward fungi across global cultures. The authors famously map civilization into 'mycophilic' (mushroom-loving) societies, such as the Slavic peoples, and 'mycophobic' (mushroom-fearing) societies, such as Anglo-Saxon traditions. Beyond its extensive evaluation of European folklore, historical poisoning mysteries, and linguistics, the book is internationally renowned for containing the very first comprehensive public account of the Wassons' encounters with the Mazatec curandera María Sabina in Oaxaca, Mexico. This fieldwork marked the first time Westerners actively participated in a sacred, shamanic psilocybin mushroom ritual-an event that directly catalyzed the mid-century psychedelic counterculture movement and altered the trajectory of 20th-century ethnobotany, pharmacology, and psychology. THE AUTHOR'S OWN COPY WITH HIS BOOKPLATE. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing