Description
The first edition, first printing of the Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda, with the publisher’s first state dust jacket.
Octavo, xvi, 498pp. Blue cloth, title stamped in gilt on the spine and front cover. No other printings noted. Red topstain. Notable dampstain along foredge, impacting the title page and preface. This work is complete, with a frontispiece portrait, map of India and 15 illustrated plates. Previous ownership inscrition on the front free endpaper. Dampstain affecting blue cloth on both covers and red topstain. Solid text block. In the publisher’s first state dust jacket, fair condition, $3.50 on the front flap, chipping and loss to all covers, archival tissue repairs to flap hinges, loss at head and heel of the spine, a scarce example in any condition.
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda was first published in December 1946 by The Philosophical Library in New York. It was followed by a second edition in 1949, from the same publisher. The book recounts Yogananda’s spiritual journey and experiences with yogic masters. It was reissued in 1951 by Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF), the organization founded by Yogananda, which has continued to publish authorized editions. The 1951 edition included extensive revisions and a final chapter written by Yogananda shortly before his death. The book has been translated into more than 50 languages and is recognized as one of the “100 Most Important Spiritual Books of the 20th Century.”