CADUCEUS BOOKS
28 Darley Rd., Burbage, Hinckley, Leicester, LE10 2RL
Tel. (0)1455 250542 Fax (0)870 0552982
Proprietor Ben Fernee, Visitors welcome by appointment
Web pages
http://www.cadu.demon.co.uk/ & http://www.io.com/~albion/caduceus/Original artwork and books published by Mr. Austin Osman Spare
and other related items
TERMS
All books offered subject to being unsold. Prices do not include postage which is charged extra, at cost. Please telephone, write, fax or email your order, I can then let you know how much the postage will be. If you receive no response then that item has already sold. Payment can be made by cash (please send significant amounts by recorded delivery or registered mail), cheque, postal orders, credit cards (Access, Visa & Mastercard), International Money Orders & bankers drafts. Payments can be made in foreign currency, put please add the equivalent of the following to cover exchange costs:- cash - £3 (no charge for US $); cheques under £100 - £5; cheques over £100 - £10. A book can be returned providing that this is done promptly & that it is safely packaged. While the cost of the book will be refunded postage expenses will be charged. If a book is found to be not as described all postage costs will be refunded. By prior arrangement books can be sent on approval. If you require further information concerning a title do please do not hesitate to get in contact.ABBREVIATIONS 1st Ed First Edition; bd Binding; bds Boards; Bkpt Bookplate; Bkt Booklet; cl Cloth; cold Coloured; dec Decorated; discold Discoloured; DW Dustwrapper; F Fine (almost like new); facs Facsimile; fep Free end papers; Frontis. Frontispiece; G Good (well used); HB Hardback; Illus Illustrated; Insc Insciption; Ltd Limited; LF Large Format; M Mint; mks Mark; n.d. Not Dated; OP Out of Print; o/w Otherwise; Pub. Published; SF Small Format; sp Spine; teg Top edge gilt; VG Very Good (some signs of use)
All prices in British Pounds (approx US $1.62)
Original artwork
Inverse Alternation, From Bad to Worse
Pastel on wood panel (15ins x 22ins) in original frame. Initialed (and numbered 53) on front. Signed, titled, dated 1954 and numbered 199 by Spare on reverse. Shown at the 1955 Archer Gallery exhibition, the catalogue of which gives its subtitle. It is a striking portrait, the face looking directly at the viewer. The top of the head shades into a background of shimmering, vibrant colour amongst which stalk two satyrs (one hermaphrodite) with finely drawn features, a naked woman cavorts and a winged female soars over. It was used as the cover illustration to Ramsey Dukes, What I Did During My Holidays, Essays on Black Magic, Satanism, Devil Worship & Other Niceties, Mandrake with T.M.T.S. 1998. This work has the essay Exploring Spare’s Magic published in the Divine Draughtsman, Beskin Press 1987. Order No. P1 (click here for image) £2500
The following drawings were executed by Spare in 1924, part of a series which he titled the Book of Ugly Esctacy. It should be noted that the misspelling appears quite deliberate. While he signs his name and gives the rest of the title in a flowing hand, the word "Escacy" is written carefully, one letter at a time. Perhaps this arrangement of letters held some special significance, he uses it on occasion in Focus of life and Anathema of Zos. This series of drawings was the first, but not the only, time he used the concept Ugly Ecstasy, which appears central to his sexual Gnosis. Comparison has been made to Aleister Crowley’s endeavours to seek sexual encounters with amputees, dwarfs and people with deformities, that sexual desire be liberated from superficial attachments. Indeed striking similarities can be seen between the sexual magic of Crowley and Spare. Crowley wrote of magickal children, astral beings borne of energised sexual arousal, with sacramentalised sexual fluids the foundation for their existence. Here Spare drew them.
All these drawings are from the John Balance & Coil collection. Coil being at the cutting edge of avante guarde occult music. All the drawings are in pencil upon A3 paper (29.7cm x 42cm). It should be noted that jpeg images come nowhere near doing the original images justice, the can only give some notion of the subject matter of the picture. Furthermore, to pick up the line the contrast has to be increased to such degree that spurious marks, not on the original can appear in the jpeg. Spare’s fine draughtmanship is notoriously difficult to reproduce. Indeed even the excellent and rightly applauded production by Fulgur Press, the Book of Ugly Ecstasy does not capture the complexity & subtlety of the drawings. Lines that in the original are shades of grey are reproduced as black, which makes a considerable difference. Items D1 – D11 inclusive were reprinted in Fulgur’s Book of Ugly Ecstasy. They are clearly carefully finished, each is initialed and numbered by Spare. Items D12 – D31 inclusive, are more free form, indeed are probably automatic, but are from the same series. These have never been exhibited or published. There is some slight browning to the edges of the paper that does not detract from the drawings in any way, aside from that any fault is noted.
It should be noted that the interpretations made concerning the artwork are speculative. They may, or may not, be true. Indeed given that some images are, to some degree, "automatic" and not consciously contrived by the artist it might be argued that any symbolism is unconscious. Thus their interpretation might have been a matter for speculation by Spare himself! Anyway, the reader may not agree, but may find it useful to have a proposition to disagree with. It would be tedious to surround every sentence with "perhaps" & "may be" so we commence with this qualification.
A Horned Satyr, with one male and one female breast fondles his distended testies. Snot drips from his nose. He sits upon a mound which has a horny head and a nose pouring forth effluvia. Astride his shoulder is a hirsute, cloven hoofed woman her arm reaching up behind her head in a typical Spare gesture, found for instance in Stealing the Fire from Heaven in the Book of Pleasure perhaps signifying reaching into another reality (ie behind the face) whilst rising through the planes. The runny nose may be taken as a glyph for ejaculation, these astral beings born of semen, reaching up to the Goddess. Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order
No.D1 (click here for image) £1700Again the woman has one arm reaching up and behind her head, the other points downwards to become a wing, a common gesture in Spares work (see Nature is more Atrocious in Focus of Life etc.) suggesting "As above so below" her legs trail into a fishes tail. Thus she is reminiscent of Levi’s Baphomet. One thinks of Spare’s statement in Anathema of Zos, written in the same years as these drawings were executed "All things become of desire, the legs to the fish, the wings to the reptile. Thus was your soul begotten" A glyph of transformation and potential, perhaps born of the desire of the male figure in front of her, tailed and clawed, his cock a birds head Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D2 (click here for image) £1550
A Man, again with one arm above and behind his head, the other reaching down has a woman sitting on his thighs. Both have an expression of ecstacy in the faces. From his loins springs forth fire and a beings head and hand. This being has an erect & lengthened nose and ectoplasmic energy swirls from his hand. The creation of a magickal child (or old man!) Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D3 (click here for image) £1550
A multi-faced and multi breasted hirsute being sporting a long tail had stump for arms that are sprouting into wings, as per Stealing the Fire from Heaven in the Book of Shadows. Longer wings sprout from the small of her back giving the form of the inverted cross. Between her legs soars a phallus dragon sporting a horn on his forehead, trailing into ectoplasmic swirls behind. Sexual energies personified. Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D4 (click here for image) £1500
A tailed female figure legs astride, a curly tail and bird heads on her knees, a snake coiled around her head (as a snake coils around Spare’s head in the frontispiece of Focus of Life). Around her cavort phalli beast, one with a horn on head spews forth. His vomit, suggesting ejaculation, appears to contain a frog. Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D5 (click here for image) £1450
A hirsute male figure strangely lacking genitals appears to be pleasuring himself, the ectoplasmic swirls that leap from his hand are amorphous, yet to take form. A picture of the sublimation of sexual energy to creative force upon another plane. Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D6 (click here for image) £1400
Three faced, three breasted figure with spiralling cock and shaggy legs, one arm in front and one arm behind stands beside a squat yoni being arm stumps giving rise to tall wings. Ectoplasmic swirls rise between them. Sexual polarities personified with transformative potential give rise to the first stirrings of new life. Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D7 (click here for image) £1600
Delightful horned old devil with horns, tail, wings, breasts and a phallic nose (but no cloven hooves!) slavers over the breast of an appreciative elderly lady, who aside from he shaggy legs, is surprisingly conventional. Initialed and numbered by Spare The JPG image shows foxing to this drawing which can be professionally removed. Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D8 (click here for image) £1200
Adam and Eve, both old and bald, Adam with a deformed, swollen leg, Eve a dwarf with bow legs look resigned as a fangless serpent leaps up, its mouth wide open, from a tree stump. A strange comment upon the human condition?. Initialed and numbered by Spare. Order No. D9 (click here for image) £1500
A bearded & tailed woman, her fanny wide open, from between her legs springs a striking, horned and fanged snake, which spews vapour, her hand reaches out, ectoplasm streaming forth. Her expression is distant, and her tongue hangs out of her mouth. The creative force of the aroused woman, Eve encounters the Serpent! Order No. D10 (click here for image) £700
Satyr, one hand touching his face, the other reaching down thrusts his loins towards an ectoplasmic shape which appears to be a dancing woman, behind her two faces form. Perhaps the female form is created by the males desire, the heads being borne of her fertilisation by him. Order No. D11 (click here for image) £650
A male dwarf masturbates a female figure with one hand reaching above and behind her head, the other stretching down. In her aroused state she generates a mirror image begins to incarnate behind the dwarf. He appears to have snot emerging from his nose, a glyph of ejaculation. Slight marks to paper. Order
No. D12 (click here for image) £700A horned male figure appears to be sodomising another male while pinching his nipple. The one in front has flame or sparks leaping from his groin. It would appear he has ejaculated. His seed lies on the ground giving rise to plumes of ectoplasm. The heads are highly developed. Order No. D13 (click here for image) £750
A lovely horned and tailed satyr stares at his hand. Interpenetrating his hand is a giant crystal pointing at his chest, the top end grasped by huge talons. Energies appear to be pouring forth to the ground from his thighs. Before him there seems to be manifesting a male figure dancing, one arm reaching up and behind his head. One wonders if the satyr is engaged in some act of skrying (the hand of course was very important in Spare’s system of sorcery) thereby earthing energy that gives rise to new life. Order No. D14 (click here for image) £750
Ram headed woman with six breasts is pawed by a scrabbling breasted goat creature. One hand reaches up, the other down. A lightning bolt strike the one reaching up, whilst plumes of energy rise from the one reaching down, from which a (winged?) head begins to manifest. An act of creation by the aroused Artemis/Baphomet figure Order No. D15 (click here for image) £700
Sturdy male figure in position suggestive of pinching one nipple whilst masturbating. From between his legs and in front of him some powerful beast is manifesting. The man’s head is finely drawn. A magnificent image of creation of a magical child by masturbation Order No. D16 (click here for image) £750
Magnificent horned devil, one male breast and one female places his right hand between the thighs of a pert breasted woman. His left arm is a stump. On that side am elderly pot bellied man with a drooping hooked nose appears to be masturbating. One wonders if the devil is a manfestation of the polarity between the male and female figures, perhaps deformed, but no less powerful, because of the frailty of one partner. Order No. D17 (click here for image) £750
A finely drawn head with amorphous body appears to be throttling a dwarf with its right hand while masturbating another figure with its left. The one being pleasured has one male and one female breast, and flame and smoke spewing from his mouth Order No. D18 (click here for image) £650
Two finely drawn heads atop female bodies press against each other, their hands behind their backs. A large male satyr appears to be manifesting in their aura, perhaps the personification of lesbian sexual arousal Order No. D19 (click here for image) £750
A satyr and a buffalo being, both male examine a head. The buffalo being holds an amorphous object from which drips ectoplasm. A squatting female figure eagerly laps up the fluids. One thinks of the creation and consumption of sacramentalised sexual fluids Order No. D20 (click here for image) £680
A cloven hoofed male with finely drawn head sits with legs apart, one arm points down the other touches his lips, line of energy emerge from his groin giving rise to a large portly astral beast who may be masturbating. He has small wings which appear to connect with an astral head emerging from the top of the cloven hoofed male’s aura. Personifications of circulated energy Order No. D21 (click here for image) £650
Cloven hoofed being with striking face & astral tail has one arm behind and one in front, generating swirling energies which appear to be about to manifest as faces. Order No. D22 (click here for image) £660
Grotesque man pinches his nipple, perhaps the woman in front of him who has her hand on his thigh is an exteriorisation of this act as around her neck writhes a bird headed snake creature. Beyond her, upon another level of exteriorisation, a barely incarnate being manipulates her. Spare drew a snake around his own head in the frontispiece to the Book of Pleasure. Order No. (click here for image) D23 £600
Stout but grotesque man, his face melting, a tail and shaggy limbs reaches out his left hand. Energy lines surge from between his legs and his outstretched hand, spiraling upwards, starting to generate a being which will probably be horned and winged. This being seems to attract the aura from about his head. The creation of a being from psychosexual energy. Order No. D24 (click here for image) £625
An old man, shaggy limbed, one arm up and behind his head, a typical Spare gesture, has his thigh stroked by a strange beast, its other limb rests on the thigh of a woman who skrys into her palm. She has buffalo horns. Perhaps it is a beast born of their union Order No. D25 (click here for image) £600
A man, face melting spills his seed onto the earth. From the swirling energies a horned buffalo being has emerged which pleasures itself while reaching for his groin. The being created has its own desires! Order No. D26 (click here for image) £625
A fat horned buffalo creature struts, a small horned satyr in front of him. From the satyr streams a two faced, winged snake creature. An astral vision of an aroused man, his dick and sperm, that can create in different ways. Perhaps the satyr’s gesture, his finger in his mouth, indicates retention of semen on the physical so that its astral counterpart can leap free. The two faced nature of the snake-sperm the potential for variety in creation. It can go different ways! Order No. D27 (click here for image) £650
Rotund, multi-chinned lady, and a long eared goblin with unicorn sprouting from atop his head. Energy lines stream down from both of them. Clearly embodiments of sexual polarities Order No. D28 (click here for image) £650
A rotund gentleman, finger to his lips in a typical Spare, and Crowley, magickal gesture, his arousal indicated by shaggy legs and groin reaches forward with his other hand. Energy streams from this outstretched hand to a disembodied head, Spare himself(?) with the suggestion of horns. There is a lightening bolt to his eye representing insight, and from his mouth spews forth a flow which is consumed by a bosomly woman. Another figure, more hermathrodite, with a finely drawn face looks on. Highly suggestive of sacramentalised sexual fluids. Order No. D29 (click here for image) £850
Books incarnated by Austin Osman Spare
Earth Inferno, 1st Ed 1905 No.123 of 265 copies signed by Spare LF (18ins x 13.5ins) 28pp Card covs Some sl creasing to pages, some tears in one case affecting drawing, considerable wear to card covs, split down sp G only Order No.B1 £390
Book of Satyrs, 1st Ed 1907 No. 28 of 300 copies Signed by Spare LF (17.5ins x 13ins) 28pp Quarter bound in vellum 11 full page & numerous small drawings. Some wear to paper covering bds, sl mks to vellum VG sound copy Order No.B2 £425
Focus of Life, Morland 1921 1st Ed No. 14 of Deluxe Ed. of 50 Signed by Spare LF (12.5ins x 10ins) Quarter vellum bd teg vi + 44pp Illus with title vignette & 11 of Spare’s most striking Illus. which , as they employ subtle shading with just visible texts, are particularly intolerant of reproduction, hence the 1st of this title is especially attractive. A core work to Spare’s Gnosis. Ed by Frederick Carter with Intro by Francis Marsden, though in fact they were one and the same. This copy has addition of printed label crediting Marsden for Introduction fixed over the mention of Carter on title page. Sl browning of feps but o/w VG+ clean copy Order No. B3 £650
Focus of Life, Morland 1921 1st Ed No. 12 of Deluxe Ed. of 50 Signed by Spare In this copy Carter’s name has been crossed out from title page, before the addition of the printed label crediting Marsden The vellum has been used to clean the nib of a pen leaving many marks, there are also some marks to the cloth fep, front & back fep removed. Order No. B3 £500
Book of Pleasure (Self-Love), the Psychology of Ecstasy, published by the author 1913 1st Ed of 800 copies LF (15.5ins x 10.5ins) iv + 60pp This copy signed by Spare to Edward Craig. He was a member of the Grub Group, an artists collective which, though Spare was not a member, arranged the exhibition and sale of some of his work. It would appear that Craig passed the book to another member of the group who had a closer affinity for Spare, Grace Rogers. The book has her bookplate, designed by Spare, depicting a female body with rams head, one arm morphing into a flaming wing. One thinks of the sexual arousal leading to glimpsed atavism and thence the potential for transformation and inspiration. Grace Rogers was a frequent contributor to the Golden Hind, her work influenced by Spare. She described Spare’s technique of automatic drawing and wrote the article "Symbology in Aesthetics in relation to the Art of Austin Osman Spare" in Artwork Vol. II No.5 1925. Frank Letchford noted "Grace was to help with his book Anathema of Zos which he created by juxtaposing and juggling with lines of his philosophic credo written down as aphorisms, until they made a mystic sense" thus confirming that Rodgers was close to Spare even when he was rejecting the artistic establishment. Some stains to front board, tears to cloth over spine G Order No. B4 £650
Book of Pleasure (Self-Love), the Psychology of Ecstasy, published by the author 1913 1st Ed of 800 copies LF (15.5ins x 10.5ins) iv + 60pp wear to edges and top & tail sp. sl marks to cl VG- Order No. B5 £350
Journals Edited by Austin Osman Spare
Form Vol.I No.1
John Lane 1916 1st Ed LF (18ins x 12ins) Card covs 56pp + 2pp ads Ed Austin Osman Spare & Francis Marsden. Embellished with colour. Spare contributes double page drawing with red tones titled Holocast (A male nude, arms twisted under him in agony (or ecstasy?) gives rise to male with peaceful countenance between two vaguely present female nudes, various head glyphs emerge around them) Also has Spare & Carter’s (ie Francis Marsden) Illus article Automatic Drawing. Double page Lithograph printed in reddish brown titled Nemisis (A sleeping figure gives rise to the winged head of his astral form wide awake. This is inspired by animal atavisms, a female nude and a messenger blowing a trumpet. Plus design for woodcut and numerous drawings. Other contributors include W.B.Yeats, Eight Poems. Card covs are worn at edges, spotted, and has split over rather more than half Sp. GForm Vol.I No.2 John Lane 1917 1st Ed LF (18ins x 12ins) Card covs 40pp + 6pp ads Ed Austin Osman Spare & Francis Marsden. Cold Frontis. Has Lithograph (androgynous? Nude) & double page drawing by Spare (Allergory a spiralling axis portraying fish and bird, man & woman, life & death, light & dark). There are also a number of woodcuts designed by Spare but not atttributed to him, and of course his choice in art. Literary contributors Inc. John Graves, Arthur Waley & Walter de la Mare Wear to edges of card, top of spine chipped, slight VG-
Volume I complete Order No.J1 £300
Form Vol.II No. 1 Moreland Press 1921 1st Ed LF (13ins x 11ins) Card covs 44pp Inc. ads Ed. Austin Osman Spare & W.H.Davies Some cold. Embellishments The woodcut edition, with three examples by Spare; Astaroth, Apuleius & Aaos Awakening , plus dec caps designed by Has cold flier for another Moreland Press title plus flier for Bookplate magazine which mentions Spare him Some wear to covs over sp & at corners G+
Form Vol. II No. 2 Moreland Press 1921 1st Ed LF (13ins x 11ins) Card covs 44pp Inc. ads Ed. Austin Osman Spare & W.H.Davies 40pp some cold embellishments Pen drawing, woodcut (Satyr & Dead Baccha) & dec caps by Spare. Has the Black Arts by J.F.C. Fuller and literary contributions by Havelock Ellis, Siegfried Sassoon & Robert Graves. Has flier with description of & subscription form for Form. Sl chipping top sp VG
Volume II complete Order No. J2 £180
The Golden Hind, Vol. I No.1, Chapman & Hall 1922 1st Ed. LF (15ins x 11ins) Preliminary adverts + 47pp Ed. Austin Osman Spare & Clifford Bax. Deluxe hardback buckram sp, dec bds signed by Spare & Bax No. 32 of 75 Has seven pen drawings plus a striking two page lithograph by Spare, This is the "The New Eden" in which a naked woman is on her knee, her hands tied behind the back in the exact postion utilised by some witchcraft groups for scourging to induce astral projection. She stares at a coiled snake while a Spare as a bat entity looks out at the viewer, above s slip of a moon. A powerful image of Spare’s witchcraft. It also, of course, has choice of other artist’s work! This copy also has the bookplate of Pickford Waller executed by Spare in 1921 showing a (homoerotic?) self portrait. LF Single sheet (somewhat browned) pre-publication flier with extra lithograph by Spare in red (Jason, which appeared in No.2). Also extra loose lithograph by Lawrence Bradshaw signed by him. Also loose extra print, direct from the plate, of one of the Spare drawings. Plus errata slip. Some very sl foxing slight wear to paper covering bds VG
The Golden Hind, Vol. I No.2, Chapman & Hall 1923 1st Ed. LF (15ins x 11ins) Preliminary adverts + 42pp Ed. Austin Osman Spare & Clifford Bax. Deluxe hardback buckram sp, dec bds signed by Spare & Bax No. 28 of 75 Drawing & lithograph by Spare Some unobtrusive wear to paper covering bds. VG
The Golden Hind, Vol.I No.3, Chapman & Hall 1923 1st Ed. LF (15ins x 11ins) Preliminary adverts + 40pp Ed. Austin Osman Spare & Clifford Bax. Deluxe hardback buckram sp, dec bds signed by Spare & Bax No. 28 of 75 Has a striking full page pen drawing by Spare, "Farewell to Synthesis" a woman aroused by the astral Spare represented by his face upon a winged head, its hair sweeping up to her groin, is morphs into a stag/flame creature, an atavistic resurgence. Also a 2 page lithograph by Spare. 2 inch tear to cloth at base of sp, sl wear to corners, and some wear to plain paper covering back board, last blank somewhat browned. G
The Golden Hind, Vol.I No.4, Chapman & Hall 1923 1st Ed. LF (15ins x 11ins) Preliminary adverts + 40pp Ed. Austin Osman Spare & Clifford Bax. Deluxe hardback buckram sp, dec bds signed by Spare & Bax No. 28 of 75 Has reproductions of two bookplates by Spare, an image of Pan and another of a ram headed entity with a flaming wing. Has prospectus for Vol.II a single sheet folded once to indicate the new dimensions (11 ins x 8.5ins) It has a lithograph by Allan Odle and Bax here mentions that some have been shocked by Spare’s work. Also a large format single sheet flier for La Grande Ducasse Drolatique by Haydn Mackey It has a Some slight wear to paper covering bds VG
Golden Hind Vol. II No. 5 Deluxe Hb Ed No. 26 of 75 copies signed by Bax & Spare Spare Dec bds with cl sp HB LF (11 ins x 8.5ins) 48pp Extra loose lithograph by Walter Spradbery, signed by him. This isssue has the ywo page pen drawing by Spare, the Blasé Bacchante and a reproduction of his bookplate design fo G.H.Mackey which is a self portrait with hair streaming into energy lines sl wear to edges & back bd VG
Golden Hind Vol.II No. 6 Deluxe Ed No. 32 of 75 copies signed by Bax & Spare Dec bds with cl sp HB LF (11 ins x 8.5ins) 48pp Extra loose lithograph by Walter Spradbery, signed by him. This being Pickford-Waller’s copy with the 1922 bookplate designed for him by Spare with a demonic head (probably a self portrait) and swirling forms. The edition has two bookplate designed by Spare reproduced, plus a lithograph & woodcut by Grace Rogers that appear to be profoundly influenced by Spare Sl wear to edges & plain paper covering rear bd VG+
A complete set (6 books) all issues with contributions by Spare in deluxe format (Signed, numbered, limited to 75, hardback) with two bookplates of the major patron of Spare (who stuck by Spare to the end of his life) plus other extra items Order No. J3 £2000
The Golden Hind Vol.I Nos. 1, 2, 3 & 4 All card covers This set having two copies of the prospectus for Vol.II Plus flier for La Grande Ducasse Drolatique by Haydn Mackey Some bumping to edges of card covs but all VG
Golden Hind Vol.II Nos 5, 6, 7, 8, Card covs LF (11 ins x 8.5ins) Each 48pp all VG clean copies
A complete set of all published in standard edition with inserts. Order No.J4 £800
Golden Hind Vol. II Nos. 5-8 LF (11 ins x 8.5ins) This issue of all four issues, each 48pp) bound together including their card covers Has two page drawing by Spare the Blasé Bacchante which has led to this edition being referred to as the "Golden Behind" plus three of his occult bookplate are reproduced. One can see Spare’s choice, and possibly influence, as work by artists who were contributors from the start takes on increasingly overt occult themes. Some wear to the paper covering the boards G+ internally F Vol. II complete in unusual & scarce format Order No.J5 £450
The Golden Hind, Vol.I No.4, Chapman & Hall 1923 1st Ed. LF (15ins x 11ins) Card covers Preliminary adverts + 40pp Ed. Austin Osman Spare & Clifford Bax. Has reproductions of two bookplates by Spare VG Order No. J6 £75
Books Illustrated by Austin Osman Spare
Charles Grindrod, Songs from the Classics, Nutt 1907 teg Dec Cl & Illus by Spare with two full page Illus, dec title & 19 substantial head & tail pieces. Given the influence of classical myth upon Spares magick this work can be regarded as of importance. This would appear to be the 1st Ed with Spare’s Illus. A VG clean tight copy Order No. I1 £90
Mr. Justice Darling, On the Oxford Circuit & Other Verses, Smith Elder 1909 1st Ed Illus by Austin Osman Spare. SF (6.5ins x 5ins) Has Dec title pp, 3 full page Illus (with tissue guards), Dec Caps & tailpiece by Spare, quarter bd in vellum with place ribbon, nice paper printed by Chiswick Press sl wear to corner Owners Insc in pencil VG+ Order No. I2 £95
James Bertram & F. Russell, The Starlit Mire, John Lane 1911 1st Ed viii + 62pp (9ins x 7ins) 10 full page Illus by Spare each with tissue guard Horned God gilt blocked front dec cov Series of axioms, some Illus by Spare, clearly a project close to his heart as Spare motifs and a self portrait are present. Title on Sp stamped sl off centre, top corners sl bumped but VG clean tight copy of this handsome book Order No. I3 £200
J.C.Squire, The Gold Tree, Secker 1917 1st Ed No. Ltd Ed of 500 signed by Squire. Prelims + 89pp teg Having a title page & 11 striking decorated initial letters designed by Spare VG Order No. I4 £100
J.C. Squire, Twelve Poems, Pub. For Form by Moreland Press 1916 1st Ed Illus (winged & tailed female satyr beside phallic tree), 16 decorated capitals & decorations to half title, contents & last page designed by Spare, made into woodcuts by W. Quick. Spare experience of designing decorated letters may have been relevant to his development of the Alphabet of Desire Errata slip pages entirely uncut feps browned, some marks to paper covering bds VG Order No. I5 £85
Exhibition Catalogues
Typescript
1pp apparently draft for otherwise unknown and probably never produced flier for 1955 exhibition "The work of thE Man Who Spat on HitlEr" (the curious capitalisation is that of the item). Correction of date in coloured pencil 11 lines of text VG Order No. E1 £75Oliver Bradbury & James Birch Fine Art, 1984 Card covs 8pp Intro. By Nigel Burwood, Chronology Illus. F Order No. E2 £30
Divine Draughtsman, Beskin Press 1987 LF (11.5ins x 8ins) Card Covs 40pp Illus inc. Cold Pls. Ian Law on Spare’s life; Genesis P. Orridge – Time Mirrors, the Art of Spare; Lionel Snell – Exploring Spare’s Magic. 6 leave insert giving details of items on show. Signed by Lionel Snell & Geraldine Beskine, who with John Bonner organised the show VG+ Order No. E3 £35
A Retrospective Exhibition, Fulgur Press 1992 Ltd Ed of 333 copiesSF card covs 12pp (6ins x 4.5ins) tipped in Pl (Chaos 1904) Pub for exhibition celebrating publication of Witches Sabbath/Axiomata. Order No. E4 £20
Artist, Occultist, Sensualist, Beskin Press Edited John Bonner & Geraldine Beskin 1999 LF (12ins x 8.5ins) Card covs 72pp Excellent catalogue for a exhibition containing many Cold Illus, plus articles by Keith Richmond, Mick Staley (a prominent member of the Typhonian OT), Sunny Shah, John Balance, Marcus Jungkurth, Frank Letchford etc. M Order No. E5 £25
Poster for the 1999 exhibition carrying a striking self portrait of Spare, his hand in the Horned God mudra 28ins 20ins M Order No. E6 £10
Correspondence & Association Items
Small handwritten card, Crossways Rest Centre 11/5/41 Provided support for bombing victims etc, this card records the meals issued to Austin Spare Order No. C1 £45
Two brief handwritten letters to Spare from A. Wilson Parky(?) It would appear he was an artist who lent Spare storage space. One has an address and phone number in Spare’s hand added One letter very worn the other shows signs of age Order No. C2 £50
Two page hand written letter to Spare dated 6/9/41 from "Harry". Is trying to arrange a meeting with Spare and asks to be put in contact with Millicent Pain Order No. C3 £40
Handwritten letter to Spare from Dennis Bardens to Spare. One side on headed notepaper. Discusses a forthcoming article, presumably mentioning Spare, the sale of Satyros Dux, a noted work by Spare, some prospectuses and Spare’s proposed art school Order No. C4 £50
Note in Spare’s handwritting, 11 lines, opposing the nationalisation of pubs! Probably a quote written out. Paper very dog eared at edges and back discoloured Order No. C5 £ 45
Note in Spare’s handwriting 23/7/41 Apparently draft for note to Rates Office asking them to take account of destruction by bombs of first his two workrooms and then later his whole home. A nice record of the impact of the bombing upon his life, brief but giving dates Order No. C6 £65
Handwritten letter by Spare, one leaf two sides, to Millicent Paine. Not dated (1937/38?) discusses forthcoming exhibition, his ill health and how much he misses her. Addresses her, and signs off in very affectionate manner. Some marks G+ Order No. C7 £180
Handwritten letter by Spare, one leaf two sides, to Millicent Paine. Detailed request for laying bets on horses, brief mention of ill health, affectionate. Stains and wear G- Order No. C8 £140
Handwritten letter by Spare, two leaves two sides, to Millicent Paine. Detailed request for laying bets on horses, brief mention of visitors & work VG- Order No. C8 £160
Handwritten letter by Spare, two leaves three sides, to Millicent Paine. Detailed request for laying bets on horses, interesting as does indicate basis of choices. Not the Surrealist Racing Forecast cards he devised and sold. Rather he is attracted to horse names with associations such as heaven and God, but this much tempered by consideration of odds. Initialed (with kisses) twice by Spare and some underlining in red by him. VG Order No. C9 £180
Artifacts born of the Legacy of Austin Osman Spare
Austin Osman Spare, Book of Automatic Drawings,
Catalpa Press 1972 1st Ed, No. 602 of 1000 copies LF (17.5ins x 12ins) Card covers Introduction by Ian Law 20 leaves printed on one side, two pages with cold embellishments. Series of drawings executed in 1925, akin to Book of Ugly Ecstasy, with occasionally overt sexual symbolism. The reproduction is of a high quality. Card very slightly dog eared at edges F- Order No. L1 £40Catalogue 93 Publishing, nd c1974 16pp bklt Handsome Cold Illus on covers 2pp (one reproducing Frontis) for Spare’s Book of Pleasure, with review of content emphasising relevance to 93 Current. Places Spare in Thelemic context. The reviews of other 93 publishing titles are of interest, including Paris & Amalantrah Workin Ed. by Grant & Symonds which never manifested Order No. L2 £25
Kenneth Grant, Images and Oracles of Austin Osman Spare, Muller 1975 Ltd Ed of 1000 copies LF (10ins x 12ins) 96pp Illus Handsome designed book, red embellishments, landscape format. Concise, compelling & powerful exploration of Spare’s sorcery & Gnosis by the person Spare trusted to do it. The result one of the truly excellent occult books which is greatly sought after F in VG+ DW Order No. L3 £230
Austin Osman Spare, Earth Inferno, Askin 1976 Ltd ed of 200 Copies LF (13ins x 10ins) This Ed actually facs reprint taken from No. 123 above! 30pp F in VG DW Order No. L4 £48
Collected works of Austin Osman Spare, His Art, Philosophy & Magic, Sorcerer’s Apprentice 1982 No. 357 of 481 copies. Stiff card covers LF (11.5ins x 8ins) xi + 180pp Has the books published by Spare in his life time plus a brief biography of Spare and a short article, the Sorcery of Spare, by Pete Carroll. The standard of reproduction is poor, but should not be derided as this publication for a long time was the only easily obtainable source of Spare’s writings. Front fep loose o/w F Order No. L5 £40
Kenneth Grant, Hidden Lore, The Carfax Monographs, Skoob 1989 No, 701 of 1000 copies LF (12ins x 8ins) 56pp Cold Pls tipped in Gilt Bl cov. A series of ten essays originally issued 1959-63 ie 50 years after Vol.I of Crowley’s Equinox, in attune with a "Period of Speech" of the A.’.A.’. may be considered an ennuciation of Grant’s of Grants claims to operate that Order. One essay, Austin Osman Spare, An Introduction to His Psycho-Magical Philosophy is Illus with a Pl of a magnificent magickal Stele by the artist. F Order No. L6 £45
Starfire Vol. II No.1 1992 Card Covs LF (12ins x 8ins) 154pp Ed. Mick Staley 9pp Illus article by Andrew Chumbley titled "Cult of the Divine Artist" conerning the Zos Kia Current, the magical current that Spare operated. M Order No. L7 £10
Starfire Vol. I No.5 1994 Card Covs LF (12ins x 8ins) 198pp Ed. Mick Staley. A truly excellent Thelemic journal associated with the Typhonian OTO. Has 24pp Illus article by Gavin Semple about Spare titled "Zos – The New Flesh of Desire" and 48pp Illus article by Randall Holmes titled "Morning Star – the Tradition & Odyssey of Austin Osman Spare. M Order No. L8 £7.50
Gavin Semple, Zos-Kia, An Introductory Essay on the Art And Sorcery of Austin Osman Spare, Fulgur 1995 51pp + 8 cold Pls card covs with DW Illus. OP & highly sought after F Order No. L9 £45
Austin Osman Spare, Two Tracts on Cartomancy, Fulgur 1997 38pp Card covs with DW Illus. 38pp Intro Gavin Semple M Order No. L10 £14.50
Starfire Vol. II No.2 1998 Card Covs LF (12ins x 8ins) 200pp Ed. Mick Staley with 10pp Illus article by him titled "Transformation; Austin Osman Spare & Besz-Mass" M Order No. L11 £12
Clive Harper, Revised Notes Towards a Bibliography of Austin Osman Spare, Holmes 1999 Bklt 44pp In contrast to Crowley, it is just possible to list all Sparian publications, and this comes within a whisker of that. Of relevance not just to bibliophiles but also to those actively involved in the Spare legacy as it even lists articles and books that explore Spare’s ideas. Signed with corrections by author with 4pp insert giving corrections and agenda, for this is a never ending project! M Order No. L12
Austin Osman Spare, Focus of Life, IHO 2000 LF (10ins x 7.5ins) Card covs 150pp Reset with red & gold embellishments, has original Illus plus two additional cold Pls. Has review by Haydn Mackie reprinted from Form and a previously unpublished Intro by Dennis Bardens. The legacy continues! New Order No. L13 £14.99
