Sorcery In Poitou: Two Satanic Essays: Gilles de Rais and Felicen Rops

by Joris-Karl Huysmans

The first notable literary advocate of the Satanist, alchemist and child-killer Gilles de Rais remains J-K Huysmans, famous for his novel A Rebours and its quintessential decadent, Des Esseintes. Huysmans' later novel La-Bas (1891), a virtual apology for Satanism, is threaded by a version of the de Rais story as narrated by the book's protagonist, Durtal. Punctuated by the author's own poetic interventions, this account depicts de Rais as an arch-decadent beset by demonic visions and ravening sexual manias - "the 15th century Des Esseintes." A most intriguing "sequel" to this examination of evil is now provided by the first ever English translation of Huysmans' pamphlet SORCERY?IN?POITOU (La Sorcellerie En Poitou, also known as La Magie En Poitou), published in 1897 in a limited edition for private circulation only. Described by Huysmans as a reductionist, non-fiction version of La-Bas, it demonstrates the ongoing fascination exerted by de Rais over the author. This special ebook edition of SORCERY?IN?POITOU also includes Instrumentum Diaboli, Huysmans' notorious essay on the Satanic artist Felicien Rops, whose work The Sacrifice is featured on the front cover.

Genres: Historical Fiction

45 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 7, 2012

About the author

Charles Marie Georges Huysmans was a French novelist who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans. AKA: J.-K. Huysmans.

He is most famous for the novel À rebours (Against Nature). His style is remarkable for its idiosyncratic use of the French language, wide-ranging vocabulary, wealth of detailed and sensuous description, and biting, satirical wit.

The novels are also noteworthy for their encyclopedic documentation, ranging from the catalogue of decadent Latin authors in À rebours to the discussion of the symbiology of Christian architecture in La cathédrale. Huysmans' work expresses a disgust with modern life and a deep pessimism, which led the author first to the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer then to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Reviews

[EIJANDOLUM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death lifts his fluttering wings around her fleshless back. A black silken corset binds her excessively. […] In one hand she hold the bow of Eros, […] with the other she holds up the decapitated head of Hamlet.