Two Grimoires

by Austin Osman Spare

Starfire Publishing, 2011. With essays by Dr. William Wallace & Stephen Pochin. Introduction by Michael Staley. The introduction and preliminary matter is printed on the fine press paper, Munken Pure Light Cream, and followed by a plate section of 48 pages, in full color, consisting of the reproduction of both of these early Spare grimoires. To enhance the graphics, another fine press paper, Mohawk Superfine Eggshell, has been chosen. To conclude this new book, the two illustrated essays of commentary and analysis by Wallace and Pochin, are printed on Munken Pure. Besides these flourishes, you will also find a colored frontispiece -- the 1905 Spare watercolor, I & Myself in Yoga, as well as the black and white endpiece, At the Window-- a 1905 pen and ink drawing by Spare. These illustrations were chosen for their relationship to the period of grimoires, and show elements that occur throughout each of them. 156 pages. Octavo. This cloth edition limited to 900 copies. Out of Print.

104 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Austin Osman Spare was an English artist who developed idiosyncratic magical techniques including automatic writing, automatic drawing and sigilization based on his theories of the relationship between the conscious and unconscious self. His artistic work is characterized by skilled draughtsmanship exhibiting a complete mastery of the use of the line[1], and often employs monstrous or fantastic magical and sexual imagery.

Some of Spare's techniques, particularly the use of sigils and the creation of an "alphabet of desire" were adopted, adapted and popularized by Peter J. Carroll in the work Liber Null & Psychonaut . Carroll and other writers such as Ray Sherwin are seen as key figures in the emergence of some of Spare's ideas and techniques as a part of a magical movement loosely referred to as Chaos magic.

Reviews

[Derek Fenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully printed edition of AOS's seminal texts. The art therein devastatingly lurid and hypothetically stunning.