The Valley of Fear : Signed, Strictly Limited by Robert Ansell, Austin Osman Spare - 2008

The Bookplate Society, The Keridwen Press, 1988 limited edition of 500 copies, this un-numbered, plain card wraps with cream dust jacket, introductory essay followed by 23 plates of bookplate designs, viii+35pp. Spare was a onetime pupil of Aleister Crowley, and an associate of Gerald Gardner, and an accomplished occultist. (reduced shipping rate available). First Edition. Soft Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7? - 9? tall.

London: Fulgur Limited, 2008. First Edition. Tall 4to. Green cloth with white spine titles in original matching dust jacket. Limited to 700 hand-numbered copies, this being No. 276. xi + [38]pp. Nineteen full page color drawings by Spare. Small corner bump, otherwise a near fine copy in like dust jacket. Reproduction of a sketchbook featuring delicately colored drawings created by Spare in 1924. Produced at a time when his life was in acute crisis, the drawings evoke a rare world of grotesque truth and sublime transcendence. It includes an analytical introductory essay by Robert Ansell discussing the development of Spare’s magic-aesthetic. Published here for the first time, this important sketchbook can be considered a companion volume to The Book of Ugly Ecstasy.

Keriwen Press, 1988. 1st Edition . Paperback. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Contents: Introduction, Detailed Biographical Note and Conclusion, Checklist followed by 23 pages of illustrations and Footnotes. The Bookplate Society in association with Keriwen Press 1988. Limited Numbered Edition (Number 64 of 500 copies) signed by the author. illus 35pp card covers dw fine

London: Fulgur, 1992. True First Edition. Hardcover. Quarto. This issue limited to 956 numbered copies although far fewer were actually issued due to the printer going bankrupt which resulted in most of the sheets being pulped. In 2007 a number of partial sets of sheets were rediscovered and were reissued with a new introduction. This, however, is the true first issue and is now quite scarce. This is No. 159 of the original 335 copies intended for overseas distribution. Black cloth with gilt devices to front and back and gilt spine titles. In a black matching dust jacket. Color frontispieces to each title are tipped in. Lacks the errata/bookmark and the promotional photo which accompanied most copies. Two titles in one volume ([xii] + 20, [x] + 22pp), each starting from opposite ends and ending in the middle (tete-beche). Illustrated with full page black and white drawings by Spare. A fine copy in a near fine dust jacket. This work comprises two complete previously unpublished texts by Spare.… Read More

Lopen, Somerset: Fulgur Press, 2022. NEW - From the Publisher (see images) : "Deluxe Issue of 69 Copies Only, Signed by the Contributors in Full Pigskin. Top edge gilt in Silk Chemise, Fleece-lined / Slipcase. Custom endpapers from @paperwilds ooze and flow, taking their cue from the colour palette of the principal text and self-portrait by Spare. The scale and quality of work make this something of a beast. N.B. This is the largest book we have yet produced (15 inches by 10 inches) and it matches the original format of Spare's 1913 edition of The Book of Pleasure" - "There are few works in the life of Austin Osman Spare as notorious as his illustrations for Krafft-Ebing's Psychopathia Sexualis. First documented in the early 1930s by the socialite Viola Bankes, Spare shared various anecdotes about this commission with friends and acquaintances until the end of his life. However, drawings of a directly sexual nature remain surprisingly scarce in the artist's oeuvre, despite his reputation for producing… Read More