Occult & Esoterica
[SPARE, Austin Osman] The Witches Sabbath / Axiomata (Fulgur, 1992)
[SPARE, Austin Osman] The Witches Sabbath / Axiomata (Fulgur, 1992)
Preface by Robert Ansell; introductory essay by Gavin W. Semple
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This work comprises two complete previously unpublished texts by Spare. "The Witches' Sabbath" is Spare's short, sexually charged account of the Sabbath, its meaning and practice, along with an 'Evocation,' 'Affirmation,' and 'Prayers' of Communion and Adoration. Spare claimed to have been introduced to Witchcraft in his youth by a mysterious "Mrs. Patterson," and to have attended many Sabbaths. Axiomata is the name given to a collection of forty aphorisms that talk of magic and philosophy. In these writings the full development of Spare's ideology is revealed.