Austin Osman Spare, 1886-1956: The Divine Draughtsman. An Appreciation of the Man, the Artist and the Magician.
London: Beskin Press, 1987. First edition. Softcover. Quarto (11 3/4 x 8 1/4 ). 36pp. Stiff pictorial colored wrappers. Color & black and white plates & text vignettes. A beautifully-produced and illustrated "appreciation" of Austin Osman Spare, published to accompany the exhibition of his art held at the Morley Gallery, London, in September 1987. It includes an Introduction by Geraldine Beskin and John Bonner and essays on various aspects of Spare's life, art and magic by Ian Law, Genesis P-Orridge, and Lionel Snell. The illustrations reproduce a stunning variety of styles and media taken from various periods in the artist's career, a number of which had not been reproduced before. Loosely inserted is the original black and white list giving extra details of the works exhibited (a single large sheet, folded once to give four 11 1/2 x 8 1/8 inch pages). These lists typically were only available at the exhibition itself.
From the library of Oliver Marlow Wilkinson (1915-1999) dramatist, author, educator and raconteur. Oliver was the son of Louis Umfreville Wilkinson (1881-1966) an English man-of-letters who wrote a number of satirical autobiographical and fictional works, mostly under the pseudonym "Louis Marlow." Louis Umfreville Wilkinson was a good friend of Aleister Crowley's, the two had an extensive correspondence, and Crowley respected Louis's literary skills to the extent that he engaged him to prepare a popular edition of Crowley commentaries on "Liber AL." Crowley also made Louis one of his executors, and it was Louis Wilkinson who caused some uproar amongst the more excitable members of the press by reading from Crowley's "Hymn to Pan" and other of his works at the Beast's funeral. Louis's son Oliver also knew Crowley well; indeed he was the one that found Crowley the rooms at Netherwood that became his final home and Crowley, along with John Cowper Powys, is said to have jointly shared the honour of being Oliver's godfather. Oliver Wilkinson inherited many of the Crowley books and papers that had belonged to his father Louis, including a number of signed and inscribed items, etc. etc. In the 1980s Oliver refreshed his interest in Crowley, meeting with a number of contemporary Crowley afficiandos including Hymenaeus Beta, Clive Harper, Tony Naylor, Keith Richmond, Martin P. Starr, et al. At Tony Naylor's urging he also wrote an Introduction to a new edition of his father's book "Seven Friends" (which included a chapter-long reminiscense of Crowley) which Naylor published under his Mandrake Press Ltd. imprint in 1992. Oliver Marlow died in 1999, and in 2021 Weiser Antiquarian books acquired the remains of Oliver's Crowley collection, which comprised some of the books and pieces of ephemera that had belonged to his father, as well as books, such as this, that he himself had bought or was given in the 1980s and 1990s. A small posthumous book-label, tipped in at the rear, identifies it as having come from his collection. Mandrake Press Ltd. distribution label on back wrapper. Wrappers a little shelf-worn with a few small marks, some light creasing to the spine, a little light rubbing to the wrapper's edges, otherwise a clean VG+ copy. Item #69734
Sold