Behind the Veil.
London: Published at the Sign of the Phoenix ... by David Nutt, 1906. First Edition. Hardcover, Large Octavo, pp. (viii) + 94 + (ii)pp. (recto of final leaf blank, verso has tailpiece by Spare). Original light brown decorated cloth, with titling and designs by Austin Osman Spare in black on the front and back board. Top edge gilt. Illustrated: Spare contributed nine drawings, comprising an bound-in frontispiece plate with tissue guard, six large and two smaller plates; as well as various initials, small drawings, and head and tail pieces. Edition limited to 500 copies. Harper C1. An unusual collection of occult fiction by poet, author and journalist Ethel Rolt Wheeler (1869 – 1958) who was active in literary and occult circles in London during the first half of the twentieth-century. The book comprises a novella: "Past Incarnations," and a series of five short stories: "The Curl," "The Wheels Reversed," "An Autumn Tryst," "The Murky Pool" and "The Leper's Window." It is generously illustrated by Spare, and is thought to have been his first commission as a book illustrator. From the collection of Austin Osman Spare's bibliographer, Clive Harper, with his discrete book-label neatly tipped in at the rear. In addition to his Spare bibliography Harper is well-known for updating the Aleister Crowley bibliography in the 2011 Teitan Press collection of Gerald Yorke's writings, and as someone who has lent his expertise to numerous other publications. The label can easily be removed without affecting the page, although it would be a shame not to preserve this record of the book's provenance. Occasional spots of foxing, mostly confined to the edges of the text-block, otherwise a sharp, tight clean, VG+ copy. Item #73413
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