La-Bas by J.K. Huysman

Deluxe 'Arcanum' edition, limited to 77 hand-numbered copies. Handbound in white goatskin leather. Raised bands and hand-tooling to the spine, with a scarlet leather title inlay. Both covers feature a double-depth blind-debossed Rosicrucian crucifix, with four red roses in relief, stamped with the symbols of the four Elements. The central device on the front cover is a stunning Rosa Crucis, a beautiful Rosicrucian rose stamped in red and gold foils. Including seven duotone illustrations. Endpapers marbled by Freya Scott at Paperwilds. Striped red-and-gold head & tail bands and a red silk ribbon. Presented with a white letterpress bookmark, stamped in gold, and a letterpress broadside featuring a reproduction of “Thalia's Emblem of the School of Magic,” which was included in the 1651 edition of Thomas Vaughan’s Lumen de Lumine.

Thomas Vaughan’s Aula Lucis, or The House of Light is a sublime discourse on the Alchemy of Light. Written in 1651 and first published in London in 1652, it traces the descent of Light into Matter and the means of its ultimate emancipation. Together with Vaughan’s Lumen de Lumine, or a New Magical Light, also included in this volume, these two works offer a profound insight into the mystery of the Prima Materia and the alchemical regeneration of metals and Man.

Next to Robert Fludd, the Welsh alchemist Thomas Vaughan (1621–1666), also known as Eugenius Philalethes, has been widely regarded as Britain’s most notable 17th century occultist and alchemical writer. He is believed to be one of the most profound and perhaps most recondite of all visionaries who have seen “the new East beyond the stars.” His magical and alchemical writings, published in the 1650s, established him as a leading interpreter of the Secret Tradition in his time. Aside from being a passionate exponent of alchemy, Vaughan was a mystical philosopher and a visionary largely influenced by the Rosicrucian movement of the 17th century. He translated and published the first English edition of the Rosicrucian Manifestos, Fama and Confessio Fraternitatis, alongside many of their lesser known works, such as “A Letter from the Brothers of R.C. Concerning the Invisible, Magical Mountain, & the Treasure therein Contained,” which he inserted into Lumen de Lumine.

Antiquarian / Second Hand

Published by Askin Publishers in 1976. Facsimile edition, limited to 500 copies. A facsimile edition of Austin Osman Spare's magical-philosophical discourse which was originally published in 1921. This new edition was published in 1976 by Stephen Skinner under the Askin Press imprint, and was one of the works that was instrumental in the rediscovery of Spare, his art and magic, which had only then take place.

Condition: There are some larger tears to the upper front and back of the dustwrapper. Boards and inside is in very good condition, with no marks. Some minor foxing on upper text block. Bookplate of previous ower glued on endpaper.

Antiquarian / Second Hand

Sut Anubis, 1987. Facsimile Edition. Softcover. Black wrappers with white lettering to spine and front cover. Introduction by Ernest H. R. Collings. Many black and white illustrations.

Condition: Very good. No tears or marks to cover or inside.