Item Details
La Lumière Magique. [13 poèmes magiques et poème en epilogue] [Manuscript].
Paris: mss, 1920. Unique. Hardcover. To all intents, purposes, appearances and instincts this volume is a detailed artistauthor’s mock up or “maquette” for an occult poetic collection that was never published but that looks very much like (well, clearly is) a follow up to the legendary Calendrier Magique that de Croze created years earlier in collaboration with Manuel Orazi and which is now hailed as one of the greatest and most desirable depictions of the fin de siecle art occult pre-occupation. Intended far more as an artistic romp through the lush and shadowy landscape of decadent Parisian occult excesses than an actual handbook for magical practice (despite being issued in a rather tongue in cheek limitation of 777 copies), it’s a thing of great beauty and renown, and highly sought after by both those who are interested in fin de siecle art, and by those who are interested in fin de siecle occultism.
This volume, which positively reeks of an attempt to expand upon the Calendrier artistically, has its scope broadened to encompass practical witchcraft (there is a beautifully illustrated section on the gathering of magic herbs), talismans, the construction of magic circles, a striking section on the zodiac, an incantation for summoning the devil, a variety of magical formulas, “Le Chanson du Sabbat” and a poetic piece entitled “Le Vampire” all decorated and embellished in gorgeous colour and detail. A favourite image has to be a striking full colour illustration of the elements of some sympathetic magic ritual consisting of pierced portraits, hearts with nails through them, the head of a very unhappy looking owl and a suspended series of small wax figurines illustrated in detail bearing the names of people with whom the practitioner clearly has a problem; Andre Gide (depicted during his beard and moustache period) is one of the suspended voodoo dolls, along with de Fouquieres, two unfortunate ladies named Yvone and Aurel, and a mutilated doll labelled Sacha, that has already been divested of its hands and feet.
At this point in the 1920’s, Austin de Croze was an enthusiastic and roving food writer, soon to pen his “Plats Regionaux de France,” a deep and sultry homage to the culinary joys of rural France. It is almost certainly for his exploits as a food writer that he is better known, but La Lumiere Magique is a clear indication that his interests in the occult and esoteric underside of life had not abated, but merely been simmering for awhile.
One of the most notable things to take away from this volume, aside from its beauty, the obvious fascination of it being a lost book, a work in progress and a previously unconsidered addition to an area of study and fascination that is growing on swift wings; lies in the fact that it highlights just how much of the Calendrier Magique was Austin de Croze, and how much was Orazi. La Lumiere Magique has fewer of the gorgeous and mysterious depictions of lust and occult dissipation seen in La Calendrier (although gaps exist in the text, possibly suggesting that this volume would have been handed over to Orazi for further embellishment if the two of them decided to go all out on duplicating their previous successes), but de Croze’s typography, pen embellishments, watercolours and layouts contain numerous repeated motifs from the previous work, and it requires little more than a couple of Orazi’s shadowy confections to become a fully grown sibling. Wondrous, beautiful and unique. Near Fine. 4to. 92pp. 37pp. text and illustrations, distributed over 92pp. overall. Various papers and media utilised running the gamut from heavy card to glassine via what appears to be brown wrapping paper and other diverse elements. Bound in later full burnt yellow morocco gilt, black title labels to spine, embellished with pentagrams to both boards. A beautiful volume, strong, clean and clearly well looked after. Original cover and spine bound in. Filled with numerous pen, ink and watercolours designs with the unpublished poems in typescript. Item #9640
Price: $25,000.00