Dreams of Witches
Free, pagan, transgressive: worshippers of Pan, devotees of Diana. The men and women who meet under a full moon in the wild woods danced, sing, made music, and made love; in the home they make potions and mutter spells, be it to curse or cure. The witch image infused the European imagination down the centuries, appearing in court records, prose, and poetry. The impulse the literature described finally became a practiced mystery religion in the twentieth century, in the form of Wicca as it coalesced in the New Forest in the 1930s and 30s. The poems and passages in this book illustrate the supportive imagination of the New Forest Coven and its most famous initiate, Gerald Gardner. They date from the late medieval period through the Edwardian age, and all were instrumental, influential - inspiring early pagans, and hopefully, too, readers today.
Paperback edition
The cover is made of a thick Fedrigoni carton. It is thread sewn and the book block is made of rough ivory, wood-free, age-resistant paper. It measures 140 x 215 mm and is printed and bound by Grafiche Veneziane in Venice, Italy.
Hardback edition
This edition is printed and bound in Venice by Grafiche Veneziane in turquoise Wibalin Buckram. The front and spine are decorated and titled in gold gilt.
This edition is printed on rough ivory, wood-free, age-resistant paper.
The Cover design shows an elaboration of 1898 Fischblut by Gustav Klimt, his greatest work of graphic design and a seminal artistic statement for him. Its imagery embodies Klimt's metaphysical view of life as an endless floating form.
Artisinal edition
This Quarter-Bound Edition has Night-Blue Cloth spines, gold-tooled title labels and marbled paper.
