Negative/Positive: Austin Osman Spare New & Old
Negative-style Austin Osman Spare drawing adorning the cover of the no. 10, 1986 issue of the Dutch occult zine Abrahadabra.
The negative-style Austin Osman Spare drawing seen above adorns the cover of the no. 10, 1986 issue of the Dutch occult zine Abrahadabra. The issue is chiefly concerned with Spare, although it also contains features on Coil, Brion Gysin, Aleister Crowley via the Hastings Archive, and more. An inner excerpt from the issue can be seen below as well. The original image comes from a 1923 edition of the Spare-edited publication The Golden Hind, and we will view this image shortly.
The featured articles are concerned with Spare’s methods and art: sigil, allegory, automatism. They include works like The Inferno of the Normal, and, De Kunst van Spare, which examines Spare’s artistic output, and draws connections to figures like Aubrey Beardsley. Other essays include: Essay Over Coil, concerning the English experimental group Coil, who were associated with acts like Throbbing Gristle. Also, An overview of Brion Gysin’s Beat fiction work The Last Museum.
Introductory page of the no. 10, 1986 issue of the Dutch occult zine Abrahadabra
Essays and excerpts on Austin Osman Spare from the no. 10, 1986 issue of the Dutch occult zine Abrahadabra
John Balance’s Essay Over Coil, from the no. 10, 1986 issue of the Dutch occult zine Abrahadabra
As writer John Coulthart has noted noted, Abrahadabra was certainly in the tradition of similar zines from the era, such as V. Vale’s RE/Search and Simon Dwyer’s Rapid Eye. The first Abrahadabra issue was published in 1985, and production ceased in 1990. A number of other topics were covered in various issues, like the no. 7, 1986 issue on conspiracies, or the no. 11 1987 issue on witches. The series of zines can be read online in their Dutch entirety through the Internet Archive.
In 2016, publisher Korm Plastics released a book of correspondence between John Balance & Abrahadabra publisher Anthony Blokdijk. While we have not personally read the work entitled, The Abrahadabra Letters, the enticing description sheds some light on the inception and correspondence that surrounded the zine:
“From 1984 to 1988 Anthony Blokdijk frequently visited Threshold House in London and corresponded with John Balance of Coil about playing live, releasing music and personal affairs. This book collects scans of Balance’s original letters, including idiosyncratic decorative flourishes and provides insight into his colourful world. Also included two articles on Coil from Blokdijk’s Abrahadabra magazine, and an interview with Coil he conducted for the Dutch magazine Opscene…”
John Balance. The Abrahadabra Letters. Korm Plastics. 2016.
As for the original illustration, a Spare bookplate, it comes from the Spare-edited publication The Golden Hind. It is a pen drawing from the final page leaf of the vol. 2, no. 5, October 1923 issue of the publication.
Austin Osman Spare bookplate pen drawing from the final page leaf of the vol. 2, no. 5, October 1923 issue of The Golden Hind.
It is fascinating to see this work as it appeared in The Golden Hind, marked with the name "George Mitchell."
Cover of the vol. 2, no. 5, October 1923 issue of The Golden Hind.
Spare was a co-editor of mystically and mythologically-concerned literary publication, along with English playwright, journalist, and songwriter Clifford Bax. The quarterly was published in Spare’s home city of London by Chapman and Hall. The publication contained prose, poetry, columns, and artwork. Contributors to the quarterly included lesser-known artists, as well as greater-known figures such as Havelock Ellis and Aldous Huxley.
Many other artists appear in the publication’s issues, including Grace E. Rogers, Henry Keen, Nora Wright, and the Aubrey Beardsley-inspired John Austen
The image is sourced from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Special Collections, who maintain a Tumblr blog featuring selected collections. Full issues of “The Golden Hind” may also be accessed easily for free via the digitization project HathiTrust.
Images via:
Internet Archive. Public Domain CC0 1.0 Universal.
Spare Golden Hind original illustration via UW-Milwaukee Special Collections Tumblr. Used in the spirit of fair use.
KormPlastics.nl. The Abrahadabra Letters.
Info via:
John Coulthart. Abrahadabra. 18 March, 2013. In “Feuilleton.”
KormPlastics.nl. The Abrahadabra Letters.