Austin Osman Spare, Earth Inferno (1905)

“Conceived as an anti-establishment reaction to the publicity surrounding his inclusion in the Royal Academy summer show in 1904, the book was developed over the remainder of that year and was eventually published in 1905. Printed by the Co-Operative Printing Society, the book was designed by the artist and self-published in an edition of 265 numbered and signed copies.

“Influenced heavily by Dante’s Inferno the book is decorated with poems and aphorisms in an aesthetic style and clearly shows the design influence of Spare’s early supporter Charles Ricketts. Each pair of pages contains a painting and a commentary toward that painting. In addition to excerpts from Dante, the book also contains excerpts from Edward FitzGerald‘s translation of Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.”   –Wikipedia

“London: Privately Published. 1905. First Edition. Hardcover. Folio (18″ x 13.75”). 30pp. … Eleven large black and white illustrations (mostly full page) and numerous decorations by Spare throughout. The scarce first edition of Spare’s first published book, SIGNED and numbered by the author. The book was printed for Spare at the Co-operative Printing Society in Tudor Street, London, in February 1905, in an edition of 265 signed and numbered copies… Earth Inferno was a truly remarkable first book. In it the young artist juxtaposed huge, sometimes sinister images with teasing lyrics to create a vivid image of the darkly magical philosophy which informed his world-view.”   —Weiser Antiquarian Books