Measuring 25cm x 21cm, this edition features 23 hand-tipped plates on heavy dark grey stock all encased in a cloth-bound, stamped cover.

Larger plates fold out to a generous size and are printed on archival heavy art stock, each plate is the same quality and otherwise identical to a framed print. The volume also features an essay by art historian Dr Robert Wallis that provides insight and context to the work.

You can explore the book further at the Liberty Realm site.

MAY:

– The Natural Death Handbook / The Natural Death Centre
–  The Influencing Machine / Mike Jay
– Andromeon postcard set / Alexander Tucker
– Liberty Realm (edition) / Catharyne Ward

 JUNE:

– Austin Osman Spare: The Life and Legend of London’s Lost Artist (paperback) / Phil Baker

AUTUMN & WINTER:

– England’s Hidden Reverse (new edition) / David Keenan
– Epiphanies: Life Changing Encounters with Music / ed. Tony Herrington
– Invisible Ink: How 100 Great Authors Disappeared / Christopher Fowler
– Trip or Squeek’s Big Amplifier / Savage Pencil
– Vulcanic Tryst / Brian Catling, Iain Sinclair and Anonymous Bosch

Advance word of a very exciting forthcoming show…
Strange Attractor and Maggs Bros are proud to present ‘Unstable’, an exhibition of new and old work from Battle Of The Eyes (Savage Pencil and Eyeball), Joel Biroco, Julian House and Cathy Ward. All artwork will be for sale, as will new books and other materials from Strange Attractor Press.

Unstable: 8 May – 8 June 2012
Maggs Counterculture and Gallery,
50 Hays Muse, W1J 5QJ, London, UK.

AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE PRINT EDITION #2

Astral Body and Ghost (1946, pastel).

Postal Options

UK Special £106.00 GBP EU Signed for £112.00 GBP ROW signed for £114.00 GBP

The second in a series of fine art prints from the work of Austin Osman Spare, presented by Strange Attractor Press in collaboration with artist and musician Ossian Brown.

Astral Body and Ghost is perhaps one of Spare’s most prominent later artworks, a magical pastel created in 1946 and shown at the Archer Gallery, London, in 1947.

Limited to 65 copies, this Giclée print is presented on Hahnemühle Fine Art paper and produced to archival standards.

Its dimensions match those of the original artwork, 38.5cm by 45 cm.

Each print is hand-numbered, blind-embossed with an ‘AOS’ signature, and comes with a certificate of provenance.

The picture is from Ossian Brown’s collection and has been photographed for this edition by Alex Brattell.

Each print costs £99 plus postage – it will be packaged in an extra-strong tube and sent as a Special Delivery in the UK, and Signed-for internationally.) Prints will be shipped out in mid-May 2012.

Strange Attractor are thrilled to have three London tours on the bill as part of the international Obscura Day 2012, organised by the brilliant Atlas Obscura. These are:

9am – Walk the ‘lost’ River Neckinger : lead by Tom Bolton

Join Tom Bolton, author of London’s Lost Rivers: A Walker’s Guide for a quest to find the long lost Neckinger somewhere between Waterloo, Elephant and Castle and Bermondsey Discover why no-one can find the lost river’s source and why its name is a mystery.  Hear about the radicals and visionaries who lived in its neighbourhood, visit what used to be the smelliest neighbourhood in London (now much more pleasant), and get caught up in the tail end of Oliver Twist.  All in 2 hours and 3.5 miles of SE1.

11am – Bloomsbury, London’s Lost Medical World : lead by Richard Barnett (above)

Where in the world could you find transplant surgery on cockerels, hop–head anaesthetists, a graveyard which holds the key to London’s first great public hospital, a medical trade union in the citadel of Theosophy, and the gory story of Samuel Pepys’ paperweight? On a walk through the back streets of Bloomsbury, that’s where. For two hundred and fifty years this quiet district has been the beating heart of London’s medical marketplace – the place where generations of doctors and surgeons have tackled the ills of the sick city. We’ll make the first incision at Holborn tube, and the last stitch will be tied two hours later at Gordon Square.

2.30pm – Secret Bloomsbury : lead by Ross McFarlane

Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone. This historical walking tour is your chance to uncover the Bloomsbury that nobody knows, where you’ll encounter spiritualists, spies, sorcerers and scientists in the heart of literary London. From nuclear bunkers to tales of teleportation, join your guide as he exposes the secrets of this extraordinary area.

Details and booking info can be found by following each of the above links.

A Walker’s Guide

By Tom Bolton
Photography by SF Said
Foreword by Chris Fowler
PB, 272pp ,illustrated,  £9.99
ISBN 978 1907222030

 ’a cracking read even if you have no intention of pounding the pavements’ The Londonist 

‘a terrific mix of history, topography and practicality… astonishingly diligent… highly recommended’ The Great Wen

All copies sold via SAP are signed by the author

Postal Region

UK £9.99 EU £10.99 ROW AIR £11.99

When we think of London’s river, the vast thoroughfare of the Thames immediately springs to mind. But this ancient city was built around other rivers too – and traces of these still remain, for those who know where to look.

London’s Lost Rivers takes the reader on a series of walks along the routes of eight lost rivers, combining directions for walkers with richly detailed anecdotes outlining the history of each river’s route, origins and decline.

Tom Bolton reveals a secret network that spreads across the city, from picturesque Hampstead in the North to the hidden suburbs of South London, and runs beneath some of London’s most iconic and historic sites.

These London pasts are brought to vivid life, populated by characters both famous and infamous, including politicians, forgers, actors, architects, athletes, monarchs and murderers.

Evocative, witty and engaging, London’s Lost Rivers invites both visitors to the city and lifelong Londoners to explore another side of London and its rich history, whether on foot or in the imagination.

About the Author
Tom Bolton is a researcher, walker and photographer who lives and works in London. He writes regularly about the city and reviews theatre and music.

Meanwhile, SA pal Gyrus has posted this video of Alan Moore discussing his friend Steve – subject of the recent Unearthing text and album – and Somnium as part of the Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness lecture series at London’s October Gallery – enjoy!

Update: We’re celebrating the exhibition by offering London’s Lost Rivers at the reduced price of £9.99

The fantastic and learned folks at Maggs Bros (counterculture division) are hosting an exhibition of unusual London photographs by SF Said – who took the amazing Polaroids for our London’s Lost Rivers: A Walkers Guide – and Jon Savage, author of England’s Dreaming, the essential critical history of punk in 1970s England.

The exhibition runs from 22 March until 19 April at
Maggs Counterculture, 50 Hays Mews, London W1J 5QJ.
Entry is free, Mon-Fri 11am-15pm.
Original photographs and prints will be on sale.

Download the PDF catalogue here

London’s Lost Rivers photographer SF Said is the subject of a full length feature in Abu Dhabi’s The National magazine

“I find it wonderful that London is a kind of palimpsest, that it contains all these layers of history and experience,” says Said. “The lost rivers project was a perfect way into that. I am fascinated by the idea that landscapes might have memories or dreams.”

Said loves expired film, particularly in a range thrillingly titled Time Zero. Far from ruining an image, its ageing, unstable chemicals contribute to the dreamlike quality of his pictures. Leaking colours; blurring; unexposed corners; flame-like flashes of light across the surface; smoky shades of mauve and turquoise: Said uses them all to artistic effect… “With Polaroid, the camera and the film play as big a part as you do, and sometimes they know better than you,” says Said.

Read the full article here

Full details will appear here on the site in time, but until then here’s a peek at some of what we can look forward to:

– The Natural Death Handbook, Fifth Edition
A thoroughly updated and revised edition of the Natural Death Centre‘s celebrated handbook (left). Now presented alongside a new collection of essays on death, dying and funeral practices by doctors, historians, authors, poets, theologians and artists including Richard Barnett, David Jay Brown, Dr Sheila Cassidy, Charles Cowling, Bill Drummond, Stephen Grasso, Maggi Hambling, Graham Harvey, Gary Lachman, Nick Reynolds, and Dignity in Dying.  [September 2012]

– The Influencing Machine by Mike Jay 
A revised and updated edition of Mike Jay’s The Air Loom Gang (2003), a true tale of 18th century mind control, revolution and madness.  [May/June 2012]

‘One of the greatest books you’ve never read’ – William Gibson
‘A wonderful book…exceptional scholarship and psychological insight’ – Oliver Sacks

– Savage Pencil presents Trip or Squeek’s Big Amplifier
The collected Trip or Squeek comics. Over 100 strips, as featured for the past ten years in The Wire magazine. Savage Pencil’s (aka Edwin Pouncey) acerbic, lysergic, razor-sharp observations on music, art and life.  [July/August 2012]

Strange Attractor is also involved with two forthcoming exhibitions at Maggs Gallery in Mayfair, London:

From the Westbourne to the Wandle:
Jon Savage’s Uninhabited London photos and SF Said’s London’s Lost Rivers Polaroids
for Maggs Counterculture, at Maggs Gallery, 50 Hays Mews. London W1J 5QJ
Thursday 22^nd March –Thursday 19^th April

Maggs Counterculture and Strange Attractor present ‘Unstable’.
New and old artwork from Battle of the Eyes (Savage Pencil and Eyeball), Joel Biroco, Julian House and Cathy Ward, at Maggs Gallery; 50 Hays Mews. London W1J 5QJ
Tuesday 8^th May – Friday 8^th June 2012,  Monday to Friday 1030-1700. 

More details soon all of the above, and some other very exciting books planned for later in the year.