The quintessential creation of the fin-de-siècle was a slim volume of decadent verse. The attraction of the Eighteen Nineties to many aesthetes and bibliophiles is the appearance of a few exquisitely-produced books of poems in severely limited editions of a few hundred or less. But what of those whose work was even more elusive and ethereal – the poets whose verses have not survived at all? In the first known essay of its kind, Mark Valentine revives the memory of five strange and tragic Eighteen Nineties figures whose work seems utterly lost.
Continuing the theme of lost works, Valentine also discusses a macabre thriller written by Nineties poet Ernest Dowson in collaboration with an Oxford friend, Arthur Moore. It was completed, but never published, and the whereabouts of any manuscript are now unknown. Valentine reconstructs the theme and plot of The Passion of Dr Ludovicus, using the ebullient letters between the two authors. The lost shocker emerges as a rival to Stevenson’s ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ and the essay is a fascinating response to a tantalising mystery.
Designed in tribute to the art of the fin de siècle, this exquisite book includes exotic illustrations by Ronald Balfour, in the mode of Aubrey Beardsley.

The second, slightly revised edition of this wonderful title.
Softcover book in dustjacket made from beautiful hand-made Italian paper, gilt title to cover.

A document is missing from a chamber hidden deep within the heart of the embassy. We cannot hope to find it, but must seek it all the same. In our search for the unattainable, we come across a book containing 4 stories, keys for which there are no locks, unfathomable oracles beneath the icy stars.

The stories reveal images as perplexing as they are illuminating. A woman gains illicit access to a penthouse in the depth of winter and finds within its hidden recesses the keys to unspeakable mysteries. A ceremonial initiation is brutally interrupted, plunging the initiate into uncharted waters. The subtle alteration of a map affects a shift of boundaries, revealing forbidden permutations in the architecture of the invisible. A relic which resides in an impossible place finds expression in the dreams and memories of an enthusiast.

Our investigations will take us beneath the royal star in the heart of the scorpion, deep into occupied territory, and into the inexplicable topology of an old hotel. The narratives, like drops of poison, will threaten to corrupt the soul. But in corruption is found new life. In putrefaction, we hope to germinate a seed: the concentrated distillate of heresy.

Limited to 85 numbered exemplars only, lithographically printed, hand-sewn binding, illustrated dustjacket, silk bookmark, illustrated endpapers, frontispiece

Bound in bluish-black, crushed silk, the most striking feature of this lettered edition is a removable wooden cross, that tangles upside down while reading. The altar-shaped wooden case is covered in silk too, the edges of the book are black.

Each of these handsomely bound exemplars bears a unique hand(!)-illustration by Reggie Oliver. 26 lettered books in golden crushed silk, housed in a slipcase, covered in red-plush.