The Bookplate Designs of Austin Osman Spare

by Robert Ansell

Illustrations first published in AOS Ex-Libris, Keridwen Press, 1988

Although the contemporary myth of a young AOS as the enfant terrible of Edwardian art society has ensured his subsequent notoriety; in truth Spare was keen to court and encourage the patronage of collectors he viewed as supportive to his cause.

Nowhere is this more evident that in his designs for “ex-libris” – the small ownership labels fixed into books to denote the library of origin. This peculiar art form appealed to AOS, combining his love of books with art. The small format forced him to focus his expressive energies in imaginative ways, as may be seen in his designs for Andre Raffalovich (1910) and Pickford Waller (1908). Here too may be seen some of his finest line work, reflected in his ex-libris for John Oswald (1909) and Sybil Waller (1909).

Although Spare’s best work in this field appears between 1907 and 1910 he returned to the genre after the publication of The Focus of Life in 1921. These later designs, largely for his loyal patron Pickford Waller, fall into a period of intense introspection for Spare. Gone is the fine detail and recurring classical motifs of earlier work and instead we are offered satyrs and self-portraits amid swirling forms. Thus AOS chronicled his descent towards the publication of Anathema of Zos in 1927; and the death of patrons Pickford Waller and Desmond Coke in the early 30s.

It would be nearly 20 years before Spare undertook his final bookplate design, for the journalist Dennis Bardens, but throughout his career AOS relished not only designing printed ex-libris, but also exquisite hand-drawn examples. These he continued to execute for friends and patrons until the end of his life, often embellishing the book with his own distinctive brand of decoration as a special bonus. These unique ex-libris are the rarest of all his forays into this field and are the ultimate acquisition for every collector.

This list first appeared in AOS Ex-Libris (Keridwen Press, 1988) and has been edited and augmented for inclusion in the Fulgur Limited website.

PICKFORD WALLER 1905
Robed figures on plinth with books and figures at their feet. 135 x 85mm. Monogram. Printed in sepia.

Pickford Waller was Spare’s most important patron, supporting him from his earliest days through until his death in 1930. This is the first design for Waller and contains some of the motifs that recur in Spare’s work of the period: the slipped mask, the drama of curtained space, dragons, plinths and other classical references.

DESMOND COKE 1907
An array of objects befitting a collector, including silhouettes of the patron and artist. 157 x 98mm. Monogram.

Coke was a connoisseur and collector especially interested in silhouettes. His book The Art of Silhouette was published in 1913. He was a friend of Haldane MacFall and Claude Lovat Fraser, both contributors to Spare’s journal The Golden Hind. Coke supported AOS until his death in Worthing in 1931.

PICKFORD WALLER c.1907
Vine-tree with resident nymph bursting forth from root. 83 x 64mm. Monogram.

This design clearly shows the influence of Charles Ricketts, particularly his illustrations to Oscar Wilde’s The Sphinx (Elkin Matthews and John Lane, 1894)

RALPH STRAUS 1908
A library interior with an ostrich standing in foreground. 95 x 63mm. Monogram.

Here Spare employs a visual pun, as “Straus” is German for “ostrich”. Straus was an earlier chronicler of Spare’s work and his article on AOS appeared in The Booklover’s Magazine in 1909

AUSTIN O. SPARE 1908
Apollo and Daphne embracing, a plinth with a self-portrait bust to the right. 101 x 67mm. Monogram.

Inspired by his illustrations to C. F. Grindrod’s Songs from the Classics (David Nutt, 1907) this design shows the genesis of Spare’s lifetime obsessions: the interplay of the sexes, the bestial satyr representing atavistic experience, the power and myth of ancient culture, particularly Greece, and the ubiquitous self-portrait.

PICKFORD WALLER 1908
A circular design with a self-portrait seated, surrounded by figures. 107mm diameter. Monogram

M. ROBERT BOSS 1908
A miscellany of books, pictures and figures, a cow looking rather majestic as a centrepiece. 110 x 64mm. Monogram.

Here Spare employs another visual pun, as “Bos” is Latin for “cow”.

E. MURCH MITCHELL 1909
A classical Greek figure holding a lyre. 101 x 47mm. Unsigned. Printed in red.

Elizabeth Murch Mitchell was one of Spare’s childhood sweethearts. This design is very similar to those Spare drew for C. F. Grindrod’s Songs from the Classics (David Nutt, 1907).

CISSIE A. SPARE 1909
As above. 101 x 47mm. Unsigned. Printed in green.

“Cissie” was the nickname given to Spare’s older sister, Susan Ann Spare.

AUSTIN OSMAN SPARE 1909
Self-portrait amid a sprouting “tree” of images, including Spare’s birth sign the Capricorn goat. 115 x 79mm. Monogram.

By 1909 Spare had two published works behind him and was developing towards The Book of Pleasure. Here his increasing confidence is evident. Rising from a sea of matter is an efflorescence of forms, including lizards, birds, flowers and a “botanical baby” – with a self-portrait central to the design. Here also may be found an early representation of the hand and eye motif.

JOHN OSWALD 1909
An Edwardian interior with a variety of sports equipment to the left. 119 x 77mm. Monogram.

The connoisseur John Oswald lived in St. James’ and doubtless would have attended Spare’s shows at the Ryder Gallery around this time. A highly detailed design and one of the few etchings Spare executed.

SYBIL WALLER 1909
A double-headed bird with flaming sceptre in background. 103 x 90mm. Monogram.

Pickford Waller’s only daughter was a keen admirer of Spare during her father’s lifetime. A friend of James Guthrie, author of the introduction to Spare’s The Book of Satyrs, she later affirmed her classical leanings with a book of poems and essays entitled The Kingdom of Pan in 1952.

ANDRE RAFFALOVICH c1910
A columbine formed from birds and a mask. 121 x 64mm. Initialled. Printed in sepia.

Raffalovich, a “wealthy patron of the arts and letters” (Sewell, Footnote to the Nineties, p.1) invited Spare to his home in Edinburgh in 1910. Here Spare produced some memorable work, including an accomplished self-portrait that Canon Gray, Raffalovich’s lifetime friend, gave as a bequest to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This bookplate design, with its inventive simplicity, is arguably Spare’s finest contribution to the genre.

PICKFORD WALLER 1912
A mallard evolving into a lily. 110 x 85mm. Signed with monogram.

Another zoomorphic design involving birds and flowers, a common theme of the period.

PICKFORD WALLER 1921
A circular design of a reclining androgynous figure. 99mm diameter.

A woodcut by William Quick after A. O. Spare. Quick was responsible for engraving most of Spare’s woodcut designs. Eyes cast downward, androgynous and vulnerable, the figure is a self-portrait, and compares curiously with his self-portrait frontispiece to The Focus of Life published in the same year. In this image Spare’s face is obscured because his head is turned upward, whilst a strategically placed open book suggests sexual ambiguity.

PICKFORD WALLER 1922
Self-portrait amidst flames. Original design 170 x 120min. Initialled.

PICKFORD WALLER 1922
Swirling masses with elfin self-portrait in foreground. 150 x 102mm. Initialled. Printed in sepia.

GRACE E. ROGERS c1923
Nude with ram’s head amid swirling forms. 141 x 102min. Initialled.

Reproduced in The Golden Hind, Vol. 1 No. 4, July 1923.

PICKFORD WALLER 1923
Bust of Pan on column amid swirling forms. 145 x 103mm. Initialled.

Reproduced in The Golden Hind, Vol. 1, No. 4, July 1923

G. H. R. MACKEY c1923
Self-portrait. Initialled.

Reproduced in The Golden Hind, Vol. 2 No. 5, October 1923

ELLEN V. SPARE c1924
Head amidst twisted landscape. Possibly never printed. Initialled.

Reproduced in The Golden Hind, Vol. 2 No. 6, Jan. 1924

Ellen V. Spare was Spare’s youngest sister. Born in 1894, she became a professional artist illustrating fashion magazines and lived in Essex. They remained close until Austin’s death.

GEORGE J. MITCHELL c1924
Self-portrait within swirling masses. Possibly never printed. Initialled.

Reproduced in The Golden Hind, Vol. 2 No. 6, Jan. 1924

DENNIS BARDENS 1945
Portrait of Barden’s head, decapitated and resting on a book. 102 x 71mm. Initialled.

Dennis Bardens, a journalist, met Spare in the mid 1930s and they became close friends. He orchestrated Spare’s 1938 show in the Walworth Road studio and contributed an introduction to the catalogue. This is only the second ex-libris to include a portrait of the patron, the first being for Desmond Coke in 1907. Bardens and Spare remained friends until Spare died in 1956.