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Great googly moogly. Someone apparently sold a copy of the Azoëtia to Weiser Antiquarian, because here it is in their latest catalogue:
Andrew D. Chumbley, Azoëtia. A Grimoire of the Sabbatic Craft; Being a full and accurate transcription, compiled and amended by the author from the original manuscript of 'The Book of Magical Quintessence.' Chelmsford, UK: Xoanon Publishing Ltd., 2003. Sethos 'Black' Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. x + 366pp. Publisher's black cloth with silver title etc to spine and device to cover, black silk ribbon marker. Black clothbound slipcase and signed talisman, edition limited to 77 hand-bound, numbered copies dedicated to the Pow Averse or Shadow-form of Sethos, The Patron Daimon of the Grimoire. Also present is the additional 8pp booklet Rite of Amethystine Light, Liber Sa-Bapho-Mitr 77, a conjouration of the Averse or Shadow-form of the daimon Sethos, the patron of this edition of Azoetia which is signed by the author using his magical name and also sigilised by him, together with a small talisman painted in walnut ink on hand-printed orie skin paper. Attractively produced, this special edition is comprised of a revised text together with additional formulae and around 45 illustrations, many previously unseen.
Originally published by in 1992 in a limited edition of only 300 copies, Azoetia or "The Book of the Magical Quintessence" has become one of the most sought-after new magical works of our time and may be regarded as the foundation text of the Sabbatic Craft Tradition in its present phase of work. Azoetia is comprised of three main parts: an exposition of preliminary magico-aesthetic formulae with detailed descriptions of working tools; the full text of the Sabbatic Rituals of Ingress, Congress, and Egress; and an eleven-chaptered Grimoirium detailing the arcana and composite practices of the Sacred Alphabet – the twenty-two lettered code of sorcerous principles underlying the practical spectrum of the Arte Magical. The entire work intends the reification of traditional British cunning-craft praxis according to the spiritual vision and artistry of a contemporary initiate.
Fine condition in slipcase. (Slipcase very lightly rubbed at lower edge, otherwise Fine condition). (38045) $2,250.00
Didja get the number of that donkey cart? $2250. Now, that's not the one I have; the so-called "Sethos edition" was actually published in several forms in 2002 and 2003. This copy on offer is of the last, the black "Sethos-Behena", and what I have is the "Deluxe" of the 2002 editions (no picture on the page there, but it looks similar to the "Standard" except for the quarter-binding in cream-coloured leather). I have no idea if mine is more or less valuable than the "Sethos-Behena", and I'm sure Weiser paid less for it than they're turning around and selling it for, but geez. (I should probably point out that when I bought it at release I recall paying a couple hundred dollars for it.)
Andrew D. Chumbley, Azoëtia. A Grimoire of the Sabbatic Craft; Being a full and accurate transcription, compiled and amended by the author from the original manuscript of 'The Book of Magical Quintessence.' Chelmsford, UK: Xoanon Publishing Ltd., 2003. Sethos 'Black' Edition. Hardcover. 8vo. x + 366pp. Publisher's black cloth with silver title etc to spine and device to cover, black silk ribbon marker. Black clothbound slipcase and signed talisman, edition limited to 77 hand-bound, numbered copies dedicated to the Pow Averse or Shadow-form of Sethos, The Patron Daimon of the Grimoire. Also present is the additional 8pp booklet Rite of Amethystine Light, Liber Sa-Bapho-Mitr 77, a conjouration of the Averse or Shadow-form of the daimon Sethos, the patron of this edition of Azoetia which is signed by the author using his magical name and also sigilised by him, together with a small talisman painted in walnut ink on hand-printed orie skin paper. Attractively produced, this special edition is comprised of a revised text together with additional formulae and around 45 illustrations, many previously unseen.
Originally published by in 1992 in a limited edition of only 300 copies, Azoetia or "The Book of the Magical Quintessence" has become one of the most sought-after new magical works of our time and may be regarded as the foundation text of the Sabbatic Craft Tradition in its present phase of work. Azoetia is comprised of three main parts: an exposition of preliminary magico-aesthetic formulae with detailed descriptions of working tools; the full text of the Sabbatic Rituals of Ingress, Congress, and Egress; and an eleven-chaptered Grimoirium detailing the arcana and composite practices of the Sacred Alphabet – the twenty-two lettered code of sorcerous principles underlying the practical spectrum of the Arte Magical. The entire work intends the reification of traditional British cunning-craft praxis according to the spiritual vision and artistry of a contemporary initiate.
Fine condition in slipcase. (Slipcase very lightly rubbed at lower edge, otherwise Fine condition). (38045) $2,250.00
Didja get the number of that donkey cart? $2250. Now, that's not the one I have; the so-called "Sethos edition" was actually published in several forms in 2002 and 2003. This copy on offer is of the last, the black "Sethos-Behena", and what I have is the "Deluxe" of the 2002 editions (no picture on the page there, but it looks similar to the "Standard" except for the quarter-binding in cream-coloured leather). I have no idea if mine is more or less valuable than the "Sethos-Behena", and I'm sure Weiser paid less for it than they're turning around and selling it for, but geez. (I should probably point out that when I bought it at release I recall paying a couple hundred dollars for it.)
no subject
Date: Jun. 17th, 2010 02:20 am (UTC)From:Someday, I'll get around to converting it to something less clunky than a PDF.
My copies of Qutub and Viridarium Umbris: also digital, also free, also lacking in walnut inks.
no subject
Date: Jun. 17th, 2010 04:33 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: Jun. 17th, 2010 05:08 am (UTC)From:The author (of Azo & Qutub) is deceased. The books are out of print (including Viridarium). The authors/heirs aren't losing any money and aren't losing market share, because there is no market share & no royalties to be had. Nobody's being stolen from; there aren't any unsold copies available from the publisher. (Potentially, resellers are losing their opportunity to sell more thousand-dollar books. I don't believe they have any moral right to a profit.)
There is a (admittedly thin) legal argument for distributing free digital copies of content that's not otherwise available digitally.
As far as talismans goes--those who want physical talismans can pay $1200 for them; those who separate the object from the lore it contains can scrounge the torrents for that lore. (FWIW, I don't upload them; they're too big.) Either the physical objects are important to truly understanding the contents, in which case, the PDFs are irrelevant & not worth worrying about, or the PDFs are a somewhat-reasonable substitute for the paper version, in which case, the publisher should notice the market demand & sell to it.
Distributing free copies of *out of print* books doesn't cut into the authors' profits. It may lessen the collectible value of the originals, but there's no legal right to collectibles that increase in value. It potentially lessens the value of reprints--but there's no intention of reprinting. It may lessen the elitist-obscure-occult rep of the originals, but I'm not willing to accept that as a reasonable argument. If the lore is real & valuable, it's valuable even if it's well known. If part of its value is based on only being available to a wealthy or lucky few people, it's a scam.
no subject
Date: Jun. 17th, 2010 05:33 am (UTC)From:Not known (unless you have inside info I don't, which is possible). Azoetia was republished (else I wouldn't own one) and I thought there were two printings of Qutub although I could be wrong. Others might be.
no subject
Date: Jun. 17th, 2010 02:54 am (UTC)From:I don't have the Azoetia in any form and the Sethos-Behana edition with the Rite of Amethystine Light is the one I want! Sigh...
Someday!!!