ANITA BERBER & SEBASTIAN DROSTE
'DANCES OF VICE, HORROR, & ECSTASY'
(Translated by Merrill Cole)
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| Front and back covers |
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ISBN: 978-0-9542953-7-0
122 pages incl. 16pp b/w photos and 16pp colour images
300 numbered copies (with extras only available via this website)
Cost for the U.K. is £25.00 incl. postage.
Cost elsewhere is £30.00 which includes airmail postage and packing.
Anita Berber (1899-1928) and Sebastian Droste (1892-1927) were the most
notorious dancers of Weimar Germany whose works (like their personal
lives) were suffused with drugs, decadence and polysexuality.
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| Extra tipped in photo (only available from direct orders) and title page |
This rare book (fully translated for the first time by Merrill Cole) has its origins around series of dance events performed by the
couple in 1922 and consists in part of a number of Expressionist poems
related to those evenings. However, the book is far more than that; and
is really a 'gesamskunstwerk' ('total work of art') of drug suffused, morbid, decadent and homo-erotic Expressionist poetry, prose and imagary. It also includes essays, stage designs for projected works and a series
of extraordinary photographs commissioned from Madame D'Ora (Dora
Kalmus). The finished product should be seen as much as decadent literature as it is a landmark text of dance history and document of Weimar period excess. It has no supernatural content.
The original edition of 1,000 (fragile) copies is now very rare and has
never been translated in full until now. Translator Merrill Cole
(Associate Professor of English - Western Illinois University - and
Fulbright Senior Research Award recipiant) introduces the book and
places it in its decadent Weimar context with particular emphasis on its
homosexual aspects, while Anita Berbers biographer Mel Gordon
(Professor of Dramatic Art at University of California, Berkeley) gives
insight into the books genesis and includes a previously untranslated
Droste poem 'War'.
Much of the D'Ora archive was 'Aryanized'
by Hitler and thus lost or dispersed but Side Real have located twelve
of the sixteen photos in various collections and archives. These have
then undergone (in some cases extensive) restoration to provide the best
quality images possible. All the other images have also been adjusted
to better their quality for this edition.
An extensive essay on
Berber, Droste, Expressionism, the book and its relation to the Weimar
period by John Hirschhorn-Smith (including rare D'Ora images and
extracts from the poems) can be found in the Side Real Press 'extras'
sidebar or HERE.
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| Two Madame D'Ora photographs and a Täuber stage design for 'Insane Asylum' |
Contents:
• Introduction: Dances of Vice, Horror, and Ecstasy - Merrill Cole
• 'The Book of Dissolution' - Mel Gordon
• 'Dances of Vice Horror and Ecstasy' - Anita Berber and Sebastian Droste which
includes-
• Portraits of Droste and Berber by Felix Harta
• 'Dance as Form and Experience' - Sebastian Droste
• 'The Legends' - Sebastian Droste
• Poems by Berber and Droste: I, Dance, Pritzel Puppets, Byzantine Whip
Dance; Cocaine; Saint Sebastian; Suicide; Vision; Egyptian King's Son;
Insane Asylum; Astarte; Night Of The Borgia; Murder, Woman And The
Hanged Man; People; The Moonstruck And The Convict; The Woman
With Seven Masks; The Corpse On The Operating Table; Orchids; Dreams;
Longing; The Wicked And The Naked; Temptation.
• 'Analysis' - W. Rochowanski
• 'Photo Effigies' - 16 pp of b/w photos by Atelier D'Ora
• 'Graphic Intuitions' - Drawings by Anita Berber
• 'Decorations, Sketches & Figures for the Dances Of Vice, Horror And Ecstasy' -
Harry Tä
uber.
Offset printed and blocked front and back.
The cover image is a photo is hand mounted and an unused image from the same D'Ora sessions as used in the book.
The back image is a 'Graphic Intuition' by Anita Berber.
In addition, individuals who order directly from the Press will receive
a hitherto unpublished extra tipped in image of the couple, also from the D'Ora sessions embossed with the Side Real logo.
This extra will NOT be available elsewhere!
ALSO AVAILABLE
'DELICATE TOXINS'
(A Collection of Strange Tales)
ISBN: 978-0-9542953-6-3 (339 pages)
350 numbered copies (with
free extras only available via this website)
Cost for the U.K. is £30.00 incl. postage.
Cost elsewhere is £35.00 which includes airmail postage and packing.
Edited by John Hirschhorn-Smith this is an anthology of all new tales taking the life, work and cultural milieu of Hanns Heinz Ewers as their inspiration.
'Delicate Toxins' signed, stamped bookplate and title page.
(Click on the image for a larger version.)
The contents are:
- Introduction - John Hirschhorn-Smith
- 'A Pallid Devil Bearing Cypress' - Richard Gavin
- 'Salmacis' - Stephen J. Clark
- 'Crossing The Sea Of Night' - Mark Howard Jones
- 'Tlaloc' - Angela Caperton
- 'Magicians And Moonlight' - Katherine Haynes
- 'Lotte Of The Black Piglet' - Colin Insole
- 'The Unrest At Aachen' - Mark Valentine
- 'The Naked Goddess' - Daniel Mills
- 'Singing Blood' - Reggie Oliver
- 'The Devil In The Box' - Orrin Grey
- 'The Rites of Pentecost' - Peter Bell
- 'Endor' - Michael Chislett
- 'White Roses, Bloody Silk' - Thana Niveau
- 'The Filature' - Adam S. Cantwell
'Delicate Toxins' stands in its own right as a collection of writings by some of the most interesting authors in the field of 'strange stories' but is also complementary to Side Real Press' ongoing programme of Ewers re-issues.
Printed in black with red titles and initial letters throughout.
The cover is printed in three colours directly onto the book cloth and is uniform in design with Side Real Press' previous volumes 'Nachtmahr' and 'Alraune'.
In addition, individuals who order directly from the Press will receive a tipped in bookplate based on the cover design, dedicated to whosoever the buyer wishes, signed by John Hirschhorn-Smith and stamped with the Side Real logo.
This extra will NOT be available elsewhere!
Comments and Reviews of 'Delicate Toxins'
Peter Tennant of 'Black Static' cited 'Delicate Toxins' as the best anthology of 2011 "with stories that worked individually and yet played well against each other, an intoxicating air of decadence wafting through the enterprise"; and one of the stories, 'The Naked Goddess' by Daniel Mills, received honourable mention in the 'best short story' category. It was also reviewed by him in December 2011s issue of 'Black Static' magazine available here.
It was reviewed in issue 20 of 'Supenatural Tales'. Buy a copy of that here.
An online review by Mario Guslandi can be read here.
We are also proud to say that eight of the tales within 'Delicate Toxins' appear on Ellen Datlows 'Honorable Mention List for Best Horror of the Year' 2011. See the full list here.
Since 2004, Phantoms at the Phil has become a now-traditional opportunity to hear new ghost stories read by their authors in the atmospheric surroundings of Newcastle's extraordinary private library, the Literary and Philosophical Society. Although guests have on occasion been invited to participate, the classic line-up is Chaz Brenchley, Sean O'Brien and Gail-Nina Anderson.
From 2004-2007 three volumes were issued by Side Real Press, in Conjunction with Northern Gothic. The first two ‘Proceedings’ have the added bonus of CD recordings from the events. The third volume of ‘Proceedings’ marked the end of the book series, though the live readings continue.
Phantoms at the Phil - The Second Proceedings
ISBN: 0-9542953-2-3
300 numbered copies w. double CD recording.
Cost ANYWHERE is £18.50 which includes airmail postage and packing.
The stories are:
- It Follows Therefore by Sean O'Brien
- The Chapel of St Thomas by Gail-Nina Anderson
- The Deadly Space Between by Chaz Brenchley
- The Midwife's Assistant by Ann Cleeves
- Seeing Things by Simon Morden
- The Dead Reckoning by Carol McGuigan
Phantoms at the Phil - The Third Proceedings
ISBN: 0-9542953-3-1
300 numbered copies. (
No CD recording)
Cost ANYWHERE is £18.50 which includes airmail postage and packing.
The stories are:
- The Cricket Match at Green Lock by Sean O'Brien
- The Parasol by Gail-Nina Anderson
- Summer's Lease by Chaz Brenchley
- In the Silence Room by Sean O'Brien
- A Garland with Gloves by Gail-Nina Anderson
- The House of Mechanical Pain by Chaz Brenchley
Buy both for £25.00 including all airmail postage costs worldwide.
