In fever, looking at motors as if at tropical Nature --
Vast human tropics of iron and fire and force --
I sing, and I sing the present, and also the past and the future,
Because the present is all the past and all the future
And Plato and Virgil are in machines and electric lights
Because the human Virgil and Plato had existed in other times,
And pieces of Alexander The Great from say the fiftieth century,
Molecules making the mind of Aeschylus feverish in the 100th century,
Moving through these transmission-belts and pistons and fliers,
Howling, grinding, whispering, clattering, clanking,
Becoming an excess of bodily caresses in a single caress in my soul.
("Triumphal Ode", by Fernando Pessoa (Álvaro de Campos), translated by Teresa Rita Lopes)
Vast human tropics of iron and fire and force --
I sing, and I sing the present, and also the past and the future,
Because the present is all the past and all the future
And Plato and Virgil are in machines and electric lights
Because the human Virgil and Plato had existed in other times,
And pieces of Alexander The Great from say the fiftieth century,
Molecules making the mind of Aeschylus feverish in the 100th century,
Moving through these transmission-belts and pistons and fliers,
Howling, grinding, whispering, clattering, clanking,
Becoming an excess of bodily caresses in a single caress in my soul.
("Triumphal Ode", by Fernando Pessoa (Álvaro de Campos), translated by Teresa Rita Lopes)
We have reached the final point of our series of chapbooks on cities – their ruins, their remains (real and imaginary), their contradictions, their formats, their obsessions, their sects, their visions. ELDORADO, thus, is our last foray into the arid universe, sometimes vertiginous, ferocious city.
ELDORADO or “El Dorado” (the golden one), a mythical city of gold sought by the Spanish Conquistadores in the interior of America, in the springs of the rivers, in the middle of the Amazon Forest – a search that often ended with the madness and the destruction. The expeditions was always on the trail of a mirage that fell on the horizon, forever unreachable as a dream, a feverish fancy. The fantastic gleaming empires that melt in the air appear in this last volume of The Ashes of the Cities. The brief volume begins with the pulsating shadows and enigmatic structures built by Krzysztof Fijalkowski in his "Nový Ys" tale. Then in "The Plazas of Madness", Luiz Nazario presents us a builder that works with the dream and the nightmare in the city (and human) unit par excellence – the square. Finally, a brief sequence of photos of Fernando Klabin, depicting unusual angles of various European cities, evokes the absolute solitude of a narrative by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
ELDORADO, a chapbook (5.1 x 7.0 in.) designed by Raphus Press Immanent Headquarters at São Paulo, Brazil, printed in the Sol Negro ateliers (-05° 47' 42''; -35° 12' 34''), with multiple illustrations from public sources, 44 pages, cover photo by Fábio Waki and Fernando Klabin shots on the European urban weirdness. As usual, this new chapbook edition will be very scarce: only 30 numbered copies, plus some (very few) private copies. For purchases, please see our Catalogue or buy buy yours on the links below.
ELDORADO or “El Dorado” (the golden one), a mythical city of gold sought by the Spanish Conquistadores in the interior of America, in the springs of the rivers, in the middle of the Amazon Forest – a search that often ended with the madness and the destruction. The expeditions was always on the trail of a mirage that fell on the horizon, forever unreachable as a dream, a feverish fancy. The fantastic gleaming empires that melt in the air appear in this last volume of The Ashes of the Cities. The brief volume begins with the pulsating shadows and enigmatic structures built by Krzysztof Fijalkowski in his "Nový Ys" tale. Then in "The Plazas of Madness", Luiz Nazario presents us a builder that works with the dream and the nightmare in the city (and human) unit par excellence – the square. Finally, a brief sequence of photos of Fernando Klabin, depicting unusual angles of various European cities, evokes the absolute solitude of a narrative by Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
ELDORADO, a chapbook (5.1 x 7.0 in.) designed by Raphus Press Immanent Headquarters at São Paulo, Brazil, printed in the Sol Negro ateliers (-05° 47' 42''; -35° 12' 34''), with multiple illustrations from public sources, 44 pages, cover photo by Fábio Waki and Fernando Klabin shots on the European urban weirdness. As usual, this new chapbook edition will be very scarce: only 30 numbered copies, plus some (very few) private copies. For purchases, please see our Catalogue or buy buy yours on the links below.
The opinion of our readers
Golden Age of Clairvoyance
"Well I have received the books today and I had certain high expectations and I must say such high expectations were well exceeded. The selectivity of the authors as I may have mentioned before (both individually and in combination) and translations are impeccable. The book design is exquisite and enhances the holistic reading experience (by way of comparison, on first seeing the books I had the same sense of elation when I had received my first Sylph Edition Cahiers a few years ago)."
(Andrew Condous)
(Andrew Condous)
"The books look really nice - I'm especially liking the full-color images inside. Very good design."
(Damian Murphy)
(Damian Murphy)
"The chapbooks are beautiful. Well done! Equally engaging for the eye and mind."
(Rachel Kinbar)
(Rachel Kinbar)
"The initial print-run of all three is, of course, low, so any interested readers should make a quick decision; because I do hope Raphus continue on their path of intriguing little translations of the recovered uncanny and esoteric."
(Mark Andresen at Pan Review)
(Mark Andresen at Pan Review)
The great weird and fantastic connoisseur, Des Lewis, made an insightful review of Black Mirror, the second chapbook in the series, available in this link.
Spiritual Meaning of the Massacres
"Many thanks for sending me a copy of The Mendicant. It really looks rather good – a bit like one of the books you read about in short stories that start off ‘Beware if you read these words... too late!"
(Stephen Cashmore)
(Stephen Cashmore)
"It's a marvelous production, and it's great that you have resurrected the remarkable title piece. I also enjoyed the pamphlet (...). Long may Raphus Press reign!"
(Chris Mikul)
(Chris Mikul)
"I am absolutely delighted with them [The Mendicant of the Books and The Sacred Abysmal Perspective]! They are both true examples of true and original creative philosophical ingenuity, originality and also design. They are fantastickal chapbooks and it is an equal delight to have been able to contribute and to assist in other ways. Although I saw the proofed editions when you e-mailed them to me, now that they are in my hands, they veritably glow and crackle and weep with their malign embers.
I shall take myself off on a sacred journey this weekend, like the early priests going to Tibet, and will immerse myself in the deep folds and ravines these chapbooks open up."
(Jonathan Wood)
I shall take myself off on a sacred journey this weekend, like the early priests going to Tibet, and will immerse myself in the deep folds and ravines these chapbooks open up."
(Jonathan Wood)