The Bastion Overwhelmed,
|
O baluarte tomado, Damian Murphy |
"Even in those cities which seem to enjoy the blessings of peace, and where the arts flourish, the inhabitants are devoured by envy, cares and anxieties, which are greater plagues than any experienced in a town when it is under siege."
(Candide, Voltaire)
(Candide, Voltaire)
"Like rats, they surged into the mouth of the night, their captains naked and indecent like prostitutes."
Following the paths of the rare, the unforeseen, the heretical, Raphus Press opens the Chartae series, bilingual editions (Portuguese / English) of quite unusual works by the most innovative authors in the contemporary landscape of speculative narrative.
And the first in this series is Damian Murphy's The Bastion Overwhelmed. An intensely lyrical work about the city - all cities - as a source of secrets, intense memories, traumas, rituals, perdition. Antwerp, like every city in the world, becomes a bastion, just waiting for the assault by the occupying troops.
Initially published in one of Raphus Press's earliest collections, Spiritual Meaning of the Massacres, which has long been sold out, we are now rescuing this unique narrative with new elements. A liminal piece found in the Leon Tolstoy stories about Sebastopol during the Crimean War and a post-script piece by Alcebiades Diniz Miguel, entitled "The Casemate" – a narrative reading of Murphy's original piece in a new key, a peculiar narrative about sieges and citadels and fortresses during the Stalingrad Battle at the World War II.
But there is something very special about this book – and all others of Raphus Chartae series – and it's the choice: our readers will be able to choose from the handcrafted edition produced by the master printmaker Márcio Simões at Sol Negro atelier or a hardcover edition printed on the Forma Certa printshop. Both will be limited and numbered, with some graphic effects and experimentation - such as the translucent cover page in the form of bookmark in Damian's book.
The covers of the handcrafted edition (called Band B), the hard cover edition (Band A) and the translucent bookmark/cover page follows below:
Following the paths of the rare, the unforeseen, the heretical, Raphus Press opens the Chartae series, bilingual editions (Portuguese / English) of quite unusual works by the most innovative authors in the contemporary landscape of speculative narrative.
And the first in this series is Damian Murphy's The Bastion Overwhelmed. An intensely lyrical work about the city - all cities - as a source of secrets, intense memories, traumas, rituals, perdition. Antwerp, like every city in the world, becomes a bastion, just waiting for the assault by the occupying troops.
Initially published in one of Raphus Press's earliest collections, Spiritual Meaning of the Massacres, which has long been sold out, we are now rescuing this unique narrative with new elements. A liminal piece found in the Leon Tolstoy stories about Sebastopol during the Crimean War and a post-script piece by Alcebiades Diniz Miguel, entitled "The Casemate" – a narrative reading of Murphy's original piece in a new key, a peculiar narrative about sieges and citadels and fortresses during the Stalingrad Battle at the World War II.
But there is something very special about this book – and all others of Raphus Chartae series – and it's the choice: our readers will be able to choose from the handcrafted edition produced by the master printmaker Márcio Simões at Sol Negro atelier or a hardcover edition printed on the Forma Certa printshop. Both will be limited and numbered, with some graphic effects and experimentation - such as the translucent cover page in the form of bookmark in Damian's book.
The covers of the handcrafted edition (called Band B), the hard cover edition (Band A) and the translucent bookmark/cover page follows below:
Cover for the Band A edition (hard cover).
Cover for the Band B edition (handcrafted with special materials, paperback).
Translucent bookmark/cover page layout for both editions.
The Bastion Overwhelmed (or O Baluarte Tomado) a bilingual, double edition (handmade booklet or hard cover edition) with a story by Damian Murphy, an excerpt by L. Tolstoy and a brief allegorical narrative by Alcebiades Diniz Miguel with 5.11 x 7.4 in., 44 pages, designed by Raphus Press Immanent Headquarters, printed both by the great Márcio Simões at Sol Negro atelier or Forma Certa printshop. As usual, this edition will be very scarce: only 80 numbered copies (40 in Band A and more 40 in B editions), plus some (very few) private copies. The price, including mail expenses for every corner of the world:
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)