Sorcery In Poitou

The first notable literary advocate of the Satanist, alchemist and child-killer Gilles de Rais remains J-K Huysmans, famous for his novel A Rebours and its quintessential decadent, Des Esseintes. Huysmans' later novel La-Bas (1891), a virtual apology for Satanism, is threaded by a version of the de Rais story as narrated by the book's protagonist, Durtal. Punctuated by the author's own poetic interventions, this account depicts de Rais as an arch-decadent beset by demonic visions and ravening sexual manias - "the 15th century Des Esseintes†. A most intriguing "sequel†to this examination of evil is now provided by the first ever English translation of Huysmans' pamphlet SORCERYâ€INâ€POITOU (La Sorcellerie En Poitou, also known as La Magie En Poitou), published in 1897 in a limited edition for private circulation only. Described by Huysmans as a reductionist, non-fiction version of La-Bas, it demonstrates the ongoing fascination exerted by de Rais over the author. This special ebook edition of SORCERYâ€INâ€POITOU also includes Instrumentum Diaboli, Huysmans' notorious essay on the Satanic artist Felicien Rops, whose work The Sacrifice is featured on the front cover.

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