THE CARFAX MONOGRAPHS

by

Kenneth & Steffi Grant

In the brief introduction to "Hidden Lore" (a reprint of the Carfax Monographs published by Skoob books in 1989 ), Kenneth and Steffi Grant explain that "the main purpose of the Monographs is to reconstruct and elucidate the hidden lore of the West according to canons preserved in various esoteric orders and movements of recent times. This has been achieved by a careful presentation of symbolic designs, many of which have not hitherto been published with proper regard to colour, proportion, attribution and accuracy of technical detail."

The essays were originally published in ten parts between March 1959 and October 1963. Each one was limited to 100 numbered and signed copies consisting of a 13" X 8" colored folder containing an original pen and ink drawing (except for number IV, which was a photograph of "a stele in ink on wood" by Austin Osman Spare).

As nice as the tipped-in colored plates that were reproduced in "Hidden Lore" are (a beautifully-produced book that is, itself, becoming increasingly difficult to find), they hardly do justice to the original multicolored pen and ink illustrations executed by Steffi Grant (which are shown here).

Today, a complete set (or even a single folder for that matter) of the original series of monographs rarely turns up in the second-hand book shops. In fact, in all our years of collecting rare occult books, both Danny and I had never seen a single Carfax Monograph for sale until we were offered this set by a friend who was, himself, a rare book dealer with connections in London. According to him, the set had belonged to the occult historian and author, Francis King, who recently passed away. When they arrived from England, they were still mounted in the golden wooden frames which he had displayed them in at his place of residence.

BMB