The notebooks are A6 postcard size (105 mm x 148 mm) and the covers are a heavy earthy brown kraft paper made from 100% recycled material which gives them a tactile, organic feel. Just the stuff for folk art!
All the images are from The Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel (1565), published by Richard Breton in Paris. The book comprises 120 woodcuts which Breton claimed were the works of Francois Rabelais, although this is almost certainly not the case. A more likely creator for “the most curious pictures that can be found in the whole world” is the engraver Francois Desprez. Whatever their origin, the images remain startling to this day.
There are also oblique Aleister Crowley connections, with Thelema thought likely to be derived from Rabelais’ Abbaye de Theleme, a libertarian community outlined in his best known work, Gargantua and Pantagruel. The links become even more baroque with cryptic references in the book to cannabis under the name pantagruelion. Both Rabelais and Crowley were known as enthusiastic consumers of pantagruelion, the Herb of Thelema. What’s more, Crowley uses an anagram, Alcofribas Nasier, to open an esoteric essay on hashish, which is also a well known anagram for Francois Rabelais. It is a heady brew!
You can read more here:
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-drolatic-dreams-of-pantagruel-1565
http://riowang.blogspot.com/2011/07/unbearable-mask.html
https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2019/02/17/aleister-crowley-francois-rabelais-and-the-herb-of-thelema/
All the images are from The Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel (1565), published by Richard Breton in Paris. The book comprises 120 woodcuts which Breton claimed were the works of Francois Rabelais, although this is almost certainly not the case. A more likely creator for “the most curious pictures that can be found in the whole world” is the engraver Francois Desprez. Whatever their origin, the images remain startling to this day.
There are also oblique Aleister Crowley connections, with Thelema thought likely to be derived from Rabelais’ Abbaye de Theleme, a libertarian community outlined in his best known work, Gargantua and Pantagruel. The links become even more baroque with cryptic references in the book to cannabis under the name pantagruelion. Both Rabelais and Crowley were known as enthusiastic consumers of pantagruelion, the Herb of Thelema. What’s more, Crowley uses an anagram, Alcofribas Nasier, to open an esoteric essay on hashish, which is also a well known anagram for Francois Rabelais. It is a heady brew!
You can read more here:
https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/the-drolatic-dreams-of-pantagruel-1565
http://riowang.blogspot.com/2011/07/unbearable-mask.html
https://www.cannabisculture.com/content/2019/02/17/aleister-crowley-francois-rabelais-and-the-herb-of-thelema/
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Notebooks - any 3 for £10!!
£10.50
£10.50
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 1
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 2
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 3
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 4
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 5
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 7
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 8
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 9
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 10
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 11
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 12
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£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 13
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£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 14
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£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 15
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£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 16
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 17
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 18
£4.25
£4.25
Drolatic Dreams of Pantagruel Notebook 19
£4.25
£4.25