By WILLIAM J. WRIGHT
Connoisseurs of dark art are in for a macabre treat, thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign launched by Anathema Publishing. Two exquisite editions by artist and author José Gabriel Alegría Sabogal are on their way after the publisher exceeded its $110,329 goal by over $15,000 in just nine days.
The first book is the long-awaited deluxe soft-cover reissue of Sabogal’s 2022 masterwork IAO: OPHITE ICONOGRAPHY. A bestseller upon its initial release, the first edition of this tome has become a much-sought-after item for devotees of the arcane. Described by the publisher as “an iconographic proposal, an attempt to illustrate the Gnostic worldview and its myths as understood by the Ophites, an ancient Christian mystery cult and sect of which little is known,” the softcover edition features full-color interiors, printed on heavy stock archival quality paper and fine typography and layout by Joseph Uccello.
Anathema’s second upcoming Sabogal release is SEMESILAM: THE ETERNAL SUN, an all-new hardcover collection of the artist’s early work, available in a collector’s edition of 1,000 to 1,300 copies and an artisanal edition bound in genuine black Nigerian Goatskin Leather, limited to approximately 50 copies. SEMESILAM: THE ETERNAL SUN includes the long out-of-print Handbook of Sacred Anatomy (Aeon Sophia Press, 2014) and A Second Nature (ASP, 2017), “along with further, unpublished Sabogal works from 2012 to 2017 and an extended photographic record of Sabogal’s work focusing on human skulls and bones.”
Although Anathema Publishing has exceeded its Kickstarter goal, the campaign remains open for another week, with rewards, including copies of the books and extras, available to supporters.
