"...A Versatile and Often Very Erratic Fancy"

In May 1904, following the inclusion of his work at the Royal Academy Summer Show, some of Spare's drawings went on display at the Newington Public Library on Walworth Road. On the 23rd of May, The Daily Mail ran the following:

"This is a vitality that comes from the street"

"Spare Places" is a Psychogeographical film by The Bones Go Last's friend, Jamie Gregory. Made in 2006, "Spare Places" takes us to where Spare lived and breathed, exploring the history of those areas and in doing so offering glimpses into possible inspirations for Spare's life and works. The film highlights the creativity, diversity and ever changing face of of South London. Layers of fascinating history shudder behind grey buildings as Jamie's jerky digital lense probes for traces of Austin.

Jamie was kind enough to answer some of our questions about the film.....

"But She Ought to be Careful in Vienna..."

"Sometimes there would be a pianist, tinkering – over and over again – with the ‘Harry Lime theme’ from the film the third man; it seemed to be the signature tune of Spare at that period, and hearing it now fills me with nostalgia"

- Steffi Grant recounting early meetings with Spare in pubs and Gin palaces in south London in the early fifties, taken from “Borough Satyr, The Life and Work of Austin Osman Spare”, 2005, and First published in “Zos Speaks”, 1999

Southwark History Library Returns to Borough

Following its sojurn in Peckham, the Southwark History Library is now residing on the exquisite premises of the John Harvard Library on Borough High St.