Hlos hrudy [Voice of the soil] by Lysohorsky, Óndra (Erwin Goj, 1905-1989) - 1935

Prague: Družstevní Práce, 1935. Octavo (19.8 × 12 cm). Original embossed ochre cloth, orange dust wrappers by Ladislav Sutnar; [8], 115, [2] pp. Frontis drawing by Ferdiš Duša. Light sun-tanning to spine; else very good or better in very good dust jacket. [Pioneer of "Lach" Literature] Scarce third book of poems by this Silesian poet, who became famous for defending the rights of speakers of the so-called Lach dialects, a group of dialects situated between the Czech and Polish languages. Although Lysohorsky grew up speaking German and initially published in German, he later refused to write in standard Czech, publishing numerous works in Lachian. A scholar of Slavic studies, he systematized the grammar of Lachian and created the first published works using this dialect. Claiming persecution by Czech authorities, who refused to recognize Lachian as an independent language, he later asked Stalin to intercede on his behalf. He spent time in the Soviet Union and Boris Pasternak even translated several volumes of his poetry. Because of his controversial status in Czechoslovakia, his books were later banned and removed from libraries and the book trade. Nevertheless, because he was a poet of the oppressed and of the working class, Lysohorsky found acclaim with the Czechoslovak interwar leftist literary and artistic scene. This book also serves as an introduction to the Lach dialect, with a long dictionary, and introduction to pronunciation, and a note that the orthography and grammar is based on an 1898 work by Jan Loriš. Binding by František Muzika, typographic design and wrappers by Ladislav Sutnar. Outside the Czech Republic, KVK, OCLC show copies at Bamberg and Regensburg University, Herder Institut, Oxford, UCL, and Urbana-Champaign.