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Czech Books & Ephemera

[CZECH POST-WAR SURREALISM - LACOSTE GROUP] Merlin ars - Ars Merlina - Merlin. Lacoste separat 5

by HavlÃÄek, JiÅÃ and Milada Svozilova

Rare bibliophile edition of eight original etchings by JiÅÃ HavlÃÄek and Milada Svozilova. Evidently one of 48 copies, all prints numbered 3/48. "Ce tirage bibliophile concernant les metamorphoes de l'etre legendaire du magicien Merlin, edite par JiÅÃ HavlÃÄek avec Milada SvozilovÃ¡ en fevrier 1968 a Brno, presente prolegomena d'une serie preparee des revues thematiques "MERLIN ARS" dediees a l'art fantasque de Brno et destinees a quelques amis du Fantastique chez nous et a... Read more about this item

Item Price

£518.94

BÃ¡snÃci revoluÄnÃho Ruska [The poets of revolutionary Russia].; LidovÃ¡ knihovna Aventina [Aventinum popular library, series title], vol. 2

by Kubka, FrantiÅ¡ek and Karel Teige, design

First edition of this early systematic study of modern Russian (and Soviet) poetry, with chapters on the mysticism of the Revolution, Chaos and the mystery of matter, Proletarian poets, and others. Wrappers and title page designed by Karel Teige and Otakar MrkviÄka. The series device was designed by Teige. Vloemans 30 (vol. 7 of the series, with similar wrapper design). First edition of this early systematic study of modern Russian (and Soviet) poetry, with chapters on the mysticism of the... Read more about this item

Item Price

£129.74

[SPANISH CIVIL WAR] S. V. U. MÃ¡nes. UmÄnÃ republikÃ¡nskÃ©ho Å panÄlska. Å panÄlÅ¡tÃ umÄlci paÅÃÅ¾skÃ© Å¡koly [The art of Republican Spain. Spanish artists of the Paris school]. Catalog of an exhibition held at S.V.U. MÃ¡nes

Catalog of the 361. exhibition of S.V.U. MÃ¡nes, held January 30 through February 23, 1946, and showing the work of numerous modernist Spanish painters and sculptors who were part of the School of Paris in the interwar period, such as Francisco Bores, Julio Gonzalez, and Pablo Picasso. With texts by FrÃ©dÃ©ric Delanglade, Paul Eluard, Jean Cassou, Tristan Tzara (all translated into Czech), followed by a list of 244 works exhibited. With twelve full-page black-and-white reproductions on coated... Read more about this item

Item Price

£129.74

[CZECH REGIONAL AVANT-GARDE] TichÃ© kyvadlo [The quiet pendulum].; Edice Start, sv. 3

by TmÃ©, Miroslav

Sarce book of poems with avant-garde typography by an undocumented regional designer. Little is known about the author, Miroslav TmÃ© (1909-1998), a teacher and literary critic from Brno, and the designer, one J. Keprt. As of January 2024, KVK, OCLC only show the copy at the Czech National Library. Sarce book of poems with avant-garde typography by an undocumented regional designer. Little is known about the author, Miroslav TmÃ© (1909-1998), a teacher and literary critic from Brno, and the... Read more about this item

Item Price

£129.74

[CZECH SURREALISM] Bohdan Lacina 1948. Title from colophon: Texty FrantiÅ¡ka Halase, Zdenka Lorence, LudvÃka Kundery, Jana TomeÅ¡e k vÃ½stavÄ Bohdana Laciny v Praze, BrnÄ, BratislavÄ roku 1948 [Texts by ... for the exhibition of Bohdan Lacina in Prague, Brno, Bratislava in 1948]

by Halas, FrantiÅ¡ek, ZdenÄk Lorenc, LudvÃk Kundera, and Jan TomeÅ¡

Scarce booklet accompanying what appears to be the first solo exhibit of works by Lacina, following just one year after the first legal exhibition of the Skupina Ra group, an important Czech post-war surrealist group which sharply distinguished itself from pre-war Czech surrealism. Accompanied by short essays by three founding members of the Skupina Ra, as well as the noted modernist poet FrantiÅ¡ek Halas. With fourteen reproductions of Lacina's surrealist paintings, a list of previous exhibitions,... Read more about this item

Item Price

£108.11

[CZECH LEGION PUBLISHING IN SIBERIA] NÃ¡vrh na kulometnÃ½ cviÄebnÃ ÅÃ¡d ÄeskoslovenskÃ©ho vojska na Rusi [Proposal for the machine gun training order of the Czechoslovak army in Russia]

Scarce training manual for the Russian-made "Maksim" machine gun, published by Czechoslovak troops in Russia during the Czech and Slovak Legion's famous anabasis through the Russian Civil War. After the treaty of Brest-Litovsk effectively closed the Eastern Front, the Legion forces found themselves on the side of the imperiled Tsarist troops as they moved East to Vladivostok and to transport ships bound for home. At one time, the Czech Legion controlled the majority of the Trans-Siberian Railway and... Read more about this item

Item Price

£389.20

[CZECH AVANT-GARDE] ProkletÃ bÃ¡snÃci [The cursed poets]

by Verlaine, Paul, Adolf Kroupa, and Karel Teige, designer

Karel Teige designed the cover and wrote a postscript to this translation of Verlaine's essays "Les PoÃ¨tes maudits" (1883-1884), from a text published in Paris in 1900. Both the cover and the appendix contain erotic surrealist photomontage imagery by Teige, highlighting his continued artistic connection with Surrealism and the Western art world even as Czechoslovakia came firmly under the Soviet sphere of influence after WWII. Surrealism was seen as standing in opposition to Socialist Realism, the... Read more about this item

Item Price

£86.49

[CZECH PROLETKULT] KomunistickÃ½ kalendÃ¡Å na rok 1926 [Communist calendar for the year 1926]

by Hora, Josef, editor

Single issue of this rare communist almanac, edited by the poet Josef Hora. It was associated with the Czech Proletkult organization, a group established shortly after the Communist Party itself was founded, in 1921, based on the Soviet proletarian culture organization by the same name. It was led by Stanislav K. Neumann (1875-1947), the former anarchist poet turned proletarian bard, an important Czech cultural and literary critic, who was also involved in the founding of the Czechoslovak Communist... Read more about this item

Item Price

£129.74

Sobota: tÃ½denÃk pro politiku, hospodÃ¡ÅstvÃ, sociÃ¡lnÃ otÃ¡zky a kulturu [Saturday: a weekly for politics, economics, social questions and culture], vol. I, nos. 1-22 (of 35)

by JÃÅ¡e, Karel, Dr. Karel MoudrÃ½, Dr. Jan SlavÃk, editors

Substantial first year run of this Czech interwar journal, which was associated with the Czech National Labor Party (NÃ¡rodnÃ strana prÃ¡ce) and the Czech National-Socialist Party (ÄeskoslovenskÃ¡ strana nÃ¡rodnÄ socialistickÃ¡). Laid into the first issue are two leaflets explaining the political aims of the new journal. The publication was continued until the Protectorate years, but only this first yearly run features the illustrated wrappers (on all but four issues), with political... Read more about this item

Item Price

£129.74

[SOCIALIST YOUTH JOURNAL] MladÃ© proudy: list nÃ¡rodnÃ mlÃ¡deÅ¾e socialistickÃ© [Saturday: a weekly for politics, economics, social questions and culture], vol. VI, nos. 1-12 (complete yearly run for 1906)

by Å patnÃ½, Emil, editor

Complete early run of this long-standing Czech journal for socialist youth, with articles on topics such as antireligiosity, liberalism, socialism, pacifist demonstrations, May Day celebrations, overviews of events in Silesia and Moravia, reports on various worker's and leftist youth clubs. With many censored passages blanked out; many issues are re-issues following confiscation by the censor. This appears to be the editor's copy (Emil Å patnÃ½), with copious annotations, often explaining which... Read more about this item

Item Price

£129.74

[CZECH SURREALISM] VodnÃ¡Å v blÃÅ¾encÃch [Aquarius in Gemini]

by ZdenÄk Lorenc and Josef Istler

Scarce early publication of the Czech post-war surrealist group Skupina Ra (Group Ra), containing poems by ZdenÄk Lorenc and a frontispiece illustration by Josef Istler. Lorenc (1919-1999) was a noted Czech surrealist writer and a co-founder of Skupina Ra. The group's roots go back to the 1930s, but given the Nazi occupants' view of surrealism as a "degenerate art" its members were unable to publish during World War II. Unsurprisingly, the years immediately following the war saw a burst of activity,... Read more about this item

Item Price

£345.96

[WOODEN BOX EMBELLISHED BY THE BOHEMIAN 'ROBIN HOOD'] Hand-made wooden box with straw inlay work by the legendary Bohemian robber and folkloric hero VÃ¡clav BabinskÃ½

by BabinskÃ½, VÃ¡clav (1796-1879)

BabinskÃ½ (German: Wenzel Babinsky, 1796-1879) was a Czech thief and professional robber and highwayman, who orchestrated numerous crimes starting in the 1820s with a small gang that included his lover Apolena Hoffmann. He committed murder at least once, during an 1833 robbery. After evading justice numerous times, including after an 1832 arrest after two guns fell out of Apolena's skirt, he was sentenced to a twenty-year hard labor sentence in 1840, which he served in Brno's Å pilberk Fortress and... Read more about this item

Item Price

£2,162.25

Cesky Svet [magazine] ; Rocnik XVI, I: Pololeti Zari 1919 az Unor 1920 ; Rocnik XVI II: Pololeti Unor az Srpen 1920; Obrazovy Tydenik

by Simanek, Josef , Dr. (ed) ; Sekanina, Frant. (ed.)

V Praze: Vydavatel A Nakladatel Solc A Simacek,.., 1920. Hardcover. About good to good(+) overalll; please see photos.. Folio in dark cloth; bound run of weekly issues of this heavily b&w photo illus magazine. From September 1919 through August 1920. Over 1,000 pages. 12.5 x 9 x 2 inches. A treasure trove of b&w Czech photography. Scarce. Weighs 7 lbs 4 oz before packing. **A large, heavy book. Extra shipping charges may apply for international & expedited orders. Please inquire.**.

Item Price

£128.23

[CZECH AVANT-GARDE - NEZVAL'S FIRST BOOK] Most: bÃ¡snÄ [The bridge: verse] 1919-1921

by Nezval, VÃtÄzslav

First published book of poetry by Nezval (1900-1958), perhaps the most significant twentieth-century Czech poet. He was a leading light of Czech poetism and, later, surrealism, as well as an early member of the avant-garde group DevÄtsil. Nezval was famous both for his energy as an organizer of the Czech avant-garde and for his prolific output of highly lyrical and associative verse. With a woodcut illustration by Dr. ArnoÅ¡t RÃ¡Å¾ (1884-1925). Printed by FrantiÅ¡ek Obzina in VyÅ¡kov. First... Read more about this item

Item Price

£345.96

[CZECH CONCRETE POETRY] Lekce velkÃ©ho A: konkrÃ©tnÃ a vizuÃ¡lnÃ poezie 1962-1993 [The lesson of the capital A: concrete and visual poetry 1962-1993]

by OvÄÃ¡Äek, Eduard, JiÅÃ Valoch, and ArsÃ©n PohribnÃ½

This volume represents the first publication of various concrete and visual poetry cycles created in the 1960-90s by Eduard OvÄÃ¡Äek (born 1933), which could not be published during the Czech Normalization-period of the 1970-80s. Along with such figures as JiÅÃ Valoch, JiÅÃ KolÃ¡Å, Josef HirÅ¡al and Bohumila GrÃ¶gerovÃ¡, OvÄÃ¡Äek was one of the foremost practitioners of concrete poetry and lettrism in Czechoslovakia. "OvÄÃ¡rek endeavoured to achieve a... Read more about this item

Item Price

£108.11

Karel Teige a film. ÃvodnÃ studie Petra KrÃ¡le [Karel Teige and film. With an introductory study by Petr KrÃ¡l]

by Karel Teige and Petr KrÃ¡l, editor

The first volume to gather Karel Teige's various articles on film, mostly published during the 1920s and 1930s, with a lengthy introductory essay by Petr KrÃ¡l (1941-2020), the surrealist-influenced writer and film scholar. Teige was a formative member of the avant- garde movement "DevÄtsil" and served as a key conduit for West European avant-garde and surrealist tendencies to the Czech Republic in the interwar period, in addition to his own prolific work as an editor, graphic designer, and... Read more about this item

Item Price

£216.22

[CZECH AVANT-GARDE] LevÃ¡ fronta [The Left Front], nos. 6-10 (1932), 1-3 (1932-1933)

by Å toll, Ladislav, editor

Significant run of this scarce Czech leftist journal of art, literature, and politics, associated with the eponymous group. LevÃ¡ fronta, or the Left Front, was founded in 1929, and replaced the avant-garde group DevÄtsil, which was based around such key figures as Karel Teige, Jaroslav Seifert and Adolf Hoffmeister. Under Teige, the group had increasingly shifted from allegiance to West European influences toward a greater orientation on Moscow and the Russian avant-garde, leading to discord. With... Read more about this item

Item Price

£518.94

[CZECH TYPE SPECIMEN BOOK] VzornÃk pÃsma odbornÃ©ho uÄiliÅ¡Å¥a Å¡tÃ¡tnych pracovnÃ½ch zÃ¡loh ÄÃslo 15 [A typographic specimen of the state vocational school no. 15]

Scarce and very appealing Slovak typographic specimen book, published by a state-run trade school in Bratislava, evidently after the February 1948 communist coup in Czechoslovakia. It includes an introductory essay on the history of typography, a guide for using the specimen for orders from the printer, and a table of contents. Among the included fonts are Script, Orchidea, Bernard medieval, Umbra, Ratio, Veneziana. Also included is a notably large section of "poster fonts" including large wooden type,... Read more about this item

Item Price

£216.22

[CZECH CONCRETE POETRY AND CONCEPTUAL ART] JiÅÃ Valoch: Die Bedeutung der Worte. BÃ¼cher. 27. April - 6. Juli 1997

by Schraenen, Guy and JiÅÃ Valoch

A conceptual artist book-cum-catalog, conceived for an exhibit jointly curated by JiÅÃ Valoch and Guy Schraenen, containing work by Valoch and H. J. Kocman, the Czech book artist. With an introductory essay by Schraenen and a biography and bibliography of works by Valoch. Published in a print run of 1000 copies. As of January 2024, KVK and OCLC show three copies in North America. A conceptual artist book-cum-catalog, conceived for an exhibit jointly curated by JiÅÃ Valoch and Guy... Read more about this item

Item Price

£64.87

NeznÃ¡mÃ½ FrantiÅ¡ek HudeÄek, 1931-1964. 3. VÃ½stava Galerie Vincence KramÃ¡Åe 10. Ledna - 8. Ãnora 1965 [The unknown Frantisek Hudecek, Gallery Vincenc Kramar, Januar 10 to February 8, 1965]

Scarce exhibition catalog of FrantiÅ¡ek HudeÄek, with six full-page reproductions and a list of works exhibited. Introductory article by Eva Petrova and artist biography. The artist was an early member of the Czech post-war artist collective "Skupina 42" (Group 42), which was formally founded in 1940, during the German Protectorate. The group was forbidden by the Communist government in 1948, but its members and artists continued to work and impact the Czech art scene well into the 1970s. "Skupina... Read more about this item

Item Price

£86.49

[CZECH COMMUNIST MOVEMENT - BANNED BOOKS] ÅÃjnovÃ¡ revoluce a Äeskoslovensko-SovÄtskÄ vztahy v ÄeskoslovenskÃ½ch tiscÃch 1918-1924; bibliograficko-dokumentÃ¡rnÃ sbornÃk k 50. vÃ½rocÃ VelkÃ© ÅÃjnovÃ© socialistichkÃ© revoluce pÅipravila StÃ¡tnÃ knihovna ÄSSR [The October Revolution and Czechoslovak-Soviet relations in Czechoslovak printing, 1918-1924]

by VÃ¡vra, Jaroslav, Karel Kozelek, and Bohumil PelikÃ¡n, editors

Uncommon bibliography and visual documentation issued on the fifty-year anniversary of the October Revolution. The work was compiled by the Czechoslovak State Library and issued as a not-for-sale special commemorative portfolio. An introduction in Czech and Russian is followed by extensive reproductions of front wrappers of communist literature and other books about Soviet Russia printed between 1918 and 1924, many of them in color. The are grouped by categories such as "Books about Vladimir Lenin,"... Read more about this item

Item Price

£345.96

[MODERN DISPLAYS FOR BOOKSTORES] AranÅ¾ovÃ¡nÃ vÃ½kladnÃch skÅÃnÃ. Svazek I. VÃ½klady knihkupeckÃ© [The arrangement of shop display windows. Volume I. Bookshop displays]

by Atelier Henrych (Josef Henrych)

A striking publication by an unknown typographer and designer featuring twenty-six cutting edge, at times even avant-gardistic designs, meant to inspire bookshop windows and exhibition cases. At times amusingly ambitious, many of these designs are devoted to a single author or even a single recently published title, around which a thematic display has been constructed (such as works by Masaryk, Durych, Joseph Roth, Karel Äapek, Sinclair Lewis, Sigrid Undset and others. Each photograph is accompanied... Read more about this item

Item Price

£432.45

[CZECH AVANT-GARDE - SURREALISM] ZvÄrokruh: mÄsÃÄnik soudobÃ©ho umÄnÃ [Zodiac: a monthly of contemporary art], nos. 1 and 2 (all published)

by Nezval, VÃtÄzslav, editor

Complete run of the important journal of the Czech avant-garde, which signaled the shift from the "poetism" of DevÄtsil (the movement would disband in 1931) as well as from the rationalism of constructivism and other left tendencies in art. Interestingly, the editorial statement of the first volume denies that the journal was primarily a surrealist publication; the contents suggest otherwise. (See Derek Sayer, Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century A Surrealist History, 2021, p. 242). The... Read more about this item

Item Price

£3,892.05

[INSCRIBED BY TOYEN AND VANÄURA TO NEZVAL] PekaÅ Jan Marhoul: romÃ¡n [The baker Jan Marhoul: a novel]

by VanÄura, Vladislav and Toyen (Marie CermÃnovÃ¡), illustrator

Third edition (but first illustrated) of the acclaimed novel by VanÄura (1891-1942), an early member of the DevÄtsil avant-garde group and co-formulator of the Poetism movement. This edition was the first to feature the illustrations by Czech surrealist artist Toyen (Marie CermÃnovÃ¡, 1902-1980). An important, outstanding association copy, warmly inscribed by VanÄura and Toyen to VÃtÄzslav Nezval (1900-1958) in the year of publication, "for his passionate praise." Nezval was another... Read more about this item

Item Price

£691.92

[CZECH AVANT-GARDE] PrÅ¯vodce PaÅÃÅ¾Ã a okolÃm [A guide to Paris and environs].; MalÃ¡ edice Odeon, sv. 6

by Vincenc NeÄas, JindÅich Å tyrskÃ½, and Toyen

Scarce guidebook to Paris of the 1920s which, aside from practical information for travelers, provided such information as the addresses of poets and artists and their studios, Paris nightlife and "Czech Paris" with its numerous writers and artists then living in French exile, an overview of French theatre, film, music, ballet and other artforms, as well as introductions to a wide range of restaurants. It also contains a complete list of Paris movie theatres and art-related periodicals and newspapers.... Read more about this item

Item Price

£648.68

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