Incognito. A Piece of Damned History designed by Gellner

Horký, Karel – Incognito. A Piece of Damned History (Incognito. Kus zatracené historie) [Rokycany]: Nákladem časopisu Kramerius; Knihtiskárna a chromotypie Jos. B. Zápotočný, [1904] 1st edition. 8vo (17.5 × 11 cm), 19 pp. Signed by the author on the title page. Original illustrated wrappers with the striking green-and-white cover design by František Gellner. A socially satirical verse narrative of a king walking among his people in disguise; uncommon, especially signed. Light toning and minor handling wear; very good. František Gellner (1881–1914) was a Czech poet, prose writer, caricaturist, and graphic artist associated with anarchist and early modernist circles in Prague before the First World War. Trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and briefly in Paris, he developed a sharply satirical visual style marked by simplified forms, heavy outlines, and mordant humor. As an illustrator, Gellner contributed extensively to radical and satirical journals such as Kopřivy, Sršatec, and Kramerius. His graphic work—often woodcut-like in effect even when lithographed—targets bourgeois hypocrisy, militarism, clericalism, and social injustice. These same themes dominate his literary output, most famously the poetry collections Po nás ať přijde potopa! (1901) and Radosti života (1903). Gellner’s involvement with anarchist culture and periodical publishing explains his role as cover artist for pamphlets like Horký’s Incognito. He was killed in action early in World War I, a death that retrospectively fixed his reputation as a lost voice of Czech prewar modernism. Original publications with his cover designs are now sought after for their combination of literary and graphic significance. Inv. Port. 2