Book Image

Jiří Wolker O knihaři a básníkovi. Handmade wrappers.

Wolker, Jiří – O knihaři a básníkovi [On the Bookbinder and the Poet]
Brno: Grafický klub pro Moravu and Česká odborná škola typografická, 1927. 23 × 16.5 cm. Original patterned wrappers designed from hand-made starch papers. Woodcut frontispiece portrait by J. Šembera; engraved initial by V. Podsedník. Printed in Sorbonne type on handmade Van Gelder paper. One of 100 numbered copies, this no. 58, issued as a private, non-commercial edition for the club's friends and supporters.

An exceptionally attractive example of Moravian fine printing of the late 1920s, produced in the training press of the Brno School of Typography. The colophon records the participation of students and craftsmen of the school, with V. Podsedník responsible for the engraved initial and J. Šembera for the striking frontispiece and the hand-made starch papers used for the wrappers. The text, devoted to the relationship between the bookbinder and the poet, was reprinted from Čtení z Jiřího Wolkera.

Jiří Wolker (1900–1924), one of the most important poets of the Czech avant-garde and a founding figure of proletarian poetry, died at the age of twenty-three. His works remained highly influential throughout the interwar period, inspiring a number of private-press and commemorative editions such as this one.

Original handmade wrappers. A very good copy. Rare.

Inv. BX4