Mazáč – Havraní stříbro. A Masterpiece of Czech Lettrist Book Design by Eduard Ovčáček. Inscribed to Painter Jan Chmelař

Mazáč, Jaroslav – Havraní stříbro [Raven Silver]
Ostrava: Profil, 1965. 8vo. First edition. Original publisher’s boards in the striking typographic dust jacket designed by Eduard Ovčáček. Print run limited to only 550 copies. Inscribed and signed by the author in 1980 to the painter Jan Chmelař and his wife. Very good condition.

One of the most accomplished and visually ambitious examples of Czech experimental book design of the 1960s. The complete graphic conception (dust jacket, binding, endpapers, title-page spread, and decorative typographic compositions throughout) was created by Eduard Ovčáček, a leading figure of Czech Lettrism, concrete poetry, and experimental typography. The design transforms letters, punctuation marks, and typewriter characters into autonomous visual elements. Repeated words from the title generate the remarkable dust-jacket composition, while the endpapers and internal illustrations employ densely layered typographic structures that function simultaneously as images and texts. The spectacular title spread, composed of fragmented and overprinted letterforms, ranks among the finest achievements of Czech avant-garde book typography after the war. Few Czech books of the period embody the principles of Lettrism and visual poetry so completely or so successfully. An especially desirable association copy, warmly inscribed by Mazáč in Přerov on 4 July 1980 to the painter and graphic artist Jan Chmelař and his wife: “k úctě k jejich výtvarnému dílu” (“in admiration of their art”). A landmark of Czech visual poetry and experimental typography, and arguably the finest Czech Lettrist book design of the 1960s. Very good condition. 1-cm closed tear at top border of front wrappers.