BOOKS 6+7 Edition

The Archive of Fine Arts has long been dedicated to Czech and Slovak typography. Our typographic collection consists of over 30,000 volumes, which we are gradually cataloging. In 2014, we launched the BOOKS series, focused on exceptional Czech and Slovak typographic works. As part of the BOOKS 6+7 series exhibition, we will present the two most recently published volumes.

The Mladé cesty series (6th volume of BOOKS) began publication in 1961 by the Mladá fronta publishing house in parallel with the Cesty series (5th volume of BOOKS). It included a poetry series for young Czech authors (33 vols., 1961–1969) designed by students at UMPRUM (Eva Bednářová, Jan Matěják, Jan Šmíd, and others) as paperback volumes with paper covers featuring flaps and illustrations. The prose series (25 vols., 1963–1969) featured, starting with the 6th volume, unique graphic design by Jiří Rathouský in soft cloth bindings, inspired by the experimental art of the 1960s, a style distinct from his later typographic designs.

The Slovak Poetry and Open Windows series (the 7th volume of the BOOKS series) represents the first volume in our BOOKS series, in which we focused on exceptional editions published in Slovakia by the Slovenský spisovateľ publishing house. The Slovenská poézia series focused on young, emerging Slovak authors, while the Otvorené okná series introduced groundbreaking foreign poetry. Both series are groundbreaking in terms of both literary execution and visual quality; the designs were created by Slovak artists from the 1960s and 1970s.

The cover design, binding, and typography of the Slovenská poézia series were created by Ľubomír Krátký. A distinctive feature is the original black-and-white illustrations on the cover and frontispiece—most often precise lithographs. Albín Brunovský served as the art consultant, and the covers were completed by graphic designers from his circle, such as Miroslav Cipár, Naďa Rappensbergerová, and Agneša Sigetová. Ladislav Hruškovič oversaw the typography of the Otvorené okná series, and Rudolf Krivoš created the designs for the dust jackets and bindings of the first 12 volumes. As with Slovak Poetry, the covers are dominated by striking collages by Slovak artists (Andrej Barčík, Rudolf Fila, Jana Melišková, and others), with impressive embossed graphics on the cloth binding.

A complete catalog entry can be found in the isabart.org database. The volumes are stored at the Archive of Fine Arts in Prague 4 and are available for viewing.