Lužickosrbský rok u obrazech / Lusatian-Serbian year in pictures; English translation: Lusatian-Serbian year in pictures, Friends of Lusatia Society

Praze [Prague]: Společnost přátel Lužice, 1938. Wraps. Fine/fine. [EPHEMERA] [POSTCARDS]. 3 7/8" x 5 ¾"; 12 numbered postcards with divided backs and titles; wood-cut illustrations printed in green, navy, brown and printed on two colors of stiff cream paper stock; each wood-cut signed by the artist with a leaf in a circle; original printed paper sleeve as a wrapper; fine in a fine wrapper. Not recorded. A fascinating and beautifully printed set of twelve numbered postcards issued by the Friends of Lusatia Society. The symbol signature of the award-winning artist on each card, Mercina Nowaka-Njechofnskeho, [aka Měrćin Nowak-Njazdorński, Měrćin Nowak-Njechorński, and Martin Neumann, his birth name] (1900-1990), is a linden leaf, the linden tree representing the Sorbian people.

The folk-art style woodcuts were produced during the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938) after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire and the subsequent Paris Peace Conference which gave permission to establish new borders following WWI. The Lusatians or Sorbian people are a minority ethnic group originating from the northeastern portion of the Carpathian Mountains more than 1400 years ago and were part of the great Slav migration. Due to the shifting country borders in this part of central Europe, the Sorbians are centered in what is now the Lusatia portion of Germany, around the town of Bautzen, and close to the northern border of the Czech Republic. Their culture and language are closely related to the Czechs.
The twelve scenes represented are title: 1) V Máji [In May], 2) O žních [The Harvest], 3) Rozsévač [Spreader or Sower], 4) V Blatech [In the Mud], 5) Dřevorubci [Woodcutters], 6) Pastýř [Sheperd], 7) Na Sv. Martina [On St. Martina], M8) Kopání Bramborů [Digging potatoes], 9) štědrovečerní noc [Christmas night], 10) Přástky [Extensions], 11) Posvícení [Dedicated], 12) Velikonoční Ráno [Easter morning].