signed first edition
1919 · Prague
by [Podhajska, Minka] Wiener Werkstatte
Prague: Politika, 1919. First edition. First edition. 4to. Original decorated paper covered boards, glassine wrapper. Famed book by Podhajska featuring 18 woodcuts, including 12 in colors, tipped to textured paper; publisher's woodcut device on title-page. Contents loose as issued in original printed boards; contemporary Czech bookplate on pastedown. Number 112 of 200 copies, signed by Podhajsk· and dated by him (in pencil) 1919. "MesÃce", or, "The Months," features a suite of color woodcuts and six additional black-and-white cuts showing images of the zodiac (two to a sheet). The Viennese born Podhajsk· was a student at the Kunstgewerbeschule and her work appeared in the movement's well-known journals Ver Sacrum, Hohe Warte, and Die Flâ°che, as well as designing toys for the Wiener Werkstâ°tte and numerous other graphic works during World War I. She moved to Prague in 1919, the year she created MesÃce, and was a founding member of the Czech artists' consortium. An exceedingly important and scarce book. A fine copy. In a superb custom-made clamshell folding box with fine beige linen cloth covers and light blue-gray cloth sides and rayon book-cloth interior, by Carolina Veenstra.
(Inventory #: 2880)