Lot 37: JINDRICH STYRSKY

JINDRICH STYRSKY
Emilie prichazi ka mne ve snu -- Emily Comes to Me in a Dream. Text by Bohuslav Brouk. Prague: Edice 69, 1933.

Quarto (200 x 130 mm). 10 photomontages (c.155 x c.115 mm), (a very few short creases). (Occasional soiling.) Original textured paper wrappers, front cover lettered in black (some soiling and spotting, small chips to spine ends). Additional Styrsky manuscript monogram at the end of his text.

FIRST EDITION. DELUXE ISSUE: 1 OF 10 COPIES, SIGNED BY STYRSKY AND BROUK. The prints in this deluxe issue of Styrsky's masterpiece are significantly larger here than in the rest of the edition. It is one of the best Surrealist books, and a great rarity: published in a deliberately small edition in order to elude censors, only approximately 20 copies are now known to be extant. "Styrsky's unusual openness toward sexual themes hastened his unprecedented, forceful imagination toward extremely potent visions that had an immediate effect on the young generation" (Birgus). This copy numbered 7. Birgus, Czech Photographic Avant-Garde 1918-1948, pp.193, 211-12; The Open Book, pp.114-15; The Photobook, pp.103, 314.