Postil

An original contribution to the relationship between font and text is Váchal’s Koruna bludařstva to jest: Postyla kacířská. Sbírka nekřesťanských kázání, glos a básní na všechny neděle a svátky v roce (The Crown of Heresy Is This: A Heretical Postil. A Collection of non-Christian Sermons, Glosses and Poems for All Sundays and Holidays of the Year). This artist book is 321 pages long and is decorated with fifty colour woodcuts. Josef Váchal worked on sixteen copies (six people ordered the book through a subscription) for over a year (1924-1926). It is an experimental work both in terms of content (Váchal gives his own interpretation of mostly biblical and theological subjects) and form. Although Váchal applies historicisms in some places, they are originally interpreted. From a typographical standpoint, the book showcases various types and sizes of fonts that deliberately complicate the reading process. The blocks of text on the individual pages differ in colour, with the basic black-red combination referring to the appearance of old prints from the origins of book printing in a Baroque spirit, while the arrangement of letters in the shape of a cross evokes future lettrism.

Subject: Guide for children, Solitaires
Author: Váchal, Josef
Title: Postil
Date: 1926
Technique: book art
Dimensions: 35 × 33,6 cm
Origin: Josef Portman collection
Licence: Free license

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