Manuscript of the essay by Otokar Březina The Smiles of Time

Manuscripts of literary works are among the most valuable documents. The working versions provide an insight into the creative process and shed light on how the work was created. The fair copy of the final text then familiarises us in the clearest, most direct way with the poet’s own interpretation of the work, imprinted in the strokes of the pen, and in its unique presentation represents a kind of musical score of other interpretations – the typographic layout and the reader’s understanding. The modernists ensured both were given consideration: they were aware that it was the reader that co-creates the meaning of a work and that the typesetting was what motivated him to read it. The texts to the displayed exhibits are not translated since the creative process they depict and the calligraphic uniqueness of the manuscripts are sufficiently comprehensible, even without being translated. Such a translation would hardly capture their artistic expression.

Title: Manuscript of the essay by Otokar Březina The Smiles of Time
Date: 1898
Origin: Hugo Kosterka fonds
Licence: Free license
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