Two Iconic Books of the Polish Avant-Garde

Teresa Żarnower (Polish, 1897–1949)
Cover of the book: Anatol Stern, Europa / Europe. Warsaw: Księgarnia F. Hoesicka, 1929. Introduction by Jan Nepomucen Miller; layout and typography by Mieczysław Szczuka. Text in Polish and French. Printer: Ministerstwa Spraw Wojskowych (Ministry of Army Affairs Press); Edition: 604/800; Lithograph, 13 leaves; 11 3/8 x 10 5/8" (29.5 x 27.5 cm); With an inscription on the title page likely by Stern dated March 5, 1929

Stern’s poem condemning class inequality and exploitation was originally published in 1925 and appeared again in an extended form in an anthology in 1927. Plans to publish the extended poem in an independent volume with illustrations by the artist Mieczyslaw Szczuka (Polish, 1898–1927) were derailed by Szczuka's untimely death. Żarnower completed the project with her design for the cover: a montage of film stills and text registering the discord and violence of Stern’s poem. 

Wladyslaw Strzemiński (Polish, born Russian Empire, 1893–1952)
Cover of the book: Julian Przybós, Z Ponad: Poezje (From Beyond: Poems). Cieszyn, Poland: Bibljoteki “a.r.,” 1930; Printer: Karol Prochaska; Edition: approx. 400; Letterpress, 30 pages; 8 1/2 x 7 1/2“ (21.6 x 19 cm)

The a.r. Group—standing for artyści rewolucyjni (revolutionary artists) or awangarda rzeczywista (real avant-garde)—was founded in 1929 by artists (Katarzyna Kobro, Henryk Stażewski, Strzemiński) and poets (Jan Brzękowski and Julian Przyboś) formerly belonging to the Blok and Praesens groups. This book, a radical visual-textual collaboration, was the first volume of the Bibljoteki “a.r.” (a.r. Library), the group’s publication program.