Hlaváček, Václav and Otokar Mrkvička, designer.

[AMERICA THROUGH CZECH EYES] Evropa v konkursu [Europe is bankrupt]. Socialistické epištoly [Socialist epistles; series title], vol. 10.

Prague: Družstevní nakladatelství “Kniha”, 1925. Octavo (19 × 14 cm). Original pictorial wrappers by Otakar Mrkvička; 34, [1] pp. About very good; traces of rust to staples. Item #54134

First and only edition of this socialist pamphlet, which combines information about the stock exchange and finance capitalism with fictionalized accounts of how Europe has been harmed by American capitalists such as J. P. Morgan and Earl D. Babst. With a striking and highly unusual combination of drawing and photomontage, which juxtaposes newspaper reports on the stock exchange with an American urban cityscape, with a wealthy capitalist at the center, poised on a factory building. Otakar Mrkvička (1898–1957) was a Czech painter, illustrator, art critic and editor, and one of the founding members of the Czech avant-garde group Devětsil. A key figure of Czech avant-garde life, he designed many constructivist wrapper designs by himself as well as collaboratively with Karel Teige (1900–1951). The present cheaply-produced pamphlet may have been confiscated for its socialist content. Not in Vloemans.

As of January 2024, KVK and OCLC only show two copies outside the Czech Republic, and none in North America.