Goll, Ivan (Yvan) and Josef Hesoun, designer.

[CZECH AVANT-GARDE – PHOTO-MONTAGE DESIGN] Sodoma a Berlin: román [Sodome et Berlin].

Prague: Nákladem České graficke Unie, 1930. Small octavo (17.8 × 13 cm). Publisher's orange cloth stamped in brown; the original photo-montage dust jacket preserved in mylar; 134, [1] pp. Minor soil and nicks to spine extremities of the dust jacket; else fine. Item #55765

A very good copy of this rare and strikingly-designed first Czech edition of Yvan Goll's 1929 Expressionist novel about decadent social tendencies in Weimar-Era Berlin, which likens the German capital to the immoral Sodom of Genesis. Translated by Jan Marek, the book was published as part of a series of sensationalist and crime novels, which also included works by la Rochelle, Ribemont-Dessaignes, and Cezar Petrescu, among others.

Hesoun (1903–1965) was a modernist architect from Prague who also worked as a designer and, while less known than Ladislav Sutnar or Karel Teige, created numerous outstanding wrapper designs. The present work reflects his use of photo-montage and bright red, as seen in his better-known design for the somewhat later "Rudý obchod láká" (1932), a translation of an American work about Soviet Russia.

As of May 2026, KVK, OCLC only show two copies, at the Czech National Library and SLUB Dresden, with none in North America.

Price: €450.00

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