Photography from Bernett Penka Rare Books LLC

Photograph album containing a list of plates followed by 20 mounted photographic prints of buildings or locations which were presumably damaged during the defeat of the Commune, including the Tuileries, the Hôtel de Ville, Rue de Rivoli, and the Palais Royal. Oblong folio, images approx. 14.5 x 21.5 cm. Original publisher's gilt-lettered rose coth, recently rebacked. Boards toned along… Read more

Warsaw: Wydawnictwo "Prasa Wojskowa," 1948. Octavo (21 × 13 cm). Original blind wrappers with photomontage wrappers; 75, [1] pp. Six photographic plates. Light wear to the fragile dust wrapper edges; else about very good. First and only edition of this pamphlet, a translation of the Russian original, a text partly authored by Stalin that sought to rebut anti-communist accounts… Read more

Prague: Československé filmové nakladatelství. 1947. Octavo (21 × 14.8 cm). Original photomontage wrappers by Zdeněk Rossmann over blind wrapper; 207, [8] pp. Frequent underlining and a few annotations in pencil; else about very good. A curious later work by Zdeněk Rossmann, the Bauhaus-trained Czech graphic designer, photographer, and art teacher who was associated with DAV in Bratislava and later… Read more

Brno: Zář, 1946. Octavo (20.7 × 14.7 cm). Original photo-illustrated wrappers by Antonín Jero; 307, [5] pp. of text, [13] pp. of photographic reproductions on coated stock; [8] pp. of end matter. Very good, in protective mylar. Curious photomontage cover by Antonín Jero (1907-1981), the Brno-born art educator, typographer, graphic designer, and photographer. Koch's book is an extensive account… Read more

Prague: Nakladatelstvi Šolc a Šimáček, 1927. Large octavo (24 × 18 cm). Original pictorial wrappers with a photo-montage possibly by Smrž; 79, [1] pp. With sixty-two illustrations. About very good; light wear and soil to wrappers, in protective mylar. An early Czech introduction to the technology and creation of motion pictures, with a focus on special effects, illusions,… Read more

Prague: Nakladatelství V. &Scaron;midt, [1947]. Octavo (20.7 × 13.2 cm). Original cloth-backed card boards with vignette; photographic dust-wrappers by Karel Teige; 240, [2] pp. Very good or better; in protective mylar. First Czech edition of Bromfield's novel, translated by Hana Bílková and with a late photo-montage cover design by Karel Teige. <br/><br/>Karel Teige a typografie, 505 (p. 203).… Read more

Prague: self-published, 1932. Octavo (19.1 × 13.6 cm). Original photo-illustrated wrappers; 150, [2] pp. Signed and inscribed by the author. Very good. An enchanting photo-montage wrapper design, which captures Prague from its most bohemian side and combines various references to and photographs of the city's greatest pubs. Regarding this design, Jind&#345;ich Toman notes in his work on Czech… Read more

Prague: Svaz &#269;eskoslovenských d&#283;lnických turist&#367;, [1934]. Octavo (18 × 12.1 cm). Original photo-illustrated wrappers by L. &Scaron;míd; 145, [2] pp. About very good; light overall wear and nick to upper spine extremity. Scarce guidebook to Prague issued by the Czechoslovak Union of Proletarian Tourists, which sought to turn tourism, hiking, and other forms of sightseeing and recreation via… Read more

First edition. Prague: Propaga&#269;ní odd. Úst&#345;ední p&#367;j&#269;ovny film&#367;, [1966]. Quarto (29.7 × 20.8 cm). Single sheet, printed to recto and verso, folded three times to created a folding leaflet of [8] pp. Very good or better. Rare promotional brochure for one of the finest examples of Czechoslovak New Wave film, the motion picture by Ji&#345;í Menzel based on… Read more

[Moscow]: A. Rerikh, ca. 1900-1903. Oblong folio (25.5 × 35 cm). Original embossed green cloth with gilt title to front board and 25 leaves of photographic plates. Inscription to marbled boards reads: "Presented to F. Lambert by acting Abbot of Solovetsky Monatery, Sept. 20, 1918." Boards and corners lightly scuffed; discoloration to cloth edges; small ink stain to… Read more

Prague: Aventinum, 1928. Octavo (19.5 × 13.5 cm). Original pictorial wrappers by Franti&scaron;ek Muzika; 147 pp. A very good, uncut and unopened copy; very light wear to lower spine only. Although less well-known than Teige, &Scaron;tyrský, and Sutnar, Muzika (1900-1074) was a key representative of the Czech avant-garde and a founding member of Dev&#283;tsil. Active in a wide… Read more

Prague: Filmový ústav, 1966. Octavo (20 × 15 cm). Original pictorial wrappers by Jaroslava Veselá; 220 pp. of reproduced typescript to rectos and versos. Very good; in protective mylar. The first volume to gather Karel Teige's various articles on film, mostly published during the 1920s and 1930s, with a lengthy introductory essay by Petr Král (1941-2020), the surrealist-influenced… Read more

Warsaw: Spó&#322;dzielnia Wydawniczo-O&#347;wiatowa "Czytelnik", 1949. Large octavo (24 × 16.5 cm). Original photo-illustrated wrappers; 3, [6], 30, [1] pp. of text and [48] pp. of photographic reproductions. Wrappers somewhat worn, especially to spine extremities; inscription to title and front wrapper verso; occasional foxing; still good or better. A photographic record (in 98 images) of the building of Trasa W-Z,… Read more

Moscow: I. D. Sytin, 1903. Octavo (27.5 × 17.5 cm). Contemporary half calf with gilt tooling and title to spine; 438 and 199, [2] pp. With numerous photographs and illustrations throughout. Binding rubbed at spine extremities; corners somewhat scuffed; light foxing and discoloration throughout due to stock; good or better. First Russian edition (previously printed abroad), of this… Read more

St. Petersburg: Studio of Adolf Otsup, 1902. Original albumen print, 10.5 × 6.5 cm, mounted on card and inscribed to verso. [A Russian Bylina Singer on Tour]. Carte-de-visite photograph of Ivan Trofimovich Riabinin (1833-1910), a peasant from the Olonets Governorate in Russia's North-West. Both Ivan Trofimovich and his father, Trofim Grigor'evich Riabinin, were part of a dynasty… Read more

[Kiev or L'viv]: ca. 1935. Two original photographic prints on card stock, measuring 14.8 × 10 and 13.6 × 8.5 cm, with photographer's stamp in Cyrillic to verso (L. Ianushevich). Very good. Original photographs of the Russian artist Vasilii Masiutin and his wife, Valentina Masiutina. Most likely taken during a visit to Ukraine in the 1930s, where Masiutin… Read more

1930. [Berlin]: ca. 1930. Two fine original watercolor and pencil drawings, on card stock, measuring 13 × 8.5 cm, tipped to black colored paper. Both drawings with Masiutin's estate stamp, one additionally signed in pencil and dated "193?" (illegible). Very good. Two original watercolor drawings by the Russian artist Vasilii Masiutin, most likely produced during the 1930s, when… Read more

Printed photograph album commemorating the visit of the Crown Prince to the Karafuto prefecture in the summer of 1925, with preface by Okishima Kamazo and edited by Fujii Shoji, consisting of 20 plates with 73 black and white photographs tracing the Crown Prince's trip including visits to schools, agricultural research stations, naval bases, goverment offices, and mines, as well… Read more

Prague: S.V.U. Mánes, 1934. Octavo (20 × 13.8 cm). Original printed light pink wrappers, pictorial dust jacket illustrated with a drawing by Toyen; 180, [2] pp. A very good copy in a good dust wrapper; the wrapper with dust-soiling and small nicks to upper edges and spine extremities. First Czech edition of Breton's essay, originally published in 1932, and… Read more

Prague: Brat&#345;í &Scaron;ulcové, ca. 1928. Octavo (18 × 13 cm). Single folded leaf, [4] pp. With striking photo-montage compositions to first and last page, and advertising text to pp. 2 and 3. Lower right corner very lightly creased; else very good. Scarce leaflet announcing BSA motorcycles, with urban streetscapes evocatively conveyed using photomontage design. The design to the… Read more