Overview

"Launched in 1931 by Jindrich Styrsky, Edition 69 consisted of six volumes of erotic literature and illustration that followed the path marked out by Louis Aragon's Irene's Cunt and Georges Bataille's Story of the Eye. Including the first Czech translation of Marquis de Sade's Justine and Pietro Aretino (both illustrated by Toyen), three volumes were from contemporary Czech avant-garde artists, and these were all illustrated by Styrsky himself, who also contributed the text for the last volume of the series. Bringing together original English translations of the three Czech contributions to the Edition 69 series, this volume comprises Nezval's ""Sexual Nocturne""; Halas's erotic poetry collection ""Thyrsos""; and Styrsky's ""Emilie Comes to Me in a Dream,"" including the original essay from psychoanalyst and fellow Surrealist Bohuslav Brouk, all complemented by Styrsky's artwork, ranging from pen and ink drawings to graphic collages to pornographic photomontages. Influenced by Max Ernst's collage-novels, Andre Masson's illustrations, and the book as object, Styrsky's overall conception for the Edition 69 series rank it among the notable achievements of European Surrealism, representing as well a sustained attempt by the interwar Czech avant-garde to investigate the taboos of bourgeois culture."

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9788086264110

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Reviews

... worth seeking out by anyone with a taste for a kind of writing that is distinctively middle European: intellectual, graphic and surreal. -- The Guardian Erotic writings of the highest order. -- The Antioch Review Jindrich Styrsky's Emily Comes to Me in a Dream ... is an exquisite exercise in dream-writing. -- RALPH

Author Information

"Jindrich Styrsky (1899-1942) was a painter, poet, editor, photographer, and collagist. His outstanding and varied oeuvre included numerous book covers and illustrations. He also wrote studies of both Rimbaud and Marquis de Sade. He became a member of Devetsil in 1923, participating in their group exhibitions. Between 1928-29 he was director of the group's drama wing, the ""Liberated Theater,"" and he was also an active editor. In addition to his Edition 69 series, he edited the Erotic Review which he launched in 1930, and Odeon. He was a founding member of The Surrealist Group of Czechoslovakia. Frantisek Halas (1901, Brno - 1949, Prague) a member of the 1920s avant-garde group Devetsil, one of the most important Czech poets of the interwar period. Vitezslav Nezval (1900, Biskoupky - 1958, Prague), an original member of the avant-garde artists group Devetsil, a leading figure in the Poetist movement, a founding member of the Group of Czech Surrealists, he was perhaps the most prolific Czech writer of the interwar period, his output comprising a number of poetry collections, experimental plays and novels, memoirs, essays, and translations."

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