Dainos : žmonių poezijos antologija (Folk Songs : The Anthology of Folk Poetry) [Illustrated album]

  • 800€
  • Product Code:58
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Very Good condition; cover shows some foxing, small creases across cover corners, vertical book-length creaser to the centre of the front cover, repaired missing piece of the bottom outer corner of front cover and spine ends,..

Tags: rare books, first edition books, Russian avant-garde, constructivism, cubism, futurism

Very Good condition; cover shows some foxing, small creases across cover corners, vertical book-length creaser to the centre of the front cover, repaired missing piece of the bottom outer corner of front cover and spine ends, partial slight erasure of the title on the front cover; internally on the half-title is a gift inscription from the Riga City 3rd Lithuanian Elementary School to a schoolgirl with stamps of the school and Lithuanian Culture Fund, repaired bottom outer corners of four first sheets, few occasional foxing (more extensive on three first sheets) and fingerprints. 

 

Current anthology of the Lithuanian folk-songs, or dainos, with 176 songs texts collected and edited by Kazys Binkis, who also wrote an introduction, is considered by the art critics as one of the most significant works of graphic artist Kazys Šimonis. The album was published by the Kultūra publishing company and printed by the Bibliographical Institute in Leipzig. Kultūra cooperated with the technically most powerful Lithuanian and foreign printing companies and invited  artists to design covers and  illustrate books. The company was  able to  choose  a  larger size of paper, to get clichés and replicas as well as to use offset printing. All this is sufficient proof of how seriously the company Kultūra regarded artistic book design.

 

According to the author, this work sought to bring to the Lithuanian people and to keep the cultural heritage of their fathers. The anthology compiles dainos from the researches of folklorists Jonas Basanavičius, Antanas Juška, Vilius Kalvaitis, Adolfas Sabaliauskas etc, also from the various periodical editions, and their fully episodic presentation (with preservation of national dialects) is based on the most characteristic moments in terms of genre and content. According to the main idea the songs express, they are divided into seven chapters. 

 

In his memoirs artist Šimonis writes: “While reading the Finnish epic Kalevala, I came up with the idea of composing something like epic of Lithuanian folk songs. <...> Because I did not have enough knowledge to prepare such publication, I asked for help from Kazys Binkis in compiling text and engaging with a publisher. He immediately contacted the Kultūra company, which after familirization with the idea undertook to issue the publication.“ The publication is decorated with 360 ornamental and figurative vignettes created by Simonis. Some of them were designed as realistic images, while others were based on folk art motifs - mostly wooden ornaments and architectural ornamentation. Subjectually vignettes sought to highlight the content of the songs and the main heroes. A common motif of the works is a boy on a horse, a maiden in the garden, and landscape national motifs - chapel poles and roof tulips, cemeteries, mounds, farm households. Realistic vignettes combine fabulous, symbolic designs. 

 

After the publication appeared, Simonis was criticized for the lack of scientific basis in its preparation, which was based solely on the subjective taste of its composer without deepening into the traditions of folk art. The artist merely applied the folk ornament to the design of the folklore publication rather externally, and the attempts to reveal the content of the songs remained only illustrative.

 

Kazys Binkis (1893–1942) was a Lithuanian poet and journalist. Took part in the avant-garde literary movement Keturi vėjai (The Four Winds), being the leader of the Lithuanian futurism (1922–1928). The heritage of Binkis's works is not large, but in all fields he achieved significant results. He wrote humorous and satirical poems, rhymed feuilletons, published poetry books for children, edited anthologies of Lithuanian folk poetry and songs.

 

Kazys Šimonis (1887–1978) was a famous Lithuanian painter. He created about 2,000 works of art. Applied distinctively of its time prevailing artistic currents: cubism, expressionism, bauhaus, primitivism. Many of his works primarily summarized the plot or symbolic imagery. Also painted folk art.

Title Dainos : žmonių poezijos antologija (Folk Songs : The Anthology of Folk Poetry) [Illustrated album]
Author Kazys Binkis
Artist Kazys Šimonis cover design and illustrations
Publisher Kultūra, Šiauliai
Published year 1922
Country Lithuania
Edition 1st edition
Binding Soft cover
Octavo Enlarged album format 23 x 29 cm
Weight 0.500 kg
No. of pages Wrappers, 194, [2] pp
Language Lithuanian