[Czech Agitprop] RP karikatury

Pelc, Ant., Lev Haas, and Holobrádek. RP karikatury. Prague: Redakce Rudého práva, 1947. First Edition, First Printing.

Oblong Octavo (8 1/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 208 x 145 mm), 75, [5] pages, in wrappers (soft cover).

A rare book of cartoons published by the Czech Communist Party newspaper, Rudé právo. Antonin Pelc and Lev Haas drew the cartoons, which are pro-Communist, anti-Nazi, anti-American, and anti-Western alliance. Holobrádek (a pseudonym) supplied short verses to accompany each cartoon.

The book appeared in 1947, a year before the Communist seizure of power in Czechoslovakia. Oddly, the cover features a cartoon by Pelc that misspells the name of Klement Gottwald, the Communist leader (it shows only one "t" in Gottwald). A sign displayed in the cartoon reads (translating from the Czech): "The construction of a two-year plan is carried out by Gotwald and others."

That's a fair representation of the sometimes heavy-handed propaganda in the book, which depicts American businessmen as fat money-grubbers and Joseph Stalin as a heroic figure who crushed the Nazis.

That said, all the cartoons are striking and show real artistic skill. Indeed, the book is an excellent example of Eastern European propaganda in the early years of the Cold War. Text entirely in Czech.

OCLC shows only two institutional holdings, at the National Library of the Czech Republic and at Erasmus University Rotterdam. OCLC 85422740. RARE.

CONDITION: Wrappers and pages toned due to use of cheap paper, lower wrapper soiled. A Very Good or better copy of a scarce publication.