Helena Bochořáková’s wordless novel, Indiáni Jindy a Dnes (Indians Then and Now), arises out of her trip to North America – looking at indigenous groups historically and in the present.
- Title: Indiáni Jindy a Dnes – Kniha dřevorytů (translated: Indians Then and Now – A Book of Woodcuts)
- Author and Illustrator: Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová
- Introduction: Helena Bochořáková-Dittrichová in Czech
- Year: 1934
- Publisher: Josef Hladký
- Place of publication: Hranicích
- Printer: Pokorný a spol. in Brno
- Copyright: artist?
- Dust jacket: Not to my knowledge
- Binding: hard cover
- Language: Czech
- Paginated: unpaginated
- Printed: recto
- Edition: 25 Artist’s copies and 100 Publisher’s (Trade) copies.
- Description: The book describes the struggles of the American Indians in the Midwest and Southwest, beginning with Ottawa war chief Pontiac’s battles against the British military occupation in 1763, followed by descriptions of Arizona and New Mexico American Indians.
Perhaps her most magnificent contribution to the genre of the graphic novel, Indiani recounts the hardship experienced by the Native populations in North America following the arrival of the Europeans. The novel opens with images showing the seemingly idyllic (though difficult) lives of Native Americans before European contact, but quickly shifts to tell the story of the Ottawa chief Pontiac’s battle against British forces in 1763. The remainder of the work focuses on the lives of the Apache, Navajo, and Quechan tribes of the now Southwestern US, in modern-day Arizona…
Dealer – James Steerman
…..inspired by a trip to America in 1931 during which she visited Peche Island, the summer hunting grounds of Chief Pontiac, and Taos Pueblo, the oldest continuously inhabited indigenous American settlement. In the introduction, she describes “burning with anticipation to see my childhood dreams embodied here in this precinct of old romantic fables” and imagines observing the ghosts of Native American civilizations through the fog clouding the landscape. The resulting work illustrates scenes of domestic life, cultural customs, and warfare: “From this perch on Lake Erie arose my wordless book. Here the whole ancient life of the red tribes arose for me from its mists”.
Dealer – Peter Harrington
Indiani – 25 Author’s Copies
- Numbered in Roman numerals: I to XXV
- Size: 27 x 19.7 cm (10 5/8 x 7 3/4 inches)
- Signed?: Unlike other books by the artist that indicate some editions are signed, this book merely states copies are numbered ie a copy lacking a signature can not be assumed to be incomplete. Having said that, all copies I am aware of have been signed on the ffep.
- issued with a plain slipcase
This book of woodcuts
Helena Bochořáková – Dittrichová
was published
by Josef Hladký in Hranice in 125 copies, of
which 100 for the publisher and 25 for the author.
Printed by book printer Pokorný a spol, in Brno
on handmade paper.
Copies for the publisher numbered 1-100,
for the author I-XXV.
Indiani – 100 Publisher’s copies
- Numbered 1 to 100
- A copy without a number would be considered a deficiency
- Signed?: Unlike other books by the artist that indicate some editions are signed, this book merely states copies are numbered
- ie a copy lacking a signature can not be assumed to be a deficiency. Having said that, all copies I am aware of have been signed on the ffep.
I am not aware of any differences between the author’s and the publisher’s copies (paper types?) – if you have any information, please advise. wn@wordlessnovels.com
Hand coloured?
Hand coloured? – some plates, in some books, are hand coloured. Anyone with information about this, please contact me – wn@wordlessnovels.com
