Invited master binders received two books each, which they were to interpret (with binding and slipcase)  enjoying complete artistic freedom.  One copy became the binder’s property and the other was the artist’s.   The complete collection of all these books was installed in the National Museum on Wenceslaus Square in Prague in January 2007- entitled - The Books of Ladislav Haňka; in unique design bindings .  There was a  catalogue of 134 pages (in Czech with English and German summaries).  The show was subsequently broken up and that portion of the show  belonging to Ladislav Haňka or to Jan Sobota has been kept intact and circulated further within the Czech Republic.   It has since been shown in truncated form in Loket and Velké Losiny at the estates of the hand-paper making firm located there.

    The show was then re-configured with  additional historical works of Josef Váchal,  presented in contemporary  bindings and enriched by the addition of many books that have been done as collaborations between Haňka and  Sobota in the last 25 years.  Several additional binders, who were unable to participate in the grand opening in Prague, were also invited and the complete new show hung in  Plzeň (Pilsen).   That show is entitled From Váchal to Haňka;  All but the Váchal books are offered for loan or sale as the exhibit now travels beyond the Czechia.

      The show in Plzeň (Pilsen) was hanging until the end of October 2009 and is now being stored at Jan’s workshop in Loket (near KarlovyVary/Karlsbad) .

Scripta naturae;  Binding by Jan Sobota.

Scripta naturae;  Binding by Jan Sobota.

The books are mostly in English, some are bilingual and several are only in Czech.  They are however pictorially enough based, so as to be of interest to those  unable to read any of the the languages.

Frogs & Bugs: Binding by Jan Sobota

Show Poster in Pilsen - From Váchal to Haňka: Bibliofiles books  by Joesf Váchal and Ladislav Haňka in the bindings of Design/Fine art book binders.  In the exhibition salon of The west-bohemian(Czech) Museum in Plzeň-Pilsen , Kopeckého Sady 2, Pilsen. September 18 - November 1.  2009.

The Frog Prince-Prints