After great catastrophes, in some sense one always starts over from
the alphabet.--Frantisek X. Salda, "On the Newest Czech Poetry"
(1928) (1)
The 1926 book Alphabet (Abeceda) is a landmark achievement in European modernism (Fig. 1). (2) Its frequent reproduction in exhibition catalogues and scholarly articles has made it a key symbol of Devetsil (1920-ca. 1931), the Czech artists' collective within whose ranks the book was conceived, and its importance is increasingly ...