RARE 1911 “CSODA ALBUM” – PESTI NAPLÓ – ART NOUVEAU – HEINRICH LEFLER & JOSEPH URBAN

A beautiful and highly decorative 1911 Hungarian Art Nouveau book, “Csoda Album” (Wonder Album), published as a special gift edition for subscribers of the Pesti Napló newspaper.

Edited by Gyula Szini, the album brings together fairy tales and literary stories by several well-known Hungarian writers of the period, including Gyula Krúdy, Viktor Cholnoky, Sándor Hunyady, Béla Révész and others.

The book is especially notable for its magnificent Art Nouveau illustrations by Heinrich Lefler (1863–1919) and Joseph Urban (1872–1933), two important artists of the Viennese Secession also known as Jugendstil and European Art Nouveau movement.

Heinrich Lefler was an Austrian painter, illustrator and graphic artist known for his highly decorative, imaginative Art Nouveau compositions.

Joseph Urban was an Austrian-American architect, illustrator and graphic designer who became an important figure of the Viennese Art Nouveau - Jugendstil movement and later achieved great success in the United States.

Their distinctive combination of elegant figures, ornamental decoration, flowing lines and rich colours makes this album a particularly attractive example of early 20th-century Art Nouveau book illustration.

The volume contains 12 beautiful colour plates, printed on higher-quality paper and protected by captioned translucent tissue guards, together with numerous Art Nouveau decorations, initials and illustrations throughout the text.

CONDITION:

Age-appropriate condition for a book over 110 years old.

There are a few small brown age spots on some of the text pages. Importantly, the colour plates are printed on better-quality paper and have remained remarkably clean, with no significant spotting.

One of the translucent tissue-paper protective leaves has a single tear. This is an otherwise blank protective sheet placed over one of the colour illustrations. A separate photograph shows this damage clearly.

The binding and overall appearance show normal signs of age and use.

A fascinating and increasingly difficult-to-find example of Hungarian Art Nouveau book design, particularly desirable for collectors of Heinrich Lefler, Joseph Urban, Viennese Secession, Art Nouveau graphics and illustrated books.

Publication: Budapest, 1911

Publisher: Pesti Napló / Hornyánszky Viktor

Editor: Gyula Szini

Language: Hungarian

Format: Illustrated hardcover

Illustrations: 12 colour plates plus numerous Art Nouveau illustrations and ornaments

Dimensions: approx. 25 × 30 cm