[SLOVAK AVANT-GARDE - PROLETARIAN POETRY] Čierň na palete: verše [Black on the palette: verses]

Scarce first volume of poems by the Slovak avant-garde poet Fraňo Kráľ, published as vol. 7 of Edícia Stan, a publication series by the eponymous publisher and journal of the arts, literature, and social thought published in South Moravia, on the border with Austria and Slovakia. Kráľ (1903-1955) was born in Barton, Ohio but returned to his parents' native Slovakia - then part of Austro-Hungary - as a small child. Suffering from lung disease much of his life, he worked as a teacher in various smaller towns, before settling in Bratislava in 1931. In his first book of poems, he took a stand as a leftist poet whose work was dominated by themes such as emigration, economic crisis, social conflict, and the rise of Fascism in Europe. The typography, in combination with small round photographs, of the wrapper and the first three pages shows a clear orientation toward the international avant-garde, even though the book appeared in a small provincial publishing venture. In later years, Kráľ would embrace Socialist Realism. During World War II, he was part of the Slovak communist underground; after the regime change, he became a leading socialist politician and given the title of "National Artist" (1953).

As of January 2024, KVK, OCLC show two holdings outside the Czech Republic, at Iowa and Cleveland. Scarce first volume of poems by the Slovak avant-garde poet Fraňo Kráľ, published as vol. 7 of Edícia Stan, a publication series by the eponymous publisher and journal of the arts, literature, and social thought published in South Moravia, on the border with Austria and Slovakia. Kráľ (1903-1955) was born in Barton, Ohio but returned to his parents' native Slovakia - then part of Austro-Hungary - as a small child. Suffering from lung disease much of his life, he worked as a teacher in various smaller towns, before settling in Bratislava in 1931. In his first book of poems, he took a stand as a leftist poet whose work was dominated by themes such as emigration, economic crisis, social conflict, and the rise of Fascism in Europe. The typography, in combination with small round photographs, of the wrapper and the first three pages shows a clear orientation toward the international avant-garde, even though the book appeared in a small provincial publishing venture. In later years, Kráľ would embrace Socialist Realism. During World War II, he was part of the Slovak communist underground; after the regime change, he became a leading socialist politician and given the title of "National Artist" (1953).

As of January 2024, KVK, OCLC show two holdings outside the Czech Republic, at Iowa and Cleveland.