CZECHOSLOVAKIA

Gabriela Preissová, née Gabriela Sekerová, sometimes used pen name Matylda Dumontová (March 23, 1862 in Kutná Hora - March 27, 1946 in Prague), was a Czech writer and playwright. Her play Její pastorkyna was the basis for the opera Jenufa by Leoš Janácek. His earlier opera The Beginning of a Romance was also based on one of her stories. [Czechoslovakia (Czech and Slovak: Ceskoslovensko, Cesko-Slovensko) was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until its peaceful dissolution into the Czech Republic and Slovakia on 1 January 1993].

(Book #ID 78299)

Published V. Praze 1920 Zemèdèlské Knihkupectyi A. Neubert. 1920.

Hard back binding in floral paper covered boards, red cloth spine with faded gilt title and author lettering. 8vo. 7'' x 5¼''. Contains 262 printed pages of Czech text with 14 monochrome illustrations and photographs. Spine slant, some marks to the text block, rubbing to the board edges and in Good condition. Preissová mostly wrote stories full of optimism and the joy of life idealising village life. Her stories first appeared in the early 1890s. The more significant appeared in a three-volume collection. Her books, written in the 1920s, were about the tragic rural life of the Kaerntner (Austria) Slavs, usually with a strong woman as a heroine. These dramas didn't achieve the artistic spontaneity of her early work. Themes of her stories were mostly the affairs of young lovers and the obstacles to their consummation. Some tales were set to music, such as Eva by Josef Bohuslav Foerster and Jenufa, an opera by Janácek. Member of the P.B.F.A.

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