Spolek českých bibliofilů v Praze

Spolek českých bibliofilů v Praze (SČB), the Society of Czech Bibliophiles in Prague, is a Czech voluntary association of collectors and makers of bibliofilie — fine books and private prints — founded in 1908 and continuously active to the present day. It focuses on the book as an artistic, bibliophilic work, and on typography, artistic graphic art and bookbinding. The society holds an annual general assembly of its members, for whom it issues otherwise unsaleable book premiums and subscription prints, and it organises gatherings around cultural anniversaries, exhibitions, or visits to figures of contemporary artistic life connected with the fine book. Since 1973 it has published Zprávy Spolek českých bibliofilů v Praze twice a year, and before the general assembly it issues the bulletin Informace SČB with current communications from the committee to members. It cooperates with institutions of similar focus, above all the Památník národního písemnictví (Museum of Czech Literature), the Society of Collectors and Friends of Exlibris, and the Association of Czech Graphic Artists Hollar Prague. Its valid statutes are printed in the Fourth Handbook of the Society of Czech Bibliophiles (2013) and on the SČB website. The society's publishing output is central to its identity. Its editions up to 2007 are described in the jubilee volume Spolek českých bibliofilů: krásné tisky ve vztahu k české knižní kultuře 1908–2008. Since 2008 it has issued for its members titles such as Marginálie 2010, unpublished letters of František Kupka to Vojtěch Hynais (2010), a selection from the work of Emmerich Alois Hruška (2011), Marginálie 2012, the Fourth Handbook (2013), Bedřich Beneš Buchlovan's Zajatec Armidy (2018), love poetry in translations by Miroslav Macek (2019), and Karel Dyrynk's Písma Josefa Váchala (2020). Its Knihovna bibliofila series includes Josef Čejka and Gustav Erhart's Slovník bibliofila (2016); its Inventa subscription-print series includes Stéphane Mallarmé's Igitur (2016), Zdeněk Řezníček's Žernovy zítřků (2017), Josef Čejka's Přespolní (2017) and Édouard Dubus's Když housle umlknou (2019). The society remains active in the 2020s, organising lectures, exhibitions and member events. Its website announces, for example, a talk with the writer Andrea Sedláčková presenting her book Toyen – léta erotická on 24 September 2026 at Hotel Villa in Prague 10, prepared by JUDr. Petr Ladman, and an exhibition Uhrančivá krása věčných stránek at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava (GVUO) from 9 September to 11 October 2026. It also points to the winning works of the competition shown in the historic building of the National Museum, linked to the XVIII Triennale of Artistic Bookbinding.

The impulse for the society came in 1907, when the monthly Česká osvěta published a public suggestion by the bibliophile Josef Nováček (1880–1957) that a society of bibliophiles and friends of graphic art be established, one that would through joint work create bibliophilic editions beyond the publishing capacity of an individual and as a reaction to the general decline of Czech publishers' book printing. The founding general assembly of SČB took place on 30 March 1908 in the rooms of the Technological Museum of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Prague. Among the founding figures of SČB from its earliest years were the art historian and writer František Táborský, the cultural publicist and private publisher Karel Jaroslav Obrátil, and the modern typographers Karel Dyrynk, Vojtěch Preissig, V. H. Brunner and Oldřich Menhart. From then on Czech and Moravian bibliophilic life began to develop socially: the tradition of annual congresses of bibliophiles at the general assembly was established, with private and gift prints issued especially for them, and the topic of bibliophily was discussed in print — in the Věstník SČB (1934–1951 and 1962–1964 under the title Marginalie), in the representative almanacs Český bibliofil in 1931–1945, and in the journal of book culture Vitrinka (1923–1934). On the initiative of Arno Sáňka (1892–1966), from 1928 to 1941 SČB organised the SČB Competition for the Most Beautiful Book of the Year, from which the nationwide competitions Czechoslovak Most Beautiful Books (1965–1990) and Most Beautiful Czech Book of the Year (1992–present) gradually emerged; in the latter SČB has awarded the Vojtěch Preissig Prize since 2008. In the changed political conditions of the Czechoslovak Republic and with the demise of private enterprise and association after 1948, a new situation arose for the existence of SČB, which from 1950 was organisationally and publishing-wise dependent on an editorial symbiosis with the publishing house Československý spisovatel and with the Museum of Czech Literature (1961–1992), and on utilitarian typographic work by centralised state printing houses. Nevertheless, each SČB committee in this period approached artistic figures for cooperation — living classics of typography and illustration such as Method Kaláb, Oldřich Menhart, Rudolf Hála, Zdenek Seydl, Josef Sonberg, Bohuslav Blažej and Martin Dyrynk; and Ludmila Jiřincová, Cyril Bouda, Pavel Šimon, Václav Sivko, Karel Svolinský, Kamil Lhoták, Adolf Born, Jaroslav Šerých, Vladimír Komárek, Milan Albich, Ota Janeček, Vladimír Suchánek, Jiří Anderle, Pavel Roučka, Zdeněk Mézl, Mikoláš Axmann, Michael Rittstein and others. In 1966 the first volume of the SČB almanac Marginálie was published, followed by further volumes for 1968, 1969–1970, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1990, 2010 and 2012. From 1992 SČB, as an independent association, freely continued its historical legacy and artistic tradition while responding to the polygraphic-technological development and the Czech book market of the early 21st century. It takes part in exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad, organises lectures, and addresses the craft and artistic culture of Czech book production. In its periodical Zprávy Spolek českých bibliofilů it consistently deals with themes of fine art and literature related to the history and present of book culture. Until his death in 2019, Martin Dyrynk cared for the society's edition of small prints of hitherto unpublished texts, Pupilla — forty-one volumes of these bibelots appeared (1988–2019). SČB continues the tradition of close cooperation with leading graphic artists for the design and illustration of its editions, the printing of commemorative sheets, New Year's greetings and invitations. Generational changes among them occur continuously: Karel Demel, Josef Liesler, Jaroslav Hořánek, Jiří Kolář, Jaroslav Sůra, Jaroslav Dajč, Alena Bílková, Jindřich Zeithamml, Karla Ryvolová, Miloslav Moucha and others.

• 2026

  Talk with Andrea Sedláčková and GVUO exhibition announced

• 2019

  Martin Dyrynk, long-time caretaker of the Pupilla series, dies

• 2013

  Fourth Handbook of the Society of Czech Bibliophiles published with valid statutes

• 2008

  SČB begins awarding the Vojtěch Preissig Prize; jubilee volume 1908–2008 published

• 1992

  SČB becomes an independent association; Most Beautiful Czech Book of the Year competition begins

• 1988

  Pupilla small-prints series begins (41 volumes until 2019)

• 1973

  Zprávy Spolek českých bibliofilů v Praze begins twice-yearly publication

• 1966

  First volume of the SČB almanac Marginálie published

• 1965

  Nationwide Czechoslovak Most Beautiful Books competition (until 1990)

• 1961

  Editorial symbiosis with the Museum of Czech Literature (until 1992)

• 1950

  Organisationally and publishing-wise dependent on Československý spisovatel and later the Museum of Czech Literature

• 1934

  Věstník SČB published (1934–1951; 1962–1964 as Marginalie)

• 1931

  Representative almanacs Český bibliofil published (until 1945)

• 1928

  SČB Competition for the Most Beautiful Book of the Year launched on the initiative of Arno Sáňka (until 1941)

• 1923

  Journal of book culture Vitrinka published (until 1934)

• 1908

  Founding general assembly held on 30 March 1908 in Prague

• 1907

  Josef Nováček's public suggestion in Česká osvěta to found a society of bibliophiles and friends of graphic art

A long-established voluntary association and publisher dedicated to the book as an artistic object, fine printing, typography, graphic art and bookbinding, serving collectors and makers of bibliofilie in the Czech Republic.

• Zprávy Spolek českých bibliofilů v Praze

• Informace SČB

• Marginálie

• Pupilla

• Knihovna bibliofila

• Inventa

• 2016

  Slovník bibliofila (Josef Čejka, Gustav Erhart)

• 2016

  Igitur (Stéphane Mallarmé)

• 2017

  Žernovy zítřků (Zdeněk Řezníček)

• 2017

  Přespolní (Josef Čejka)

• 2019

  Když housle umlknou (Édouard Dubus)

• 2020

  Písma Josefa Váchala (Karel Dyrynk)

1. 1Spolek českých bibliofilů – založen v březnu roku 1908spolekceskychbibliofilu.cz
2. 2Spolek českých bibliofilů v Praze (Wikidata)wikidata.org
3. 3Spolek českých bibliofilů (Czech Wikipedia)cs.wikipedia.org