Prague: Album of Old Postcards

by Roman Karpaš, Zdeněk Beneš

An album of about 100 old postcards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They show various aspects of the different sections of Prague as they were then. The text gives more information about each of them, a kind of historical cum architectural guide to Prague.

156 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2000

About the author

Roman Karpaš je český publicista, historik, typograf, grafik a nakladatel. Mezi roky 1969 a 1973 studoval na Karlově univerzitě, kde byli jeho učiteli Cyril Bouda či Karel Šmíd. V letech 1978–1983 stál v čele liberecké Malé výstavní síně. Od poloviny svého zdejšího působení navázal spolupráci se Severočeským nakladatelstvím, pro něž pracoval jako výtvarník. V závěru osmdesátých let 20. století, mezi roky 1988 a 1990 byl v tomto nakladatelství zaměstnán coby výtvarník a technický redaktor. Ve své tvorbě se od osmdesátých let 20. století věnoval grafice. Vytvořená díla vystavoval jak autorsky, tak také na kolektivních výstavách, a to v Československu či později České republice, ale též v zahraničí . Věnuje se také vývoji tvorby pohlednic. Zjištění, k nimž dospěl, sepsal do knihy nazvané Pohlednice: historie lístků, které zmenšily svět. Ta tvoří základy tohoto sběratelského oboru. Další své knihy píše s tematikou Jizerských hor, Frýdlantska a Liberecka. Spolupracuje na nich i se svou manželkou Márií, pocházející ze Slovenska.

Reviews

[Bob Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Czech this out

Back in 2003, my wife (originally from India and Hindu) and I (American Jewish) went with Turkish friends (Muslim) with one of their cousins (also Muslim but a French citizen) and his Czech wife (more or less Christian) to travel around the Czech Republic. So, let’s see—we had three different passports, four religions and five languages—and a hell of a lot of confusion. There was no common language that all understood. Everyone was constantly speaking the wrong language. It was a great trip. We drank a lot of beer, ate many potatoes but not much pork (for obvious reasons), traveled to Karlstejn Castle where we managed to see a giant owl held by a man in a green medieval costume (!?) (in addition to seeing the castle). And we wound up in a ski resort by the German border, only it was spring. The empty hotel was extremely cheap, but the main activity in town was a large casino and a number of brothels. We did not indulge. Vietnamese (!) were selling cheap electronics and garden gnomes in the streets. Back in Prague, we visited all the historic, interesting sights, then my wife and I traveled alone around parts of the rest of the Czech Republic. So, in connecting this odd excursion to a book review, I have to say that I enjoyed looking at these old postcards showing a time (1890-1925) that I never saw, imparting a sense of nostalgia for an era that I never knew. Perhaps they often resemble each other, perhaps the coloring given to many is not so accurate or precise. For sure the person who translated the text should have been sent back to English 201 for a brush up course because their work lacks a certain je ne sais quoi. I mean, when people don’t speak perfect English, you feel sympathetic, knowing your own shortcomings in foreign languages, but when it comes to publishing books, a bit more care is de rigueur. I think the person was sick the day they taught the use of English articles. Still, it’s an interesting book for a short read. The most glaring shortcoming is the absence of any map at all. Most people, including me, do not have the knowledge to locate the villages, suburbs or districts of the city in any kind of geographical grid.

The text supposedly gives you a lot of information on the history of Prague and the various outlying towns or villages that were absorbed in the city over the centuries. That’s if the translation is accurate. Perhaps the book was just produced for the tourist trade, but I enjoyed looking at the scenes of a city with no cars, passersby in suits, hats, and long gowns, the ambience of a time long gone. Prague suffered from a bad case of history. So many –isms: imperialism, capitalism, nationalism, fascism, communism, and now tourism. The streets, imposing buildings and churches, the bridges and squares are all here as little snapshots of a past that was anything but tranquil. They are pictures of a city with many beautiful buildings and a strong sense of itself.