Dependencies between the contents and the graphics in the poetry editions from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries

Abstract

The semiotic criterion is a principal one in the evaluation of the book. On the turn of the 19^th and 20^th centuries this criterion was also utilized (despite the fact the semiotic terms were not in use) for evaluating the aesthetic value the book.

This article, on the example of Young Poland's volumes of poetry, tries to show interrelations between the contents of the poems, graphic side of the volumes and their editorial level. The examples are ordered in a schematic way which makes it possible to discuss the above dependencies in various aspects:

1. the harmony between the contents of the poems and the illustrations;
2. the harmony between the mood of the poems and the ornamentation of the volume;
3. the harmony of the form of the book of poetry with the style of the epoch.

Negative exemples are also presented in order to show the lack of the synthesis of arts being the principal aesthetic goal of the Young Poland's epoch.