The graphic design of the covers and of the dust jackets of the “Czytelnik” and “Iskry” satirical series published between the years 1945 and 1989

Abstract

The article discusses three illustrated series of volumes of a satirical and humorous nature, i.e. Biblioteka Szpilek, Biblioteka Satyry and Biblioteka Stańczyka, released between the years 1945 and 1989 by the “Czytelnik” Publishing Cooperative and the “Iskry” State Publishing House. It is not only the subject matter but, above all, the graphic design by leading Polish graphic artists that makes the series unique. It is the design of the series that is the focus of this article.

Analysis of the available sources, followed by iconographic and stylistic analysis of covers and of dust jackets of selected volumes prove that the series mentioned above, while undoubtedly an expression of the publishers’ editorial ambitions, became a mass communicator of new trends and directions that dominated the world art in the second half of the 20^th century.