Jan Sawka, 1946

The first fifteen pages of a prototype of a visual book in preparation are shown here. This project was triggered by Jan Sawka’s discussions with the late and great publisher of “Graphis” Magazine, Walter Herdeg of Zurich, Switzerland.  Sawka was complaining to him about the decline of truly beautiful books that were being replaced by cheap and unimaginative designs (contents, too, of course). So, the great old man wrote to Sawka that the only solution would be to create his own “masterpiece,” an ideal BOOK.  In 1982, Sawka started serious preparations. The sketch-version was shown to Walter Herdeg, and although he loved it, he was very pessimistic about the real chances of publishing such a creation. Sawka was already too engaged in his mission and he presented the 21 pages’ long “prototype” to his mentor and friend Robert Schulberg of Beverly Hills, CA.  The idea of an ideal book would eventually result in “A Book of Fiction.”