Item #1144 Lelio a Pro delfina. / Lelio a Pro delfína. [Lelio. For the Dolphin.]. Josef Capek, Josef Čapek.
Lelio a Pro delfina. / Lelio a Pro delfína. [Lelio. For the Dolphin.]
Limited, numbered first edition

Lelio a Pro delfina. / Lelio a Pro delfína. [Lelio. For the Dolphin.]

Praha (Prague): Aventinum, 1925. First edition. Limited, numbered copy (1/1,000). Title page printed in black and orange. In publisher’s black wrapper, printed white and orange. 87, (9) p. Wrappers artistically restored. Inside clear and firm. Overall in fine condition.

First edition of this collection of short stories by Čapek.

Lelio was Čapek’s debut book, published first in 1917, Pro delfína appeared in 1923. Two years later this joint edition of the two collections of short stories was also published in 1,000 numbered copies.

Josef Čapek (Czech cubist painter, writer, and poet; 1887–1945) is credited as the coiner of the word “robot”. Although some sources claim that the word “robot” first appeared in the short story “Opilec” of the volume “Lelio”, but actually it was “automat”. “Robot” appeared first in Josef’s brother’s 1920 play, “R.U.R.” (Rossum’s Universal Robots), as the name for artificial workers. Karel had difficulties to name these humanoid machines and asked Josef to find something instead of the academically sounding “Labori”. Josef coined the word “Robot” deriving it from the Czech “robota”, forced labor.

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Price: €600.00

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