Bonviván Bohuslav Kilian – Jeřábek Miroslav (2018)

Among the remarkable personalities of the First Czechoslovak Republic was the educated lawyer, publisher, and adventurer Bohuslav Kilian. His unique magazines Salon and Měsíc are still silent witnesses to the artistic and social life as well as the technical rise of this era. The book provides a detailed insight into the life of the Kilian family, known only partially from Jiří Menzel's film Postřižiny. Through Bohuslav and his sister Marie, we get acquainted with the lives of young people at the end of Austria-Hungary. The title presents business opportunities in the banking sector after the establishment of Czechoslovakia, including unexpected connections to contemporary financial crime. In the chapters about artistic revues, we often find unknown circumstances surrounding events within the publishing sphere and collaborations with significant Czech (K. Čapek, V. Nezval), German, and Austrian (the Mann brothers, J. Roth) artists. The engaging text is accompanied by more than one hundred sixty predominantly unpublished period photographs, magazine covers, and color reproductions. Kilian was a dynamic personality, and to this day he represents the only Czech publisher who entered the European magazine market. His charisma and spirit also influenced the literary work of his nephew Bohumil...