Ukrainian Ex Libris in the Slavonic Library in Prague

A rare cache of over 200 Ukrainian ex libris recently discovered in the Slavonic Library of the Czech National Library in Prague serves as the primary focus of this article. As a unique archival resource, the bookplates not only shed light on the social fabric of the Ukrainian émigré community in Czechoslovakia between the two world wars, but tell of aesthetic pursuits that would seek to reconcile modernity with Ukrainian artistic traditions. In all, the collection informs on the tastes and personalities of Ukrainian cultural luminaries in interwar Europe. As part of a larger proposed project—Ukrainian Émigrés in Czechoslovakia (1918–1945)—these ex libris will be incorporated and preserved as part of a digitized catalogue unifying émigré posters, leaflets, and other ephemera of the interwar period, including invitations called pozvanki.