"Alphabetario", Illustrations by Costas P. Grammatopoulos, Part 2

This book was published in the late forties (presumably by the Ministry of Education of the time) and was used as an introduction to the Greek language for 6 year-olds. It must have made a strong and lasting impression to the generations of children as the publishers decided, upon many requests, to reprint a new edition in 1993 long after it was removed from the school curriculum. I love the combination of the graphic effect together with the hand-drawn quality - used sparingly, but so expressively. The colouring is very minimalistic and flat, yet used so creatively to illustrate textures, space and shapes.

"Alphabetario", I.K. Yannelis and G.K. Sakkas, Illustrations by Costas P. Grammatopoulos (published originally in Athens 1948 by Nea Synora - A.A. Livani)

The best book ever! (in the hearts of thousands of Greeks who - like myself - were introduced to the language in the first year at primary school with these wonderful pictures, lovable characters and unique typeface)...

"A Greek Literature Anthology - 1961" (Athens,1961)

I inherited this book from an uncle many years ago. He was running a kiosk selling newspapers and magazines for decades (from the 1930s to the 1980s) and collected thousands of books, periodicals etc of that period which (luckily) was passed on to me after his death!

I am really fond of this book because of the texture of the paper, the beautiful graphics for the titles and typefaces (you can see and feel the letterpress embossed on the pages) as well as the illustrations and stories. Here's only a small taste of what is inside the book. Every page spread is different than the one before - it somehow conveys the short-lived optimism of the early sixties in Greece, the romance about its past, and the blissful ignorance of what was about to happen by the end of that decade...