Between the Covers

Hardcover. Oblong folio. Measuring 17" x 12". String-tied brown cloth. Contains 58 gelatin silver photographs measuring between 3½” x 4½” and 7” x 9” without captions. Includes tissue guards and waxed-paper title leaf specially printed in gold. Hanoi art studio label affixed on the rear pastedown. Very good album with rubbing and edgewear with near fine photographs.

An official presentation photograph album commemorating the state visit of Viliam Siroky (1902-1971), Prime Minister of Communist Czechoslovakia, to North Vietnam in 1957, presented to Siroky by Ho Chi Minh. Siroky was one of the true villains of the early Communist period in Central Europe. Of Hungarian descent, he grew up in Slovakia and was responsible for the brutally suppressive activities during the lead-up to the Communist Revolution of 1949. He went on to serve as both President and Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia during the 1950s. In 1957 he embarked upon an extended state tour of the Eastern Bloc, Communist Asia, and the U.S.S.R. This album was presented to him by Ho Chi Minh after his visit to North Vietnam. A fascinating document, as it bears no relation to the “official” media images of the Prime Minister’s activities during his stay in Vietnam. Siroky is seen disembarking from his plane, reviewing soldiers at attention, and shaking hands with those who came to greet him at the airport. It continues with photos of Ho Chi Minh and his European counterpart engaged in huge banquets, which apparently included copious amounts of alcoholic beverages, presumably celebrating the revolutionary forces that they had helped to unleash over much of the globe. They are both photographed giving speeches, walking through factories, and shaking hands with workers and soldiers. The album depicts North Vietnam shortly after the Geneva Accords ended the war between France and the Viet Minh. The French granted Vietnam "independence" and split the country into two zones, Southern and Northern.

An absolutely unique series of documentary photographs.

Item #408457