LIBRO ILLEGGIBLE: N.Y. 1 by Bruno Munari (#605 of 2,000)

Museum of Modern Art, 1967, First edition, 30 pp., 8 1/2" X 8 1/2", Softcover w/ dj

Very good

“This is a unique book designed by Bruno Munari especially for the Museum of Modern Art. It is one of a group of books in which the visual discourse, rather than a text comprised of words, carries the thread of the story. The “unreadable” book was first conceived by Munari in 1949, and exhibited the same year at the Salto Bookshop in Milan. A small number of copies were handmade by the author. A Presentation Edition of 2000 copies of one unreadable book, with red-and-white cut pages, edited by Peter Brattinga for the Quadrat Blätter series, was published in 1953 by Steendrukkerij de Jong & Company. In 1955 several unreadable books were shown along with other works by Munari in the exhibition: Two Graphic Designers at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1957 they were awarded a Gold Medal at he Triennale di Milano. Nine volumes are now in the Design Collection of the Museum of Modern Art.”