In the competition of the most beautiful books, Mirko Baum also stood out

Prague - In the competition for the most beautiful books published last year, the winner in the category of beautiful literature was "Režná bába" by Miloš Doležal. This was announced to journalists today by the chair of this year's committee, Simona Vladíková, who noted that "Režná bába" was a favorite among the judges regardless of the category. The most beautiful book for children and youth chosen by the judges was "Záhádky" by Petr Nikl, which also won the main award and best children's and youth book award at the Magnesia Litera competition on Sunday.
A total of 217 publications competed for the title of the Most Beautiful Book published last year. The judges awarded 17 books in six categories. The category winners received an award from the Minister of Culture, which is associated with a reward of 50,000 crowns.
In the category of professional literature, the committee selected the book "Ulice na konci světa," authored by the German architect Mirko Baum. Among textbooks, the winner was "Adamův deník" by the author trio Blanka Neoralová - Štěpánka Průhová - Lukáš Urbánek, and among books on visual art, the experts selected the publication "Z holandských zápisníků," which compiles texts by the famous Czech modernist Emil Filla. In the category of catalogs, the publication for the exhibition "Václava Hollara - Wenceslaus Hollar 1607-1677" was particularly noteworthy.
A total of 109 publishers submitted their books to the competition. The jury convened in the last week of January this year. The committee initially eliminated three books due to technical deficiencies. Thus, the judges evaluated 214 works.
According to the organizers, the number of competing books has slightly increased in recent years, and the quality of textbooks is also on the rise. However, this is not true in the area of textbooks for primary schools. "A positive trend is that publishers are giving opportunities not only to renowned editors and illustrators but also to emerging authors, whose quality was above average in this year's cohort," summarized the jury's opinion, Vladíková said.
The competition, which took place this year for the forty-third time, is organized by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Memorial of National Literature.
Awards are given in the categories of scientific and professional literature, beautiful literature, literature for children and youth, textbooks for schools and other educational aids, books on visual art, and catalogs. The Union of Graphic Entrepreneurs, the Association of Czech Graphic Artists (SČUG) Hollar, and the TypoDesignClub also award their prizes. Additionally, the Memorial of National Literature awards the Arne Sáňky Prize to students of graphic schools.
According to the organizers, more than 15,500 books appeared on the Czech book market last year.

Most Beautiful Books of 2007

Category	Winner
Scientific and Professional Literature	Mirko Baum - Ulice na konci světa
Beautiful Literature	Miloš Doležal - Režná bába
Literature for Children and Youth	Petr Nikl - Záhádky
Textbooks	Blanka Neoralová, Štěpánka Průhová, Lukáš Urbánek - Adamův deník
Books on Visual Art	Emil Filla - Z holandských zápisníků
Catalogs	Wenceslaus Hollar 1607-1677
Study Work - Arne Sáňky Prize	Kateřina Šachová - Sedmero receptů Kateřiny Šachové
Union of Graphic Entrepreneurs Award	Hana Rousová - František Foltýn
SČUG Hollar Award for Illustration	Lucie Olivová - Čínské pohádky (illustrated by Jan Chaloupek)
TypoDesignClub Award for Graphic Design	Mirko Baum - Ulice na konci světa

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