[8 hand-drawn initials by Vratislav Hugo Brunner + a silver print of a Brunner exhibition]

Before Jessica Hische invented drop caps, there was Vratislav Hugo Brunner (1886–1928), a Czech typographer, illustrator, graphic designer, painter, and stage designer whose work significantly shaped the development of Czech book graphics. In 1908 he co-founded the applied arts collective Artel, and in 1919 began teaching at the School of Applied Arts in Prague. He designed hundreds of books—and apparently eight unpublished typefaces. He also designed these initials. We’ve no idea how they came to be used, but these are all original artworks.

Also included is a photo from an exhibition of book designs by Brunner. A note on the back suggests that the photo is by Josef Sudek for a Sutnar publication from 1936—but we can’t verify any of that.