Cesta k Jednoduchosti, Prague: Topic, 1926, first edition of the author's first book, octavo, one of 300 copies, unnumbered, bound in publisher's half black cloth and pink paper boards, slightly worn, number in ink to ffep and first leaf, a few small rubber stamps, contents good, 7 x 4 3/4 in.; [and] Clovek Dela Saty, Prague: Topic, 1927, first edition octavo, in publisher's limp yellow wrappers, partially unopened, 7 1/2 x 5 1/8 in. (2)
Jesenská was a correspondent of Franz Kafka, and translated several of his works from German into Czech. She worked in letters throughout her life, editing, translating, and writing short and long works. Vocal regarding the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia while writing for and editing the magazine Prítomnost (The Presence), she stayed in Prague at her own peril in 1939. There she was detained by the Gestapo, first at Pankrác and later in Dresden. She died as an inmate at the Ravensbrück concentration camp on May 17, 1944.Cesta k Jednoduchosti, whose title translates to The Journey to Simplicity, contains straightforward advice about marriage, love, freedom, and other topics.
