269 - VLAHOVIĆ (Mitar) & MILOSAVLJEVIĆ (Pedja). — Peasant Funerary Monuments of Serbia.

VLAHOVIĆ (Mitar) & MILOSAVLJEVIĆ (Pedja). — Peasant Funerary Monuments of Serbia. Belgrade, The Journal “Jugoslavija,” 1956. Large quarto (approx. 33 × 24 cm), 31 pp., paperback with an illustrated, lined cover; numerous black-and-white photographic reproductions, with one color plate. Photographs by Tošo Dabac, among others. The work is correctly cataloged as the French edition published in Belgrade in 1956. Original French edition. Texts by Mitar Vlahović, then director of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade, and by the painter Pedja Milosavljević. An interesting monograph devoted to a particularly unique aspect of Serbian folk art: rural funerary monuments, ranging from medieval monuments to peasant creations of the 19th and 20th centuries. The authors examine the continuity of ancient traditions in funerary sculpture, as well as the work of local artisans in stone and wood. The book features numerous reproductions of anthropomorphic monuments and carved stelae, some of which display a surprisingly modern aesthetic, adorned with human figures, horsemen, animals, tools, weapons, and symbolic motifs. A color plate notably reproduces a painted tomb depicting a horseman and his child. A rare publication today, it was also released simultaneously in several languages: Serbian, French, English, German, and Russian. The Serbian collective catalog confirms these various 1956 editions. Condition: fair copy. The cover shows heavy signs of wear, with cracks, creases, scuffing, and small marginal tears; there is an old pencil inscription reading “20” on the front cover. There are a few creases and signs of handling in the body of the book. Nevertheless, the interior is complete and fully usable.