Description

This is a first edition of an exceedingly popular children‘s story on a monkey Nana, who is captured in the jungle and is forced to preform in a circus in a big city. She eventually escapes and after numberless adventures and help of her friends returns back to her natural habitat.

The story was written by Josip Ribičič (1886-1969), a teacher and one of the most prolific authors of children’s books in Yugoslavia, especially before the WWII, when he was active in Slovenian language on the Italian occupied territory. After WWII, he dedicated himself to children’s magazines, short stories and recording reminiscences of children, who actively participated in WW II.

The illustrations are made by a superb designer Janko Omahen, whi studied technical drawing in Prague (19919/20) and architecture as a pupil of Jože Plečnik and Ivan Vurnik in Ljubljana (graduated in 1927). Already from 1925 he was active as a poster and book designer of Deželna tiskarna (Country Press). From the beginning of the 1930s until the beginning of WWII, in 1941, he was running a designer studio together with Domicijan Serajnik. They were specialized in interior design and drafted several interiors of cafés and bookshops, as well as designs for book covers, postcards, flags, posters, and architectural elements. They were mixing the modern Art-Deco style with traditional Slavic decoration.

References: OCLC 439794787.