Handmade Commemorative Art Album of Moon Landing by Mor Jozsef for President Nixon

Item Details

A 1969 handcrafted art book created collaboratively by Hungarian-American artists Mor Jozsef, a member of the International Hungarian Artist World Federation, and John Szanto, the commander of the Hungarian Saint Crown Guard, as a gift for President Richard Nixon as a commemoration of the landing of the first humans on the moon. The book has a hand-carved and handpainted linoleum cover that reads ‘1th Man on the Moon’ and gives the names of the three men who landed — Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The linoleum cover is mounted to a cardboard binding covered in beige linen, and has metallic red lining to its interior. Inside, the book includes two hand-drawn title pages and a series of 12 hand-printed linocuts on paper titled Evolution of Man. The prints are each mounted to thick white paper backing and depict man’s evolution throughout history, beginning with cavemen and ending with the men on the moon. A letter from the two artist’s written to President Nixon is included; it praises the United States’ space program and implores the government to not forget the Hungarian people’s political struggles. A response of thanks from Richard Friedman, the Public Information Officer for International Affairs, is included.

Condition

- to fair. Accretion across cover. Binding is slightly hardened and crumbling. Light yellowing and foxing across pages.

Dimensions

Item #

16CIN406-333