Jaroslav Seifert – Was einmal Liebe war (Hanau/Main: Verlag Werner Dausien, 1961) This copy is signed by the author himself, Jaroslav Seifert, the Czech poet and Nobel Prize laureate in Literature. The book Was einmal Liebe war (What Once Was Love) presents a German translation of his lyrical poetry, distinguished by its delicate musicality, nostalgic imagery, and sensitive expression of both personal and national themes. The edition was published in 1961 by Verlag Werner Dausien in Hanau am Main. The text was translated into German by Olly Komenda-Soentgerath, one of the most prominent translators of Czech literature into German, and the book was accompanied by illustrations from the renowned Czech artist Jiří Trnka, whose poetic visual style harmonizes perfectly with Seifert’s language. The publication of 80 pages is considered one of the most significant early German editions of Seifert’s poetry. Both the translation and the artistic design contributed to the book being recognized not only as a literary work but also as a work of art. At the time of its release, it was an exceptionally valuable achievement—one of the first attempts to present the work of an already prominent Czech author to a Western audience.