In 1903 the book Íslandsvísur (Iceland Verses) by Jón Trausti [Guðmundur Magnússon] [1873-1918] and Þórarinn B. Þorláksson [1867-1924] was published. The book is a good example of successful collaboration between authors of text and images - the drawings are combined with the text, all looks and overall conception conceived as a single piece and the book marks a turning point in Iceland in that context. The book is on display at the Culture House until July 2, 2019.

Jón Trausti was a known writer in Iceland. His most famous novels are Anna from Stóraborg, Heiðarbýlið and Halla. In addition, he wrote several short stories and shorter novels. The first poem by Jón Trausti in this book is Draumalandið (the Land of Dreams) that Sigfús Einarsson (1877-1939) composed a song to. The second poem in the book is called Íslandsvísur (Iceland Verses), dedicated to the highly estimated parliamentarians in parliament in 1901. Bjarni Thorsteinsson wrote a song to the poem two years later, at the time the book was published. Jón Trausti died from the Spanish flu in 1918, so now there is his one-hundredth anniversary.

Þórarinn B. Þorláksson studied bookbinding, and eventually led the bookbinding at Isafold Printing Press, where the book was printed and bound. In 1900, he received a grant from the parliament to study art in Denmark. Þórarinn made the images in Íslandsvísur before he went to Copenhagen in the winter of 1905, where he studied painting, the first Icelander to accomplish that. Once home, he held the first exhibition of paintings in Iceland.

The book is a self-publication of Jón Trausti. The Ísafold Printing Press was responsible for it´s printing. The book was published in 150 numbered copies.

Íslandsvísur on baekur.is