Lamson Library and Learning Commons David Beronä has been researching the history of wordless books and woodcut novels. A recognized scholar on woodcut novels and wordless books, he has written extensively on the genre, and most recently authored the introduction to the latest edition of Frans Masereel’s Passionate Journey: A Vision in Woodcuts, published by Dover Publications in December 2007.

For years, Director of In his introduction, Beronä traces the life, influences, and career of Masereel, one of the greatest woodcut artists of the twentieth century. The book itself comprises 167 striking woodcuts that create a visual narrative of a young man’s life—his love, his grief, his awe, his despair—without using a single word.

Beronä has also written his own book, Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels, to be published by Harry N. Abrams in April 2008. In the book, he examines the history of wordless books and the art and influence of pioneers like Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward Otto Nuckel, Helena Bochořaková-Dittrichová, and William Gropper, among others.