Подорож ученого доктора Леонардо і його майбутньої коханки прекрасної Альчести у Слобожанську Швейцарію

Osnovy marks the 130th anniversary of Maik Yohansen, one of the most original Ukrainian writers of “our 20s,” with a collector's edition. We have turned the playful and witty The Journey of the Learned Doctor Leonardo and his Future Lover, the Beauteous Alceste, to the Switzerland of Slobozhanshchyna into a true work of art.

The novel's text was prepared by Yaryna Tsymbal, a well-known scholar of Yohansen's work. Her comments on the work reveal the era's context, and the love epilogue narrates the story of the novel through the landscape.

Especially for our edition, Kharkiv artist Polina Kuznietsova created a series of oil paintings on canvas: separated by a century, the artist and the writer engage in a dialogue about the Slobozhanshchyna landscape. This landscape has been the central theme of Kuznietsova's work for many years. Yohansen gave it a prominent role in The Journey of the Learned Doctor Leonardo and his Future Lover, the Beauteous Alceste, to the Switzerland of Slobozhanshchyna. Polina's paintings, both contemporary and inspired by European and Ukrainian modernist traditions, stand on their own, just like Yohansen's novel. This invites readers to embark on their own journey between our 20s—then and now.

The Grafprom studio — Ilia Pavlov and Maria Norazian (also from Kharkiv!) — created the book's graphic design, which is closely linked to the tradition of the Kharkiv avant-garde.

Dmytro Vortman's geographical map distinguishes our edition of The Journey... as the first to include a map. The landscapes of Slobozhanshchyna Switzerland, and the journeys of Leonardo and Alceste feel more vivid than ever.

Dmytro Vortman marked the toponyms of the Zmiiv region that existed at the time of the novel's writing, as well as the imaginary route of Leonardo and Alceste: first by land from the railway station in Zamostia, and then along the Siverskyi Donets River to the Heiivska Hat. The cartographer even managed to identify the probable location of the good tree planter's chalet, where Alceste and Leonardo spent the night.