Småland by Gerry Johansson & Per Engström

Text in Swedish.

Småland is a region in the south of Sweden. In the middle of the eighteen hundreds it was one of the poorest parts of the country, and a large part of the population emigrated to the US and settled in the Midwest. Småland is now one of the most prosperous parts of Sweden.

The book has been a long and dear project for Gerry Johansson. He started it after Sverige was published in 2005, and the earliest pictures are from 1991.

The book is uncut. Among Johansson’s books are several old art and architecture books with this kind of binding. In Sweden, at least until the seventies, books were often sold in two editions, softcover and hardcover. The softcover was uncut and cheaper, and it was mostly used for poetry, novels and some art books. The Swedish word for it is sprättbok, which translates as something like “rip book”. He has not found a similar English word, and in English it is usually called an uncut book. 

The book is also a collaboration with the Swedish poet Per Engström, who grew up in Småland.