Abstract
The first volume of Josef Čapek's Collected Works includes in chronological order his complete fiction and drama written to 1930: two books of short fiction Lelio and Pro delfína [Ad Usum Delphini], short stories that were not published in book form and came out only in different periodicals (Živý plamen /The Living Flame/, Tři prózy /Three stories/, Podzim 1914 /The Fall of 1914/, Chlapec /Boy/), theater play Země mnoho jmen /The Land of Many Names/, film scripts Lakome and Moc pověry /The Scrooge, The Power of Superstition/ and the balladic fiction Stín kapradiny /The Shadow of a Fern/. The volume presents Čapek's independent path through the modern narrative modes towards his own epic expression permeated by both an urgent metaphysical reflection and the impact of Čapek's second literary career, i.e. his essay criticism that sharpened his style in its capacity to grasp the timeless element of the current events.