The publications on show at Nha Nam Thu Quan Coffee Shop include prestigious dailies and weekly magazines like Dan Ba (Women), Sai Gon, and Phong Hoa (Customs and Mores).
Among the most impressive for their layout and variety in contents are issues of Phong Hoa and Sai Gon published in 1935 and 1939.
Phong Hoa has a cartoon on its cover lampooning some bad customs originating in northern villages.
The popular weekly was published by Tu Luc Van Doan (Self-reliance Literature Group), a literary club founded in 1933 in Ha Noi by a group of well-known writers under Nguyen Tuong Tam, also known as Nhat Linh.
The group published many important literary works by famous authors including Khai Hung, The Lu and Xuan Dieu.
Sai Gon features a series of reports about the families of revolutionaries Ta Thu Thau, Duong Bach Mai, Nguyen An Ninh, Nguyen Van Tao and Nguyen Van Nguyen, who were incarcerated by the French colonial regime.
All the exhibits belong to city-based collectors Duong Thanh Hoai, Hoang Minh, Vu Ha Tue, Nguyen Huu Triet and Vu Dinh Dau.
The exhibition is being organised by the Nha Nam Publishing House which also owns the coffee shop at 43 Ho Van Hue Street, Phu Nhuan District, where customers can read old books for free.
The exhibition, which opened this week, runs until late March. |
