VietNamNet Bridge – Three out of six exclusive editions of dictionaries published by MCBooks JSC will be auctioned for charity this Sunday in HCM City.

Works of art: Three out of the six exclusive editions of dictionaries published by MCBooks JSC will be auctioned for charity this Sunday in HCM City. – VNS Photo courtesy of MCBooks

“It took 200 working hours of painters and two working months for the content editors. The project aims to share love and luck,” said Nguyen Van Cuong, director of MCBooks.

Printed in 2014 in 10,000 copies and reprinted three times, the commercial edition of the 350,000-word English-Vietnamese Dictionary is considered to be one of the best-selling dictionaries on Viet Nam’s No 1 online book website, Tiki.vn

“Last year, the company convinced five Vietnamese leading contemporary painters to join the project, which connects knowledge and painting,” Cuong added.

The painters are Thanh Chuong, Dang Xuan Hoa, Pham An Hai, Phan Cam Thuong, and Pham Binh Chuong.

They each painted a dictionary cover. Phan Cam Thuong drew the Van Hoa Dan Gian (Folk Culture), Pham Binh Chuong The Pho Co Ha Noi (Ha Noi Ancient Town), Pham An Hai The Ngan Ha (Galaxy), Dang Xuan Hoa The Con Rong Chau A (Asian Dragon), and Thanh Chuong two dictionaries named Anh Nguyet (Moonlight, One in Red, One in Black).

Each dictionary has four pages of sketches by a painter and 24 pages that display their special works.

The six boxes for the dictionaries are also artworks done by leading Vietnamese artisans.

“MCBooks chose to print the dictionaries on a special paper imported from Italy that will last for 500 years,” Chuong said.

The six dictionaries were exhibited at Nguyen Van Binh Book Street on March 20, and were moved to the gate of the HCM City Book Expo at Le Van Tam on Monday.

MCBooks will gift one dictionary to Ha Noi National Library, one to HCM City National Library, and keep one to exhibit at the company.

The other three will be auctioned at the Pullman Saigon Centre on March 27 from 6-9pm.

All proceeds will go directly to the Cap La Yeu Thuong charity programme of VNT24, to help disadvantaged children attend school.

VNS