Mon livre d'heures

A wordless novel of 167 woodcuts, Mon livre d'heures is a landmark of visual storytelling from the Flemish artist Frans Masereel, first published in 1919. This single, pioneering volume follows an everyman protagonist through a cycle of urban life, pleasure, and social struggle, told entirely through Masereel's stark, expressive black-and-white prints. As a foundational work of the graphic novel form, it remains a powerful, silent testament to the expressive potential of sequential art without words.