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German fine printing in the 20th century
Id. Libr. Rev.(1971) 3, 141-153
German Fine Printing in the 20th Century J. EYSSENT
Speaking of beautiful books on these pages may sound anachronistic to many ears, at a time when it is generally preferred to judge the importance of a book only by the standard of its efficiency value. It cannot be disputed that a poem by Goethe remains exactly the same, irrespective of its being printed by a cheap rotation process or on an expensive hand-made paper, while equally, the writings of a third-rate novelist cannot be preserved for eternity by producing them in a particularly fine print. On the other hand, the poem by Goethe may claim to be reproduced in a form worthy of, and corresponding to, its contents and meaning. The apologists of the “useful” book may be interested by the following true story of our days, which happened in the course of the siege of Jerusalem by the Arabs during the first Israeli war of independence. In those days Samuel Agnon, who laid the foundation-stone of the new Hebrew literature and was to be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1966, completed his sixtieth year. While Jerusalem was still under enemy fire, the Knesset decided to honour Agnon by having his work written on choice vellum by a Thora scribe, and bound by hand by an artist. In Germany, the art of the book of our century began about 1900 as an intellectual revolution under the banner of the “Jugendstil” (or Art Nouveau). One must have held, in one’s own hands, products stemming from the printing presses during the so-called “Founders’ Period”, i.e. the last two or three decades of the nineteenth century, in order to see for oneself how low the quality of handicraft in general, and the printing trade in particular, had gone during the period of industrialization-the quality of a trade of which Luther once had proudly said : “The printing of books is summum et postremum Dei donum, the highest and utmost favour and veneration of God, by which He promotes the sake of the Evangelists : It is the last flame before the extinction of the world.” Taking up their task with equally holy earnest, and possessed by an ardent zeal, the creators of the new art of the book in Germany went to t Director, Stadtbibliothek,
Hannover, West Germany
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work. Their immediate aims were rather limited. Books were to be printed on hand-made paper which were to represent, in printing and binding, the unity of a work of art, harmonizing with the contents. Sworn to the art offine printing, a generation oftype designers and typographers, full of new ideas, started developing new printing types in the spirit of the 20th century, partly going back to specimens of older times. A manifesto of the “Steglitzer Werkstatt” (a printing workshop at Berlin-Steglitz) says : “By presenting these simple, unpretentious products, it is endeavoured to create a beneficent contrast to everything strutting about as ‘en vague’ at present . . .” One must not forget to mention in this connection the influence of the English printing workshops and hand-presses upon the young German art of the book. In the first books published after the turn of the century, in particular in the creations of Melchior Lechter, who belonged to the circle of friends round Stefan George, the influence of William Morris is strongly to be seen. The earlier illustrators were visibly inspired by the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley. Gradually, the “pure typography”, without all ornamental accessories, began to prevail, following the example set by Cobden-Sanderson and his Doves Press. This new beginning in German book art is closely linked to the names of F. H. Ehmcke, Walter Tiemann, Peter Behrens, E. R. Weiss, or Rudolf Koch, and others. Efficient printing-presses, like the houses of Drugulin at Leipzig or Carl Ernst Poeschel, the primus inter pares of the German printers of those years, put themselves at the service of those men. Their intentions, however, could not have been realized, if by a happy coincidence, a number of important publishers had not proved equally enthusiastic about the idea of German book art. In this field, the names of Eugen Diederichs, Anton Kippenberg, publisher of the “Insel”, and Hans von Weber merit particular mention. F. H. Ehmcke, for instance, designed the uniform, unmistakable face of the great serial publications der Weltliteratur” (fairy tales of of Eugen Diedrichs the “Marchen world literature) and the Y3ammlung Thule” (a collection of Nordic literature), while Walter Tiemann and E. R. W7eiss, among others, were responsible for the fine pocket-size Ynsel” editions on India paper. Hans von Weber was the creator of the so-called “Drucke fur die Hundert” of which only one hundred copies were printed for a smail circle of subscribers. Important works of German literature were given a typographical form corresponding to the contents, and period of origin, of the respective single title. While going back, for a collection of songs from the sixteenth century, to a typeface by Egenolff ( 1502-55)) which this famous FranMurt printer had used in his time for the first edition of the same work, Hans von
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Weber chose for “Tod in Venedig” (“Death in Venice”), a fluid cursive type by Carl Ernst Poeschel, whose elegance adapts itself with ease to the carefully stylized periods of Thomas Mann. The “Hundertdrucke”, sewn only loosely, were supplied in a cardboard cover, in order not to deprive the subscribers of the pleasure of selecting an individual binding according to their personal tastes. Incidentally, Hans von Weber had found his way to the profession of publishing by pure chance. In a Munich cafe he had been shown, by a then still unknown artist introducing himself as Alfred Kubin, a portfolio of drawings which so enraptured the banking clerk that he decided to try and have them published. Weber was one of the embittered opponents of the so-called private presses. Following the model of William Morris’ Kelmscott Press, and Cobden-Sanderson’s Doves Press, a considerable number of these presses had been established in Germany; prominent among them were the Janus Press of C. E. Poeschel, the Ernst Ludwig Press of the brothers Kleukens at Darmstadt, and F. H. Ehmcke’s Rupprecht Press in Munich. “In fact,” thus Weber stormed against the opinion that only a sworn workshop community, following Gutenberg’s old artisan’s traditions in monastic seclusion, could come close to the ideal of the perfect book, “in fact a sheet well printed on a printing machine cannot only bear comparison with the best handpress printing, but it is at least equal in quality, if not even superior in the uniformity of colouring . . . Clinging to old traditions only prevents progress, or excludes it . . . This would look nowadays-100 years after the invention of matchesas if you would try and strike fire with the aid of steel, stone, and sponge.” In this case the impulsive publisher certainly overstepped the mark, for it had been two of these handpresses, so heartily decried by him, which produced publications that found international acclaim. The Bremer Press was founded in 1911. Two sons of old patrician families, Ludwig Wolde and Willy Wiegand, devised the plan to re-publish the essential works of world literature in their original languages and in exemplary editions as de-luxe prints for bibliophiles. “Such work, limited by its nature to a very small circle, may seem barren to many people” it reads in the initial manifesto of the Bremer Press. “One thing, however, is certain:-even nowadays no trade that does not surrender to its own decline can do without the individual who puts this powers to the service of an exemplary achievement, obeying the traditional regulations and requirements of his art, and contrary to the standards of quantity elsewhere dominating the things that are demanded and produced.” Subsequent to the thorough study ofold incunabula, Wiegand resolved on developing, as the first type-face of the press, a medium-size Roman type following the model of letters cut by the two early printers Adolf
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Rusch of Strasbourg and Johann Speyer of Venice. This type, cut by Louis Hoell, stressed the horizontal and, thereby, the fluency of the lines; it closed up well to organized blocks of text, which always remained easily readable. Special care was taken of the correct “spacing”, i.e. the equal distribution of intervals between words along the printed line. Later a newly designed Greek type and a characteristic Gothic type were added to the stock, the latter to be used for Martin Luther’s German bible in four volumes. For all sets of type the important type designer Anna Simons drew beautiful, and varying, initial letters, respectively adapted to the character of the work in question. The finished sheets, the product of years of careful work, were then bound by hand, by the master binder Frieda Thiersch, into precious volumes in fine morocco or faultless vellum. Thus each of these works produced a threefold harmony of paper (a strong paper, especially hand-made for this press in the Netherlands), of printing, and binding which soon claimed the applause and delight of the international world of book collectors. The intellectual and literary programme of the Bremer Press must be called truly universal. Beginning with the classical authors of antiquity, Homer, Aischylos, Tacitus, Tibullus, its range encompasses Augustinus and medieval literature (Dante, Walther von der Vogelweide, the German “Mystics”), the Renaissance writers (Bacon, Shakespeare) and authors of modern times. Here the “Pensees” by Pascal, the “Iphigenie” by Goethe, and Kant’s “Metaphysik der Sitten” are to be found as well as Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Der Turm”. Up to the economic crisis of the thirties, which put an end to the work of the Bremer Press and left the remainders of the editions, normally limited to 270 copies, to be sold as cheap “bargains”, the workshop located in a log-house in the Schwabing quarter of Munich had published about 50 titles-books, which now rank among the incunabula of book art of our century and for which high prices are paid at auction sales. Only the Cranach Press of Harry Graf Kessler can contend with the Bremer Press in importance. As a politician, this diplomat of high culture, son of a Hanseatic family, was one of the advocates of a united Europe; moreover, patronizing the fine arts as an amateur and promoter, he felt his obligation towards the cultural traditions of the West. He therefore initiated the plan to found a new hand-press in a European sense, i.e. the most prominent artists from all over Europe were expected to cooperate here in the production of prints. In Mardersteig’s garden house at Weimar, “in whose friendly working rooms there was an atmosphere of conventual seclusion apparently well suited to the project in their minds which looked rather untimely at first sight”-these are the words of R. A. Schroder-Kessler gathered a team of artists of international
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renown. The Englishmen, Emery Walker and Edward Johnson, designed the printing types. Their countrymen, Edward Prince and G. T. Friend, did the cutting of the punches. In the persons of Aristide Maillol, the gifted sculptor, whom Kessler succeeded in interesting in wood cutting, and of the Englishman Gordon Craig, Kessler found two congenial illustrators. Contrary to the founders of the Bremer Press, it was Kessler’s intention to make illustrated books-works of timeless rank, printed on a special paper hand-made out of silk and linen, the so-called “Seidenbutten”, joining words and pictures in an artistically convincing unity. Two particular works constitute the fame of the Cranach Press : these are Vergil’s “Eclogues”, in Latin and German (translated congenially by R. A. Schroder), with wood-cuts by Maillol, and “Hamlet” in Gerhart Hauptmann’s enlarged and rather self-willed translation, with figures in wood-cuts by Craig-a delicate typographical task, by the way, to place these illustrations into the text of Shakespeare’s sources, and to compose these elements, three types of text plus illustrations, so as to form the complex unit of a double-spread. The sumptuous bindings in red or black cheveril (kid leather) were designed and hand-made by Otto Dorfner, the doyen of German bookbinders and professor at the Weimar school of applied arts. More beautiful books have never been printed in Germany, and it is the unanimous opinion of all critics that the Vergil is the perfect book par excellence of our century so far, owing to the harmony between the noble Jenson Roman type and Maillol’s bucolic wood-cuts, radiating the same classical serenity as the verses of Vergil, and coming very close, in the simple flux of their lines without intersection, to the ideal of a cclinear” illustration, i.e. a type ofillustration conforming as far as feasible to the rules and laws of the printed word. The preparation of such works, however, took years. The Hanover Stadtbibliothek (Public Library) possessesdrafts and first designs, out of Kessler’s private collection, of the “Eclogues” and of “Hamlet”, which help to show how the work progressed step by step. Unfortunately Kessler could realize relatively little of his far-reaching publishing programme, among other works an edition of Rilke in four volumes, which Anton Kippenberg ordered in 1930 as a posthumous homage to the late friend and poet. 200 copies of this edition were printed, while the two works already quoted were published in limited editions of 275 copies each. The Nazis forced Kessler into exile. It is a pity, however, and probably the only point where Kessler and Hans von Weber may be blamed, that both these patrons offine printing never thought about taking German contemporary art into their service. While in France painters like Bonnard, Chagall, Dali, Dufy, Ernst,
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Picasso were creating the famous French “livre de peintre”, the German expressionist painters were left practically without any orders for books. It is beyond imagination what sort of books could have been made, if Weber, for instance, who lived in Munich, had invited the members of the “Blauer Reiter”, Kandinsky, Marc, or Klee, to co-operate in making his ‘cDreiangeldrucke”, instead of preferring, as he did, artists of the second or third rank only! However beautiful some of the book creations of the German impressionist painters were-take, for example, the wonderful series of illustrations by Slevogt of Cooper’s “Leatherstocking” or ofGoethe’s “Faust II”, Liebermann’s inspired lithographs for Fontane’s “Effi Briest”, or Corinth’s dark visions of Schiller’s plays “Die Rauber” and “Wallenstein”-this is but meagre compensation for that omission. Mostly ordered by clever art dealers, these illustrations were added only too often to type set rather carelessly or quickly, or they were reproduced in such enormous size (like Slevogt’s “Faust II”) that the result was a portfolio plus added text instead of a book designed to be read. Fontane’s “‘Effi Briest”; however, must be exempted from this reproach. It was published by the Maximilian-Gesellschaft, the leading German association of bibliophiles, who put this task into the hands of Marcus Behmer, an excellent artist and designer. The delicate and slender Gothic type which he had chosen for the text is in perfect harmony with the lithographs in crayon and pen done by the old Liebermann, and with the binding designed by Behmer, with its fine network of gold filigree-thus creating once more the conditions for a “perfect” book whose outer appearance ideally corresponded to the inner value of Fontane’s prose. Today we are still feasting on the memories of that great period of German book art. In addition a number of private presses newly founded after the Second World War, Gottfried de Beauclair’s Trajanus Press, or Richard von Sichowsky’s Grillen Press, have carried on the tradition of the art of the book. Important artists like Gerhard Marcks or Imre Reiner were given orders for illustrations. The Maximilian-Gesellschaft, too, reestablished itsel4 giving up its former exclusivity in order to winmore booklovers for the ideaofbibliophile book collecting. The positive effects of these efforts regarding the level of book design cannot be overestimated ! When nowadays, year by year, on the occasion of the Frankfurt International Book Fair, the Bijrsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (i.e. the professional association of the German book trade) marks fifty books out of the production of the preceding year as the most beautiful ones, this fact is significant of the high standard of quality of German book production; at the same time, it is a visible token of gratitude by the members of a trade and craft towards the men whose work was sketched on these pages.
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1. Franz Kugler (1840). Geschichte Friedrich des GroJen. Woodcuts by Adolf von Menzel. Leipzig. 2. Apuleius (1881). Amor und Psyche. German translation. 46 etchings by Max Klinger. Miinchen. 3. Geoffrey Chaucer (1896). The Works. Titles and initials by William Morris. Pictures by Edward Burne-Jones. Hammersmith: Kelmscctt Press. 425 copies on hand-made paper, 13 copies on vellum. 4. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1912). Iphigenie auf Tauris. Printed by 7. S. Cobden-Sanderson. Hammersmith : Doves Press. 200 copies on hand-made paper, 20 copies on vellum, 20 copies on vellum with golden initials. 5. Oscar Wilde (1894). Salome. Illustrated by Aubrey Beard&y. London and Boston. 600 copies. THE
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6. Maurice Maeterlinck (1898). Der Schatz der Armen. German translation. Typography by Melchior Lechter. Florenz and Leipzig. 7. Maximin (1907). Ein Gedenkbuch. Edited by Stefan George, decoration by Melchior Lechter. Berlin. 200 copies, 1 copy on vellum. 8. Friedrich Wolters (1909). Herrschaft und Dienst. Typography by Melchior Lechter. Berlin : Einhorn-Presse. 500 copies, 10 on vellum. 9. Melchior Lechter (1927). Das Mitrchen vom Sinn. Designed and written by the author. Berlin : Einhorn-Presse. 10. Thomas von Kempen (1914-22). Die vier Biicher von der Nachfolge Christi. German translation. Typography by Melchior Lechter. Berlin, 1000 copies, 5 on vellum. 11. Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1900). Der Kaiser und die Hexe. Illustrated by Heinrich Vogeler- Worpswede. Berlin. 200 ccpies. 12. Friedrich Nietzsche (1908). Also sprach xarathustra. Designed by Henry van de Velde. Leipzig. 500 copies, 30 on vellum. 13. Friedrich Nietzsche (1914). Dionysos Dithyramben. Designed by Heqy van de Velde. Leipzig. 130 copies on hand-made paper, 20 copies on vellum. 14. Oscar Wilde (1901). Salome. German translation. Pictured by Marcus Behmer. Leipzig. 15. Voltaire (1912).
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19. Hafis (19 12). Persische Gedichte. German translation. Illustrated by 8’. H. Ernst Schneidler. Jena. Private copy of the artist. 20. Handbinding by Wiener Werkstiitten to Grillljar
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35. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1910). Torpuato Taso. Titles and initials by Walter Tiemann. Leipzig: Janus-Presse. 150 copies. 36. Adalbert von Chamisso (1923). Peter Schlemihl Schicksale. Titles and initials by Walter Tiemann. Leipzig: Janus-Presse. 335 copies. 37. Das Hohe Lied von Salomo (1909). German translation. Titles and initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt : Ernst-Ludwig-Presse. 300 copies. 38. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1922-24). Faust. Der Tragiidie, 1. Teil. Initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt : Ernst-Ludwig-Presse. 100 copies. 39. Handbinding by M. Grad1 to Goethe. Urfaust: Ernst-Ludwig-Presse. 40. William Shakespeare (1925-31). Works. Titles and initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt. 250 copies. 41. Thukydides (1920). Rede des Periklesfiir die Gefallenen. German translation.
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FrankfLwt: Kleukens-Presse. 225 copies, 25 on vellum. 42. William Shakespeare (1923). Ein Sommernachtstraum. German translation. Frankfurt : Kleukens-Presse. 250 copies. 43. Handbinding by Frieda Schoy (Essen) to Runge, Vom Fischer und syne Fru. Kleukens-Presse. 44. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1929). Torquato Tasso. Titles and initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt : Ratio-Presse. 105 copies. 45. Willem Schrijder (192 1). Dat Wettlopen twrschen dem Swinegel und dem Hasen. Coloured pictures by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt: Ratio-Presse. 200 copies. 46. Johann Heinrich Voss (1918). Luise. Printed by F. H. Ehmcke. Miinthen: Rupprecht-Presse. 200 copies. 47. Leopold von Ranke (1911). Savonarola und die Jorentinische Republik. Initials by Anna Simons. Miinchen: Rupprecht-Presse. 100 copies. 48. Baruch de Spinoza (1920). Ethica. Printed by F. H. Ehmcke, Miinchen: Rupprecht-Presse. 150 copies. 49. Friedrich der Grosse (1922). L’Antimachiavel. Printed by F. H. Ehmcke. Miinchen. 130 copies. 50. Handbinding by W. Gerlach (Berlin) to Tieck, Der gestiefelte Kater (1928). Miinchen: Rupprecht-Presse. 150 copies. 51. Handbinding by Carl Sonntag (Leipzig) to Walther von der Vogelweide, Lieder ( 19 10). Mtinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 ccpies. 52. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1910). Der West ijstliche Divan. Miinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 53. Novalis ( 19 10). Hymnen an die Yacht. Mtinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 54. Thomas Mann (1912). Der Tad in Venedig. Mtinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 55. Christian Reuter (1913). Schelmuffsky. Woodcuts by Max &old. Miinthen: Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 56. Handbinding by W. Gerlach (Berlin) to Goethe, Epigramme (1928). Venedig 1790. Miinchen : Drucke fiir die Hundert. 100 copies. 57. Handbinding by Gotthilf Kur< (Miinchen) to He&e, Buch der Lieder. Drucke fur die Hundert. 58. Handbinding by G. Hampe (Hannover) to Goethe, Egmont (1925). Munthen : Drucke fiir die Hundert. 100 copies. 59. Handbinding by Otto Dorfner (Weimar) to Ha@, Die Karawane. Dreiangeldruck. 60. Die Johanneischen Schriften ( 19 19). German translation by Martin Luther. With coloured initials and decorative borders by A. Schoflpmeyer. Berlin : Officina Serpentis. 62 copies, 6 on vellum. 61. Handbinding by F. Weisse (Hamburg) to Platon, Phaidon. Hamburger Presse. 62. Tacitus (1914). Germania. Latin and German. Titles and initials by Anna Simons. Bremen : Bremer Presse. 250 copies, 15 on vellum.
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63. Handbinding by Frieda i’hiersch to Heinrich von Kleist, Robert Guiskard ( 19 19). Bad Tijlz : Bremer Presse. 2 79 copies, 15 on vellum. 64. Emanuel Kant (1925). Grundlegung tur Metaphysik der Sitten. Miinchen: Bremer Presse. 285 copies. 65. HandbindingbyFrieda Thiersch toChan.sonsd’Amour (1925). Bremer Presse. 250 copies. 66. Handbinding by K. Hacker (Leipzig) to Goethe, Iphigenia auf Tauris. Bremer Presse. 67. Handbinding by Frieda Schulte-Vogelheim to Hiilderlin, Elegien. Bremer Presse. 68. Dante Alighieri (1921). La Divina Comedia. Titles and initials by Anna Simons. Miinchen. 300 copies. 69. Biblia (1926-28). German translation by Martin Luther. Titles and initials by Anna Simons. Miinchen. 365 copies. 70. Andreas Vesalius (1934). Humani corljoris fabrica. 265 woodcuts from the original blocks. Munchen : Bremer Presse. 6 15 copies. 7 1. Publius Vergilius Maro (1926). Eclogen. Latin-English edition. Woodcuts by Aristide Maillol. Titles and initials by Eric Gill. Weimar: CranachPresse. 250 copies. 72. Trial-print of the same book. Latin-German edition. The copy belonged to the private collection of Harry Graf Kessler. 73. William Shakespeare (1929). Hamlet. German translation by Gerhart Hauptmann, to which is added the texts of Saxo Grammatrcus and the History of Hamlet. Woodcuts by Edwin Gordon Craig. Titles and initials by Eric Gill. Weimar: Cranach-Presse. 230 copies, 8 on vellum, 17 on Japan-paper. 74. Trial-print of the same edition. 75. Rainer Maria Rilke (1931). Duineser Elegien. English-German edition. Initials by Eric Gill. Weimar und London: Cranach-Presse. 230 copies, 8 copies on vellum. 76. Rainer Maria Rilke (1930-34). Gedichte. 4 volumes. Leipzig. 200 copies, 5 on vellum. Woodcuts and 77. Das Hohe Lied Salomonis (1931). G erman translation. initials by Eric Gill. Weimar: Cranach-Presse. 100 copies, 8 on vellum. 78. Esaias Tegner (1913). Die Frithjofs-Sage. German translation. Typography by Rudolf Koch. Offenbach: Rudolfinische Drucke. 300 copies. and 79. Das Evangelium des Markus (1923). G erman translation. Typography hand-coloured initials by Rudolf Koch. Offenbach : Rudolfinische Drucke. 150 copies. 80. Das Blumenbuch (1929-30). Designed by Rudolf Koch. Woodcuts by Frztz Kredel. Hand-coloured by Emil Wollner. Mainz: Mainzer Presse. 1000 copies. 81. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1934). Harzreise im Winter. Written by Rudo S'emann. Handbinding by Eva Aschoff.
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82. Georg Biichner (1910). Leonce und Lena. Lithographs by Karl Walser. Berlin. 250 copies. 83. Vivant Denon (1911). Eine einzige 3Vacht. German translation. Copperengravings by Karl Walser. Berlin. 84. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1924). Gedichte. Lithographs by Hans Meid. Berlin. 100 copies. 85. Friedrich von Schiller (19 18). Wallenstein. 60 Lithographs by Hans Meid. Berlin: Maximilian Society. 300 copies. 86. James Fenimore Cooper (19 IO) Lederstrumpf-Geschichten. German translation. 150 lithographs by Max Slevogt. Berlin: Pan-Presse. 310 copies. 87. Ferdinand Cortez (1918). Die Eroberung Mexikos. German translation. 112 lithographs by Max Slevogt. Berlin. 270 copies. 88. Die Inseln Wak Wak (192 1). Eine Erzahlung aus 1001 Nacht. German translation. Lithographs by Max Slevogt. Berlin. 415 copies. 89. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1927). Faust, 2. Teil. 510 lithographs and 11 etchings by Max Xlevogs. Berlin : Pan-Presse. 300 copies. 90. Das Hohe Lied (1911). German translation. 26 lithographs by Louis Corinth. Berlin: Pan-Presse. 250 copies on hand-made paper and 60 copies on Japan-paper. 9 1. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1920). Geschichte Gottfrieds von Berlichingen. 27 etchings by Louis Corinth. Berlin: Officina Serpentis. 125 copies. 92. Friedrich Schiller (1923). Die Rtiuber. 12 lithographs by Louis Corinth. Dresden. 280 copies. 93. Jonathan Swift (1922). Gullivers Reise ins Land der Riesen. German translation. 25 lithographs by Louis Corinth. Berlin. 320 copies. 94. Heinrich von Kleist (1917). Kleine Schrzften. 54 lithographs by Max Liebermann. Berlin. 270 copies. 95. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1924). Gedichte. Lrthographs by Max Liebermann. Berlin. 100 copies. 96. Thecdor Fontane (1926). E$ Briest. Designed by Marcus Behmer. Lithographs by Max Liebermann. Berlin : Maximilian Society. 325 copies. 96a.Handbinding to Fontane, E$ Briest. Designed by Marcus Behmer. 97. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1923). Walpurgzsnacht. 20 woodcuts by Ernst Barlach. Berlin. 120 copies. 98. Georg Heym (1924). Umbra vitae. Nachgelassene Gedichte. 47 woodcuts by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Miinchen. 500 copres. 99. Oskar Kokoschka (1908). Die traumenden Knaben. Coloured lithographs by Kokoschka. Wien. 275 copies. 100. Charles de Coster (1926). Ulenspiegel. 150 woodcuts by Frans Masereel. Miinchen. 1500 copies. 101. Alphonse Daudet (1921). Die Abenteuer des Herrn Tartarin aus Tarascon. German translation. Illustrations by George Grosz. Berlin. 100 copies. 102. Rudolf Erich Raspe (1966). Des Freiherrn von Miinchhausen wunderbare
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Reisen und Abenteuer zu Wasser und zu Lande. Illustrations by Alfred Kubin. Mtinchen. 103. Sappho (1921). Gedichte. Printedin Greek. Letters etched by E. R. WeiJ. Etchings by Renb Sintenis. Miinchen. 185 copies. 104. Handbinding by Ignatz Wiemeler (Hamburg) to Longus, Daphnis und Chloe (1935). Woodcuts by ReneeSintenis. Hamburg. 230 copies.
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105. John Wolfgang Goethe (1957). Faust. Der Tragodie, 2. Teil. 35 illustrations by Max Beckmann. Hamburg : Maximilian Society. 850 copies. 106. Oskar Kokoschka (1952). A nn E&a Reed. 10 lithographs by Oskar Kokoschka. Hamburg : Maximilian Society. 660 copies. 107. William Shakespeare (1946-7). The Tempest. 33 illustrations by Willy Baumeister. Stuttgart und Calw. 500 copies. 108. Canticum Canticorum. German translation. 30 lithographs by Gerhart Kraaz. Frankfurt am Main : Ars Libri. 325 copies. 109. Sophocles (1967). Antigone. German translation. 10 etchings by Eduard Bargheer. Frankfurt am Main : Ars Libri. 200 copies. 110. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1958). D as Romische Carneval. 8 coloured etchings by Rudolf Kiigler. Hamburg: Maximilian Society. 1000 copies. 111. Aristophanes (1965). Die Vogel. German translation. 37 woodcuts by Imre Reiner. Hamburg: Maximilian Society. 1500 copies. 112. Handbinding by Kurt Londenberg (Hamburg) to Aristophanes, Die Friische. Grillen-Presse. 113. Handbinding by Heilgart Umfried (Stuttgart) to Shakespeare, Troilus und Cressida. Maximilian Society. 114. Pablo Neruda (1965). Die Hiihen von Machu Picchu. German translation. Eight coloured woodcuts by H. A. P. Grieshaber. Hamburg. 500 copies. 115. Der Totentanz uon Base1 (1966). Coloured woodcuts by H. A. P. Grieshaber. Dresden. 116. Homer (1963). Fiinf Gesangeder Odyssee. German translation. 5 1 woodcuts by Gerhard Marcks. Hamburg. 300 copies. 117. Philipp Otto Runge (1955). Von dem Fischer un syner Fru. 11 woodcuts by Gerhard Marcks. Hamburg : Grillen-Presse. 180 copies. Woodcuts by Gerhard 117a.Aesop (1956). T ierf a be1n. German translation. Marcks. Hamburg : Grillen-Presse. 118. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1963). Faust. Der Tragiidie, 2. Teil. 66 illustrations byJoseph Hegenbarth. Leipzig. 119. Bertolt Brecht (196 1). Songs aus der Dreigroschenoper. 2 1 woodcuts by KarlHeinz Hansen-Bahia. Hamburg. 750 copies. 120. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1964). Briefe aus Venedig. 28 copper engravings by Otto Rohse. Hamburg: Otto-Rohse-Presse. 300 copies. 121. Walther von der Vogelweide (1966). Minnelieder. 20 woodcuts by Peer Wolfram. Wiesbaden. 80 copies.
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122. Thomas Murner (1968). Der Schelmen
PUBLICATIONS
ABOUT
GERMAN
BOOKART
125. Hans Loubier (1921). Die neue deutscheBuchkunst. Stuttgart. 126. Georg Kurt Schauer (1963). Deutsche Buchkunst 1890 bis 1960. 2 Bde. Hamburg. 127. Wolfgang Tiessen ( 1968). Die Buchillustration in Deutschland, asterreich under der Schweis seit 1945.2 Bde. Neu-Isenburg. LOCATION Liverpool City Libraries : Stadtbibliothek Hannover :
Klingspor Museum Offenbach : Dr Eyssen, Hannover :
Dr Hauswedell, Hamburg :
LIST
3,4,5, 71 1,2,6,7,9,16,19,24,25,41,42,49,68-70, 72, 74, 102, 108, 109, 114-118, 121, 123, 125-127 8, 18, 21, 35, 43, 47, 66, 78-81, 85, 88, 95, 96,98,106, 107 lo-15,20,22, 23, 28, 31, 33, 34, 36-40,44, 46,48, 50, 53-59,61,62, 64, 65, 73, 76, 77, 84,86,87,89,91,92,94, 100, 103, 105, 110, 111,113 17,26,27, 29, 30, 32,45, 51,60,63, 75, 82, 83, 90, 93, 97, 99, 101, 104, 112, 119, 120, 122
German Fine Printing in the 20th Century J. EYSSENT
Speaking of beautiful books on these pages may sound anachronistic to many ears, at a time when it is generally preferred to judge the importance of a book only by the standard of its efficiency value. It cannot be disputed that a poem by Goethe remains exactly the same, irrespective of its being printed by a cheap rotation process or on an expensive hand-made paper, while equally, the writings of a third-rate novelist cannot be preserved for eternity by producing them in a particularly fine print. On the other hand, the poem by Goethe may claim to be reproduced in a form worthy of, and corresponding to, its contents and meaning. The apologists of the “useful” book may be interested by the following true story of our days, which happened in the course of the siege of Jerusalem by the Arabs during the first Israeli war of independence. In those days Samuel Agnon, who laid the foundation-stone of the new Hebrew literature and was to be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1966, completed his sixtieth year. While Jerusalem was still under enemy fire, the Knesset decided to honour Agnon by having his work written on choice vellum by a Thora scribe, and bound by hand by an artist. In Germany, the art of the book of our century began about 1900 as an intellectual revolution under the banner of the “Jugendstil” (or Art Nouveau). One must have held, in one’s own hands, products stemming from the printing presses during the so-called “Founders’ Period”, i.e. the last two or three decades of the nineteenth century, in order to see for oneself how low the quality of handicraft in general, and the printing trade in particular, had gone during the period of industrialization-the quality of a trade of which Luther once had proudly said : “The printing of books is summum et postremum Dei donum, the highest and utmost favour and veneration of God, by which He promotes the sake of the Evangelists : It is the last flame before the extinction of the world.” Taking up their task with equally holy earnest, and possessed by an ardent zeal, the creators of the new art of the book in Germany went to t Director, Stadtbibliothek,
Hannover, West Germany
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work. Their immediate aims were rather limited. Books were to be printed on hand-made paper which were to represent, in printing and binding, the unity of a work of art, harmonizing with the contents. Sworn to the art offine printing, a generation oftype designers and typographers, full of new ideas, started developing new printing types in the spirit of the 20th century, partly going back to specimens of older times. A manifesto of the “Steglitzer Werkstatt” (a printing workshop at Berlin-Steglitz) says : “By presenting these simple, unpretentious products, it is endeavoured to create a beneficent contrast to everything strutting about as ‘en vague’ at present . . .” One must not forget to mention in this connection the influence of the English printing workshops and hand-presses upon the young German art of the book. In the first books published after the turn of the century, in particular in the creations of Melchior Lechter, who belonged to the circle of friends round Stefan George, the influence of William Morris is strongly to be seen. The earlier illustrators were visibly inspired by the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley. Gradually, the “pure typography”, without all ornamental accessories, began to prevail, following the example set by Cobden-Sanderson and his Doves Press. This new beginning in German book art is closely linked to the names of F. H. Ehmcke, Walter Tiemann, Peter Behrens, E. R. Weiss, or Rudolf Koch, and others. Efficient printing-presses, like the houses of Drugulin at Leipzig or Carl Ernst Poeschel, the primus inter pares of the German printers of those years, put themselves at the service of those men. Their intentions, however, could not have been realized, if by a happy coincidence, a number of important publishers had not proved equally enthusiastic about the idea of German book art. In this field, the names of Eugen Diederichs, Anton Kippenberg, publisher of the “Insel”, and Hans von Weber merit particular mention. F. H. Ehmcke, for instance, designed the uniform, unmistakable face of the great serial publications der Weltliteratur” (fairy tales of of Eugen Diedrichs the “Marchen world literature) and the Y3ammlung Thule” (a collection of Nordic literature), while Walter Tiemann and E. R. W7eiss, among others, were responsible for the fine pocket-size Ynsel” editions on India paper. Hans von Weber was the creator of the so-called “Drucke fur die Hundert” of which only one hundred copies were printed for a smail circle of subscribers. Important works of German literature were given a typographical form corresponding to the contents, and period of origin, of the respective single title. While going back, for a collection of songs from the sixteenth century, to a typeface by Egenolff ( 1502-55)) which this famous FranMurt printer had used in his time for the first edition of the same work, Hans von
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Weber chose for “Tod in Venedig” (“Death in Venice”), a fluid cursive type by Carl Ernst Poeschel, whose elegance adapts itself with ease to the carefully stylized periods of Thomas Mann. The “Hundertdrucke”, sewn only loosely, were supplied in a cardboard cover, in order not to deprive the subscribers of the pleasure of selecting an individual binding according to their personal tastes. Incidentally, Hans von Weber had found his way to the profession of publishing by pure chance. In a Munich cafe he had been shown, by a then still unknown artist introducing himself as Alfred Kubin, a portfolio of drawings which so enraptured the banking clerk that he decided to try and have them published. Weber was one of the embittered opponents of the so-called private presses. Following the model of William Morris’ Kelmscott Press, and Cobden-Sanderson’s Doves Press, a considerable number of these presses had been established in Germany; prominent among them were the Janus Press of C. E. Poeschel, the Ernst Ludwig Press of the brothers Kleukens at Darmstadt, and F. H. Ehmcke’s Rupprecht Press in Munich. “In fact,” thus Weber stormed against the opinion that only a sworn workshop community, following Gutenberg’s old artisan’s traditions in monastic seclusion, could come close to the ideal of the perfect book, “in fact a sheet well printed on a printing machine cannot only bear comparison with the best handpress printing, but it is at least equal in quality, if not even superior in the uniformity of colouring . . . Clinging to old traditions only prevents progress, or excludes it . . . This would look nowadays-100 years after the invention of matchesas if you would try and strike fire with the aid of steel, stone, and sponge.” In this case the impulsive publisher certainly overstepped the mark, for it had been two of these handpresses, so heartily decried by him, which produced publications that found international acclaim. The Bremer Press was founded in 1911. Two sons of old patrician families, Ludwig Wolde and Willy Wiegand, devised the plan to re-publish the essential works of world literature in their original languages and in exemplary editions as de-luxe prints for bibliophiles. “Such work, limited by its nature to a very small circle, may seem barren to many people” it reads in the initial manifesto of the Bremer Press. “One thing, however, is certain:-even nowadays no trade that does not surrender to its own decline can do without the individual who puts this powers to the service of an exemplary achievement, obeying the traditional regulations and requirements of his art, and contrary to the standards of quantity elsewhere dominating the things that are demanded and produced.” Subsequent to the thorough study ofold incunabula, Wiegand resolved on developing, as the first type-face of the press, a medium-size Roman type following the model of letters cut by the two early printers Adolf
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Rusch of Strasbourg and Johann Speyer of Venice. This type, cut by Louis Hoell, stressed the horizontal and, thereby, the fluency of the lines; it closed up well to organized blocks of text, which always remained easily readable. Special care was taken of the correct “spacing”, i.e. the equal distribution of intervals between words along the printed line. Later a newly designed Greek type and a characteristic Gothic type were added to the stock, the latter to be used for Martin Luther’s German bible in four volumes. For all sets of type the important type designer Anna Simons drew beautiful, and varying, initial letters, respectively adapted to the character of the work in question. The finished sheets, the product of years of careful work, were then bound by hand, by the master binder Frieda Thiersch, into precious volumes in fine morocco or faultless vellum. Thus each of these works produced a threefold harmony of paper (a strong paper, especially hand-made for this press in the Netherlands), of printing, and binding which soon claimed the applause and delight of the international world of book collectors. The intellectual and literary programme of the Bremer Press must be called truly universal. Beginning with the classical authors of antiquity, Homer, Aischylos, Tacitus, Tibullus, its range encompasses Augustinus and medieval literature (Dante, Walther von der Vogelweide, the German “Mystics”), the Renaissance writers (Bacon, Shakespeare) and authors of modern times. Here the “Pensees” by Pascal, the “Iphigenie” by Goethe, and Kant’s “Metaphysik der Sitten” are to be found as well as Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Der Turm”. Up to the economic crisis of the thirties, which put an end to the work of the Bremer Press and left the remainders of the editions, normally limited to 270 copies, to be sold as cheap “bargains”, the workshop located in a log-house in the Schwabing quarter of Munich had published about 50 titles-books, which now rank among the incunabula of book art of our century and for which high prices are paid at auction sales. Only the Cranach Press of Harry Graf Kessler can contend with the Bremer Press in importance. As a politician, this diplomat of high culture, son of a Hanseatic family, was one of the advocates of a united Europe; moreover, patronizing the fine arts as an amateur and promoter, he felt his obligation towards the cultural traditions of the West. He therefore initiated the plan to found a new hand-press in a European sense, i.e. the most prominent artists from all over Europe were expected to cooperate here in the production of prints. In Mardersteig’s garden house at Weimar, “in whose friendly working rooms there was an atmosphere of conventual seclusion apparently well suited to the project in their minds which looked rather untimely at first sight”-these are the words of R. A. Schroder-Kessler gathered a team of artists of international
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renown. The Englishmen, Emery Walker and Edward Johnson, designed the printing types. Their countrymen, Edward Prince and G. T. Friend, did the cutting of the punches. In the persons of Aristide Maillol, the gifted sculptor, whom Kessler succeeded in interesting in wood cutting, and of the Englishman Gordon Craig, Kessler found two congenial illustrators. Contrary to the founders of the Bremer Press, it was Kessler’s intention to make illustrated books-works of timeless rank, printed on a special paper hand-made out of silk and linen, the so-called “Seidenbutten”, joining words and pictures in an artistically convincing unity. Two particular works constitute the fame of the Cranach Press : these are Vergil’s “Eclogues”, in Latin and German (translated congenially by R. A. Schroder), with wood-cuts by Maillol, and “Hamlet” in Gerhart Hauptmann’s enlarged and rather self-willed translation, with figures in wood-cuts by Craig-a delicate typographical task, by the way, to place these illustrations into the text of Shakespeare’s sources, and to compose these elements, three types of text plus illustrations, so as to form the complex unit of a double-spread. The sumptuous bindings in red or black cheveril (kid leather) were designed and hand-made by Otto Dorfner, the doyen of German bookbinders and professor at the Weimar school of applied arts. More beautiful books have never been printed in Germany, and it is the unanimous opinion of all critics that the Vergil is the perfect book par excellence of our century so far, owing to the harmony between the noble Jenson Roman type and Maillol’s bucolic wood-cuts, radiating the same classical serenity as the verses of Vergil, and coming very close, in the simple flux of their lines without intersection, to the ideal of a cclinear” illustration, i.e. a type ofillustration conforming as far as feasible to the rules and laws of the printed word. The preparation of such works, however, took years. The Hanover Stadtbibliothek (Public Library) possessesdrafts and first designs, out of Kessler’s private collection, of the “Eclogues” and of “Hamlet”, which help to show how the work progressed step by step. Unfortunately Kessler could realize relatively little of his far-reaching publishing programme, among other works an edition of Rilke in four volumes, which Anton Kippenberg ordered in 1930 as a posthumous homage to the late friend and poet. 200 copies of this edition were printed, while the two works already quoted were published in limited editions of 275 copies each. The Nazis forced Kessler into exile. It is a pity, however, and probably the only point where Kessler and Hans von Weber may be blamed, that both these patrons offine printing never thought about taking German contemporary art into their service. While in France painters like Bonnard, Chagall, Dali, Dufy, Ernst,
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Picasso were creating the famous French “livre de peintre”, the German expressionist painters were left practically without any orders for books. It is beyond imagination what sort of books could have been made, if Weber, for instance, who lived in Munich, had invited the members of the “Blauer Reiter”, Kandinsky, Marc, or Klee, to co-operate in making his ‘cDreiangeldrucke”, instead of preferring, as he did, artists of the second or third rank only! However beautiful some of the book creations of the German impressionist painters were-take, for example, the wonderful series of illustrations by Slevogt of Cooper’s “Leatherstocking” or ofGoethe’s “Faust II”, Liebermann’s inspired lithographs for Fontane’s “Effi Briest”, or Corinth’s dark visions of Schiller’s plays “Die Rauber” and “Wallenstein”-this is but meagre compensation for that omission. Mostly ordered by clever art dealers, these illustrations were added only too often to type set rather carelessly or quickly, or they were reproduced in such enormous size (like Slevogt’s “Faust II”) that the result was a portfolio plus added text instead of a book designed to be read. Fontane’s “‘Effi Briest”; however, must be exempted from this reproach. It was published by the Maximilian-Gesellschaft, the leading German association of bibliophiles, who put this task into the hands of Marcus Behmer, an excellent artist and designer. The delicate and slender Gothic type which he had chosen for the text is in perfect harmony with the lithographs in crayon and pen done by the old Liebermann, and with the binding designed by Behmer, with its fine network of gold filigree-thus creating once more the conditions for a “perfect” book whose outer appearance ideally corresponded to the inner value of Fontane’s prose. Today we are still feasting on the memories of that great period of German book art. In addition a number of private presses newly founded after the Second World War, Gottfried de Beauclair’s Trajanus Press, or Richard von Sichowsky’s Grillen Press, have carried on the tradition of the art of the book. Important artists like Gerhard Marcks or Imre Reiner were given orders for illustrations. The Maximilian-Gesellschaft, too, reestablished itsel4 giving up its former exclusivity in order to winmore booklovers for the ideaofbibliophile book collecting. The positive effects of these efforts regarding the level of book design cannot be overestimated ! When nowadays, year by year, on the occasion of the Frankfurt International Book Fair, the Bijrsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (i.e. the professional association of the German book trade) marks fifty books out of the production of the preceding year as the most beautiful ones, this fact is significant of the high standard of quality of German book production; at the same time, it is a visible token of gratitude by the members of a trade and craft towards the men whose work was sketched on these pages.
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PRINTINGIN (IN
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THE ZOTH CENTURY
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AND
ENGLAND)
1. Franz Kugler (1840). Geschichte Friedrich des GroJen. Woodcuts by Adolf von Menzel. Leipzig. 2. Apuleius (1881). Amor und Psyche. German translation. 46 etchings by Max Klinger. Miinchen. 3. Geoffrey Chaucer (1896). The Works. Titles and initials by William Morris. Pictures by Edward Burne-Jones. Hammersmith: Kelmscctt Press. 425 copies on hand-made paper, 13 copies on vellum. 4. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1912). Iphigenie auf Tauris. Printed by 7. S. Cobden-Sanderson. Hammersmith : Doves Press. 200 copies on hand-made paper, 20 copies on vellum, 20 copies on vellum with golden initials. 5. Oscar Wilde (1894). Salome. Illustrated by Aubrey Beard&y. London and Boston. 600 copies. THE
BEGINNINGS
OF GERMAN
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ARTABOUT
1900
6. Maurice Maeterlinck (1898). Der Schatz der Armen. German translation. Typography by Melchior Lechter. Florenz and Leipzig. 7. Maximin (1907). Ein Gedenkbuch. Edited by Stefan George, decoration by Melchior Lechter. Berlin. 200 copies, 1 copy on vellum. 8. Friedrich Wolters (1909). Herrschaft und Dienst. Typography by Melchior Lechter. Berlin : Einhorn-Presse. 500 copies, 10 on vellum. 9. Melchior Lechter (1927). Das Mitrchen vom Sinn. Designed and written by the author. Berlin : Einhorn-Presse. 10. Thomas von Kempen (1914-22). Die vier Biicher von der Nachfolge Christi. German translation. Typography by Melchior Lechter. Berlin, 1000 copies, 5 on vellum. 11. Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1900). Der Kaiser und die Hexe. Illustrated by Heinrich Vogeler- Worpswede. Berlin. 200 ccpies. 12. Friedrich Nietzsche (1908). Also sprach xarathustra. Designed by Henry van de Velde. Leipzig. 500 copies, 30 on vellum. 13. Friedrich Nietzsche (1914). Dionysos Dithyramben. Designed by Heqy van de Velde. Leipzig. 130 copies on hand-made paper, 20 copies on vellum. 14. Oscar Wilde (1901). Salome. German translation. Pictured by Marcus Behmer. Leipzig. 15. Voltaire (1912).
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19. Hafis (19 12). Persische Gedichte. German translation. Illustrated by 8’. H. Ernst Schneidler. Jena. Private copy of the artist. 20. Handbinding by Wiener Werkstiitten to Grillljar
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35. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1910). Torpuato Taso. Titles and initials by Walter Tiemann. Leipzig: Janus-Presse. 150 copies. 36. Adalbert von Chamisso (1923). Peter Schlemihl Schicksale. Titles and initials by Walter Tiemann. Leipzig: Janus-Presse. 335 copies. 37. Das Hohe Lied von Salomo (1909). German translation. Titles and initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt : Ernst-Ludwig-Presse. 300 copies. 38. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1922-24). Faust. Der Tragiidie, 1. Teil. Initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt : Ernst-Ludwig-Presse. 100 copies. 39. Handbinding by M. Grad1 to Goethe. Urfaust: Ernst-Ludwig-Presse. 40. William Shakespeare (1925-31). Works. Titles and initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt. 250 copies. 41. Thukydides (1920). Rede des Periklesfiir die Gefallenen. German translation.
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FrankfLwt: Kleukens-Presse. 225 copies, 25 on vellum. 42. William Shakespeare (1923). Ein Sommernachtstraum. German translation. Frankfurt : Kleukens-Presse. 250 copies. 43. Handbinding by Frieda Schoy (Essen) to Runge, Vom Fischer und syne Fru. Kleukens-Presse. 44. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1929). Torquato Tasso. Titles and initials by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt : Ratio-Presse. 105 copies. 45. Willem Schrijder (192 1). Dat Wettlopen twrschen dem Swinegel und dem Hasen. Coloured pictures by F. W. Kleukens. Darmstadt: Ratio-Presse. 200 copies. 46. Johann Heinrich Voss (1918). Luise. Printed by F. H. Ehmcke. Miinthen: Rupprecht-Presse. 200 copies. 47. Leopold von Ranke (1911). Savonarola und die Jorentinische Republik. Initials by Anna Simons. Miinchen: Rupprecht-Presse. 100 copies. 48. Baruch de Spinoza (1920). Ethica. Printed by F. H. Ehmcke, Miinchen: Rupprecht-Presse. 150 copies. 49. Friedrich der Grosse (1922). L’Antimachiavel. Printed by F. H. Ehmcke. Miinchen. 130 copies. 50. Handbinding by W. Gerlach (Berlin) to Tieck, Der gestiefelte Kater (1928). Miinchen: Rupprecht-Presse. 150 copies. 51. Handbinding by Carl Sonntag (Leipzig) to Walther von der Vogelweide, Lieder ( 19 10). Mtinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 ccpies. 52. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1910). Der West ijstliche Divan. Miinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 53. Novalis ( 19 10). Hymnen an die Yacht. Mtinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 54. Thomas Mann (1912). Der Tad in Venedig. Mtinchen : Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 55. Christian Reuter (1913). Schelmuffsky. Woodcuts by Max &old. Miinthen: Drucke fur die Hundert. 100 copies. 56. Handbinding by W. Gerlach (Berlin) to Goethe, Epigramme (1928). Venedig 1790. Miinchen : Drucke fiir die Hundert. 100 copies. 57. Handbinding by Gotthilf Kur< (Miinchen) to He&e, Buch der Lieder. Drucke fur die Hundert. 58. Handbinding by G. Hampe (Hannover) to Goethe, Egmont (1925). Munthen : Drucke fiir die Hundert. 100 copies. 59. Handbinding by Otto Dorfner (Weimar) to Ha@, Die Karawane. Dreiangeldruck. 60. Die Johanneischen Schriften ( 19 19). German translation by Martin Luther. With coloured initials and decorative borders by A. Schoflpmeyer. Berlin : Officina Serpentis. 62 copies, 6 on vellum. 61. Handbinding by F. Weisse (Hamburg) to Platon, Phaidon. Hamburger Presse. 62. Tacitus (1914). Germania. Latin and German. Titles and initials by Anna Simons. Bremen : Bremer Presse. 250 copies, 15 on vellum.
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63. Handbinding by Frieda i’hiersch to Heinrich von Kleist, Robert Guiskard ( 19 19). Bad Tijlz : Bremer Presse. 2 79 copies, 15 on vellum. 64. Emanuel Kant (1925). Grundlegung tur Metaphysik der Sitten. Miinchen: Bremer Presse. 285 copies. 65. HandbindingbyFrieda Thiersch toChan.sonsd’Amour (1925). Bremer Presse. 250 copies. 66. Handbinding by K. Hacker (Leipzig) to Goethe, Iphigenia auf Tauris. Bremer Presse. 67. Handbinding by Frieda Schulte-Vogelheim to Hiilderlin, Elegien. Bremer Presse. 68. Dante Alighieri (1921). La Divina Comedia. Titles and initials by Anna Simons. Miinchen. 300 copies. 69. Biblia (1926-28). German translation by Martin Luther. Titles and initials by Anna Simons. Miinchen. 365 copies. 70. Andreas Vesalius (1934). Humani corljoris fabrica. 265 woodcuts from the original blocks. Munchen : Bremer Presse. 6 15 copies. 7 1. Publius Vergilius Maro (1926). Eclogen. Latin-English edition. Woodcuts by Aristide Maillol. Titles and initials by Eric Gill. Weimar: CranachPresse. 250 copies. 72. Trial-print of the same book. Latin-German edition. The copy belonged to the private collection of Harry Graf Kessler. 73. William Shakespeare (1929). Hamlet. German translation by Gerhart Hauptmann, to which is added the texts of Saxo Grammatrcus and the History of Hamlet. Woodcuts by Edwin Gordon Craig. Titles and initials by Eric Gill. Weimar: Cranach-Presse. 230 copies, 8 on vellum, 17 on Japan-paper. 74. Trial-print of the same edition. 75. Rainer Maria Rilke (1931). Duineser Elegien. English-German edition. Initials by Eric Gill. Weimar und London: Cranach-Presse. 230 copies, 8 copies on vellum. 76. Rainer Maria Rilke (1930-34). Gedichte. 4 volumes. Leipzig. 200 copies, 5 on vellum. Woodcuts and 77. Das Hohe Lied Salomonis (1931). G erman translation. initials by Eric Gill. Weimar: Cranach-Presse. 100 copies, 8 on vellum. 78. Esaias Tegner (1913). Die Frithjofs-Sage. German translation. Typography by Rudolf Koch. Offenbach: Rudolfinische Drucke. 300 copies. and 79. Das Evangelium des Markus (1923). G erman translation. Typography hand-coloured initials by Rudolf Koch. Offenbach : Rudolfinische Drucke. 150 copies. 80. Das Blumenbuch (1929-30). Designed by Rudolf Koch. Woodcuts by Frztz Kredel. Hand-coloured by Emil Wollner. Mainz: Mainzer Presse. 1000 copies. 81. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1934). Harzreise im Winter. Written by Rudo S'emann. Handbinding by Eva Aschoff.
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82. Georg Biichner (1910). Leonce und Lena. Lithographs by Karl Walser. Berlin. 250 copies. 83. Vivant Denon (1911). Eine einzige 3Vacht. German translation. Copperengravings by Karl Walser. Berlin. 84. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1924). Gedichte. Lithographs by Hans Meid. Berlin. 100 copies. 85. Friedrich von Schiller (19 18). Wallenstein. 60 Lithographs by Hans Meid. Berlin: Maximilian Society. 300 copies. 86. James Fenimore Cooper (19 IO) Lederstrumpf-Geschichten. German translation. 150 lithographs by Max Slevogt. Berlin: Pan-Presse. 310 copies. 87. Ferdinand Cortez (1918). Die Eroberung Mexikos. German translation. 112 lithographs by Max Slevogt. Berlin. 270 copies. 88. Die Inseln Wak Wak (192 1). Eine Erzahlung aus 1001 Nacht. German translation. Lithographs by Max Slevogt. Berlin. 415 copies. 89. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1927). Faust, 2. Teil. 510 lithographs and 11 etchings by Max Xlevogs. Berlin : Pan-Presse. 300 copies. 90. Das Hohe Lied (1911). German translation. 26 lithographs by Louis Corinth. Berlin: Pan-Presse. 250 copies on hand-made paper and 60 copies on Japan-paper. 9 1. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1920). Geschichte Gottfrieds von Berlichingen. 27 etchings by Louis Corinth. Berlin: Officina Serpentis. 125 copies. 92. Friedrich Schiller (1923). Die Rtiuber. 12 lithographs by Louis Corinth. Dresden. 280 copies. 93. Jonathan Swift (1922). Gullivers Reise ins Land der Riesen. German translation. 25 lithographs by Louis Corinth. Berlin. 320 copies. 94. Heinrich von Kleist (1917). Kleine Schrzften. 54 lithographs by Max Liebermann. Berlin. 270 copies. 95. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1924). Gedichte. Lrthographs by Max Liebermann. Berlin. 100 copies. 96. Thecdor Fontane (1926). E$ Briest. Designed by Marcus Behmer. Lithographs by Max Liebermann. Berlin : Maximilian Society. 325 copies. 96a.Handbinding to Fontane, E$ Briest. Designed by Marcus Behmer. 97. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1923). Walpurgzsnacht. 20 woodcuts by Ernst Barlach. Berlin. 120 copies. 98. Georg Heym (1924). Umbra vitae. Nachgelassene Gedichte. 47 woodcuts by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Miinchen. 500 copres. 99. Oskar Kokoschka (1908). Die traumenden Knaben. Coloured lithographs by Kokoschka. Wien. 275 copies. 100. Charles de Coster (1926). Ulenspiegel. 150 woodcuts by Frans Masereel. Miinchen. 1500 copies. 101. Alphonse Daudet (1921). Die Abenteuer des Herrn Tartarin aus Tarascon. German translation. Illustrations by George Grosz. Berlin. 100 copies. 102. Rudolf Erich Raspe (1966). Des Freiherrn von Miinchhausen wunderbare
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Reisen und Abenteuer zu Wasser und zu Lande. Illustrations by Alfred Kubin. Mtinchen. 103. Sappho (1921). Gedichte. Printedin Greek. Letters etched by E. R. WeiJ. Etchings by Renb Sintenis. Miinchen. 185 copies. 104. Handbinding by Ignatz Wiemeler (Hamburg) to Longus, Daphnis und Chloe (1935). Woodcuts by ReneeSintenis. Hamburg. 230 copies.
GERMAN
BOOK ART
OF TODAY
105. John Wolfgang Goethe (1957). Faust. Der Tragodie, 2. Teil. 35 illustrations by Max Beckmann. Hamburg : Maximilian Society. 850 copies. 106. Oskar Kokoschka (1952). A nn E&a Reed. 10 lithographs by Oskar Kokoschka. Hamburg : Maximilian Society. 660 copies. 107. William Shakespeare (1946-7). The Tempest. 33 illustrations by Willy Baumeister. Stuttgart und Calw. 500 copies. 108. Canticum Canticorum. German translation. 30 lithographs by Gerhart Kraaz. Frankfurt am Main : Ars Libri. 325 copies. 109. Sophocles (1967). Antigone. German translation. 10 etchings by Eduard Bargheer. Frankfurt am Main : Ars Libri. 200 copies. 110. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1958). D as Romische Carneval. 8 coloured etchings by Rudolf Kiigler. Hamburg: Maximilian Society. 1000 copies. 111. Aristophanes (1965). Die Vogel. German translation. 37 woodcuts by Imre Reiner. Hamburg: Maximilian Society. 1500 copies. 112. Handbinding by Kurt Londenberg (Hamburg) to Aristophanes, Die Friische. Grillen-Presse. 113. Handbinding by Heilgart Umfried (Stuttgart) to Shakespeare, Troilus und Cressida. Maximilian Society. 114. Pablo Neruda (1965). Die Hiihen von Machu Picchu. German translation. Eight coloured woodcuts by H. A. P. Grieshaber. Hamburg. 500 copies. 115. Der Totentanz uon Base1 (1966). Coloured woodcuts by H. A. P. Grieshaber. Dresden. 116. Homer (1963). Fiinf Gesangeder Odyssee. German translation. 5 1 woodcuts by Gerhard Marcks. Hamburg. 300 copies. 117. Philipp Otto Runge (1955). Von dem Fischer un syner Fru. 11 woodcuts by Gerhard Marcks. Hamburg : Grillen-Presse. 180 copies. Woodcuts by Gerhard 117a.Aesop (1956). T ierf a be1n. German translation. Marcks. Hamburg : Grillen-Presse. 118. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1963). Faust. Der Tragiidie, 2. Teil. 66 illustrations byJoseph Hegenbarth. Leipzig. 119. Bertolt Brecht (196 1). Songs aus der Dreigroschenoper. 2 1 woodcuts by KarlHeinz Hansen-Bahia. Hamburg. 750 copies. 120. Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1964). Briefe aus Venedig. 28 copper engravings by Otto Rohse. Hamburg: Otto-Rohse-Presse. 300 copies. 121. Walther von der Vogelweide (1966). Minnelieder. 20 woodcuts by Peer Wolfram. Wiesbaden. 80 copies.
GERMAN FINE PRINTINGIN
THE 20THCENTURY
153
122. Thomas Murner (1968). Der Schelmen
PUBLICATIONS
ABOUT
GERMAN
BOOKART
125. Hans Loubier (1921). Die neue deutscheBuchkunst. Stuttgart. 126. Georg Kurt Schauer (1963). Deutsche Buchkunst 1890 bis 1960. 2 Bde. Hamburg. 127. Wolfgang Tiessen ( 1968). Die Buchillustration in Deutschland, asterreich under der Schweis seit 1945.2 Bde. Neu-Isenburg. LOCATION Liverpool City Libraries : Stadtbibliothek Hannover :
Klingspor Museum Offenbach : Dr Eyssen, Hannover :
Dr Hauswedell, Hamburg :
LIST
3,4,5, 71 1,2,6,7,9,16,19,24,25,41,42,49,68-70, 72, 74, 102, 108, 109, 114-118, 121, 123, 125-127 8, 18, 21, 35, 43, 47, 66, 78-81, 85, 88, 95, 96,98,106, 107 lo-15,20,22, 23, 28, 31, 33, 34, 36-40,44, 46,48, 50, 53-59,61,62, 64, 65, 73, 76, 77, 84,86,87,89,91,92,94, 100, 103, 105, 110, 111,113 17,26,27, 29, 30, 32,45, 51,60,63, 75, 82, 83, 90, 93, 97, 99, 101, 104, 112, 119, 120, 122