for the Vale Press. These bindings have hardly received the attention
they deserve, and the style has not spread to any extent, possibly
because Mr. Ricketts’ refinement and delicacy in the use of fine
lines are not easy to acquire. These bindings have an architectural
quality that places them in a class by themselves. Mr. Cobden-Sanderson
and Mr. Ricketts, in their entirely different styles, have shown
that gold-tooling may be extremely beautiful as decoration without
overstepping the traditional limits of the craft, and in the case of
the most successful bindings now being produced these traditional
limits have been recognised. Gold-tooling is by its nature a limited
means of expression, though exactly where the limits lie must be a
matter of feeling and taste rather than of knowledge. Certainly in some
of the elaborate bindings now being produced the limits of the craft
have been passed, and while serving to show amazing dexterity on the
part of the finisher, these bindings are less successful artistically
than many that are less ambitious in technique.
There is no clearly marked school of blind-tooling at present, though
here and there the method has been used with success. Mr. William
Morris designed a notable binding in white pigskin for the Kelmscott
“Chaucer.” Many copies were so bound at the Doves Bindery, but most of
the attempts that have been made to carry out work in the same style
have been comparatively unsuccessful.
There have been a good many efforts made to revive modelled
leather-work as a means of decorating books, but although this method
is capable of producing very fine results, most of the binding in
modelled leather shown in recent exhibitions cannot be said to be
successful. Any work that has to be done on the leather before the book
is bound is almost doomed to failure, because leather which is modelled
before binding cannot be handled by the binder with the freedom that is
necessary if he is to make a workmanlike job of the covering. It is,
however, possible to put quite sufficient relief in modelled leather
after a book is bound, if the leather be reasonably thick; indeed high
relief for most books is objectionable.
Many of the old bindings had fine metal mounts and clasps. If clasps
are used on modern books, as a rule they should be flush with the
sides, so as not to scratch their neighbours when taken in and out of
shelves. Raised clasps and bosses are only suitable for books that are
expected to stand permanently on a lectern.
In criticising decorated bindings there is a danger of falling into the
common error of generalising from isolated instances. You cannot put
too much ornament on a thing as small as a bookcover if
the ornament is good enough. A book well bound in beautiful leather may
be perfectly satisfactory and beautiful by virtue of good workmanship,
fine material and colour. A binding covered with fine gold-tooling
may be just as restful and far more beautiful, but while there is
comparatively little scope for failure in the plain binding, there
are appalling pitfalls if the cover be lavishly decorated. There are,
of course, all sorts of degrees of decoration between an absolutely
plain binding and one covered entirely with gold, but there are some
qualities common to most successful tooled ornament.
There are few bindings that are quite successful unless the ornament
is arranged on a symmetrical plan. Any attempt to portray landscape,
human figures or naturalistic flowers is almost doomed to failure.
Gold-tooling is not a suitable medium for rendering such subjects.
Lettering should be well designed and free from eccentricities. The
problem of lettering a long title across a narrow back may necessitate
ungainly breaking of words, but where this is done it should only be
done from obvious necessity, and the reasonable necessity for this
fault should be apparent. To letter books in type so small as to be
quite illegible, lettering that looks from a short distance like a
gold line, is more unreasonable than almost any breaking of words that
allows the use of letters of a larger size.
Fine binding is an expensive luxury but not an unreasonable one
compared with many others. We have now in England a school of really
fine binding, and the most reasonable and unobjectionable form that
luxury can take is the use of beautiful things in everyday life. If a
book is well bound and well decorated it is fit to use, and in choosing
a book to be expensively bound it would be better to choose the book
most often used than one which would be put away unopened. Most fine
bindings would be greatly improved by use, and the reasonable using of
them would give immense pleasure, a pleasure that would justify the
binder’s care and trouble and the purchaser’s outlay. The use of a
beautiful thing gives a far higher form of pleasure than does the mere
sense of ownership.
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE PIGSKIN, WITH HERALDIC BORDER
ENCLOSING A PANEL OF FLORAL DESIGN AND BACKGROUND OF POINTILLÉ. BY
KATHARINE ADAMS]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING WITH GEOMETRICAL BORDER IN POINTILLÉ BY
KATHARINE ADAMS]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BROWN MOROCCO, WITH INLAY, GOLD TOOLING,
OAK SIDES AND LEATHER CLASPS. DESIGNED AND TOOLED BY L. HAY-COOPER
FORWARDED BY W. H. SMITH AND SON
(_In the possession of the Grey Coat Hospital, Westminster_)]
[Illustration: (_In the possession of Lambeth Parish Church_)
BOOKBINDING IN GREEN MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD TOOLING DESIGNED AND
TOOLED BY L. HAY-COOPER, BOUND BY S. BARNARD]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN WHOLE CRUSHED CRIMSON LEVANT MOROCCO,
WITH VELLUCENT PANELS AND GOLD TOOLING. DESIGNED BY H. GRANVILLE FELL,
EXECUTED BY CEDRIC CHIVERS OF BATH]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN DONKEY HIDE, WITH VELLUCENT PANEL AND
GOLD TOOLING DESIGNED BY O. CARLETON SMYTH, EXECUTED BY CEDRIC CHIVERS
OF BATH]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN NIGER MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY R. DE COVERLY AND SONS]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN APPLE-GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH BLIND
AND GOLD TOOLING. BY R. DE COVERLY AND SONS]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY DOUGLAS COCKERELL
(_Photo. lent by Mons. Emile Lévy_)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY DOUGLAS COCKERELL
(_Photo. lent by Mons. Emile Lévy_)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY DOUGLAS COCKERELL]
[Illustration: (_Photo. lent by Mons. Emile Lévy_)
BOOKBINDING IN DARK RED MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD TOOLING. BY
DOUGLAS COCKERELL]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN RED NIGER MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING BY
FRANK G. GARRETT]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN VELLUM, WITH GOLD AND GREEN TOOLING. BY
FRANK G. GARRETT]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN MAUVE MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY HON. NORAH HEWITT]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN SAGE GREEN MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY HON. NORAH HEWITT]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN POWDER BLUE MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING.
BY HON. NORAH HEWITT]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN NIGER MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING. BY HON.
NORAH HEWITT]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN RED LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING DESIGNED BY J. GREEN, EXECUTED BY S. TOUT (OXFORD UNIVERSITY
PRESS)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND
GOLD TOOLING DESIGNED BY T. TURBAYNE, EXECUTED BY J. GREEN (OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN MAROON LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAID PANEL.
DESIGNED BY J. GREEN, EXECUTED BY P. WARD (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING.
DESIGNED BY T. TURBAYNE, EXECUTED BY P. WARD (OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN PURPLE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND
GOLD TOOLING. DESIGNED BY E. SPARKES EXECUTED BY J. GREEN (OXFORD
UNIVERSITY PRESS)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. DESIGNED BY J. GREEN EXECUTED BY P. WARD (OXFORD UNIVERSITY
PRESS)]
[Illustration: TOOLED LEATHER BOOKBINDING. BY S. T. PRIDEAUX]
[Illustration: TOOLED LEATHER BOOKBINDING. BY S. T. PRIDEAUX]
[Illustration: TOOLED LEATHER BOOKBINDING. BY S. T. PRIDEAUX]
[Illustration: TOOLED LEATHER BOOKBINDING. BY S. T. PRIDEAUX]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN SEALSKIN, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY MARY E. ROBINSON]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN CRUSHED GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO WITH GOLD
TOOLING. BY ALICE PATTINSON (MRS. RAYMUND ALLEN)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN CRUSHED DARK BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO WITH
INLAY AND GOLD TOOLING. BY ALICE PATTINSON (MRS. RAYMUND ALLEN)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN WHITE PIGSKIN, WITH BLIND AND GOLD
TOOLING BY SYBIL PYE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN WHITE PIGSKIN, WITH BLIND AND GOLD
TOOLING BY SYBIL PYE]
[Illustration: DOUBLURE IN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH POINTILLÉ AND INLAY BY
ROBERT RIVIERE AND SON]
[Illustration: FLY-LEAF IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH POINTILLÉ AND
INLAY BY ROBERT RIVIERE AND SON]
[Illustration: DOUBLURE IN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND TOOLING. BY
ROBERT RIVIERE AND SON]
[Illustration: FLY-LEAF IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY F. SANGORSKI AND G. SUTCLIFFE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING BY
F. SANGORSKI AND G. SUTCLIFFE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING BY
F. SANGORSKI AND G. SUTCLIFFE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY F. SANGORSKI AND G. SUTCLIFFE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BROWN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY F. SANGORSKI AND G. SUTCLIFFE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY F. SANGORSKI AND G. SUTCLIFFE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING
BY F. SANGORSKI AND G. SUTCLIFFE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN OLIVE MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING.
CENTRE PANEL OF RED INLAY. BY A. DE SAUTY]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN OLIVE MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING. BY A.
DE SAUTY]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD TOOLING
BY SIR EDWARD SULLIVAN, BART.]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN PINK MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD TOOLING
BY SIR EDWARD SULLIVAN, BART.]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY SIR EDWARD SULLIVAN, BART.]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN YELLOW LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND
GOLD TOOLING. BY ZAEHNSDORF]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN OLIVE GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY
AND GOLD TOOLING. BY ZAEHNSDORF]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY ZAEHNSDORF]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY ZAEHNSDORF]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY ZAEHNSDORF]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY ZAEHNSDORF]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN ENGLISH MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING
BOUND BY B. BENKOSKI, DECORATED BY W. F. MATTHEWS (L.C.C. CENTRAL
SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS)]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN LEVANT MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BOUND BY S. H. COLE, DECORATED BY W. H. GIFFARD (L.C.C. CENTRAL
SCHOOL OF ARTS AND CRAFTS)]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGNED BY LAURENCE HOUSMAN FOR MR. JOHN
LANE]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGNED BY WILL BRADLEY FOR MR. JOHN LANE]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGNED BY REGINALD L. KNOWLES FOR MESSRS.
J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGNED BY REGINALD L. KNOWLES FOR MESSRS.
J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGNED BY REGINALD L. KNOWLES FOR MESSRS.
J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGNED BY REGINALD L. KNOWLES FOR MESSRS.
J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGNED BY R. P. GOSSOP FOR MESSRS. J. M.
DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR COVER OF “THE WOMAN WHO DID” BY AUBREY
BEARDSLEY]
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR TITLE-PAGE OF “PAGAN PAPERS” BY AUBREY
BEARDSLEY
(_By permission of Mr. John Lane_)]
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR COVER OF “THE MOUNTAIN LOVERS” BY AUBREY
BEARDSLEY]
[Illustration: DESIGN FOR COVER OF “NOBODY’S FAULT” BY AUBREY BEARDSLEY
(_By permission of Mr. John Lane_)]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGN BY REGINALD L. KNOWLES FOR MESSRS.
J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE DESIGN BY REGINALD L. KNOWLES FOR MESSRS.
J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: END-PAPER DESIGN BY REGINALD L. KNOWLES FOR “EVERYMAN’S
LIBRARY.” FOR MESSRS. J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.]
[Illustration: “THE HAUNT OF THE TROLL”—END-PAPER DESIGN BY REGINALD
L. KNOWLES FOR “TALES FROM THE NORSE.” PUBLISHED BY MESSRS. GEORGE
ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, LTD.]
[Illustration: END-PAPER DESIGN BY H. GRANVILLE FELL FOR MESSRS. GEORGE
NEWNES, LTD.]
[Illustration: BORDER, INITIAL LETTERS, AND HEADPIECE DESIGNED BY R.
JAMES WILLIAMS. FOR THE VINCENT PRESS]
[Illustration: INITIAL LETTERS DESIGNED BY R. JAMES WILLIAMS. FOR THE
VINCENT PRESS]
[Illustration: “COÛTE QUE COÛTE”—DECORATIVE DRAWING BY R. JAMES
WILLIAMS]
GERMANY
THE ART OF THE BOOK IN GERMANY. BY L. DEUBNER
“Letterpress printing, even in the edition de luxe, is not an art, and
neither the compositor nor the printer is an artist.” This is what was
written in the year 1887 by Ludwig Nieper, at that time Director of
what is now the Royal Academy of the Graphic Arts and Book Industry
at Leipzig, a city which in the present year has in its International
Exhibition, embracing every conceivable aspect of the industry as well
as the arts most closely bound up with it, furnished such a convincing
and impressive demonstration of the culture uniting the nations as
perhaps has never been offered before. The conviction expressed in the
passage just quoted, repudiating the existence of any influence of art
on industrial labour, belongs to a period bereft of any real feeling
for art and content with the imitation and repetition of historic
styles while eschewing any contact with the practical requirements of
the industry. Nowadays we know how beneficial and fruitful for both has
been the reciprocal influence of art and industry in every sphere of
activity, and that only by this means have we been able to proceed from
mere external embellishment to artistic form, from book adornment to a
true art of the book. Thus in the space of barely twenty-five years our
views of what art really is and what are its functions have radically
changed, and it must be left to those who come after us to estimate
more correctly than we are able to at the present day, the immense
labour which has been accomplished in the space of a generation. The
incipient stages in the growth of the new movement in Germany date back
some twenty years. At that time we looked with envy at the publications
which issued from the private presses of England, and could boast of
nothing that could compare with the far-famed “Faust” of the Doves
Press; and if to-day we are at length able to stand on our own feet,
it would yet be false to assert that the modern art of book production
in Germany has developed from within, and to disavow the valuable
stimulus and knowledge we owe especially to the English books of that
period. And clearly as we perceived that the book in its entirety,
with its harmonious co-ordination of type, decoration, composition,
paper and binding, should form a work of art, yet only after many
mistakes and deviations have we arrived at the goal. Thus nowadays no
one would seriously seek to defend such a production as the official
catalogue of the German section at the Paris Exhibition of 1900; and
so, too, the so-called “Eckmann” type, which at one time was taken up
with unexampled enthusiasm—a type in which the designer had contrived
to adapt the ancient forms of the “Antiqua” type to the sinuous
lines of modern ornament—is now almost completely forgotten. These
and many other things which at that time were acclaimed as creative
achievements, belong to that class of errors which are really nothing
but exaggerated truths. But in the absence of such excesses and that
exuberance of feeling which was so violently manifested, it would have
been quite impossible to accomplish in so short a time what as a matter
of fact was accomplished, and in spite of shortcomings has even now
lost none of its importance in the history of the development of a new
art of the book.
The first event of significance which followed the renewed recognition
of the decorative value of the printed letter was the issue of some
new types designed by Otto Eckmann and Peter Behrens respectively, the
former slender, delicate, and round, the latter bold, distinguished,
and angular, but both alike quite free, natural, and easily legible.
It was these founts that really inaugurated the new development; and
the foundry of the Gebr. Klingspor which issued them, placed itself
by so doing at the head of all those enterprising type-foundries
which have since enriched our printing press with a wealth of new
and valuable founts. It had come to be recognised that lettering and
ornament were closely correlated; that the ornamentation of printed
matter could not be regarded as an end in itself, but must be adapted
to the character of the lettering in order that the rectangular space
of a page should be so filled as to achieve a good general effect and
satisfy the sensitive eye. Nothing remained, therefore, but to entrust
the designing of new types to artists who had already accomplished
good and original work as book decorators; and as none of the numerous
German type-foundries desired or indeed could afford to be behindhand
in a movement of this kind, it resulted that in the course of a few
years the printing presses of the country were inundated with a flood
of new “artist” types, of which, nevertheless, only relatively few have
been able to survive till now. To design a new type or to re-mould
the old forms of “Antiqua” (Roman) or “Fraktur” (German Gothic), so
that the new forms should not only have a good black-and-white effect
but that the eye should be able to grasp with ease the sequence of
“word-pictures” as well as each individual letter and to read the lines
quickly and comfortably, is a task of extraordinary difficulty which
many who have attempted to grapple with have under-estimated. To obtain
an idea of the multitude of difficulties that have to be overcome, one
must bear in mind that the fundamental forms of the individual letters
are fixed, and that only small changes are possible in the general
shape, in the proportions of the component parts, in the alternation
of the upright, horizontal, and oblique lines, in the curvature of the
so-called “versal” or capital letters, in the serifs, and in the sweep
of preliminary or terminal flourishes; that the printed letter, unlike
manuscript, is bound up with fixed laws, and that in order to justify
its claim to consideration it should, while expressing the artistic
individuality of its designer, not be too original and personal if
it is to be employed for general use. Further, it should conform to
the spirit and ideas of the age, and yet again it ought not to be
wholly conditioned by contemporary considerations if it is to survive
to a later age, as have many fine founts which the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries have bequeathed to us.
As already said, only a few among our modern German designers of
printed types have mastered all these difficulties, and among these few
the names of Behrens, Tiemann, Koch, Kleukens, Weiss, and Wieynk
are pre-eminent. In the course of some thirteen years that
born architect, Peter Behrens, who began as a painter of easel pictures
and a decorator of books, and now builds palaces, factory buildings,
and gigantic business-houses, has himself designed four founts in which
the whole artistic evolution of this strong-willed nature is reflected,
and which yet seem so entirely the product of a natural growth that
one is quite unconscious of the years of labour spent on their
improvement and perfection in the interval between the preparation of
the designs and the actual casting of the founts. As compared with
the architectonic character of the austere, angular forms of the
first Behrens type, the italic or “Kursiv” fount (p. 141) which made
its appearance six years later looks more decorative with the gentle
sweep and uniform flow of its lines, and in the most successful of the
Roman founts the full vigour and monumentality of his later period
of activity is clearly expressed; while the most recent of all, the
“Mediæval” (p. 140), which was only issued a few weeks ago, is again
more ornamental with its uniformly fine lines, and admirably answers to
its designation as a type embodying the characteristics of the Italian
Renaissance script.
Another “Mediæval” type which even excels that just mentioned in
clearness and beauty of form has been designed by Walter Tiemann (pp.
146 and 147), who holds the position of instructor at the Royal Academy
of Graphic Arts at Leipzig, and devotes himself almost exclusively to
the improvement of the art of lettering and book production. Like all
the other types designed by this artist, it has less of a personal
character about it, and reason more than sentiment has been the guiding
motive in the design; but its cool, distinguished reticence gives it a
quite exceptional merit. It is, moreover, completely independent of its
classical prototypes and their Romanesque imitations; very effective
in all its gradations, the use of it is not restricted to the limited
editions of our private presses, and in fact it is now one of the most
popular founts we have.
The fine Roman types by F. W. Kleukens (pp. 151, 153 and 156) rank
among the most gratifying achievements of our new school. They are free
from eccentricity of any kind, there is a seductive charm in their
unassuming yet distinguished forms, and even the ornamental slender
kinds are agreeably clear. In spite of the thinness of their lines the
letters belonging to this slender fount combine to make easily legible
lines. The Kleukens types are practical as well as attractive, and in
conjunction with specially designed borders, initials and decorative
devices of all kinds, they are well adapted for the most diverse uses.
Of a far more personal character, but at the same time of a more
restricted range of use, are the graceful types by Heinrich Wieynk (pp.
149 and 150). It is the spirit of the Rococo that dwells therein—that
epoch to which, with its playful charm and light-hearted grace, we owe
so many masterpieces of French typography. Even the superfluous loops
and flourishes which were characteristic of that period are encountered
again, with many bizarre peculiarities, in the “Kursiv” and “Trianon”
of Wieynk, and yet there is a remarkable fluidity and vitality in each
stroke; the general effect is highly artistic, and, as the examples now
reproduced show, the founts are admirably adapted to numerous purposes.
Many attempts have been made to modernise the old “Schwabacher” type,
which dates from the middle of the fifteenth century, and differs
from German Gothic, or “Fraktur,” by being more compact. The most
successful in this direction so far has been Rudolf Koch, whose “German
Script,” in the three different forms here shown (pp. 142 to 145),
has once more revealed the rich beauty and massive power inherent in
the various kinds of German type. In these boldly designed letters is
expressed a manly earnestness and also a simple grandeur which, in the
sweeping, powerful forms of the initials, becomes truly monumental.
They are, moreover, carefully thought out in all their details, and
notwithstanding the strength of the lines, even in the smallest sizes,
they are very expressive in their beauty.
Heinz König, too, has had good fortune with his “Schwabacher” type (p.
152). This is remarkably clear, and in its amalgamation of Roman forms
with the characteristics of German founts it has proved both sound
and serviceable, and it is one, moreover, which offers no difficulty
whatever to the foreigner. The curls and loops which the champions of
“Antiqua,” or Roman, find fault with in the German styles of type are
absent; it is a Gothic purged of all unnecessary details and is at once
dignified and decorative.