of all be made of that known as “Weiss-Fraktur,” which, designed by
E. R. Weiss, has been perfected by him after many years of untiring
collaboration with the Type Foundry of Bauer and Co. It has remained a
purely German type, but is without the flourishes bequeathed by the old
German Gothic. The light and open appearance of matter composed with it
imparts to it a clarity which is distinctly agreeable, so that one can
follow it with ease and comfort while deriving quiet pleasure from the
simplicity and definiteness of a type which satisfies in equal degree
the requirements of use and æsthetic susceptibility. The Tempel Verlag,
in common with a number of other important German publishing houses,
has adopted the “Weiss-Fraktur” for its model editions of German
classics.
When new desires call for satisfaction and new forms begin to develop,
it is always those spheres of activity which offer easy and pleasant
possibilities of accomplishment that are selected for experimenting.
Thus some fifteen years ago the designing of book-bindings was a
favourite occupation of the artists who interested themselves in the
reform of industrial art, and many who have now attained to clear and
definite ideas do not want to be reminded of the sort of work that was
done in those days. Under the influence of Van de Velde’s precept that
every line is a force, the wrappers and bindings of books were among
the things that were covered with a nervous labyrinth of lines which
was expressive only of an attitude of mind radically at variance with
all that had gone before. But many who at first occupied themselves
with this kind of work in a more or less dilettante spirit, have by
quiet, serious labour and steady development mastered its problems
and have come to devote themselves almost exclusively to the graphic
arts and the industry of book production, so that we now possess an
important organisation of the workers in this field—the “Verein
deutscher Buchgewerbekünstler”—whose collective exhibition at the
International Exhibition now being held at Leipzig is one of the most
interesting sections of this great display. Of the artists whose work
is represented among the accompanying illustrations, Cissarz, Ehmcke,
Kleukens, Köster, Koch, Renner, Steiner-Prag, Tiemann, Weiss and Wieynk
belong to this group.
Johann Vincenz Cissarz had in 1900 already advanced to such prominence
in this branch of work that the artistic arrangement of the German
Typographical Section at the Paris Universal Exhibition was entrusted
to him. A long way behind as this catalogue now is, it was nevertheless
at that date an exemplary achievement as regards type, ornament,
printing, and binding; and to the large number of commissions it
brought the artist may be due the fact that thereafter his chief
attention was bestowed on the art of the book, in spite of his penchant
and decided genius for painting of a decorative and even monumental
character and his particular partiality for the etching-needle. From
Dresden Cissarz migrated, first to Darmstadt and then to Stuttgart,
where as teacher at the Royal School of Applied Art he found a welcome
opportunity of communicating to others his own sound principles in
regard to the internal and external arrangement of books, and already
he is able to look back upon a teaching career which has been very
successful. And here, too, many grateful tasks have fallen to him, not
only in connection with special events, such as jubilees, presentation
addresses, and such things, but more especially in the course of
work undertaken for the publishing houses of Stuttgart. Though the
luxurious binding executed by hand in costly materials may be superior
in an artistic sense, yet from the economic and cultural point of
view the tastefully designed bindings produced in large quantities by
the publishing houses are of greater importance. A series of these
publishers’ cases of diverse design is illustrated on pages 168 and
172, and it shows how successfully the designer has utilised the space
to display his boldly lettered title or to cover the whole field with
becoming ornament.
Hugo Steiner-Prag, who first became known through his poetic drawings
for children’s fairy tales and books of verses, has also for some
years past taught at the Royal Academy of Graphic Arts at Leipzig. His
chief successes have been won as an illustrator, but from the bindings
now reproduced (pp. 166 and 167) it will be seen that he has a marked
talent for the embellishment of the book. By means of simple lines and
decorative ornament, usually confined to a well-proportioned centre
field, he achieves really charming effects.
Karl Köster was at one time a pupil of Peter Behrens, and in order
to be able to take advantage of all the possibilities open to the
bookbinder he has not shrunk from learning the craft in the regular
way. Thus in the course of his work he has not been wholly concerned
with the external embellishment of the book, which he always endeavours
to harmonise with its contents, but has also kept in view the practical
purpose of the binding as a protective covering for the book. His great
skill in achieving delightful effects with the simplest means is amply
demonstrated by the numerous bindings he has designed for publishers.
Thus in the bindings here illustrated, “Heimkehr” and “Buch Joram”
(p. 169), three lines of lettering suffice to animate and decorate
the entire surface; but he is quite capable of employing much richer
decorative devices with discretion and good taste. From the way in
which he has placed a simple cross of violet leather in the richly
ornamented middle field of his red missal binding (p. 163), to show to
the greatest advantage the colour of the amethysts set in the silver
mounts, it may be inferred that he is capable of producing new and
peculiar arrangements of form and colour without breaking with the best
traditions. In his second missal binding the form of the cross which
dominates the entire space is distributed over twelve circular panels
or fields, of which the middlemost is worked with a white leather inlay
and gold-tooling. The other circles are lined with violet leather, and
with the four amethysts of the corner rosettes, the sea-green morocco,
and the rich gilding, produce a splendid effect of colour.
Among the professional craftsmen who yielded to the new ideas of book
production Paul Kersten is perhaps the best known, as he is without
doubt the most successful. With an extensive practical experience,
which has mastered all the technical possibilities, he combines
artistic susceptibility and a literary aptitude which has enabled him
to uphold the objects he has at heart in thoughtfully written essays
and books. As head of the Technical School for Bookbinders in Berlin
he is in a position to exercise an educative influence in the best
sense. The bindings illustrated on pages 164 and 165 enable one to
judge of his technical versatility and his methods of decoration, which
are not restricted to a particular scheme. They are without exception
leather bindings in which the title is placed independently on the
back or within a panel left for it, the ornamentation of the cover
being therefore uninfluenced by it. In bindings of a richer character
he is very fond of utilising a diversity of colours for the sake of
the animating effect. Thus in his dark-blue morocco binding, whose
centre panel is occupied by five hexagons within circles, the flowers
displayed therein are of red, green, and violet leather; while in the
chamois binding of Baudelaire’s “Fleurs du Mal,” for the ornamentation
of which, in gold and blind stamping, no fewer than 18,000 impressions
were required, leather overlays in seven different colours were used.
But even with such an abundance of decoration one is not conscious of
any excess, but only perhaps that agreeable sense of assurance which
the practised hand communicates. Three colours, black, red and blue,
are employed for ornamenting the calf-binding with a circular centre
panel, the decoration of which is carried out by a special process of
tooling and staining.
Of a much simpler character is the work of Franz Weisse, who likewise
has come from the ranks of the handicraftsmen, and is now engaged as
teacher at the School of Applied Art in Hamburg. The simple but bold
stamping in which the decoration of his pigskin binding (p. 170) is
executed comports well with the outspoken candour of Grimmelshausen’s
“Simplicissimus.” A feature of interest is the use of the “batik”
process[A] for producing floral ornament spread over the sides and back
of the parchment binding.
[Footnote A: Batik is a process of producing patterns by means of
dyes and resists; it has long been in use in the Dutch East Indies,
whence it was introduced into Holland, and now has a considerable
vogue both there and in Germany, Austria and Hungary.]
Again, in the richly decorated bindings of F. A. Demeter (pp. 161 and
162) one observes the sure hand of the experienced practitioner who
knows how to take advantage of the beauties of material and technique
in the fulfilment of his artistic aims. His ornamentation is certainly
not quite original, but is distinguished by a clever decorative
treatment of floral motives and a tasteful application of them; and
even when he completely covers the back and sides with decoration of a
uniform character, one does not feel that it is overdone. A beautiful
example of his work is the binding with a design of leafage in gold
on a reseda-green leather. Demeter also is a professional binder,
and at present is head of the applied art department of the Hübel
and Denck wholesale bindery at Leipzig. Even these large industrial
concerns, equipped for the wholesale production of cheap bindings,
have been obliged to take account of the growing desire for books that
have an artistic value, and to attach to their establishments special
departments in which, under the supervision of artistically minded
craftsmen, not only simple bindings in “boards,” but also the costly
and elaborate kinds of binding requiring most careful hand-work, are
prepared.
One of the most individual of the German artists who have devoted
themselves to the modern art of the book is Emil Preetorius. He is a
born illustrator, and has mastered all the various means of expression
in equal degree; even in the very concise outline of the silhouette he
achieves an abundance of characterisation and vitality. The silhouettes
shown here (p. 160) are from a popular edition of Daudet’s “Tartarin
de Tarascon,” which he has embellished and illustrated with refined
artistic feeling; they figure there merely as the decorative headpieces
to certain of the chapters, and serve as a jocose premonition of what
is to follow. They are not the actual illustrations of the book, but
they certainly afford an excellent idea of the happy way in which with
these queer little black figures he has caught the grotesque comicality
of this strange adventure. He is also fond of giving the reader in his
title-pages a foretaste of what awaits him, of expressing graphically,
in drawings often containing a number of figures, the contents and
spirit of the books in which they appear. His figures are mostly those
of people who lived in the “Biedermeier” age; they have a distinctly
old-fashioned look about them, but none of that sentimental “gush”
which so often makes the so-called “Stimmung” pictures of that period
unpalatable to us moderns. While having a decided partiality for the
peculiarities and foibles of the “Biedermeier” folk, Preetorius is
thoroughly modern in feeling; his drawings are austere rather than
sweetly sentimental, and even their æsthetic defects are pertinent to
his art.
[Illustration: TITLE-PAGE DESIGNED BY PROF. PAUL LANG-KURZ]
The part played by various enterprising and ideally minded publishing
houses in fostering and stimulating that pleasure in beautiful books
and their acquisition which has increased to such an extraordinary
degree in Germany during the past decade must not go unrecorded
here. Among these the firm of Eugen Diederichs, of Jena, claims
primary consideration because of the ungrudging spirit in which it
has afforded to all who have made a name in the sphere of artistic
book-production an opportunity of displaying their ideas and skill.
This firm caters for all the manifold cultural tendencies of our age,
and its publications being of a serious character, the collaboration of
these artists has been in the main restricted to wrappers and bindings,
title-pages, initials, ornamental borders, and other decorative
details. On the other hand, there are houses, such as that of Georg
Müller in Munich, which besides good decoration go in largely for book
illustration, in which also numerous and interesting developments
have taken place, including a revival of various processes—such as
wood-engraving, lithography, and etching—that had fallen largely into
disuse, but now once more enjoy considerable favour for the purpose
of book illustration. The Insel-Verlag of Leipzig, S. Fischer of
Berlin, Paul and Bruno Cassirer of Berlin, Kurt Wolff of Leipzig, and
many others, have helped materially in this reflorescence of German
illustrative art. But at the same time, there are more than a few who
hold that a well-printed book with unimpeachable letterpress, paper
and binding requires neither decoration nor illustration, and that its
intrinsic merit depends on the perfect manner in which the technical
work is carried out. Thus the celebrated editions of the Hyperion Press
and the splendid issues of the Century Press of the Munich publishing
firm of Hans von Weber are brilliant examples of German typography;
nor need the publications of the Janus Press of Leipzig, produced with
consummate technical care under the supervision of Walter Tiemann and
Carl Ernst Poeschel, fear comparison with the books that issue from the
private presses of England. These volumes are only printed in small
editions of one hundred and fifty to two hundred copies, and satisfy
the utmost demands of discriminating bibliophiles. Of distinction on
account of their typically German character are the “Rudolfinische
Drucke,” brought out by Rudolf Koch in association with Rudolf Gerstung
at Offenbach, and published by Wilhelm Gerstung. In these books, which
are also genuinely German in their contents, everything is expressly
avoided which in any way deviates from the considerations of chief
importance—proper spacing of the letters and the well-balanced
composition of the page of letterpress in Koch’s essentially German
fount, together with uniform excellence of workmanship throughout.
Thus only the title-pages are specially designed, and the body of
the letterpress is but sparingly relieved with the imposing initials
belonging to this fount; but the bindings, with their cover-papers cut
and printed by the artist himself, also bear witness to the virile
beauty of his art. Of a more arresting and luxurious character are the
productions of the Ernst Ludwig Press of the Grand Duke of Hesse, the
artistic supervision of which has been entrusted to F. W. Kleukens;
and the costly editions de luxe of the Pan-Press of Berlin, which
are embellished with lithographs by Slevogt, Corinth and Pascin, or
etchings by Geiger or Walser. Such productions, however, are beyond the
scope of this work.
What Germany is now able to offer in the art of book production is
superabundantly shown in the International Exhibition which is being
held this year at Leipzig. That after barely a score of years we should
have seriously ventured to invite the civilised races to peaceful
competition in this special domain is a proof that we are conscious of
the value of our work, and do not fear the verdict of the world.
[Illustration: ORNAMENT DESIGNED BY PROF. F. W. KLEUKENS, FOR D.
STEMPEL, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “ANTIQUA” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. PETER BEHRENS CAST
BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “ANTIQUA” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. PETER BEHRENS CAST
BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “MEDIÆVAL” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. PETER BEHRENS
CAST BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “MEDIÆVAL” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. PETER BEHRENS
CAST BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “KURSIV” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. PETER BEHRENS CAST
BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: A GERMAN TYPE DESIGNED BY RUDOLF KOCH CAST BY GEBR.
KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: A GERMAN TYPE DESIGNED BY RUDOLF KOCH CAST BY GEBR.
KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: A GERMAN TYPE DESIGNED BY RUDOLF KOCH CAST BY GEBR.
KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: A GERMAN TYPE DESIGNED BY RUDOLF KOCH CAST BY GEBR.
KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “MEDIÆVAL” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. WALTER TIEMANN,
CAST BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “MEDIÆVAL” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. WALTER TIEMANN,
CAST BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “MEDIÆVAL-KURSIV” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF. WALTER
TIEMANN, CAST BY GEBR. KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “TRIANON” TYPE. DESIGNED BY HEINRICH WIEYNK CAST BY
THE BAUERSCHE GIESSEREI, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “WIEYNK-KURSIV” TYPE. DESIGNED BY HEINRICH WIEYNK
CAST BY THE BAUERSCHE GIESSEREI, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “SCHLANKE KLEUKENS-ANTIQUA” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROF.
F. W. KLEUKENS, CAST BY THE BAUERSCHE GIESSEREI, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “SCHWABACHER” TYPE. DESIGNED BY HEINZ KÖNIG. CAST BY
EMIL GURSCH, BERLIN]
[Illustration: THE “HELGA-ANTIQUA” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROFESSOR F. W.
KLEUKENS, CAST BY D. STEMPEL, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “HÖLZL-MEDIÆVAL” TYPE. DESIGNED BY EMIL HÖLZL, CAST
BY D. STEMPEL, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “HÖLZL-MEDIÆVAL” TYPE. DESIGNED BY EMIL HÖLZL, CAST
BY D. STEMPEL, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: THE “INGEBORG-ANTIQUA” TYPE. DESIGNED BY PROFESSOR F. W.
KLEUKENS, CAST BY D. STEMPEL, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: TITLE-PAGES DESIGNED BY PROF. F. H. EHMCKE PUBLISHED BY
EUGEN DIEDERICHS]
[Illustration: ORNAMENTS DESIGNED BY PROF. F. W. KLEUKENS, FOR THE
BAUERSCHE GIESSEREI, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: ORNAMENTS DESIGNED BY PROF. WALTER TIEMANN, FOR GEBR.
KLINGSPOR, OFFENBACH A.M.]
[Illustration: INITIAL LETTERS AND ORNAMENTS DESIGNED BY PROF. F. W.
KLEUKENS, FOR D. STEMPEL, FRANKFURT A.M.]
[Illustration: HEAD-PIECES BY EMIL PREETORIUS FOR DAUDET’S “TARTARIN DE
TARASCON.” PUBLISHED BY DER GELBE VERLAG, MÜNCHEN-DACHAU]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN MOROCCO, WITH GOLD AND BLACK
TOOLING DESIGNED BY P. A. DEMETER, EXECUTED BY HÜBEL AND DENCK]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN LEMON YELLOW MOROCCO, WITH GREEN INLAY
AND GOLD TOOLING DESIGNED BY P. A. DEMETER, EXECUTED BY HÜBEL AND
DENCK]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN GREEN MOROCCO, WITH GOLD TOOLING.
DESIGNED BY P. A. DEMETER EXECUTED BY HÜBEL AND DENCK]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BROWN LEATHER, WITH BLIND TOOLING.
DESIGNED BY PROF. JOH. VINCENZ CISSARZ, EXECUTED BY AD. BÜHLER]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN SEA-GREEN MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING DESIGNED BY KARL KÖSTER, EXECUTED BY HERDER’S BINDERY, FREIBURG]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN DARK RED MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING DESIGNED BY KARL KÖSTER, EXECUTED BY HERDER’S BINDERY,
FREIBURG]
[Illustration: BOOK BINDING IN ORANGE YELLOW MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND
BLIND TOOLING. BY PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN NEAT’S LEATHER, WITH PUNCHED AND TANNED
ORNAMENTATION. BY PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN RED MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD TOOLING.
BY PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BUFF MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN BLUE MOROCCO, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING. BY PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN RED CALF, WITH INLAY AND GOLD TOOLING. BY
PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN PIGSKIN, WITH TOOLING BY
PAUL KERSTEN]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN DARK BLUE CALF, WITH GOLD TOOLING.
DESIGNED BY PROF. HUGO STEINER-PRAG, EXECUTED BY HÜBEL AND DENCK]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN VELLUM, WITH GILT ORNAMENTATION. DESIGNED
BY PROF. HUGO STEINER-PRAG, EXECUTED BY HÜBEL AND DENCK]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN LEATHER, WITH GOLD TOOLING. DESIGNED BY
PROF. HUGO STEINER-PRAG, EXECUTED BY HÜBEL AND DENCK]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN LEATHER, WITH GOLD TOOLING. DESIGNED BY
PROF. HUGO STEINER-PRAG, EXECUTED BY HÜBEL AND DENCK]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN LEATHER, WITH SILVER CLASPS. DESIGNED BY
PROF. JOH. VINCENZ CISSARZ, EXECUTED BY KARL STRENGER]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDINGS IN LEATHER, WITH GOLD TOOLING. DESIGNED BY
PROF. JOH. VINCENZ CISSARZ, EXECUTED BY GUSTAV FRÖLICH]
[Illustration: BINDING CASE. DESIGNED BY PROF. JOH. VINCENZ CISSARZ]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE. DESIGNED BY KARL KÖSTER]
[Illustration: VELLUM BINDING. DESIGNED BY KARL KÖSTER]
[Illustration: VELLUM BINDING, WITH BATIK ORNAMENTATION DESIGNED BY
KARL KÖSTER]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN LEATHER, WITH GOLD TOOLING DESIGNED BY
KARL KÖSTER]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN WHITE PIGSKIN, WITH INLAY AND GOLD
TOOLING BY FRANZ WEISSE]
[Illustration: BOOKBINDING IN NATURAL COLOURED PIGSKIN, WITH BLIND
TOOLING. BY FRANZ WEISSE]
[Illustration: PARCHMENT BINDING, WITH BATIK ORNAMENTATION BY FRANZ
WEISSE]
[Illustration: VELLUM BINDING. DESIGNED BY RUDOLF KOCH]
[Illustration: HALF-CALF AND PAPER BINDING. DESIGNED BY RUDOLF KOCH]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASES IN LEATHER AND CLOTH. DESIGNED BY PROF.
JOH. VINCENZ CISSARZ]
[Illustration: BACKS OF LEATHER BINDING-CASES DESIGNED BY PAUL RENNER]
[Illustration: BINDING-CASE. DESIGNED BY PAUL RENNER]
[Illustration: BACKS OF LEATHER BINDING-CASES DESIGNED BY PAUL RENNER]
[Illustration: DESIGNED BY PROF. EMANUEL VON SEIDL]
[Illustration: DESIGNED BY “L”]
[Illustration: DESIGNED BY FRITZ SCHOLL]
[Illustration: DESIGNED BY EMANUEL JOSEPH MARGOLD
BINDING-CASES DESIGNED FOR ALEXANDER KOCH, DARMSTADT]
[Illustration: PAPER COVERS. DESIGNED BY EMIL PREETORIUS]
[Illustration: END-PAPER DESIGNED BY PROF. PAUL LANG-KURZ]
[Illustration: END-PAPER DESIGNED BY PROF. PAUL LANG-KURZ]
FRANCE
THE ART OF THE BOOK IN FRANCE. BY E. A. TAYLOR