wiedler.ch

book (design) story #13

henriette roland holst-van der schalk:
rosa luxemburg

jean christophe-verlag, zürich, 1937
printer: genossenschaftsdruckerei zürich
size: 21 x 13 cm
designer: richard paul lohse

after 1933, there was no chance for books with a socialist, pacifist or otherwise "un-germanic" content being published in germany. many of such german-language books were printed in switzerland.

this rosa luxemburg biography is definitely one of these. it is the german translation of a dutch book first published in 1935. henriette roland holst-van der schalk (1869-1952) describes the life (and death) of her close friend rosa luxemburg (1871-1919). some of luxemburg's letters to the author are quoted.

in the 1930s zürich-based artist and graphic designer richard paul lohse (1902-1988) started designing books for left-wing publishers such as the jean christophe verlag, a company closely linked to the swiss büchergilde gutenberg.

the impressive dustjacket for "rosa luxemburg" is one of lohse's early masterpieces. on its front he used a well-known portrait photo of luxemburg, while the back shows one of her letters to the author. both parts of the jacket are overprinted in red by a photo showing young socialists carrying their (red) flags.

most striking how this procession seems to march from the jacket's rear panel to the black spine where it almost disappears in the dark – but on the front panel, the red flags suddenly resurface on rosa luxemburg's gleaming white blouse. there her name is printed in a semi-bold akzidenz-grotesk, the sans-serif that would become a trademark of swiss typography.

is it symbolic that lohse makes the red banners march "downhill" to the lower right? we don't know, but i will get back to this question in a later story. a poetic detail i love: look at the red flags sweeping through the white spine title, lending rosa's name a rosy colour!