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book (design) story #175

denis de rougemont:
tagebuch eines arbeitslosen intellektuellen

büchergilde gutenberg, zürich / prag, 1938
printer: genossenschaftsdruckerei zürich
size: 21 x 13 cm
designer: richard paul lohse

swiss writer denis de rougemont (1906-1985) published his "journal d'un intellectuel en chômage" in 1937. you find more about the author on his foundation website. this german translation was published by the büchergilde zürich.

richard paul lohse (1902-1988) is credited in the impressum for the dustjacket design. it shows the author's portrait photograph and signature. the latter also appears on the orange cloth cover. interesting detail: the spine title is set in different directions on the jacket and on the cover. traditionally german-language books have spine titles like on the cover – to read with your head tilted to the left when the book is standing on a shelf. on the jacket we see the more english (international?) style which allows easy reading when the book is lying on a table.

there is no publication date in the impressum, but since "prag" (but not "wien") is still listed on the title page, it must have been in production by the end of 1938 when the büchergilde branch in prague ceased operation – shortly before german troups arrived in march 1939. like so many büchergilde zürich publications, this book appeared on the nazi's list of books forbidden in germany.