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book (design) story #35

jean mussard:
geld – roman der währungen

jean christophe-verlag, zürich, 1938
printer: genossenschaftsdruckerei zürich
size: 22 x 14 cm
designer: richard paul lohse

geneva-born jean mussard (1888-1967) was a manager who also wrote books. from 1935-1953 mussard was director of general motors (switzerland) in biel/bienne, pioneering modern car manufacturing. in his writings he propagated reforms of the economic system towards a liberal socialism.

between 1937 and 1939, richard paul lohse designed several books for the jean christophe-verlag, an enterprise closely related to the büchergilde zürich (see book stories 13, 21, 22).

the dustjacket is a stunning hommage to john heartfield (1891-1968). this master of photomontage used the same photo and a similar newspaper background for upton sinclair's "die wechsler", malik-verlag berlin, 1925. but lohse doesn't just copy heartfield – he adds a "constructive" title design that marks his own style.

the title construction in a bold-wide sans-serif type, with its strong vertical-horizontal pattern, is repeated in red on the raw linen cloth cover ...

... and again on the title page. here the word "geld" (money) is cut from a halftone sheet with a fine line pattern, like on the spine of the jacket.