wiedler.ch

book (design) story #46

andré reuze:
giganten der landstrasse

büchergilde gutenberg, berlin, 1928
printer: buchdruckwerkstätte gmbh., berlin
size: 24 x 17 cm
designer: georg trump

this book is a translation of a french novel about the tour de france by andré reuze. the original had a beautiful title which was impossible to translate: "le tour de souffrance" (editions fayard, paris, 1925).

this is one of the büchergilde books designed in "new typography" style. the title spread is an asymmetric composition with sans-serif type and a thick line.

the first chapter opens with a tour de france map, a black and red drawing apparently built with material from the letter case: dots, lines, arrows. the page layout is asymmetric, too, with big sans-serif page numbers on the bottom left. unusual: paragraphs start ranged left, but end ranged right.

there are great photos from the famous bicycle race.

the designer is credited on the title spread. professor georg trump (1896-1985) taught at the kunstgewerbeschule bielefeld, after 1929 at the meisterschule für deutschlands buchdrucker in munich. when paul renner was sacked from his post as director in 1934 he suggested trump to become his successor.