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book (design) story #666

alfred neumann:
der teufel

allert de lange, amsterdam, 1935
size: ?? x ?? cm
designer: paul urban (jacket)

story number 666!

in the christian bible (book of revelations) 666 is also known as the "number of the beast", often associated with "the devil", ...

... so i thought a book with the title "der teufel" (the devil) is maybe an appropriate choice for story no. 666.

alfred neumann (1895-1952) was a german writer of jewish descent who left germany in 1933, first to italy and finally to the usa. after the war he returned to europe and died in lugano, switzerland. neumann's historic novel "der teufel" about french king louis xi was originally published in 1926, and won the renowned "kleist-preis" award. in the 1930s neumann's books were banned by the nazis. this copy is a 1935 "exile" reedition by allert de lange, amsterdam.

the black jacket with handwritten title in gold is signed "u" below the author's name, standing for paul urban (1901-??). urban designed books for socialist/communist publishers such as the bücherkreis and universum bücherei before being forced to emigrate to amsterdam in 1933. there he designed numerous jackets for querido and allert de lange, the leading publishers of german exile literature. after a brief stay in switzerland (see book story 654 he left for moscow where he probaly died soon after.