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book (design) story #198

a. w. schestakow:
kurzer abriss der die geschichte russlands

literaturvertrieb, zürich, 1947
printer: märki & co., basel
size: 15 x 11 cm
designer: richard paul lohse

this is a german translation of short history of russia as seen by the official soviet union. the small book was published in zürich in 1947.

the jacket was designed by richard paul lohse (1902-1988) in his trademark style, using two – partly overlapping – monochrome pictures in different colours.

thethe cover and inner pages with their axial typography were most likely not designed by lohse.

the jacket design extends to the back. history is visualized by the kulaks (wealthy farmers in tsarist russia) at the top which march backwards to the left, contrasted by a kolkhoz farmer, happily smiling towards the right (red-coloured of course). the colour scheme of a light red combined with a light green is also seen in lohse's jackets for books 36, 52 and 54.