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book (design) story #335

felix scherret:
der dollar steigt

der bücherkreis gmbh, berlin, 1930
printer: vorwärts buchdruckerei, berlin
size: 19 x 13 cm
designer: jan tschichold (cover)

"der dollar steigt" (the dollar is rising) is a novel about the 1923 great inflation in germany. felix scherret (1895-1950) was a writer and journalist working for the social democratic newspaper "vorwärts" (forward). the bücherkreis book club was close to the social democratic movement, and many bücherkreis editions including this one were manufactured by the "vorwärts" print shop.

in 1930 the bücherkreis commissioned jan tschichold (1902-1974) to redesign their books and stationery. this is an early results of this collaboration.

according to the impressum tschichold only designed the cover. the inner pages – in spite of the asymmetric titles – are indeed not tschichold's style, except for the ads at the very end of the book.

note the title and author's name on the back cover – an unusual design feature tschichold used also in books 40 and 68. bücherkreis books didn't have dustjackets before 1931.