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book (design) story #349

john thomas murphy:
stalin

büchergilde gutenberg, zürich, 1945
printer: abc druckerei und verlags ag, zürich
size: 22 x 13 cm
designer: richard paul lohse

this is a german translation of the biography "stalin 1879-1944" by john thomas murphy (1888-1965), a british communist who broke with the party in 1932. it was published by the swiss büchergilde gutenberg in 1945, shortly after the original.

it is one of the numerous büchergilde books designed by richard paul lohse (1902-1988).

the photographic jacket shows stalin surrounded by his people – not as a godlike leader like often in soviet propaganda of the time.

the cover design is "red army style": a military grey cloth with "stalin" in a heavy slab-serif printed across the soviet red star.

the title page is in the vein of the cover: the symmetric layout is monumental – rather different than the asymmetric, more "democratic" looking jacket.

on the photo below stalin and german foreign minister joachim van ribbentrop at the signing of the infamous "non-aggression pact" in august 1939.