Jahrbuch der Einbandkunst 2

Back in April of 2012 I shared this binding from my reference library, one of those books that changes how you approach your field and the history of it. Below a snippet from that blog post...

The copy above, bound by/in the firm of E.A. Enders (Leipzig) is from my collection. I remember being blown away by it on many levels when it was brought into Bill Minter's shop by a dealer who wanted to have a nice clamshell box made for it. Much to Bill's chagrin, the book was sold on the spot (for what was then a lot of money) with a box made shortly thereafter in my own then modest studio. I very quickly found myself sucked into the essays, especially the ones on contemporary binding. It was my first (and really only) design binding purchase and I still love to study the design, the combination of decor, the typographic elements - Germans integrated the title into designs more so than other traditions - and also the little flaws that make it "human."

Yesterday another one of my orders arrived from Germany, this time from Antiquariat Peter Ibbetson, the kind of order one needs to sign for, so glad it was Saturday... Among them was book that I had dawdled over ordering, Musterbetriebe deutscher Wirtschaft: Die Großbuchbinderei E.A. Enders, Leipzig - München from 1929. Translated, "Model Businesses of German Industry," the introduction challenges the reader to learn about German model businesses, pointing out the deluge of publications by and about American model industries, and that these are better known than the "native" German ones... This one is number 6 in the series, here the WorldCat record..

Although part of a series, this book is very similar to the many other publications by binderies such as Extra Binding at the Lakeside Press (R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company, 1925), or Ernst Collins' essays "Fünfzig Jahre deutscher Verlegereinband, 1875 - 1925" in Festschrift Hübel & Denck (Leipzig: Hübel & Denck, 1925) or "Vom guten Geschmack und von der Kunstbuchbinderei" in Spamersche Buchbinderei (Leipzig: Spamer, 1914). These publications tend to give a history of the book and the bindery, highlighting the functional areas with illustrations of the workspaces and the bindings produced in them.

So in reading/leafing through the book I get to page 39 (Sonderabteilung für Handeinbände, Extra Binding Department) and what do I find??? Look familiar? Unfortunately, the 6 pages of that section don't provide any details about the binding, although other bindings mentioned are described as exemplars of the materials and techniques applied in this kind of work.

I also found it in the Archiv für Buchbinderei, 1928

Oh, so very glad I grabbed it...

Aber mal im Ernst

Aber mal im Ernst = but seriously folks, let's ...

Been enjoying a wave of successes in my quest to add to my bibliography of Ernst Collin's writings.

Some successes based on minimal references/citations from Google Books snippets were filled by the amazing Inter-Library Loan staff at Syracuse. Some of those led me to finding other publishing venues Ernst was active in. One was Das Echo: das Blatt der deutschen im Auslande, a periodical for Germans living abroad - articles were meant to keep them in touch with what was going on in the Fatherland. In additions to articles about bookbinding, there are articles on textile design, silver-smithing, jewelry-making, but also one on household/kitchen appliances and one on why the Treaty of Versailles was bad deal for Germany. HathiTrust held some of the volumes of this title, starting in 1913 and ending in 1922... First Ernst appearance in 1920 with about 6 articles per year. Unfortunately there are gaps, but output trending up.

Also went back to some other journals, Archiv für Buchgewerbe and Archiv für Buchbinderei leafing through page-by-page-by-page, several hundreds per volume. That netted a few more articles not captured by OCR.

Then in the ink-on-paper category, a modest package from Buchatelier Bischoff that included the original publications as issued of Deutsche Einbandkunst: Ausstellung des Jakob-Krausse-Bundes, Vereinigung deutscher Kunstbuchbinder, im Weissen Saal des Schloßmuseums zu Berlin, September -Oktober 1921. Published for the Jacob-Krausse-Bund by Ernst; Spamersche Buchbinderei, Leipzig; Werkstatt für Kunsteinbände with the essay by Ernst; and finally the complete run of Die Heftlade the journal of the Jakob-Krause-Bund that was absorbed into Meister der Einbandkunst. Ernst Collin published and edited the journal in addition to contributing articles to it on a wide range of topics. Most of the articles are short, but that's ok. Like many journals of the era, it also includes tipped-in samples of printing and decorated paper.

On the way still is the Festschrift Hübel & Denck Leipzig, 1875-1925 with an essay by Ernst among others. Like the Spamersche Buchbinderei, this is another publication by one of the significant trade binderies in Leipzig, both with fine/extra binding departments. A history of E.A. Enders is also on the way in another order.

Also Ernst related, the 1947 volume of Allgemeiner Anzeiger für Buchbindereien,  the first postwar volume that contains a mention of the firm of W. Collin and Ernst... Had a scan of that via ILL but was glad to get original hardcopy. Also included in that volume are about half of 1936 I believe, very close to the end of Ernst's publishing career. Access to volumes of this title is one of my greatest challenges - it's not just about being locked up for copyright, it's not even available to search for snippets or words on a page...

The in-process bibliography of Ernst writings has now grown to about 145 articles and monographs on a broad range of subjects, beyond bookbinding. About 40 of those added in the past week or so in a sustained systematic effort.

The bibliography can be linked to via the top navigation bar of this blog - Ernst Collin Bibliography. For those in the US who can read German, there are links to about half the titles at HathiTrust. Citations, leads ALWAYS appreciated.

Ernst Collin was a very active, versatile, and good thoughtful writer with a confident sense of place/presence.

Conrad Blum, Buchbinder

A month or so ago, via eBay, I acquired this bill from the bookbinder Conrad Blum in Offenbach dated 21 October, 1842. Offenbach at that time was part of the Grand Duchy of Hessen and is now considered part of the Frankfurt (Main) metropolitan area.

Although fluent in German, the handwriting style of the time is not my strong point. I'm also not sure what currency is being referred to (Gulden or Thaler), especially as the Customs Union (Zollverein) led by Prussia was growing in member states at that time. A more contemporary comparison would be the expansion of the Eurozone... Hessen-Darmstadt of which Offenbach was a part joined in 1837.

A high-resolution PDF of the bill has been saved here. Any assistance in transcribing VERY welcome.