This undated German translation of Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers) was published by Karl Prochaska in Teschen, Austria (today: Cieszyn/Těšín), in a series titled “Die besten Romane der Weltliteratur” (“The best novels in world literature”).

The series title on the top of the title page pairs Heinz König’s Renaissance-Fraktur (1885) with initials from Friedrich W. Bauer’s Renaissance-Kanzlei (1883). “Die drei Musketiere” is presented in a lighter typeface, likewise with flourished capitals: Antike Kanzlei (1882) was designed in-house at Flinsch and cut by William Kirkwood. The name of Alexander [sic!] Dumas uses Original-Gotisch or similar. The smaller text including the caption of the frontispiece is set in a Normal-Fraktur.

“Die besten Romane der Weltliteratur” on the cover appears to be a (custom-made?) open variant of Renaissance-Fraktur. The author’s name here is set in Albert Anklam’s Neue Schwabacher (1876).

Alexandre Dumas gained the admiration of critics and the public with the publication of La Dame aux Camélias in 1848. It became one of the most popular novels of all times. Turquoise Inline and Turquoise are the fonts chosen for the book cover and the title on the spine of La dama de las camellias. This Spanish edition by Editorial Alma was translated by Mauro Armiño and illustrated by Maite Niebla. Turquoise Inline is also used for the initial caps of each chapter.

10/18 is a publishing house from Paris, France, founded in 1962. Its name derives from “10×18 centimeters” and emblematically stands for the concept to exclusively publish paperback books. The house gained special reputation in the 1970s and 80s with its publishing lines dedicated to social sciences and the literary “nouveau roman” genre. Further prominent fields of activity are foreign, non-French literature, detective novels and French classics.

Into this last domain fall the three titles featured in this post: novels by Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870), of which The Three Musketeers might be the most famous. Responsible for their covers is Camille Guitton, a self-employed graphic designer working between Paris and Nantes. In her design she merges historic illustrations with an expressive typeface, PVC Dynasty by Hélène Marian.

Part of a collection of three distinct designs published in Production Type’s LAB section, PVC Dynasty can be described as a narrow display roman with an extreme x-height and high stroke contrast. Its expressive spiky legs in K and R and the serifs remind of French typeface designs from around 1900.

Book covers for Biblioteca Áurea, a collection of classic novels that is (re)published by Editora Nova Fronteira in partnership with Amazon Brazil.