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Ein Totentanz by Walter Draesner

Contributed by Florian Hardwig on Jul 21st, 2016. Artwork published in .
Ein Totentanz by Walter Draesner 1
Source: digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. Images cropped and adjusted. License: Public Domain.

Ein Totentanz (A Danse Macabre) is a series of reproduced silhouettes cut by Walter Draesner and published in 1922 by B. Behrs Verlag / Friedrich Feddersen, Berlin and Leipzig, with an introduction by Max von Boehn. Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf has made an electronic edition available under a CC0-License (Public Domain Dedication).

The Gotisch typeface on the title page is Rudolf Koch’s Maximilian (1917), with a decorated capital ‘T’ and a swash alternate ‘z’. The drop cap in the introduction is also from Maximilian’s Zierbuchstaben. The artist’s name, the introduction text and the table of contents are set in Ehmcke-Fraktur (1912). The publisher’s name is rendered in caps from Ehmcke-Rustika (1914).

Marvel at all of Draesner’s spine-chilling silhouettes in the electronic edition. See also the recent French reissue Noirs Desseins, designed by Clément Le Tulle-Neyret using Yoann Minet’s Totentanz.

Ein Totentanz by Walter Draesner 2
Source: digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. Images cropped and adjusted. License: Public Domain.
Ein Totentanz by Walter Draesner 3
Source: digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. Images cropped and adjusted. License: Public Domain.
Ein Totentanz by Walter Draesner 4
Source: digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. Images cropped and adjusted. License: Public Domain.
Ein Totentanz by Walter Draesner 5
Source: digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. Images cropped and adjusted. License: Public Domain.
Plate No. 2, Der Tod und die Kinder (Death and Children)
Source: digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. Images cropped and adjusted. License: Public Domain.

Plate No. 2, Der Tod und die Kinder (Death and Children)

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