Schreibschrift, Zierschrift und angewandte Schrift, Klinkhardt & Biermann ad

This leaflet advertised the fifth German edition of Edward Johnston’s Writing & Illuminating & Lettering from 1955. Published in English in 1906, the handbook was translated by Anna Simons, a former student of Johnston at the Royal College of Art, and first issued in German by Klinkhardt & Biermann in 1910. More editions followed in 1921, 1928, and 1936. Together with Simons’s work as a teacher, Schreibschrift, Zierschrift und angewandte Schrift had a great impact on the renewed interest in modern penmanship and lettering and the dissemination of Johnston’s ideas in German-speaking countries.

The front page of the leaflet is a reproduction of the book’s jacket. The title and the author’s name are shown in reverse on a brown open scroll, in Weiß-Antiqua and Weiß-Kursiv, the latter with several of its ligatures for ch and ft. The scroll is framed by an almost full set of Weiß-Initialen II including the alternate A and E, but skipping the J, in olive green. The typeface used for the text on the other pages likewise echoes the choice made for the book: It’s Stempel Garamond with italics and small caps. The Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB) has a digitization of the full book complete with the jacket.

Established in 1907 in Leipzig, Klinkhardt & Biermann relocated to Berlin in 1933 and again to Braunschweig in 1948. Co-founder Werner Klinkhardt (1882–1926) is a descendant of Julius Klinkhardt (1810–1881), the Leipzig-based publisher and type founder.