Wovon soll ich reden? by Constanze von Franken

“What should I talk about? The art of entertainment” is a manual for conducting a conversation, written by Helene Stökl (1845–1929) under her pen name, Constanze von Franken. First published in 1894 by Levy & Müller in Stuttgart, with the second edition following in 1896, this is the third edition, probably from around 1898.

The title page is a smorgasbord of German blackletter typefaces from the late 19th century. In order of appearance, these are: Enge verzierte Altdeutsch (“Wovon soll ich reden?”), Antike Kanzlei (“Die Kunst der Unterhaltung”), Halbfette Schwabacher (“Ein praktisches Handbuch”), Gutenberg-Gotisch (“mit Anleitungen, Musterbeispielen (Zwiegespräche u.s.w.) für die verschiedensten Anlässe und Vorkommnisse im modernen gesellschaftlichen Leben und Verkehr, für Damen und Herren.”), Neue Schwabacher (“Nebst einem Anhang”), and Schmale Akzidenz-Gotisch (“Hundert Gesellschaftsspiele, fünfzig Pfänderauslösungen”). “Constanze von Franken” is set in the halbfett weight of Gutenberg-Gotisch. The two lines below are in Neue Schwabacher again, and “Stuttgart” shows more of the Halbfette Schwabacher.

Several of the fonts were produced by the local Bauer & Co – which was acquired by Berthold on this day in 1898.

Levy & Müller was founded in 1871 by Maximilian Levy and Wilhelm Müller. In the first four decades of the 20th century, it was one of the leading publishers of books for young people in the German-speaking world. The publishing house was renamed Herold-Verlag in 1933. Due to their Jewish roots, the owners were forced to sell it in 1936. They managed to flee to the United States in 1938 – the year of the Nazi pogroms on 9–10 November – and 1941, respectively.