Das Wintermärchen by William Shakespeare, Hendel

Otto Hendel (1820–1898) was a German publisher in Halle/Saale who took over the publishing house and book store founded by his grandfather Johann Christian Hendel (1742–1823) in 1768. In 1886, he founded the Bibliothek der Gesamt-Litteratur, “to make the best of the literary works produced by civilized nations, both past and present, available to the German people in attractive and affordable editions.” After thirty years, the library had grown to include 2,165 volumes.

Shown here is a translation of William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, published around 1890. Title and author’s name are set in two sizes of Fleischmann-Gotisch. Cut by Johann Fleischmann in the mid-18th century and known at Enschedé as Duits (or Duyts), it was later recut at Flinsch as Fleischmann-Gotisch and at Krebs as Holländische Gotisch. The word “von” is added in some Schwabacher. The grotesk caps used for the publisher’s name probably are custom drawn.