The Style of the 18th Century German Poetry Book

Abstract

The article considers a question mainly unexplored — the history of German book art of the 18th century. There are outlined the main trends in the evolution of German books and highlighted their stylistic varieties. The “archaic” style, inherited from the 17th century, has its characteristic disharmony, rough types, and eclectic ornamenting. It remains relevant until the 1770s. From the 1730s, a style called here the “Leipzig classic” strives to overcome the limitations of the archaic. Its development is related to the partnership of the poet J.C. Gottsched and the publisher B.K. Breitkopf, and to the short period in German literature when classical standards prevailed. Probably, the Leipzig publishers’ practice directly affected the Russian book style of the third quarter of 18th century. In the 1750s, the literary program of the writer J.J. Bodmer and the circle of Zurich writers, opponents of J.C. Gottsched, fused with the publishing program associated with an attempt of some fundamental reforms. Bodmer himself, and later the poet Salomon Gessner, were co-owners of the largest Zurich publishing company. Through that, the original “Zurich” style appeared, heralding the future book “empire” style. Its most characteristic features are the Roman-faced type instead of the Gothic type and the lack of ornamentation. The end of the century typography is marked by some further evolution of the “Leipzig classic” style, the Gothic type standardization, and later the Roman-faced type standardization as well (“Walbaum” type). Consequently, German books of the 18th century represent a complex and uneven evolution, with huge regional differences and directly or indirectly related to the development of national literature, which is a phenomenon that cannot be observed in other European countries.