Reading 1920! Bibliophiles in the Laboratory of Modernism

High-quality books produced as inexpensively as possible – this was the aim of the People’s Association of Bibliophiles (VdB), one of the most influential book associations in Germany. In 1920 it published the first volume in its annual series of literary works – Goethe’s Faust. By 1961 it had published hundreds more, including classic works of literature, contemporary novels, travel reports and natural scientific treatises.

In 2019 the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek (HAAB) acquired two private collections of practically the entire series produced by the VdB. Now for the first time, these works are publicly displayed in the Study Centre of the HAAB. The presentation includes book illustrations, book covers, original prints and other items from the VdB’s multifaceted programme, e.g. a globe or the beautifully illustrated picture book Schlaraffenland by Karl Arnold, one of the best-known caricaturists of the first half of the 20^th century. Thomas Mann had this to say about the book: “I flipped through it three or four times and then gave the book to my children, a gesture for which I should be commended because I would have very much liked to keep it myself.”

With the kind support of the Gesellschaft Anna Amalia Bibliothek.