Publishing and book design in Latvia 1919-1940: a re-discovery

Abstract

Using over 700 color images of illustrated book covers and wrappers, this book presents a fascinating view of the remarkable, and as yet unheralded, creativity which characterized publishing and book design in Latvia between the World Wars. The majority of covers shown herein were made by artists or designers commissioned by publishers to attract potential buyers. It is through these illustrated covers and wrappers for books (and, for comparison, covers of selected periodicals, sheet music, and a few posters) that a glimpse of the "look" of the Latvian book during the Independence - late 1919 to the summer of 1940 - emerges.

Contents

Part 1. Latvian-language publishing -- part 2. Russian-language publishing -- part 3. Publishing in the Jewish community -- part 4. German-language publishing.