Paul Kersten (bookbinder)

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Paul Kersten (born March 19, 1865 in Glauchau ; † January 24, 1943 in Berlin ) was a German art bookbinder , university professor and author of numerous specialist publications.

Life

After completing his apprenticeship, Paul Kersten initially went traveling and worked in numerous bookbinders in France, Sweden and Germany. Subsequently, he became artistic director of the Aschaffenburg colored paper factory (see Philipp Dessauer ), then director of the stationery factory Zucker & Co.AG in Erlangen, opened his own workshop in Breslau and in 1904 became head of the Berlin large bindery and blanket factory Lüderitz & Bauer for a few months . As a result, he became a specialist teacher in the class for artistic book binding at the Berlin-Charlottenburg School of Applied Arts (later the Berlin Bookbinder School) and head of the Lette Association's bookbinding school. In 1912 Kersten founded with Carl Sonntag jun. the Jakob Krauße-Bund , as its chairman from 1914 to 1921 he showed himself to be an extremely self-confident and argumentative colleague who did not shy away from public discussions with colleagues, collectors and publishers. This characteristic was decisive in 1923 for the separation of the Association of Masters of Binding Art from the Jakob Krauße Bund.

Although stylistically and creatively limited and not very innovative, Kersten succeeded in stylizing himself as the leading binding artist of the early 20th century through extremely precise work, extreme ambition in all areas of his craft, as well as through skilful and tireless self-expression. Kersten's journalistic activity was aimed primarily at his own industry and the next generation. As early as 1885 he wrote a large number of articles in almost all German specialist magazines and positioned himself as an educational authority for the bookbinding trade. He concentrated on technical articles in association magazines and craft textbooks; In addition, as the publisher and editor-in-chief of Berliner Hochschulnachrichten, he also exercised his influence on educational policy. He set up another monument with Kersten falzbein, whom he had invented and driven out and who was warmly recommended in his specialist books . Paul Kersten achieved his greatest importance as a teacher. Over the years he trained generations of excellent bookbinders. His students include some of the most important German bookbinder of the 20th century as the later head of the School of Applied Arts in Weimar , Otto Dorfner , and the workshop manager for hand cover to the workshops of the city hall Giebichenstein , Otto Pfaff.

Book covers in human leather

Covers and a wallet by Kerstens, which he tied in human skin in 1911 for the eugenicist Hans Wilhelm Carl Friedenthal , were received controversially . Apparently Kersten himself did not find anything objectionable in the use of this material and presented his bindings himself in the archive for bookbinding , in the magazine for book lovers and again in 1922 in the specialist magazine Die Heftlade , where he described and praised the advantages of the material in detail. At the time, the copies were auctioned off by Paul Graupe in the Berlin Kunstantiquariat at high prices, which resulted in a process that was not about moral aspects, but about the justified price for the volumes. The books are now in the Stanford School of Medicine, California .

Works

  • Paul Kersten and Ludwig Sütterlin : The exact book cover . Publisher by Wilhelm Knapp, Halle a. d. Saale 1909.
  • Paul Kersten: The bookbinding and drawing of the bookbinder for advanced training and craft schools professionally explained. With 175 illustrations on 32 plates. Published by Wilhelm Knapp, Halle (Saale) 1909.
  • Paul Kersten: Book covers in human skin. Journal for Book Lovers, Issue 8, second year 1910, pp. 263–264. Publisher W. Drugulin, Leipzig.
  • Paul Kersten: Guide for Buchbinder Verlag by Wilhelm Knapp, Halle (Saale) 1922.
  • Paul Kersten: Making gilt edging. Textbook for bookbinders for the perfect production of gold cuts on books together with instructions for making chased cuts. Published by Wilhelm Knapp, Halle (Saale) 1936.

literature

  • Helma Schaefer: Paul Kersten. Rediscovery of a forgotten bookbinder . In: MDE circular . No. 2 , 2015, p. 28-32 .
  • Ernst Collin: Paul Kersten . First Corvinus print. Printed as a Festschrift of the Jakob Krauße-Bund, Association of German Art Bookbinders, on the occasion of the 60th birthday of its honorary chairman Paul Kersten on March 18, 1925. Berlin, Corvinus Antiquariat and Verlag Ernst Collin, 1925.
  • The nestor of the German art bookbinding, Paul Kersten, 70 years! . In: The bookbinder's apprentice . 9th year 1935, p. 2f. (with photo)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Archives for bookbinding - at the same time continuation of the illustr. Newspaper for bookbinding a. Cartonage manufacture. Journal for craft and craft bookbinding, cartonnage, leather goods and business books production, paper equipment. Edited and directed by Paul Adam in Düsseldorf. Xth year, May 1910, p. 17ff., With illustration.
  2. ^ Journal for book lovers - organ of the Society of Bibliophiles. New episode year II Founded by Fedor von Zobeltitz. Edited by Carl Schüddekopf and Georg Witkowski. Drugulin, Leipzig 1910.
  3. Kersten, Paul: Book covers in human leather in: Die Heftlade. Magazine for the sponsors of the Jakob Krauße Association. Editor Ernst Collin. First year, issue 1. Berlin, Euphorion Verlag 1922.