Luchterhand collection

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Luchterhand collection
B1 - Luchterhand Collection - Development of the bindings.jpg
description Paperback series
publishing company Luchterhand literature publisher
First edition 1970
founder Otto F. Walter
ISSN (print) 0179-9142

The Luchterhand Collection is a series of paperback books by Luchterhand Verlag that has been published since 1970 and was brought to life by the publisher Otto F. Walter .

Edition history

Between 1970 and 1991, between 11 (1978) and 125 (1987) new titles were presented, by 1974 170 titles had appeared. The 500th volume was published in 1984, the 1000th volume in 1991.

The new series consisted of "Original editions and reprints (s) from the fields of literature , media theory , politics and social science ." In addition, a detective novel found access to the series ( Wolfgang Hermann Körner - The Conspiracy of Berburg, 1971).

Volume 1: Jurek Becker: Jakob the Liar , 1970

In 1972 the publication of social science titles was split off, while the literary and socio-political titles remained in the Luchterhand collection. At the same time the literary branch of the publishing house moved to Darmstadt under the direction of Otto F. Walter .

In 1987 the Hermann-Luchterhand-Verlag was sold to the Dutch publishing group Kluwer , which sparked violent protests from many authors. The literary part of the publishing house was then given to Arche Verlag AG in Zurich .

But in 1993 the Luchterhand collection was sold again, this time to the Deutsche Taschenbuchverlag (dtv). After many authors had left the publishing house, the Luchterhand collection of paperback books was successfully re-established on the market in 2001 with six new volumes of poetry, including Ernst Jandl's last poems.

In October 2001 , Luchterhand-Literaturverlag was finally taken over by the Random House publishing group , which continued to develop the Luchterhand collection. Since November 2005 , one or two new publications have been presented each month, which consist exclusively of original or German first editions.

List of titles in the Luchterhand collection

A fairly complete list of the titles in the Luchterhand Collection 1 to 999 can be found on a private homepage:

  • The Luchterhand Collection (SL) Volumes 1 to 499
  • The Luchterhand Collection (SL) Volumes 500 to 999

Luchterhand course collection

An edition of the Edition Sammlung Luchterhand Kurs, 1975

A special edition of the series was launched in 1974, called the Luchterhand Course Collection or SL course for short . Six titles in this series can currently be named.

  • K1004 Wulf D. Hund - Ware news and information fetish , 1976
  • K1005 Lienhard Wawrzyn - Critique of Methods in Literature Education , 1975
  • K1006 Klaus Peters - Marxism and Philosophy
  • K1007 Ulrich Albrecht (Ed.) U. a. - Anti-Military Studies , 1975

The two titles

  • K1002 Michael Buselmeier - The happy consciousness , 1974 and
  • K1003 Gerhard Armanski - The Origin of Scientific Socialism , 1974

were accidentally not mentioned there.

The titles

  • K1000 and
  • K1001 cannot be detected.

Appreciations

The author Wolfgang Weyrauch certified the Luchterhand-Verlag and thus also the Luchterhand Collection, in which he is represented with a volume, not to "stay seated on what (...) the new literature is, but to always discover the latest and promote ".

"So far, the Luchterhand Collection has become indispensable for everyone who practices theory and criticism of literature, culture in the broadest sense and society, or is even only remotely interested in it." ( Heinz Ludwig Arnold , Hessischer Rundfunk )

responsible

editor

The editors of the Luchterhand collection and the Luchterhand literary publisher were or are:

  • from 1972: Otto F. Walter
  • from 1989: Elisabeth Raabe and Regina Vitali
  • from 1993: Gerald J. Trageiser
  • since 2004: Georg Reuchlein and Regina Kammerer

Proofreading

Stephan Reinhardt has been in charge of editing since 1971 .

Graphic artist

The graphic artist Hannes Jähn (1934–1987), who was entrusted with the design , opted for a purely typographical solution, which corresponded to the emphatically objective and enlightening approach of the publisher's program. The result of his efforts was a consistently purist aesthetic that was not unpleasant but appropriate and coherent. In the following years the graphic artist Roland Eschlbeck took over the design of the series.

Furnishing

The publication of a series of texts that tended to be progressive found an adequate implementation in the Luchterhand Collection in the form of the paperback, which achieved significant growth in the book market at the end of the 1960s because it was manageable, lightweight and quick to produce re-editions at a significantly lower price than bound books linked. For the first few years the volumes were protected by a sturdy cellophane envelope; this feature was later abandoned for cost reasons.

Publishing prospectus from 1972

layout

The bindings of the editions of the Luchterhand Collection were initially characterized by pure text design and appeared throughout in beige color. In later editions and reprints, photos and drawings were also used, which increasingly took up more space. From around title 733 onwards, the title, photos or illustrations and the publisher's text on the book covers, as well as the basic color used, were designed completely freely.

font

In the typographical design of the book series, a sans serif , proportional grotesque font was initially used for the title in bold . Later, a more conventional Times font was used; From around title 733 onwards, various fonts were used.

signet

A signet was designed for the Luchterhand collection , which consists of a quarter circle and symbolizes an open book. Most of the time, the lettering Luchterhand collection or SL course was integrated into the quarter circle.

Prices

The prices per title initially ranged between DM 4.90 and DM 9.80, currently volumes from the Luchterhand collection can be bought for between EUR 7 and EUR 12.

Authors and Topics

Issues of the Luchterhand collection / year for 1970 to 1993

The Luchterhand Collection included many authors and scholars from the humanities, social and natural sciences who had dedicated themselves to the dawn of the 1968 movement or who were its pioneers. In addition, attention was paid to social science, social theory (especially Marxism ), media theory and politics, with environmental protection , the emancipation of women and criticism of imperialism being further priorities. At the same time, however, the conservative criticism of the conditions of actually existing socialism by the author Alexander Solzhenitsyn received a voice with six titles. Until the 1990s, license editions by GDR authors made up a notable part of the program .

Authors

The following authors were represented with an above-average number of titles (in brackets: number of titles between 1970 and 1990, * = contains GDR licensed editions):

Chilean authors in whom there was great interest after the 1973 military coup (5), especially

New discoveries and rediscoveries

(in brackets: number of titles between 1970 and 1990)

Literary-political focus

Fairy tales, mythology and science fiction

Sociological or socially relevant topics

Anthologies, reading books

(in brackets: number of titles between 1970 and 1990) records and compilations by well-known authors (Härtling, Wohmann, Grass and others):

  • Number information for the reader (Wohmann, Green, Bichsel, Grass, Härtling, Hofmann)
  • My reading series (Wohmann, Härtling)
  • Series of materials book (Wohmann, Grün, Seghers, Grass, Wolf, Jandl, Härtling)
  • Selection of works ( Mehring , Seghers, Sternheim)
  • Class register (3 volumes), political stories, edited by Hans Magnus Enzensberger
  • Poetry collections (38)
  • Bilingual books (poems in the original language and translation (3))
  • Luchterhand series, year book of poetry , 8 (double) volumes

Anthologies (with country reference)

Collection of literary works from

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Walter, Otto F. - Luchterhand. The first 50 years. 1924-1974. Neuwied / Darmstadt, 1975
  2. ↑ a b c d e Publication by the Random House publishing house
  3. ↑ List of titles, volumes 1 to 499
  4. ↑ List of titles, volumes 500 to 999
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Weyrauch - With the head through the wall - stories, poems, a radio play, 1973
  6. ↑ Walter, Otto F. - Luchterhand. The first 50 years. 1924-1974. Neuwied / Darmstadt, 1975, p. 40
  7. ↑ Luchterhand Collection, complete paperback directory, September 1971 - April 1972. Neuwied, 1972
  8. ↑ DER SPIEGEL website , November 2, 1987 edition
  9. ↑ Buchmarkt website, July 5, 2004
  10. ↑ Buchmarkt website, July 15, 2004
  11. ↑ Walter, Otto F. - Luchterhand. The first 50 years. 1924-1974. Neuwied / Darmstadt, 1975, p. 54
  12. ↑ Marion Janzin, Joachim Güntner: The Book of the book: 5000 yearbook story . Schlütersche, Hannover 2007, ISBN 978-3-89993-805-0 , p. 445 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  13. ↑ WIKIHOW website