BOCCACCIO (Giovanni) &
TIEMANN (Walter).
[Original Walter Tiemann lettering for Das Dekameron]
With Tiemann's original designs
The original designer’s hand-drawn layouts for a new edition of Boccaccio.
In 1906, the Leipzig publishers Breitkopf & Härtel had published a new German edition of Giovanni di Boccaccio’s great collection of short stories, the Decameron. This edition featured beautiful design elements by celebrated German type designer Walter Tiemann (1876-1951). The process of designing the new devices and title pages of the book were reflective of his time – before computers and phototypesetting, designers had to draw mock-ups by hand if there were any elements of lettering.
From these original drawings we are able to see the skill and mathematical precision of Tiemann’s process. Each element is carefully lined and measured so that a good balance is achieved on the page. A fine example of type design in the early twentieth century.
