• The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2018 - Volume 12
  • The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2018 - Volume 12

The Most Beautiful Swiss Books 2018 - Volume 12

Regular price $40.00

For the 2018 edition of the Most Beautiful Swiss Book catalog, which presents the results of the annual competition that highlights the most beautiful Swiss books, the results were published as nineteen separate issues. Each issue was printed in a limited edition of 160 copies at Neidhart + Schön. 

The conceptual approach of this year's catalog explores the relationship of an original with its reproduction. Each volume reproduces the entire content of one of the awarded books. Across the nineteen editions, the books have been standardized in print, format, and paper, and each contains a second section that reports on the competition and winners.

The result is that each volume is also a facsimile – a model of the original.

Volume 12 replicates Giftmord: Eine Kriminalgeschichte von 1929 [Poisoning: A 1929 crime story], designed by Naima Schalche and published by Hier und Jetzt, Verlag für Kultur und Geschichte, Baden.

The jury statement about the original publication:

“With a simple yet skillful design, this small-format hardcover book of text presents history in two senses. In both a fictionalized life story and in historical documents, the author explores the case of a mother of 16 and alleged fortune teller who, despite maintaining her innocence, was sentenced to life imprisonment in Aarau in 1929 for a double murder. The life story, divided into chapters, is set in a justified single-column layout with a serif font that is perfect for reading. In between are seven extended excerpts from daily newspapers and court and police files with the same font and type area but this time in ragged text on pages with black frames that can be seen on the cut edge. The result is an elegant visualization of both the distinctions and the correlations between the two levels of history which, as a result, are easy to navigate between throughout the volume. The black-and-white cover with a full-bleed photo of the convicted woman’s house combined with the simple, ordered typography is exceptional for the book’s genre. The result is an attractive and affordable object.”

With text contributions by Tan Wälchli and Joost Grootens.

Designed by Teo Schifferli

Published by Bundesamt Fur Kultur Bern

Softcover, pages variable, color and b&w, 8.25 × 11.75 inches

ISBN: 978-3-90-992852-1

Looking makes making better.