RBML Exhibition— “Ernst Reichl: Wide Awake Typographer”

Kempner Gallery

July 8 – September 13, 2013

RBML Reichl Exhibition

The Rare Book and Manuscript Library is delighted to present a major exhibition of the work of Ernst Reichl (1900-1980), German-American book designer, active and prominent in New York/American publishing from the 1930s into the 1970s. A ‘whole book’ designer, Reichl believed in the harmonious totality of the package and the value of one design vision for all its parts, and became one of the top trade book designers, prolific and award-winning. He actively promoted the profession and high standards in book publishing, by example and through writing, teaching, and exhibitions. A serious reader (he read broadly and seldom designed without reading the manuscript), Reichl was also a scholar, and a fine writer. The latter activity was an unexpected discovery in his papers, given to Columbia by his widow, Miriam Reichl, and the catalyst for this exhibition.

Martha Scotford, exhibition curator, Professor Emeritus of Graphic Design, North Carolina State University (NCSU), assisted by Kezra Cornell; Master of Graphic Design candidate, NCSU. This exhibition has been supported by a Columbia Libraries Research Grant, and the Reese Fellowship for American Bibliography and the History of the Book in the Americas from the Bibliographical Society of America.

Note on exhibition title: from Reichl’s comment on the card for Joyce Carol Oates’ The Wheel of Love (Vanguard, 1970): “J.C.O. enjoys using typographic devices of all sorts to express herself… and many other oddities, which require a wide-awake typographer.”

For more information on the exhibition, please see: information.

For exhibition hours, please review: hours.

Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Butler Library, 6th floor East, 535 West 114th St., New York, NY 10027

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