Verlag der Dichtung was a short-lived German publishing imprint active in the early 1920s, closely tied to the literary journal Die Dichtung and the Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag in Potsdam. The imprint is remembered today primarily for its distinctive publisher’s mark, a hexagonal blind stamp designed by the artist Lyonel Feininger.
Design and History
Verlag der Dichtung operated as a subsidiary of the Gustav Kiepenheuer Verlag, publishing the expressionist journal Die Dichtung and related portfolios from Potsdam between roughly 1920 and 1923.[1] The journal’s first series (1918/19) appeared under the Roland-Verlag in Munich; from the second series onward it was issued by Verlag der Dichtung Gustav Kiepenheuer in Potsdam.[2] The imprint ceased publication with the end of the journal in 1923.[3]
The publisher’s mark was a hexagonal blind stamp bearing the initials “VDD,” applied to prints and publications issued by the imprint.[4] The stamp was designed by Lyonel Feininger, the American-born painter and printmaker associated with the Bauhaus and German Expressionism.[5] Auction records confirm the attribution, describing the mark as “the publisher’s signet of Verlag der Dichtung, designed by Lyonel Feininger.”[6]
The blind stamp appears on sheets from Die Erste Mappe (The First Portfolio), a 1921 portfolio of original prints edited by Wolf Przygode and published by Verlag der Dichtung.[7] The portfolio included works by Feininger, Erich Heckel, Ludwig Meidner and Franz Marc.[8] A second portfolio, Sechzehn farbige Handzeichnungen aus den Skizzenbüchern von Franz Marc (1923), also carried the Feininger signet on its sheets.[9]
Meaning and Symbolism
The hexagonal form of the stamp and the initials “VDD” are documented in museum records describing the publisher’s mark.[4] Beyond this basic description, no documented interpretation of the mark’s symbolism has been located. The signet functioned as a dry stamp, an embossed mark without ink, applied to prints to certify their origin from the publisher.[5]
Typography and Design
Feininger’s signet for Verlag der Dichtung is documented as a hexagonal publisher’s stamp containing the letters “VDD.”[4] The mark was executed as a blind stamp, meaning it was pressed into the paper without ink or color.[5] No further typographic details, such as the specific letterform design or construction method, are documented in available sources.
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