Hans Bohn

Biography

Book and jacket design, calligraphy, type design, publisher. Born 23 December 1891 in Oberlahnstein. 1910-12: studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule Offenbach a.M.: teachers included Rudolf Koch and Franz Franke. 1913-14: worked for the publisher Ullstein. 1916: illustrated Das Orplid ABC for the series of Orplid Books, publisher Berlin-Charlottenburg: Juncker. 1919-30: worked for publishers and industrial firms, and Klingspor Brothers Typefoundry which issued Bohn’s type Orplid (1929) and decorations Karneval-Vignetten (1931). From 1931: freelance. 1946-60: taught specialist class for applied arts (angewandte Graphik) at the Offenbach Werkkunstschule (today the Hochschule für Gestaltung), where he had earlier been a student. He designed the typefaces Mondial (1936-7, Stempel), Allegro (1936, Ludwig & Mayer), Fette-Künstler-Schreibschrift (1957, Stempel) as well as trademarks and bookbindings. In his later years he was one of Germany’s best-known book designers. Died 10 May 1980 in Frankfurt a.M.

Writings by

  • Das Orplid ABC (series), Berlin: Axel Juncker Verlag, 1916
  • ‘Contest for emblem for Frankfurt Fair’, Graphik, 1949, pp. 310-11.

Writings about

  • Walter Schürmeyer, ‘Hans Bohn’, AfB, Dec. 1926, pp. 481-504 (series: ‘Deutsche Buchkünstler…’)
  • ‘Hans Bohn’, Gg, 1929, v. 11, pp. 61-8
  • Konrad Friedrich Bauer, ‘Bericht über neue Schriften’, Imprimatur, 1931, pp. 65-85, esp. p. 85 (Orplid)
  • Hans Bockwitz, ‘Junge deutsche Büchkunstler’, AfB, Nov. 1934, pp. 699-784, esp. p. 700
  • Eberhard Hölscher, ‘Der Schutzumschlag’, Klimschs Jahrbuch, 1934, pp. 44-60
  • ‘Allegro’, Art and Industry, 1936, v. 21, p. 246
  • ‘Aus den Schriftgiessereien’ (Allegro), Deutscher Drucker, Jan. 1937, p. 150
  • AfB, 1937, p. 224 (Mondial)
  • AfB, 1937, after p. 464: Stempel ad for Mondial
  • ‘Die neuen Schriften des Jahres 1937’ (Mondial), Deutscher Drucker, Jan. 1938, p. 142
  • Heinrich Jost, ‘Hans Bohn – a calligrapher and book artist’, Gg, April 1941, pp. 13-24
  • Gg, April 1941, pp. 13-24
  • E. Hölscher, ‘Advertising art in post-war Germany’, Graphis 34, 1951, pp. 58-79
  • showing of Allegro, Gg, Dec. 1952, p. 54
  • brief biography, Gg, May 1953, p. 55
  • Georg Kurt Schauer, ‘Gedenken, Gruss und Dank’, Imprimatur, 1956/7, p. 200
  • note on Mondial, Gg, Feb. 1958, p. 63
  • Hans A. Halbey, ‘Book-jackets as an advertising medium’, Gg, Aug. 1959, pp. 10-19
  • GKS, 1963, p. 251
  • ‘Hans Bohn fünfundsiebzig Jahre’, Form und Technik, 1967, p. 56
  • Hans Bohn 80 Jahre alt’, Graphik, 1972, 2, pp. 12-13
  • Pfäfflin, 1986
  • HAH, 1991
  • AKL, 1996
  • FOS, 1998
  • Kmuseum booklet
  • GC, 2000
  • Jerry Kelly, ‘Klingspor calendars’, Matrix, Winter 2003, pp. 148-54.

Collections

  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M.

Exhibitions

  • Klingspor Museum, Offenbach a.M., 1957.