Walter Leonhard

Biography

Trademarks, book jackets, publicity, writer on design/printing history. Born 23 December 1912 in Zweibrücken/Pfalz. Apprenticed as a lithographer. 1934-6: studied at the Meisterschule, Kaiserslautern. Designed for industrial firms such as Junkers Aviation (Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerken), Dessau, Linke-Hofmann-Werke (1938), Breslau, and Bavarian Engine Works (Bayer. Motoren-Werken) (1939). From 1942: head of lettering/typography class at the Munich Akademie für angewandte Kunst. From 1945: freelance in Munich. By 1956: art director of pharmaceutical firm Byk-Gulden.

Writings by

  • ‘Neuzeitlicher Schriftlehrgang. “Christoph Fabius Brechtel”, eine Fraktur’, DzS, Oct. 1939
  • ‘Eine Fraktur – Neuzeitlicher Schriftlehrgang’, DzS, April 1940
  • ‘The language of secret signs of alchemy’, Gg, Jan. 1957, pp. 30-35
  • ‘From Japanese armorials’, Gg, Sept. 1957, pp. 40-43
  • ‘Von wunderbarlicher Art’ (woodcuts of fabulous animals), Gg, Feb. 1959, pp. 28-35
  • ‘The advertising of the Asta-Werke AG’, novum, Feb. 1971, pp. 32-7
  • ‘Artistic mnemotechnics from the 15th century’, novum, March 1971, pp. 42-5
  • ‘The alphabetic man’ (19th-century typographic figures), novum, Feb. 1972, pp. 16-23
  • ‘Marks and punches on old pewter ware’, novum, May 1972, pp. 54-6
  • ‘Mail-order catalogues from the turn of the century’, novum, Sept. 1973, pp. 10-15
  • Zeichen guter Gastlichkeit (hotel/tavern signs), Munich: Bruckmann, 1973
  • ‘Willi Engelhardt, Munich’ (renderings of early ceramics), novum, June 1976, pp. 52-6
  • Das grosse Buch der Wappenkunst (The Great Book of Heraldry), Munich: Callwey, 1976
  • ‘Heraldry’ (with Peggy Lindner), novum, Aug. 1976, pp. 42-51
  • Bruckmann’s Handbuch der Schrift (with Erhardt D. Stiebner), Munich: Bruckmann, 1977 (2nd ed. 1980)
  • ‘Bruckmann’s Handbook of Script’ (with Peggy Lindner), novum, Jan. 1978, pp. 22-8
  • ‘By practions for practitions’ (with Thilo Pröstler
  • 50 years of novum Gebrauchsgraphik), novum, Jan. 1979, pp. 9-40
  • ‘Werner Rebhuhn’, novum, March 1979, pp. 34-7 (paperback covers)
  • ‘Heraldry’, novum, May 1979, pp. 49-56 (summary of his book).

Writings about

  • Eberhard Hölscher, ‘Walter Leonhard’, Gg, Aug. 1950, pp. 41-8
  • E. Hölscher, ‘Advertising art in post-war Germany’, Graphis 34, 1951, pp. 58-79, esp. pp. 66, 73, 76, 77
  • E. Hölscher, ‘Pharmaceutical prospectuses’, Gg, June 1956, pp. 10-15
  • Hubert H. Scharl, ‘Schabtechnik’ (scraper-board), Graphik, Feb. 1957, p. 39
  • ‘The magic of script’, Graphik, Aug. 1958, pp. 10-11
  • brief biography, Gg, Nov. 1958, p. 63
  • E. Hölscher, ‘Calendar review 1958/9’, Gg, July 1959, pp. 18-25
  • Vollmer, 1962
  • note on Das grosse Buch der Wappenkunst, in Graphis 183, 1976, p. 95.