A Book Design Blog

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I've started a blog about book design.

After reading a piece in Publishers Weekly about book design bloggers, featuring Christopher Papasadero and Joseph Sullivan, and then reading a post about French book design written by the latter, I decided to launch my own book design blog, putting my own knowledge of French books to particular use.

Première de couverture, or the fascinating world of book cover design, can be found at http://bookdesign.wordpress.com.

Dictionnaire du monde germanique

Here it is, folks. The book that's had germanists and germanophiles all over the world salivating with anticipation for the past several years finally has a confirmed release date. After years of delays and one cancellation, I am pleased to report that the momumental Dictionnaire du monde germanique -- a 1000 page encyclopaedia covering historical, cultural, artistic, economic, political, sociological, religious and scientific aspects of the German-speaking civilisation -- will be published by Éditions Bayard on 27 September 2007.

Under the general editorship of Jacques Le Rider (EPHE Sorbonne), Michel Espagne (Normal Sup) and Élisabeth Décultot (CNRS), the book will feature articles written by leading germanists from around the world. Originally scheduled to be published by the Presses universitaires de France in 1999, the book was delayed until 2001, then 2002, and finally cancelled. Eventually there was talk that Bayard would publish it in 2005. 2005 came and still no book. Finally, in June 2005, I had confirmation from Jacques Le Rider himself that Bayard had agreed to publish the book, although the release date remained unconfirmed. In January 2007 Bayard indicated that it would most likely be released some time in Fall 2007, and then on 6 June 2007, the Google Alert that I configured alerted me (it does what it says on the tin!) to the publication date. Priced at 129 Euros, I don't even want to think about what the Canadian retail price will end up being. I had better start saving up...

Fiche technique
Title: Dictionnaire du monde germanique
Sous la direction de Michel Espagne, Elisabeth Décultot et Jacques Le Rider
Publisher: Éditions Bayard
ISBN-10: 2227476524
ISBN-13: 9782227476523
Publication Date: 27 September 2007
Format: Broché, 24 x 17 cm, 1100 pages
Features: Illustrations en noir et blanc, cartes
Retail Price (France): 129 Euros
Retail Price (Canada): To be confirmed

What follows is a preliminary partial list of contributors and article titles, pieced together from information found here and there on the web. I have no idea if all of these will make it into the final product.

François Delpla

• Hitler : vie
• Hitler : politique

Jacques Ehrenfreund

• Emancipation juive


• Revues et associations juives


• Assimilation juive


• Communautés juives dans le monde germanique jusqu'en 1800

Stéphanie Buchenau

• Schulphilosophie


• Intersubjektivität

Guillaume Garner

• Charles Quint


• Théorie économique II – caméralisme

Lutz Winckler

• Littérature de l'exil


• Littérature de l'immigration intérieure

Moussa Sarga

• L’Orient littéraire au XIXe siècle

Thomas Serrier

• Littérature allemande de la Baltique

Carlos Herrera

• Rechtspositivismus


• Reine Rechtslehre

Daniel Baric

• Serbes, Croates et Allemands

Marielle Silhouette

• Bertolt Brecht


• Théâtre épique

Roland Krebs

• Voltaire (yes, he did have a German connection!)


• Lumières suisses


• Drame bourgeois


• Faust

Frank Muller

• Renaissance

Cécile Schenck

• Tanztheater

Pierre Monnet (sub-editor of the Mediaeval section of the dictionary)

• Communalisme et ligues urbaines


• La forêt allemande au Moyen Âge


• Grand commerce, foires et compagnies


• Hanse


• Historiographie et chroniques


• Italies allemandes


• Les Luxembourg


• La monnaie dans l'Empire au Moyen Âge


• Symbolique impériale jusqu'en 1806


• Villes et tissu urbain au Moyen Âge en Allemagne

As time permits, I'll be adding more information to this preview.