Les années folles 1918–1930 by Guilleminault Gilbert, Club des Amis du Livre
Gilbert Guilleminault’s book about the “crazy years” – the period commonly referred to in English as the Roaring Twenties – was first published by Denoël in 1958. Shown here is a book club edition issued in 1962 by the Club des Amis du Livre in their “Le meilleur livre de luxe” series, limited to 5,000 numbered copies.
The chosen display typeface dates from the end of the covered period: it’s Cassandre’s Bifur, first cast by Deberny & Peignot in 1928. Spine lettering, endpapers and title page show Bifur double, the version for two-color use. The geometric glyphs are printed in black plus alternating primary colors.
The original binding, typography and illustration are by E.W. Mercier and Yves Noirot. Text is set in the 10pt size of Egyptienne F. Designed by Adrian Frutiger, this humanist slab serif is another innovative release by Deberny & Peignot. It was issued in 1958 for their pioneering phototypesetting system, the Lumitype. The book was printed on the presses of Petits-Fils de Léonard Danel in Loos-lez-Lille.
The endpapers list the events covered in the book, including the death of Lenin, the scandal caused by Victor Margueritte’s La Garçonne, Atatürk’s revolution, the Four Musketeers at the Davis Cup, the Munich Putsch, the boxing fight between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier, and the Black Thursday at Wall Street.
On the title page, the Bifur letters get in line. Contributors are listed below: François Brigneau, André Falk, Paul Gérin, Dominique Lapierre, Henri Legros, Anne Manson, René Masson, Pierre Minet, Hugues Panassié, Michel Perrin, and Robert de Thomasson.
Bifur is also used inside the book. A contour was added so that the black parts stand out from the dark background.
Opening to the chapter about “jazz as it conquers the century”, set in bold Egyptienne F
For the endpapers at the back, the parts in Bifur were mirrored.
