Die Phönizier by Gerhard Herm

Contributed by Patrick Nell


Photo: Patrick Nell. License: All Rights Reserved.

Die Phönizier: Das Purpurreich der Antike (The Phoenicians: The Purple Empire of the Ancient World) is a wide-ranging account of Phoenician history by German journalist and non-fiction writer Gerhard Herm. First published by Econ Verlag in 1973, it spent eight weeks at number one on Der Spiegel’s non-fiction bestseller list that year. The book traces the rise and decline of the Phoenician city states and their maritime trading culture, covering navigation and shipbuilding, colonies across the Mediterranean, purple dye and glass production, religion, and the development and spread of the alphabet.

This undated copy is a licensed book club edition, probably published in 1975 or sometime thereafter. (The back of the dust jacket mentions Herm receiving the Ernst Schneider Prize in 1974, suggesting 1975 as the earliest plausible date, and carries what is likely an internal inventory or distribution barcode, rather than a modern EAN or ISBN barcode.)

The large red title on the dust jacket is set in Reklameschrift Herold. The typography otherwise appears to combine two Garamond-related designs: the author’s name and subtitle are set in Stempel Garamond Italic, while the Jannon-based Amsterdamer Garamont is used for the roman text on the dust jacket and for the place names and legend on the front and rear endpaper maps. In the interior, Stempel Garamond is used for the body text, while Helvetica features for chapter titles, subheadings, the contents, the colophon, and other supporting text.

318 pages; approximately 15×22 cm; red clothbound hardcover with dust jacket. Published for Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn OHG, Gütersloh; the Europäische Bildungsgemeinschaft Verlags-GmbH, Stuttgart; Buchgemeinschaft Donauland, Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna; and the Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, Berlin–Darmstadt–Vienna. Produced by Mohndruck Reinhard Mohn OHG, Gütersloh; printed in Germany. Cover photograph by Gerhard Fromm.

Photo: Patrick Nell. License: All Rights Reserved.


Photo: Patrick Nell. License: All Rights Reserved.


Photo: Patrick Nell. License: All Rights Reserved.


Photo: Patrick Nell. License: All Rights Reserved.


Photo: Patrick Nell. License: All Rights Reserved.


Photo: Patrick Nell. License: All Rights Reserved.

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