It’s not just Germans who know the “little yellow books” of classic literature. From South Africa to the US, Reclam publisher’s paperbacks are unmistakable symbols of German culture — and they now have their own museum.
They’re widely known as “Reclam Hefte” in German-speaking countries, which translates as “Reclam booklets,” and they are all part of the publisher’s “Universal Library” (“Universal-Bibliothek”) series.
With this canary-colored collection, the Reclam publishing house has been at the forefront of printing and distributing paperback books at discount prizes for just over 150 years. Now, a museum dedicated to Reclam is opening its doors in the city where the publisher was first based, Leipzig.
Hans-Jochen Marquart is chairman of the foundation that funds the museum. The thousands of books on display all belong to his private collection of Reclam treasures.
“(The museum) is designed to first provide an overview of the history of Reclam, stretching from before its foundation to the present. We present lesser known editions alongside the yellow books. Reclam has actually produced books to fit all budgets and address all preferences, including editions bound in leather and half leather, linen, vellum and even water-repellent vellum,” Marquart told DW ahead of the museum’s opening day on October 24.
Education for the masses
There is a lot to learn about the history of Reclam at the museum: The publisher was established in 1828, but it really started building its business empire in 1867. Previous copyright reform had stipulated that many classic works of German literature would be protected for 30 years following the death of the respective author. The retroactive starting date was 1837, meaning that in 1867, Reclam suddenly could make cheap copies of beloved works by literary greats including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller, Theodor Storm or Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
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