Nostalgia - Dot, dot, comma, dash

Some years ago when I still did the "Finds of the week" posts, I had some called "I'm a collector" in which I shared vintage items. Over time my collections have mostly stopped growing due to different reasons, but they are still there and still loved. I also have vintage items, some inherited, some gifts, some from fleamarkets, some more interesting than others. So I thought it could be fun to share some of them every, now and then and tell their story.

Today's item is a book that was first published in 1944, but is still available today, both printed and as an ebook!
I read up on its author for the first time and was quite surprised.
The book is called "Punkt, Punkt, Komma, Strich" and is by Hans Witzig.
The title refers to a little phrase or song - I couldn't find out where or when it is from - which goes "Punkt, Punkt, Komma, Strich, fertig ist das Mondgesicht" (there are small variations) which translates to "Dot, dot, comma, dash, done is the moon face". Thinking about it now, this is still pretty much what I add to little notes I write instead of a smiley.

The author's name sounds like a pseudonym as "Witzig" means "Funny", but it was indead his real name. Dr. Hans Witzig was a Swiss art historian, artist, art teacher, and author who lived from 1889 to 1973.
I got his book as a child and I loved it. The subtitle tells us it's "drawing lessons for children". I can't remember actually learning how to draw from it, but I enjoyed the lessons in theory. Actually, that was a point critics made, that children used his drawing books just as story and coloring books and maybe copied drawings from them, but that the detailed instructions did not help them to get truly creative.

Where my copy went, who knows, but it must have been very worn. Eventually I got nostalgic enough to get myself an old edition from 1969, from around the same time I got mine (mere coincidence).
This copy has an inscription "Für gute Leistungen im Schuljahr 1969/70 erhält Annette D**** als Anerkennung diesen Preis - M******" (Annette D**** receives this prize in recognition of her good performance in the 1969/70 school year - M******). I started school in 1970, so Annette must have been a little older than I, also in my time there weren't book prizes anymore, at least not in my town.
(And a few days later Gundel threw up on it, so I probably shouldn't have taken the one in the best condition *headdesk* but that's what I get for keeping books in bed, I guess.)

Actually, Witzig did a lot more than teach and write books teaching children how to draw.
He illustrated primers and fairy tale books and published picture books of his own some of which achieved many editions.
For a YA crime book about superstitions in the Baden area in 1700 he got an award.
Beside engaging in teaching and creating for children, however, there was a completely different side to his work as well.

He designed ex libris for friends, but also election posters, he made political caricatures, but also advertisement. He was socially aware and supported humanitarian causes by illustrating publications, for example for the Red Cross.
As a sculptor he created figurines for example for fountains, but also after drawings of the artist Honoré Daumier.
After World War I, he created dark drawings with the "Dance of Death" theme some of which were published in the "Totentanz" poem collection by Wiegand, but weren't made specifically for it.
In 1933, he self-published 60 drawings showing the misery of the population between the wars.
From what I read, he never stopped working until his death.
In 2023, there was an exhibition about his life and work and I bet it was really interesting.

It's not the first time I look up an author of one of the childrens' books in my collection, but this time I really hadn't expected to find this much.
Maybe I'm the only one reading my nostalgia posts, but that doesn't matter because I'm learning so much from preparing them and I really enjoy doing the research.


Selected sources (in German):

1. Anna Lehninger: Einmal grad und einmal krumm : zu Leben und Werk von Hans Witzig. In: Vom Schlaraffenland zum Totentanz. Der Zürcher Zeichenlehrer und Illustrator Hans Witzig. Mitteilungen der Antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich 90(2023)

2. Anna Lehninger: Punkt, Punkt, Komma Strich : Hans Witzig als Autor, Illustrator und Zeichner. In: Librarium : Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Bibliophilen-Gesellschaft 61(2018), pp. 104 - 117

3. Anton Beck: Der Zeichner Hans Witzig prägte den Kunstunterricht. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung vom 17.3.2023