The lavishly designed and produced bibliophilic books, which were published exclusively in small editions, were created by Gunnar A. Kaldewey together with artists like Heribert C. Ottersbach, Mischa Kuball, Johnathan Lasker and Jun Suzuki. The authors, who represent every country and historical epoch, include such household names as Matsuo Basho, Petrarch, Friedrich Hölderlin, William Blake and Paul Celan.

The exhibition featured numerous objects – from the holdings of the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel as well as items on loan – which provided an overview of the varied output of Kaldewey Press from its beginnings to the present day. It ran from 7 February to 29 May 2016 in the Malerbuchsaal of the Herzog August Bibliothek.

Gunnar A. Kaldewey

Born on Fehmarn in 1946

Trained as a bookseller in Hamburg

Ran his own second-hand bookshops in Munich, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Paris and New York; produced meticulously designed, highly respected catalogues on 18th-century literature

First private edition of a text by Franz Blei, manually typeset and printed in 1976

Founded Kaldewey Press with paper mill and printer’s shop in Poestenkill near New York in 1985

Over 80 titles in more than 20 languages published since then by Kaldewey Press

International workshops on artist’s books in Poestenkill, New York

Over 150 exhibitions of Kaldewey Press in many countries, including the USA, Germany, France, Japan, Russia and China

Gunnar A. Kaldewey lives and works in New York and Paris