Ten years - Edition Leipzig - Zehn Jahre - 1960-1969 [antikvár]

FOREWORD • Ten years of publishing activities—a modest achievement compared with the centuries of German publishing traditions and with the accomplishments of our republic's publishing trade which, after emerging from the eclipse of a total catastrophe, helped to build up our new German state of peace and to represent it in the world of books. Ten years of publishing activities can signify a great deal as far as the development of a new publishing venture is concerned, when its sphere of work is virgin soU for all involved and the publishing enterprise has to make a name for itself in the international book trade. Our original intention was to issue a complete catalogue of all edition Leipzig's publications since i960 to mark our tenth anniversary. But then we made up our minds to issue a special publication that would do more than merely record our production; we decided to publish something that would indicate, directly or indirectly, the wide range of our publishing enterprise, the areas of research and spheres of activity which we regarded as worth pursuing and which, to a great extent, have been developed as a result of our work. And this jubilee publication owes its existence to our recognition of the fact that a competent authority is in a better position to provide information about his special subject and its association with the production of books than the publishers themselves. It is intended as a token of friendship for all those who appreciate our books, who have helped us with their advice, who have cooperated with us and for those who may become otir future partners. An anniversary is always an occasion for taking stock. Our pride in what we have accomplished is no justification for glossing over the fact that we have still not achieved aU the higher—and highest—targets we have set ourselves. Like everyone else, EDirioN Leipzig experienced triumphs and setbacks. In every case we heeded the advice of our friends that unless we viewed all the results of our work with critical eyes we could not hope to achieve even higher standards. We often had occasion to rejoice at a friendly press reception both at home and abroad: ZEHN JAHRE Verlagsarbeit - sie nehmen sich bescheiden aus im Vergleich ^ur jahrhundertealten Tradition des deutschen Verlagswesens, bescheiden auch im Vergleich ^u den Leistungen der Verlage unserer Republik, die, auf den Trümmern eines totalen Zusammenbruchs emporwachsend, mithalfen, unseren neuen deutschen Friedensstaat auf^bauen und in ihren Büchern ^u repräsentieren. Zehn Jahre Verlagsarbeit - sie sind sehr viel, was die Entwicklung eines jungen Verlages auf einem für alle seine Mitarbeiter Neuland bedeutenden Arbeitsgebiet und seine Behauptung auf dem Parkett internationaler Buchproduktion bedeuten. Eigentlich wollten wir nur ein vollständiges Verzeichnis aller bei edition Leipzig seit i960 erschienenen Titel ^u unserem zehnten Geburtstag herausgeben. Dann kam der Gedanke an eine Festschrift, an etwas, das über den Rahmen des nur Registrierenden hinaus mittel- oder unmittelbar die Vielfalt verlegerischer Wege, Arbeitsbereiche und Wirkungsfelder andeutet, die uns als erschließbar erschienen und ^u einem guten Teil auch von