The original hardback edition (1996) and the subsequent paperback edition (2003, reprinted 2007) of this book have now sold out. Despite its popularity, we have decided to let the book stay out of print now. While the central part of the work (‘Designing books’) remains useful, we feel that the selection of books used to illustrate the discussion could be revised. The first part (‘Book design as a school of thought’) was originally a ‘pièce d’occasion’, though it surely remains valid. The third part (‘Books designed by Jost Hochuli’) has certainly been superseded by Jost Hochuli: printed matter, mainly books, published by Verlag Niggli. We have ideas for a further book that would resume some of this material, but, for the time being, they must wait. We should add that copies of the German-language edition of this work, Bücher machen, published by VGS St. Gallen, are still available.

Human space, our edition of O.F. Bollnow’s Mensch und Raum, is at last finished. We signed the contract with the publishers of the originating edition, Verlag W. Kohlhammer, in December 2005! Apart from the work of translating the text, making this edition proved to be a demanding task, with a whole set of knotty editorial problems to be resolved. But we are pleased with the final result. Our translation, by Christine Shuttleworth, aims for an ordinary, jargon-free text. So too, Joseph Kohlmaier’s afterword goes to the heart of the book’s present status, opening it up to a wide audience, and passing beyond the specialists who may lay claim to it.