Tell, Hardcover

This wordless book captures the heart and drama of the famous marksman and Swiss folk hero Wilhelm Tell with bold, bright illustrations by Warja Lavater.

Told in pictograms inspired by Manhattan street signs, Lavater turns characters and objects into symbols in this lavish accordion-style fold out book. The drama literally unfolds, with the direction of an arrow motif. Originally published in 1962, NorthSouth is proud to bring this design gem back into print.

Warja Lavater (1913-2007) was born in Winterthur, Switzerland. She spent her childhood in Russia, Greece, and Switzerland, and studied art initially at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zürich, then subsequently in Sweden and Paris. Impressed by the expressive potential of signs and advertising boards on American streets, toward the end of the 1950s she developed the use of pictograms as a form of pictorial language. She became famous for her paintings, drawings, and graphic work, which included pictograms and folding books for children and adults.