The Cover Design of Epilepsia

Epilepsia started publication in 1909 and the early history of the publication was the subject of an article in the January 2007 issue of the journal (2007: 48 (1): 1-14). This 2007 issue also exhibits a new cover design and for this reason Epigraph features an article on the development of Epilepsia cover designs, which has evolved over the years. In the age of relentless ‘brand identity’ this is a salutary lesson and design (like governments) do change and should always change!

The first series of Epilepsia (1909-1915) was published by a consortium of seven publishers, with the first volume produced by Scheltema and Holkema in Amsterdam and volumes 2-5 by Johann Ambrosius Barth in Leipzig, both of course major centres of topography and printing.

Figure 1 is the Dutch cover and Figure 2 the German one. I say ‘cover’ here but in fact it is possible these illustrations are of the frontispieces of the Journal and not their covers. I have managed to find only bound copies of the first editions of Epilepsia, and it is possible the covers were removed. A plea to Epigraph readers last year for an unbound copy of the first edition of the Journal yielded no response!

I personally particularly like the Leipzig design and its composition. The design has a scholarly and serious look and is clearly within the German tradition of book design; old fashioned but with a rather arts-and-craft typeface, echoes of which remain on the Epilepsia masthead to this day.

On the cover are listed the patrons and the publishing committee – reflecting a sense of self-importance common in the Edwardian age. The cover was appropriate to the age of the long and leisurely afternoon and of certainty and imperial vanity which the first war was soon to change.

 The second series (1937-1950) was initially published by Levin and Munksgaard in Copenhagen. The design was distinctly modern, reflecting a Bauhaus influence, and in my opinion is exceptionally neat and well-composed (Figure 3). The second and subsequent volumes were published in the United States, initially by the Graphic Press in Newton, Massachussets and subsequently by George Banta Publishing Company in Menasha, Wisconsin. I would be interested to know what the typeface used is derived from (if readers have any idea, please write!) although perhaps it is a Tschihold face, which would continue the Leipzig connection. The background colour of the cover changed in each volume but otherwise the cover changed only in minor details over this period. The design is certainly not self-important, but the editors and assistant editors are still listed, although now in small print and drowned in a sea of blankness.

The third series of Epilepsia (1952-1955; Figure 4) kept most of the same elements of design as the second series, including the excellent sans serif typeface and the use of different background colours ever year, but the overall effect is somewhat bland, and without the elegance of the second series design.

The fourth series of Epilepsia (1959-present) was published initially by Elsevier. The first cover (fig 5) was a severe, serious and rather funereal design. Could this be taken to reflect the personality of Francis Walshe the then-editor, whose stiff formality frightened many of his contemporaries?

When publishing switched to Raven Press in 1974, a much lighter and perhaps more attractive graphic was chosen (Figure 6). This was still an antique design, with a faux-XVIIth century figure hanging his scalp on a tree and exposing his brain for all to see an alarming action but in the era of Penfield, perhaps not inappropriate. I am not sure where the engraving is taken from (and would welcome enlightenment from our scholarly readership).

In 1977, without a change in publisher and for no known reason, the cover changed again – this time to the more basic and to my eye rather tedious design, which endured in one form or another until 2006 (Figure 7).

In 1985 the page size grew and the font size decreased, and in 1995 the contents appeared on the outside cover (Figure 8). Publishing moved to Raven then, reflecting the appetite of global capitalism, to Lippincott-Raven, then Lippincott, then Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, and then Blackwell and imminently to Wiley-Blackwell, but the cover design remained that based on the 1977 model.

In 2005, technology had improved to the extent that it became possible to reproduce illustrations from Journal articles on the cover (Figure 9) and for the cover illustration to change with each volume. 

In 2007, with Adobe Photoshop® available in the editors' offices, a new cover design has been introduced, with the a cover illustration created as a collage of images from the interior articles, a collage of previous covers (Figure 10).

New ideas for cover design from ILAE members are always welcomed by the Editors of Epilepsia.

Simon Shorvon