The house lexicon

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The house lexicon of Gustav Theodor Fechner published from 1834 to 1838 in Leipzig by Breitkopf & Hartel under the full title: The House lexicon. Complete handbook of practical life skills for all classes. According to Fechner, it deals with the practical questions of life. The conversation lexicon is contrasted with more theoretical topics. It is the first other house dictionaries .

"It is an experience encyclopedia, intended to remedy the need and helplessness in daily life and to provide information in all cases which make the assistance of knowledgeable men desirable in domestic, social and business relationships." (Quote from the introduction)

The lexicon deals with topics from law and medicine, agriculture and housekeeping, natural history, construction and gardening, trade and commerce. It appeared monthly in a total of eight issues, each of which cost six groschen . It was reviewed by an unnamed author in the Berliner Literarian Zeitung No. 34 of August 20, 1834. Due to its profile, Fechner's Hauslexikon differs from all encyclopedias and lexicons previously published in Germany. The eight volumes, each with a length of around 800 to almost 1,000 pages, contain a total of 7,296 terms, 5,689 of which are dealt with in a separate article. the remaining 1,607 are references to terms discussed.

A digitized version is in the possession of the Saxon State Library in Dresden , which has made it available online.

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Arendt: Gustav Theodor Fechner and his house lexicon 1834 to 1838. A contribution to the Fechner biography and the history of encyclopedic literature in Germany. Publishing house in the Leipzig Science Center, Leipzig 1994.

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