Friedrich Christoph Perthes

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Friedrich Christoph Perthes 1839, lithograph by Otto Speckter

Friedrich Christoph Perthes (born April 21, 1772 in Rudolstadt ; † May 18, 1843 in Gotha ) was a German bookseller and publisher .

The work of this, along with Johann Friedrich Cotta and Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus, probably the most distinctive publisher of the Goethe era is primarily associated with the reorganization of the German book trade , including the establishment of the Börsenverein (1825). However, his work was at least as important from the perspective of the history of science: with large-scale book and magazine projects, he offered numerous younger scientists, above all theologians and historians, optimal starting conditions for internal professional advancement and for increasing public reputation.

Life

His ancestors were on his father's and mother's side as civil servants in the service of the princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. However, Friedrich Perthes followed the example of his uncle, the Gotha publisher Justus Perthes , and began an apprenticeship with the Leipzig publisher Adam Friedrich Böhme in 1787 . In 1793 Benjamin Hoffmann took him on as an assistant in his bookstore in Hamburg . This move to Hamburg gave Friedrich Perthes the decisive impetus for his future life. Initially, the contact with the circle of friends around Johann Michael Speckter and Daniel Runge proved to be decisive, where he was brought closer to the Enlightenment thinking of Immanuel Kant , Johann Gottfried Herders and Friedrich Schiller . Last but not least, the good relationships with the Hamburg merchant families enabled Perthes to found the first pure range bookstore in Hamburg on July 11, 1796. The shop had been located at Jungfernstieg No. 22 since 1805 and was characterized above all by customer-friendly innovations such as the range of ready-bound books on shelves, seating and shop window displays. Although they had to accept heavy losses in sales as a result of Hamburg's economic decline since 1799, Perthes and his partner and brother-in-law, Johann Heinrich Besser , who joined in 1799, were able to run the business thanks to their own publishing projects as well as the financial intervention of Hamburg and Leipzig friends and noble patrons from the Matthias area Stabilize Claudius and since 1811 even expand. Perthes became acquainted with Claudius through the philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi ; it ultimately even led to Perthes marrying Claudius' daughter Caroline Ilsabe in Wandsbek in 1797 . The resulting intensive contact with the friendly aristocratic circles in Emkendorf and Münster brought about a profound change in Perthes' thinking: the desire for a slow reform of society on the basis of interdenominational Christianity came to the fore. This reorientation is also reflected in the publishing program: the most important authors of the early years, including Matthias Claudius with the last parts of his work edition (1797–1812), Friedrich Wilhelm Schelling with “Von der Weltseele” (1798) and Friedrich Leopold Graf von Stolberg with the "History of the Religion of Jesus Christ" (1806-1818) belonged to these Christian conservative circles.

Perthes viewed Napoleon's victories over Austria and Prussia and the subsequent occupation of Hamburg at the end of 1806 as a political catastrophe. His wish to provide a discussion platform for German intellectuals in their transnational resistance against dominant France led to the magazine project Vaterländisches Museum in 1810/11 . a. Friedrich Schlegel , Joseph Görres and Jean Paul took part. After the failure of the Russian campaign , Friedrich Perthes took on leading positions in the civil guard and took an active part in the expulsion of the French occupation in March 1813. The temporary reconquest of Hamburg forced him and his family to flee; the shop was confiscated with all goods. The intensive military-political cooperation with Ferdinand Beneke , Karl Sieveking and Carl Georg Curtius culminated in August 1813 with the formation of the "Hanseatic Directorium" - a kind of government in exile in which Hamburg's interests were represented vis-à-vis the allies. Friedrich Perthes advocated the formation of a North German confederation, linked to the old Hanseatic League , in order to secure the independence of the cities. Also inextricably linked to the negotiations at the Congress of Vienna was the publication “The German Book Trade as a Condition for the Existence of German Literature”, published anonymously in 1816 - here Perthes derived the need for effective publishing rights from the central importance of science and literature for the identity of Germans .

Another portrait of Perthes

In the following years, Friedrich Perthes was involved in the awakening movement in a leading position in the Hamburg-Altona Biblical Society. After the death of his first wife Karoline (1821), he left Hamburg in March 1822 and moved with his youngest children to Gotha to live with his daughter Agnes Marie, who had been married to Wilhelm Perthes (son of Justus Perthes) since 1818, where he became widowed in 1825 Charlotte Hornbostel (1794–1874), b. Becker, married. From this marriage there were four children. In the course of this change, he left the “Perthes & Besser” bookstore to his partner, but remained authorized to sign and took over the majority of the publisher's articles. At the same time, the dispute with the “rationalist” Johann Heinrich Voss , in the course of which many liberal intellectuals turned away from him, damaged his public image. The extremely painful experience caused Perthes to turn away from journalistic effectiveness in favor of indirect influence through the promotion of the humanities. Consequently, he supported the efforts to found a historical association in Hamburg (1822-24) and built a new publishing house in Gotha. The "Theological Studies and Criticisms" (edited by Carl Christian Ullmann and Friedrich Wilhelm Carl Umbreit ) have been published here since 1828 , the "History of the European States" (edited by Arnold Heeren and Friedrich August Ukert ) since 1829 and the Historisch- political magazine (edited by Leopold von Ranke ). After son Andreas was included in the business as early as 1840 (new company name as Friedrich & Andreas Perthes , Hamburg and Gotha), the publishing house, renamed “Friedrich Andreas Perthes” in 1854, remained in family ownership until 1890 and was dissolved in 1937. After Friedrich Perthes finally resigned in 1836, the bookstore went to the heirs of Johann Heinrich Besser and operated under the name “Perthes, Besser and Mauke”.

Perthes found his final resting place in Gotha Cemetery II , but the grave is no longer preserved today.

Publications

  • The German book trade as a condition for the existence of German literature. Communicated as handwriting to Franz Varrentrapp . Perthes, Gotha 1816. Since then constantly reissued. ( Digitized and full text in the German text archive )
New edition as the German book trade as a condition for the existence of German literature . With an afterword and ed. by Gerd Schulz , Reclam, Stuttgart 1967, ISBN 3-15-009000-8 . Many editions, most recently in 1995.

literature

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Perthes, Friedrich Christoph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German bookseller and publisher
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1772
PLACE OF BIRTH Rudolstadt
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 1843
Place of death Gotha