Society of Bibliophiles
The Society of Bibliophiles e. V. was founded in 1899, making it the oldest German bibliophile association . The entry in the register of associations of the city of Weimar took place in 1905. The aim is to promote the collection, preservation and preservation of books and to operate a lively bibliophilia. In particular, young book lovers should also be given an understanding of the good and beautiful book. The activities focus on the one hand on meeting and exchanging ideas between the members at the annual meetings at different locations. On the other hand, the company is the publisher of the traditional yearbook IMPRIMATUR , which appears at regular intervals.
history
On January 1, 1899, Fedor von Zobeltitz , editor of the magazine for book lovers , founded the Society of Bibliophiles with Victor Ottmann (1869–1944), Eduard Heyck , Arthur Jellinek (1851–1929), Georg Witkowski , Joseph Kürschner and Gotthilf Weisstein .
Her goals were to publish high quality publications and to provide information on bibliophilia and bibliography . The magazine for book lovers was the official organ of the society . Within the first year the society gained 378 members. Their first publication was a facsimile print of a Goethe manuscript from 1769, Die Mitschuldigen . Their second publication by Victor Ottmann, Jakob Casanova von Seingalt , led to disputes within the board of directors and Ottmann's departure. The publication contradicted the ideas of Zobeltitz and Witkowski, who preferred German literature and rejected luxury editions and erotic literature.
In 1901 the society already had 571 members and held its first annual meeting in Berlin. Three years later, on Witkowski's initiative, the first local association, the Leipzig Bibliophile Evening , was founded. This and the Berlin Bibliophile Evening (1905) were also open to non-members, which further strengthened the society. At the same time (1904/05) the company was registered as an association in Weimar. The yearbook of the Society of Bibliophiles has been published every two years since 1906.
In 1909, for the first time, a publication was also sold through retailers to cover costs. It was the Nuremberg Schönbartbuch based on a manuscript from 1566. The maximum membership limit of 900 was reached in 1913. In the course of the First World War, however, there was again a decline in membership and the annual meetings in 1915 and 1916 were canceled. In spite of this, the annual publication activity continued and the approved number of members was increased to 1200.
The general assembly in Frankfurt in 1920, together with the Maximilian Society and the Society of Hessian Book Friends, was dedicated to building and supplementing destroyed libraries. Furthermore, an increase in contributions and an additional emergency tax had to be levied at the beginning of the 1920s. On the 25th anniversary in 1924, the situation normalized somewhat, but in 1931, as a result of the global economic crisis, there was a wave of 352 members leaving. The Society's last yearbook for the time being, the 18th edition, was published in 1927.
At the annual meeting in 1932, the Frankfurt antiquarian Moriz Sondheim (1860–1944) gave the groundbreaking speech “Bibliophilia”. In the following year, the change of power in Germany also had an impact on the company's board structure. The system-compliant Lothar Freiherr von Biedermann (1898–1945) became the new secretary, the “Leipzig Bibliophile Evening” was dissolved, the annual meeting was canceled and 165 members resigned. On September 28, 1933, with the Reich Chamber of Culture Act , the Society became the umbrella organization for all bibliophile societies in Germany and a member of the Reich Chamber of Literature .
Fedor von Zobeltitz died on February 10, 1934. His successor was the poet Börries Freiherr von Münchhausen . The statutes were adapted to the political guidelines and the function as an umbrella company. Two years later, the number of members of the society was reduced to 482 and in 1937 it fell further to 443 members.
According to the ordinance of November 12, 1938, “non-Aryan” members were excluded. In the following year, the society lost its function as an umbrella organization and, like other associations, had to acquire direct membership in the Reich Chamber of Literature. In 1940 the "Fachschaft Bibliophile Vereine" was founded, the head of which was Paul Hampf, the chairman of the "Maximilian Society". Baldur von Schirach, who was loyal to the system, acted as the new president of the Society of Bibliophiles from 1941 . During the Second World War, the company's activities were limited to a few small publications. It was not until June 10, 1947 that the association was resumed and the society was re-established in Hamburg by Ernst Volkmann and R. Johannes Meyer. Activities concentrated on the western zones of occupation, the poet Rudolf Alexander Schröder became president .
Since July 1, 1957, the company has had its legal seat in Frankfurt am Main, but its place of publication and residence in Munich. In 1958 the International Bibliophile Congress took place in Munich from May 29th to June 1st, with a total of 300 participants from Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Sweden. As a result, a small umbrella company, the "International Bibliophile Society", was established.
In 1999 the company celebrated its 100th anniversary in Weimar. Since the 2002 annual meeting in Emden, the book scholar Reinhard Wittmann was the first chairman of the society, his representative is Onno Fenders. In 2015, the art historian Annette Ludwig , director of the Gutenberg Museum Mainz since 2010 , took over the chairmanship.
Publications
Magazine for book lovers
At the beginning of the existence of the society, the official organ was the “Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde”, which was published by Fedor von Zobeltitz and which contained a supplement. In 1908 Carl Schüddekopf (1861-1917) and Georg Witkowski were editors of the magazine, succeeding Zobeltitz. The magazine was no longer published by Velhagen & Klasing , but by Johannes Baensch-Drugulin with the approval of grants, as it hardly brought any profit. The free delivery of the supplement has also been discontinued. On April 1, 1915, the magazine was taken over by Gustav Kirstein (1870-1934) from the art publisher EA Seemann . In 1929 the predominantly literary “Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde” was reformed, the reviews were reduced and a more up-to-date supplement, the “Bibliophilen-Wandelhalle”, was added. Witkowski and Kirstein had to stop their activities for the magazine in 1933 and in 1936 it was given up in favor of the "IMPRIMATUR" yearbook.
IMPRIMATURE
The yearbook “IMPRIMATUR” founded in 1930 by the “Gesellschaft der Bücherfreunde zu Hamburg” was purchased by the Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen. After the “Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde” was given up in 1936 and the publishing rights for “IMPRIMATUR” were taken over instead, the yearbook became the company's most important in-house publication.
In 1954/55 the last "IMPRIMATUR" volume of the old series was published. Three years later, in 1958, the first volume of the new series came out, the essays of which placed the focus on the Venetian book culture in the 15th and 16th centuries.
After the previous editor of "IMPRIMATUR", Siegfried Buchenau , died in 1964, Konrad F. Bauer (only for volume V, 1967), Bertold Hack and Heinz Sarkowski took over the successor. Bibliographical interests and purely art-historical questions now took a back seat to suggestions for collectors. The yearbook has been published every two years since 2003, and Ute Schneider is the new editor . The contributions deal with all areas of collection from incunabula to current trends in the field of book design.
Book lovers' lobby
The "Wandelhalle" developed from a supplement included in the company's yearbook with separate messages, search, exchange and sales advertisements. The members of the society have received this supplement free of charge since 1901. In 1929 a more up-to-date supplement, the “Bibliophile Wandelhalle”, was added to the “Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde”. From 1932 this supplement was called the "Wandelhalle der Bücherfreunde". After the "Zeitschrift für Bücherfreunde" was discontinued, the newsletter was continued independently and in 1937 appeared eight times a year.
In 1956, the title was adopted for a circular four times a year. Until 1978 it was run by the secretary Rudolf Adolph and, in addition to small essays and conference reports, also contained numerous news items and book reviews. Three years later a new episode of the "Wandelhalle der Bücherfreunde" appeared.
The newsletter is now published twice a year and contains reports on the activities of the society, other bibliophile associations and current information for collectors.
literature
- Fritz Homeyer: German Jews as Bibliophiles and Antiquaries , 2nd Edition, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1966 (series of scientific papers by the Leo Baeck Institute; 10), pp. 57–62.
- Peter Neumann: One Hundred Years Society of Bibliophiles 1899 to 1999. Report and balance sheet. Society of Bibliophiles, Munich 1999.