Heinrich Laakmann (publisher)

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Heinrich Laakmann

Heinrich Laakmann (born October 7, 1802 in Lübeck , † June 14, 1891 in Tartu ) was a German printer , publisher and bookseller in Estonia , who achieved crucial importance for the Estonian national movement in the 19th century.

Life

Heinrich Laakmann was born into a merchant family, which, however, lost its fortune during the Napoleonic wars . He learned the printing trade in Lübeck and then went on a hike , as was customary at the time . He stayed in Frankfurt am Main for two years and in Paris for one year .

In 1827 Laakmann returned to Lübeck and worked for another five years in GC Schmidt's print shop , where he had also received his training. In 1832 he moved to Tallinn at the invitation of his friend Friedrich Montag while he was traveling . There Montag 1827 had become the owner of Lindfors' heirs by marriage . Laakmann initially moved to Moscow , where he hoped to find work in a French printing company, but only got a job as a German and French teacher. When Montag died in 1836, he moved back to Tallinn and took over the printing company Lindfors' heirs .

In 1837 Laakmann founded a printing company in Tartu , initially as a branch of Lindfors' heirs . It became independent under his name in 1840, and in 1844 Laakmann moved entirely to Tartu. There he systematically expanded his company and also actively participated in social life. He was an honorary member of the Vanemuine Society (1867) and a member of the Estonian Scholarly Society .

printing house

When Laakmann set up his print shop in Tartu, there were only four print shops in the whole country, none of which specifically dealt with Estonian print products. By using modern technology and concentrating on Estonian-language books, Laakmann's printing company quickly achieved a leading position in Estonia.

Laakmann set great store by illustrations and was one of the first printers in Estonia to use woodcuts and lithographs . In 1844 Laakmann printed the first book in Eduard Ahrens ' new orthography , Gustav Heinrich Schüdlöffel's translation of a book by Toomas Westen . The second edition of Ahrens' Estonian grammar, with which the new orthography began to take hold, was also printed by Laakmann in 1853. In 1846 Laakmann introduced the country's first high-speed press .

In the mid-1870s, Laakmann also founded a bookbinding business. In 1880 Laakmann handed the company over to his son Carl Heinrich Leopold Laakmann (1844–1908). After his death, the company existed until 1934.

publishing company

As a publisher, it became particularly important because it was one of the first of its kind in Estonia to pay its authors royalties. He worked in practically every field but focused on periodicals and fine literature. Laakmann published the German weekly newspaper Das Inland (from 1843) , but above all the most important Estonian newspaper, Johann Voldemar Jannsen's Eesti Postimees (from 1864) and other Estonian periodicals. He also published many calendars.

Laakmann published practically all of Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's books , including the first edition of Kalevipoeg , which appeared between 1857 and 1861 in six deliveries of the negotiations of the Estonian learned society . He has also published various first editions of Lydia Koidula's works. Also books by Eduard Bornhöhe , Friedrich Kuhlbars , Juhan Kunder and Jakob Pärn .

The school books by Carl Robert Jakobson , whose rights Laakmann had acquired in full in 1874, also acquired special significance . The first volume of this three-part work alone achieved a total print run of almost 100,000 copies in the following 40 years.

Part of the practice at the time was that Laakmann reissued numerous lucrative titles without consulting the authors. This was not only done out of greed for profit, but also to save time, because censorship was circumvented. Nonetheless, such piracy sometimes led to conflicts, as the authors rightly felt cheated of their fees. Kreutzwald had complained about Laakmann a few times: "Mr. Laakmann in Dorpat is generous about promises, but keeping his word is not one of his virtues ..." he wrote to Anton Schiefner in 1861 . He later discovered that Laakmann had reprinted his books without permission and apparently had to threaten him with the court before he received a fee.

Nonetheless, Laakmann was of inestimable importance for the development of Estonian literature and book culture with his nearly 800 Estonian-language books, which made up over a third of Estonian book production between 1840 and 1880.

Bookstore

In accordance with the customs of the time, Laakmann initially sold his books himself. But the founding of his own bookstore, which he dreamed of for a long time, failed because of the rigidity of the guild , which refused to allow a stranger - Laakmann had immigrated from Germany. It was only when the guild system was abolished in 1867 that Laakmann managed to open his own bookshop. This was the first bookstore in Estonia that specialized in the sale of Estonian books.

literature

  • Endel Annus (toim.): Eestikeelne raamat 1525-1850. Eesti Akadeemiline Raamatukogu, Tallinn 2000.
  • Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2006, ISBN 3-11-018025-1 , pp. 266-267.
  • Linda Jahilo: Heinrich Laakmann trükkali ja kirjastajana. In: Eerik Teder (koost.): Raamat on ... III. Eesti bibliofiilia ja raamatuloo almanahh. Tallinn 2003, pp. 224-235.
  • Uno Liivaku: Eesti raamatu lugu. Monokkel, Jyväskylä 1995.
  • Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, pp. 103-169. Here p. 324–326 a German summary: H. Laakmann's share in the publication of books at the time of the Estonian national movement.
  • Hartmut Walravens (ed.): St. Petersburg and Livonia - and the development of Estonian literature. Anton Schiefner (1817-1879) and Friedrich R. Kreutzwald (1803-1882) in correspondence. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-447-06933-5 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, p. 104.
  2. ↑ Endel Annus (toim.): Eestikeelne raamat 1525-1850. Eesti Akadeemiline Raamatukogu, Tallinn 2000, p. 682.
  3. ↑ Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, p. 104.
  4. ↑ Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, p. 114.
  5. ↑ Eesti kirjanike leksikon. Koostanud Oskar Kruus yes Heino Puhvel. Eesti Raamat, Tallinn 2000, pp. 262-263.
  6. ↑ Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, pp. 124, 126.
  7. ↑ Linda Jahilo: Heinrich Laakmann trükkali ja kirjastajana. In: Eerik Teder (koost.): Raamat on ... III. Eesti bibliofiilia ja raamatuloo almanahh. Tallinn 2003, p. 227.
  8. ↑ Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, p. 125.
  9. ↑ Hartmut Walravens (ed.): St. Petersburg and Livonia - and the development of Estonian literature. Anton Schiefner (1817-1879) and Friedrich R. Kreutzwald (1803-1882) in correspondence. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2013, p. 181.
  10. ↑ Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, pp. 132-134.
  11. ↑ Ingrid Loosme: H. Laakmanni osa rahvusliku liikumise aja raamatu väljaandmisel. In: Couple sammukest eesti kirjanduse ja rahvaluule uurimise teed. 3. Tartu 1964, p. 119.
  12. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt: History of Estonian Literature. De Gruyter, Berlin and New York 2006, p. 266.
personal data
SURNAME Laakmann, Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German printer, publisher and bookseller in Estonia
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1802
PLACE OF BIRTH Lübeck
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1891
Place of death Tartu