Johann Friedrich Gleditsch

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Title page of the Leipzig Acta Eruditorum published by Johann Friedrich Gleditsch

Johann Friedrich Gleditsch , (born August 15, 1653 in Eschendorf near Pirna , † March 26, 1716 in Leipzig ) was an important publisher and bookseller of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

Life

Born as the son of pastor Georg Gleditsch (1615–1665) and his wife Catharina (née Nikolai, 1624–1671), he attended the St. Thomas School in Leipzig after the early death of his father . For financial reasons he began an apprenticeship as a bookseller with Elert Schumacher in Wittenberg ; he stayed there until 1680 as an assistant. In 1681 he became a clerk in the shop of the late Johann Friedrich Fritsch , whose widow Catarina Margaretha he married in November 1681. In the following years he developed the already respected company into an outstanding scientific publisher of its time, famous above all for the publication of the Leipzig Acta Eruditorum , the first issue of which he published in 1682 in cooperation with the publishing house of the Grossische Erben.

At the end of 1693 he handed the business over to his stepson Thomas Fritsch and founded his own publishing bookstore, which also became important within a few years, as it distinguished itself with lavishly designed publications. For example, one can cite the main work of the history of the Reformation, Seckendorff's Commentarius de Lutheranismo , Ziegler's Schauplatz und Labyrinth , Lohenstein's Arminius and the great biblical-theological works by Johann Tarnow (Tarnovius), Glassius , Carpzov , Dieterici, Pritius , Herberger .

In addition to the great authors, Gleditsch achieved success in the two most important growth sectors of the book market of the early 18th century: encyclopedias and journals. He published the Real State and Newspaper Lexicon (1704), supervised by Johann Huebner , which a little later gained the title “Conversations Lexicon” and, with its supplementary volume in 1712, became the indispensable companion reading to the newspapers - here you could see the places and countries Look up that was mentioned in newspapers, for newspapers offered their news in the current style largely without any explanation or comment.

The women's lexicon (1715) compiled by Gottlieb Siegmund Corvinus alias Amaranthes was added to the lexica . Among the journals, the Latin Acta Eruditorum appearing in his publishing house was supplemented from 1712 by the German Acta Eruditorum , which developed into the leading German-language review organ of historical writings. The companies created their own synergy effects: titles that were published by Gledisch were regularly discussed and thus advertised in the company's journals.

Benjamin Wedel's Menantes biography reports that the authors of the newspaper lexicon received 2½ Reichstaler for the printed sheet.

Archives of the publisher are located in the Saxon State Archives, Leipzig State Archives and form the holdings there.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 21089 Johann Friedrich Gleditsch, publishing house and bookstore, Leipzig
personal data
SURNAME Gleditsch, Johann Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German publisher bookseller
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1653
PLACE OF BIRTH Eschendorf near Pirna
DATE OF DEATH March 26, 1716
Place of death Leipzig