Leo Baer (Antiquarian)

Leo Baer , completely Leopold Alfred Baer , (born August 7, 1880 in Frankfurt am Main , † December 6, 1948 in Paris ) was a German antiquarian and art historian .

Life

Leo Baer was the son of Simon Leopold Baer (1845-1919) from the well-known antiquarian bookshop Joseph Baer & Co. in Frankfurt am Main. After attending grammar school in Frankfurt from 1886 to 1898, he studied art history, classical archeology and philosophy in Munich, Berlin, Strasbourg and Heidelberg and received his doctorate in Heidelberg in 1902. Then he joined the family antiquarian, from 1905 together with his brother Edwin Baer (1881-1965) as authorized signatory, from 1911 with his brother and Moriz Sondheim as co-owners. In 1911 and 1913 he toured Europe and America. In the First World War he was a soldier from 1914 to 1918. After the professional ban by the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts and the dissolution of the antiquarian bookshop in June 1934, he went to Switzerland, where he ran the antiquarian bookshop "Aux amateurs des livres" in Geneva with his brother Edwin, and from there to Paris in 1937, where he based in the 5th arrondissement, Rue de l'Abbé de l'Epée 14, continued to work in the book trade. In 1939 he was arrested as an enemy alien and placed in internment camps. After a successful escape, he and his family lived underground with forged ID cards. Due to the hardships he died three years after the end of the war. His son Alexandre (* 1921) and his grandson William continued his business ("Librairie Joseph Baer & C °.").

Leo Baer was also scientifically active in the field of art history and primarily concerned himself with the beginnings of book illustration , he also worked as a collaborator at the Thieme-Becker artist lexicon .

Fonts (selection)

• The illustrated history books of the 15th century. A contribution to the history of topiary . Heitz, Strasbourg 1903 (dissertation, digitized version ).
• Book covers of the XV century decorated with woodcuts and XVI. Century . Frankfurt a. M. 1923.
• Woodcuts on book covers from the XV. and the first half of the XVI. Century . Heitz, Strasbourg 1936.

literature

• Baer, ​​Leo (pold Alfred) . In: Rudolf Vierhaus (Ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia (DBE) . 2., revised. and extended edition. tape 1 : Aachen – Braniss . De Gruyter / KG Saur, Berlin / Boston / Munich 2005, ISBN 3-11-094657-2 , p. 324 .
• Ernst Fischer: Publishers, booksellers and antiquarians from Germany and Austria who emigrated after 1933. A biographical handbook . Verband Deutscher Antiquare, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-9812223-2-6 , pp. 29-30.

Web links

• Index entry German biography