Wilhelm Perthes
Wilhelm Perthes (born June 18, 1793 in Gotha ; † September 10, 1853 there ) was a German publisher.
Life
Wilhelm Perthes was a son of the bookseller and publisher Justus Perthes and his wife Sabine Ernestine, b. Dürfeldt (1765-1817). He attended the Ernestinum Gotha high school and then went to Hamburg to do an apprenticeship with his cousin Friedrich Perthes . Here he experienced the French period in Hamburg . In 1813 he joined the Hanseatic Legion as a volunteer and took part in their campaigns in Mecklenburg and Holstein as a lieutenant.
In 1814 he returned to Gotha and became a partner in his father's company. After only two years his father died and Wilhelm Perthes took over the business on his own account. He benefited from the fact that the contract for the main article of the business, the court calendar, had just been concluded and from 1816 he was allowed to publish and publish it under his own name.
In addition to improving the external equipment and expanding the content of the court calendar, Wilhelm Perthes devoted himself above all to expanding the cartographic publishing house. In March 1823, the publication of Stieler's Hand Atlas with 50 maps, which had begun in 1815 with the cartographers Adolf Stieler and Christian Gottlieb Reichard , was brought to an end. From 1823 to 1831 25 more cards followed in 5 supplements . The atlas possessed "a political and statistical accuracy that had not been achieved by any similar phenomenon before". To this end, Heinrich Berghaus published 15 maps of Asia and a physical atlas from 1832 to 1837 . At the same time the historical atlas by Karl von Spruner and the first maps by Emil von Sydow appeared . These publications established the company's success and fame.
Since 1818 he was married to Agnes, geb. Perthes (* May 28, 1798; † 1868), the eldest daughter of his cousin Friedrich Perthes and his wife Caroline Perthes , b. Claudius. Agnes was a granddaughter of Matthias Claudius . The couple's son, Bernhardt Perthes (1821–1857), who had been a partner since 1845, took over the company, but died only four years after his father.
literature
- In memory of Wilhelm Perthes. Gotha 1853.
- Heinrich Pallmann: Perthes, Wilhelm . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 25, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1887, p. 401 f.
Individual evidence
- ↑ ADB (lit.)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Perthes, Wilhelm |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German publisher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 18, 1793 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gotha |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 10, 1853 |
| Place of death | Gotha |