Friedrich Vieweg | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 March 1761 |
| Died | 25 December 1835(1835-12-25) (aged 74) |
| Occupation | Publisher |
Johann Friedrich Vieweg (German:[ˈfiːveːk]; 11 March 1761 – 25 December 1835) was a German publisher and the founder ofVieweg Verlag.[1]
He was the son of master tailor Johann Valentin Vieweg (d. 1785), who later owned a starch factory. After cancelling an apprenticeship inMagdeburg, a chance acquaintance withFriedrich Nicolai led him to become a bookseller in the Halle Orphanage bookstore. His experience there led to a position as an assistant at the Bohn Bookstore inHamburg. It was there he met the publisherJoachim Heinrich Campe and his daughter Charlotte, who would become Vieweg's wife.[1]
In 1784, he moved to Berlin to look after the Mylius Bookstore, whose owner was ill. After the owner's death in 1786, Vieweg founded his own publishing business. His first success was an edition ofGoethe's lyrical epicHermann and Dorothea. In October 1795, he married Charlotte Campe.
DukeKarl Wilhelm Ferdinand wanted to establish a Book Fair and make Braunschweig the center of the German bookselling trade. At the Duke's request, Vieweg moved there in 1799 and was presented with some land and a dilapidated theater where he could set up his operations.
After the expulsion of the Duke by theNapoleonic Army, Vieweg came under suspicion because of his close association with him. As a result, he turned away from publishing to operate atype foundry and a playing card factory.
When sovereignty was restored in 1815, he became involved in politics and public works administration, serving for some time as a city councillor. In 1824, a planned patriotic weekly called the "Braunschweigische Hauschronik" failed to materialize. From 1826 to 1828, he produced the "Mitternachtblatt für gebildete Stände" (Evening Journal for Educated Readers) in cooperation withAdolf Müllner but, due to some disagreements, it was sold to Niedmann’s Verlag inWolfenbüttel.[1]
Upon his death in 1835, his publishing company passed to his eldest son,Eduard Vieweg. In 1837, his younger son Friedrich Vieweg Jr. (1808–1888) founded his own publishing company in Paris and one of his daughters, Blanca, married the publisherGeorg Westermann.
