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Friedrich Justin Bertuch (1747-1822) C. Wester et al. (engravers) Seven Wonders of the World from Bilderbuch für Kinde: Alterthümer [Encyclopedia for Children: Antiquities] Bureau of Industry, Weimar, Germany: 1820 Hand-colored engravings 9.75 x 8 inches, overall 9 x 6.75 inches, plate mark $750, set of 3 |
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Illustrations of the Seven Wonders of the World, offered as a set of three prints. Plate I (top left) shows the Great Pyramids at Giza and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Plate II (top right) depicts a view of the Lighthouse of Alexandria and two views of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Plate III (left) illustrates the Colossus of Rhodes, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.
Friedrich Johann Justin Bertuch was a successful entrepreneur and very much a man of the 18th-century Enlightenment, sharing the general preoccupation of the age with the correct education of young, as well as the categorization of knowledge. He saw education as a means of social progress and self-improvement for all classes of people. Bertuch was born in Weimar, where his father was a garrison physician in service to the duke. Orphaned at the age of 15, he lived with his uncle and pursued an education in theology and law. He learned Spanish and translated Don Quixote into German, and tried his hand at writing. At age 28 he was appointed the private secretary Schatullenverwalter to the young duke Karl August. Soon thereafter, he co-founded a school for workers and a factory for artificial flowers to provide "beneficial work" for "unfortunately unemployed" young women. He diversified his operation into publishing, training the workers in his school. He launched fashion magazines in 1786 and 1787 with which he could also advertise the products of his factories and he also established a cottage industry exchange for artisans and manufacturers to sell their goods. Bertuch became the largest employer in Weimar. In 1790, Bertuch began his major publishing project-- the first pictorial encyclopedia for children, a 12-volume work and a landmark in educational publishing whose vibrant illustrations are still admired today. His son Carl (or Karl) Bertuch (b. 1777) was also a writer and publisher, who associated with the leading scholars of his day, including Goethe, Cotta and Cuvier. Both Bertuchs traveled to the Viennese Congress in 1814 as part of a delegation of German booksellers to lobby for freedom of the press and copyright protection. Condition: Generally very good with the usual overall light toning and little to no wear. References: "Buch des Monats (Book of the Month): August 1999." Deutches Museum. August 1999. http://www.deutsches-museum.de/bib/entdeckt/alt_buch/text0899.htm (23 June 2003). "F. Justin Bertuch." Virtuelle Schule Deutsch. http://virtuelleschuledeutsch.at/literatur2/weimar_bertuch.htm (23 June 2003). |