Editing Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus

{{short description|German encyclopedia publisher and editor (1772–1823)}}
[[Image:Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus Vogel von Vogelstein.jpg|thumb|Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus]]
[[File:Conversations-Lexicon-1812.png|thumb|Title page of the ''[[Brockhaus Encyclopedia]]'' 2nd edition (1812)]]
[[File:Brockhaus Lexikon.jpg|right|thumb|''Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon'', 14th edition, {{Circa|1910}}]]
[[File:Brockhaus Monument.JPG|thumb|Monument to Brockhaus with bust at the inner courtyard of the [[Brockhaus-Zentrum]] in [[Leipzig]]]]
'''Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus''' (4 May 1772 – 20 August 1823) was a German [[encyclopedia]] [[publisher]] and [[editing|editor]], famed for publishing the ''[[Conversations-Lexikon mit vorzüglicher Rücksicht auf die gegenwärtigen Zeiten|Conversations-Lexikon]]'', which is now published as the [[Brockhaus encyclopedia]].

==Biography==
Brockhaus was educated at the [[gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] of his native [[Dortmund]], and from 1788 to 1793 served an apprenticeship in a mercantile house at [[Düsseldorf]]. He then devoted two years at the [[University of Leipzig]] to the study of modern languages and literature, after which he set up in [[Dortmund]] an emporium for English goods. In 1801, he transferred this business to [[Arnhem|Arnheim]], and in the following year to [[Amsterdam]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

In 1805, having given up his first line of trade, Brockhaus began business as a publisher. Two journals projected by him were not allowed by the government to survive for any length of time, and in 1810 the complications in the affairs of Holland induced him to return homewards. In 1811 he settled at [[Altenburg]]. About three years previously he had purchased the copyright of the bankrupt ''[[Conversations-Lexikon mit vorzüglicher Rücksicht auf die gegenwärtigen Zeiten|Conversations-Lexikon]]'', an [[encyclopedia]] started in 1796, and in 1810-1811 he completed the first edition of this celebrated work.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} It was widely imitated as a model for encyclopedias, and is still published today, known as the ''[[Brockhaus Encyclopedia]]''.

A second edition under Brockhaus's editorship was begun in 1812, and was received with universal favour. His business extended rapidly, and in 1818 Brockhaus moved to [[Leipzig]], where he established a large printing-house. Among the more extensive of his many literary undertakings were the critical periodicals — ''Hermes'', the ''Literarisches Konversationsblatt'' (afterwards the ''Blätter für literarische Unterhaltung'') and the ''Zeitgenossen'', and some large historical and bibliographical works, such as [[Friedrich Ludwig Georg von Raumer]]'s ''Geschichte der Hohenstaufen'', and [[Friedrich Adolf Ebert]]'s ''Allgemeines bibliographisches Lexikon''.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Brockhaus died in [[Leipzig]]. [[F.A. Brockhaus AG|The business]] was carried on by his sons, Friedrich Brockhaus (1800–1865), who retired in 1850, and [[Heinrich Brockhaus]] (1804–1874), under whom it was considerably extended. Heinrich especially rendered great services to literature and science, which the [[University of Jena]] recognized by making him, in 1858, [[Honorary degree|honorary]] [[Doctor of Philosophy]]. In the years 1842–1848, Heinrich Brockhaus was member of the [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxon]] second chamber, as representative for Leipzig, was made honorary citizen of that city in 1872, and died there on 15 November 1874.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His firm continues under the name [[F. A. Brockhaus AG]] in his honor. He is also the [[eponym]] of [[27765 Brockhaus]], a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1991.

==See also==
* [[F.A. Brockhaus AG]]
* [[Isis (journal, 1816)]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{Commons}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Brockhaus, Friedrich Arnold|volume=4|page=624}}  This work in turn cites:
**H. E. Brockhaus, ''Friedrich A. Brockhaus, sein Leben und Wirken nach Briefen und andern Aufzeichnungen'' (3 vols., Leipzig. 1872-1881)
**H. E. Brockhaus, ''Die Firma F. A. Brockhaus von der Begründung bis zum hundertjährigen Jubiläum'' (1805-1905, Leipzig, 1905)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brockhaus, Friedrich Arnold}}
[[Category:1772 births]]
[[Category:1823 deaths]]
[[Category:German encyclopedists]]
[[Category:German editors]]
[[Category:19th-century German publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Dortmund]]
[[Category:Leipzig University alumni]]
[[Category:Writers from Leipzig]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Brockhaus family]]