Georg Joachim Göschen

RA Collection: People and Organisations

Georg Joachim Göschen (1752-1828) was a German publisher and bookseller in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, notable for typography and his publications of music and philosophy. He was the patriarch of the Goschen family, whose English branch rose to prominence as bankers and politicians, including the Viscounts Goschen and Goschen baronets.

In 1785, with the financial backing of Christian Gottfried Körner, Göschen opened his own publishing house in Leipzig, the G.J. Göschen'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. His first major client was Körner's friend Friedrich Schiller, who was looking for someone to publish his journal Thalia. Göschen published numerous works for Schiller, including Don Carlos in 1787 and Geschichte des dreißigjährigen Kriegs (A History of the Thirty Years' War) in 1789.



One of Göschen's early successes was Rudolph Zacharias Becker's Noth- und Hülfsbüchlein für Bauersleute (Emergency Advice Booklet for Peasants). With 30,000 copies sold in its first edition, the publication was a cornerstone of educational history in Germany.

Göschen was the first German publisher to print affordable books for the general public. From 1786 to 1790, he published the first complete edition of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's works in eight volumes. He also published 42 volumes of the works of Christoph Martin Wieland.

He moved the printing house to Grimma in 1797. Göschen has been lauded for his efforts to improve letterpress printing; with the best examples being deluxe editions of the Greek New Testament and Homer's works. Göschen assumed a leadership role among German booksellers on issues such as copyright law and fixed prices. In 1802, he published his manifesto, Meine Gedanen uber den Buchhandel (My Thoughts on the Bookselling Trade).

Göschen died in 1828. His youngest son, Hermann, sold the publishing house in 1838. Ownership of the company changed hands several times until it was purchased by Walter de Gruyter & Co. in 1919. [Source: Wikipedia]