Karl Christoph Traugott Tauchnitz

Karl Christoph Traugott Tauchnitz (29 October 1761 – 14 January 1836) was a German printer and bookseller. He was born at Grosspardau, near Grimma and Leipzig, Germany.[1][2] He learned the printer's trade at Leipzig, and worked in the printing house of Unger in Berlin. In 1792 he entered the house of Sommer in Leipzig.[2] He began a small printing business of his own in Leipzig in 1796.[1] In 1798 he opened a bookstore in connection with the printing business, and in 1800 a type foundery.[2] His business, “Karl Tauchnitz,” became one of the largest establishments of the kind in Germany.[1][3]

Karl Christoph Traugott Tauchnitz

In 1809 he began to issue Greek and Latin classics in accurate, convenient, and cheap editions, and they circulated throughout Europe.[2][1] He also published fine editions of classical authors in folio.[2] By offering a prize of a ducat for every error pointed out, he brought out a remarkably correct edition of Homer.[1] In 1816 he introduced stereotyping into Germany and applied it to music, an experiment which had not been tried before.[1] His edition of Mozart's Don Giovanni had a wide popularity. His stereotyped editions of the classics were once widely famed alike for their cheapness, their convenience, and their accuracy.[4] He also printed stereotype editions of oriental works, including two of the Hebrew Bible, and an edition of the Koran.[2]

By his will Leipzig received 4,500,000 marks for charitable ends.[4] A son, Karl Christian Philipp Tauchnitz, carried on the business. A Tauchnitz edition of English authors, which numbered over 3,700 volumes, was begun in 1842 by a nephew, Christian Bernhard, Freiherr von Tauchnitz.[1][2]