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    Core documents by: Date Place Core documents for: Italy Germany France Britain United States All documents for: Italy Germany France Britain United States Original language: English French German Italian Latin Browse documents by: Person ... by name ... by occupation ... by life dates Place Institution Legislation Case law Browse commentaries by: Person ... by name ... by occupation ... by life dates Place Institution Legislation Case law Browse database by: Key words Editors' login:  | | Reich v. Pauli, Leipzig / Berlin and Stettin (1765) Source: Private Collection Citation: Reich v. Pauli (1765), Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), eds L. Bently & M. Kretschmer, www.copyrighthistory.org Record Images Record-ID: d_1765a Full title Title pages with references to Prussian privileges for Philipp Erasmus Reich's original Leipzig edition and Joachim Pauli's Berlin reprint of Gellert's Works. Full title original language N/A Abstract This document is associated with the core document: d_1765 On 9 January 1765, the Berlin publisher Joachim Pauli was granted a privilege for publishing Gellert's works within the Prussian lands. Reprinting and the selling of reprints were punishable by a fine of 50 thaler. Pauli's application was facilitated by general tensions between Prussia and Saxony as a result of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) and by the fact that Gellert's original Saxon publishers did not accept payment in Prussian currency, but insisted on French louis-d'or. The privilege was granted to Pauli despite the fact that three years earlier, on 30 January 1762, the Leipzig publisher Reich had received a Prussian privilege for the exclusive sale of his edition of Gellert's works within the Prussian lands. The title-pages of original and reprint copies of Gellert's Collected Works, bearing references to Electoral Saxon, Royal Prussian and Imperial privileges, serve as an apt illustration of this conflict. Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (1715-1769), a professor of philosophy at Leipzig University, was one of the most popular authors in eighteenth-century Germany. His collection of fables was first published in 1746 by Johann Wendler (1712-1799) after Breitkopf had turned down the project. Gellert's fables turned out to be among the most successful titles on the eighteenth-century German book market. Wendler made a fortune out of Gellert's works before he eventually sold his publishing house, together with the copyrights, to Caspar Fritsch in 1766. The Leipzig publisher Philipp Erasmus Reich (1717-1787) was also able to acquire some original works of Gellert's. For a collection of works published in one volume in 1756, Reich paid 150 thaler per sheet - an exorbitant sum at that time compared to the usual 2-3 thaler per sheet, and in fact even more than the 125 thaler which Gellert had asked for! In 1768, Reich (who at the time was manager and associate of Weidmann's heirs) and Fritsch started a joint edition and brought out vols 1-5 (out of 10). Vol. 6 (image 1) was eventually published in 1770, bearing references to Imperial and Electoral Saxon privileges. In Pauli's reprint edition (image 1) even the layout of the title is copied straight from the Leipzig original. Pauli did not only sell his editions within Prussia but also offered them for sale at the Leipzig fair, thus causing trouble with his Leipzig colleagues Reich and Fritsch. However, Prussian officials declared the Publishers' Association (d_1765) - of which Reich had been elected Secretary - to be an organisation of "publishers, some of them even natives of Prussia, who have the impudence to contest His Royal Majesty's right to grant privileges" ("es unverschämt ist, wenn Buchhändler, die zum Theil einheimisch sind, Ew. K. Maj. das Recht, ein Privilegium auszugeben, bestreiten", Meyer. "Reformbestrebungen" [1889], 242) and suggested summarily that Prussian publishers and booksellers henceforth be forbidden from joining the Association. Reich, though, was well-informed about the situation in Prussia thanks to the Berlin publisher Christian Friedrich Voß (1722-1795), who was a member of the Association, and he explained his view on Pauli's reprints in a letter to Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens (1703-1771), a French philosopher who at the time was effectively acting as Lord Chamberlain to Frederick the Great. Moreover, Reich himself had successfully applied for a Prussian privilege in 1762, as was noted above. As a result, on 21 August 1766 a decree banning reprints was issued by the Berlin Chief Constable Karl David Kircheisen (1704-1770) in the presence of all the Berlin publishers, who were summoned to the town hall for this purpose. Within just a month the Prussian Cabinet Order of 28 November 1766 (d_1765) was promulgated. Despite the general ban on reprints instituted by the latter, Pauli was nevertheless able to perpetuate his pirate edition of Gellert's works on the grounds of his Royal privilege. From 1775 onwards, however, the title-page of a new, revised edition from Leipzig included references to privileges not just from the Emperor and the Elector of Saxony, but also from the King of Prussia (image 1). Bibliography Georgi, Arthur, "Die Entwicklung des Berliner Buchhandels bis zur Gründung des Börsenvereins deutscher Buchhändler 1825" (Berlin 1926) Lehmstedt, Mark "Philipp Erasmus Reich" (Leipzig: Karl-Marx-Universität 1989) Meyer, Friedrich Hermann, "Reformbestrebungen im achtzehnten Jahrhundert", "Archiv für Geschichte des Deutschen Buchhandels" 12 (1889): 201-300 Related documents in this database Author Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott Publisher Weidmann / Pauli Location Leipzig / Berlin and Stettin Year 1765 Language German Source Private Collection Physical description N/A Illustrations tables N/A Persons referred to Fritsch, Caspar (1677-1745) Pauli, Joachim (1733-1812) Reich, Philipp Erasmus (1717-1787) Persons referred to in commentary Boyer, Jean-Baptiste de, Marquis d'Argens (1703-1771) Breitkopf, Johann Gottlob Immanuel (1719-1794) Frederick II, the Great (1712-1786) Fritsch, Caspar (1677-1745) Gellert, Christian Fürchtegott (1715-1769) Kircheisen, Karl David (1704-1770) Pauli, Joachim (1733-1812) Reich, Philipp Erasmus (1717-1787) Voß, Christian Friedrich (1722-1795) Weidmann, Moritz Georg, Sr. (1658-1693) Wendler Johann (1712-1799) Places referred to N/A Places referred to in commentary Berlin Leipzig Legislation referred to N/A Legislation referred to in commentary Prussian Cabinet Order (1766), forbidding all reprinting Cases referred to Reich v. Pauli (1765) Cases referred to in commentary Reich v. Pauli (1765) Institutions referred to N/A Institutions referred to in commentary German Publishers' & Booksellers' Association (1765) Leipzig fair Leipzig University Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Frankfurt (f.1680) Key words author/publisher relations authors' remuneration book market penalties piracy privileges privileges, German Imperial privileges, Prussian privileges, Saxon property theory, publishers' property reprints royalty/royalties transferability Responsible editor Friedemann Kawohl Copyright status Original document is out of copyright. In so far as these scans are protected by copyright, they are made available on the same terms as translations and commentaries (see home page). | |||||
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| Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900), Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, 10 West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DZ, UK | |||||||
