Johann Octavian Salver (1732–1788) was a German diplomat, archivist, and engraver.

Biography

Born on 19 May 1732 at

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

as a son of the engraver

Johann Salver Johann Salver (ca. 1670–1738) was a German Engraving, engraver from the town of Forchheim, and the father of Johann Octavian Salver. Salver is the author of ''Die Gross und Landmeister des Deutschen Ordens'' containing 51 plates, published i ...

(† 1738) from his third wife. He attended high school until 1749, then the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

where he first studied the law, then history and heraldry. He showed talent for painting and practiced diligently in drawing. Because he lacked the means to further his art education and failed to secure support from wealthy benefactors, Salver returned to his legal studies although he also dealt in passing with the production of maps. Later he did historical research in Gotha,

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...

, etc. In 1762 Salver was appointed ''Episcopal Lehnamtsregistrator''. In addition, beginning in 1768, he worked as a diplomat for the Bishopric of Würzburg. In 1770 he was a ''Protocollist'' of the princely court chamber and head of the Jewish Office. In his spare time he made a description of the Erthal collection of coins and medallions. Due to the death of the princely archivist J. J. Dümler in 1773, he received Dümler’s office. After becoming archivist to the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg Adam Friedrich von Seinsheim, Salver completed the major work of his life, ''Proben des hohen Teütschen Reichs Adels oder Sammlungen alter Denkmäler, Grabsteine, Wappen, Inn- und Urschriften, u.d. Nach ihrem wahren Urbilde aufgenommen, unter offner Treü bewähret, und durch Ahnenbäume auch sonstige Nachrichten erkläret und erläutert'' (Samples of the high nobility Germans, a collection of all arms, tombstones and inscriptions, which refer to the Würzburg bishops and members of the cathedral chapter). It was released in 1775 with more than 300 folio engravings. Salver died on 23 April 1788. His posthumous collections of manuscripts were scattered after his death, a portion of them came into the hands of the learned ''Kuustforschers'' Jos. Heller in Bamberg.Rudolf Bergau: Salver, Johann Octavian. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Vol. 30. Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1890, Page 285 f.
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Works

''Proben des hohen Teütschen Reichs Adels oder Sammlungen alter Denkmäler, Grabsteine, Wappen, Inn- und Urschriften, u.d. Nach ihrem wahren Urbilde aufgenommen, unter offner Treü bewähret, und durch Ahnenbäume auch sonstige Nachrichten erkläret und erläutert''
(Würzburg, 1775). * ''Matrikel und Wappenbuch der florierenden, erloschenen und hinweggezogenen hohen Rittergliedern einer unmittelbaren freyen Reichs Ritterschaft Landes zu Franken löbl. Orts an der Baunach'' (Würzburg, 1785).

Notes

* Johann H. Salver, referenced as engraver of 1750 Fulda print, may be Johann Octavian Salver.

References

External links

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1732 births 1788 deaths Artists from Würzburg People from the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg German diplomats 18th-century German engravers 18th-century German male artists {{Authority control