Johann Georg Justus Perthes (11 September 1749,

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since th ...

– 2 May 1816,

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg () was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany. The extinction of the line in 1825 led to a major re-organisation of the Thuringian states. History In 1640 the sons of the l ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and founder of the publishing house that bears his name.

Life

He was born in the

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

n town of

, the son of a

Schwarzburg Schwarzburg may refer to: * Schwarzburg (municipality) * The House of Schwarzburg * Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt * Schwarzburg-Sondershausen * House of Schwarzburg * 13th-century fortress built by the Teutonic Order in Transylvania, present day Codlea ...

court physician. From 1778 he worked as a bookseller in nearby

, where he founded the

cartographic Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

publishing firm ''Justus Perthes Geographische Anstalt Gotha'' in 1785. In this, he was joined in 1814 by his son Wilhelm Perthes (1793–1853), who had been in the publishing house of Justus's nephew

Friedrich Christoph Perthes Friedrich Christoph Perthes (21 April 1772 – 18 May 1843) was a German publisher. He was the nephew of Johan Georg Perthes. Life Perthes was born at Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. At the age of fifteen he became an apprentice in the servic ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

. On Justus' death in Gotha, Wilhelm took over the firm and laid the foundation of the geographical branch of the business for which it is chiefly famous, by the first publishing of the '' Hand-Atlas'' from 1817–1823 after

Adolf Stieler Adolf Stieler (26 February 177513 March 1836) was a German cartographer and lawyer who worked most of his life in the Justus Perthes Geographical Institute in Gotha. Although he studied law and would serve in government for his entire career, h ...

(1775–1836). Wilhelm Perthes engaged the collaboration of the most eminent German geographers of the time, including Stieler,

Heinrich Berghaus Heinrich Karl Wilhelm Berghaus (3 May 1797 – 17 February 1884) was a German geographer and cartographer who conducted trigonometric surveys in Prussia and taught geodesy at the Bauakademie in Berlin. He taught cartography and produced a pioneeri ...

(1797–1884),

Christian Gottlieb Reichard Christian Gottlieb Reichard (26 June 1758 – 11 September 1837) was a German cartographer born in Schleiz, Thuringia. He studied law in Leipzig and subsequently became a city official in Bad Lobenstein. With Adolf Stieler (1775-1836), he coll ...

(1758–1837), who was associated with Stieler in the compilation of the atlas, Karl Spruner (1803–1892), and

Emil von Sydow Emil von Sydow (15 July 1812 – 13 October 1873) was a German military officer, geographer and cartographer born in Freiberg, Saxony. Prior to 1843 he was a geography instructor at the military academy in Erfurt, afterwards being appointed as a ...

(1812–1873). The business passed to his son Bernhardt Wilhelm Perthes (1821–1857), who was associated with

August Heinrich Petermann Augustus Heinrich Petermann (18 April 182225 September 1878) was a German cartographer. Early years Petermann was born in Bleicherode, Germany. When he was 14 years old he started grammar school in the nearby town of Nordhausen. His mother wa ...

under whose direction the well-known periodical ''Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen'' was first edited in 1855, and Bruno Hassenstein (1839–1902); and in next generation to his son Bernhard Perthes (1858–1919), who was born after his father Bernhardt Wilhelm had died. Since 1785 the firm also issued the

Almanach de Gotha The ''Almanach de Gotha'' (german: Gothaischer Hofkalender) is a directory of Europe's royalty and higher nobility, also including the major governmental, military and diplomatic corps, as well as statistical data by country. First published ...

, a statistical, historical and genealogical annual (in

and French) of the various countries of the world (first published by Carl Wilhelm Ettinger, Gotha, in 1763); and in 1866 the elaborate ''Geographisches Jahrbuch'' was produced under the editorship of

Ernst Behm Ernst Behm (4 January 1830 – 15 March 1884) was a German geographer and statistician who was a native of Gotha. After leaving the Ernestine Gymnasium, Gotha, Behm studied medicine and sciences at the Universities of Jena, Berlin and W ...

(1830–1884), on whose death it was continued under that of Professor Hermann Wagner.

References

External links

*See an 1872 map by August Petermann, published by Justus Perthes
''[Map_of_Texas,_Indian_Territory,_Louisiana,_Arkansas,_Missouri,_Kansas]_/_bearbeitet_v._H._Habenicht.''
hosted_by_th
Portal_to_Texas_History
*The_1875_Stieler_Hand-Atlas,_and_many_other_maps_and_atlases,_are_viewable_online_a

*More_information_about_the_history_and_the_current_situation_of_the_huge_archive_(map_collection.html" ;"title="ap of Texas, Indian Territory, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas] / bearbeitet v. H. Habenicht.''">''[Map of Texas, Indian Territory, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas] / bearbeitet v. H. Habenicht.''
hosted by th
Portal to Texas History
*The 1875 Stieler Hand-Atlas, and many other maps and atlases, are viewable online a

*More information about the history and the current situation of the huge archive (map collection">map archive, bibliothèque) of 'Justus Perthes Geographische Anstalt Gotha' (including 'VEB Hermann Haack Geographisch-Kartographische Anstalt Gotha', publishing firm in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) from 1955 to 1991, and 'Justus Perthes Geographische Verlagsanstalt Darmstadt', publishing firm in Darmstadt from 1953 to 1994), as well as about the current publishing house 'Ernst Klett Verlag GmbH, Zweigniederlassung Gotha, Programmbereich Klett-Perthes' available online a
perthes.de
(German language) *More information about 'Almanach de Gotha' (English) online a

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perthes, Justus 1749 births 1816 deaths German publishers (people) Map publishing companies People from Rudolstadt People from Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt