Nicholas Trübner (17 June 1817 – 20 March 1884), born Nikolaus Trübner, was a German-English publisher, bookseller and linguist.
Early life
The eldest of four sons of a goldsmith in
Heidelberg, Trübner was born there on 17 June 1817, and educated at the
gymnasium. He was studious, and his parents placed him in 1831 in the shop of Mohr, the Heidelberg bookseller. He was there for six years, and then had successive employment with
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht at
Göttingen,
Hoffmann und Campe
Hoffmann is a German surname.
People A
* Albert Hoffmann (1846–1924), German horticulturist
* Alexander Hoffmann (born 1975), German politician
* Arthur Hoffmann (politician) (1857–1927), Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Cou ...
at
Hamburg, and Wilmann at
Frankfurt.
In London
At Frankfurt William Longman (1813–1877) offered Trübner the post of foreign corresponding clerk in his own business, and Trübner came to London in 1843. In 1851 he entered into partnership with Thomas Delf, who had succeeded to
Wiley & Putnam's American literary agency, but at first the venture failed.
David Nutt
David John Nutt (born 16 April 1951) is an English neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and sleep. He is the chairman of Drug Science, a non-profit ...
joined him, the business was put on a sounder footing, and the American trade developed.
In 1855 he published his ''Bibliographical Guide to American Literature'' which he expanded four years later to five times its original size.
Trübner visited the United States and formed business connections with leading American writers and publishers.
As a bookseller Trübner imported books from publishers in the United States, India and many other countries, and sold and exported books to bookshops and individual customers around the world.
Scholarly publisher
In London, Trübner took on the ordinary business of a general publisher and foreign agent.
Among the books he published was ''
Erewhon
''Erewhon: or, Over the Range'' () is a novel by English writer Samuel Butler, first published anonymously in 1872, set in a fictional country discovered and explored by the protagonist. The book is a satire on Victorian society.
The firs ...
'' (1872) by
Samuel Butler, after
Chapman & Hall
Chapman & Hall is an imprint owned by CRC Press, originally founded as a British publishing house in London in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman and William Hall. Chapman & Hall were publishers for Charles Dickens (from 1840 ...
had rejected it.
Trübner studied Sanskrit under
Theodor Goldstücker and Hebrew with
Abraham Benisch
Abraham Benisch (; 1811 – 31 July 1878, London) was an English Hebraist, editor, and journalist. He wrote numerous works in the domain of Judaism, Biblical studies, biography, and travel, and during a period of nearly forty years contributed we ...
. On 16 March 1865 appeared the first monthly number of ''Trübner's American and Oriental Record'', which kept scholars all over the world in touch. In 1878 began the issue of ''Trübner's Oriental Series'', a collection of works by authorities on Eastern learning, of which he lived to see nearly fifty volumes published. His ''English and Foreign Philosophical Library'' fulfilled a similar purpose for philosophy. His interest in linguistic research led to his preparing in 1872 a ''Catalogue of Dictionaries and Grammars of the principal Languages and Dialects of the World'', of which an enlarged edition appeared in 1882. He also published class catalogues of languages and branches of study. He was publisher for government state papers and for learned societies, such as the
Royal Asiatic Society and the
Early English Text Society
The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...
.
''Trübner's Record'' is the general name for a regular publication listing recently titles. It began in 1865 as ''Trübner's American and Oriental Literary Record''. In 1880 a new, expanded series was launched: ''Trübner's American, European, and Oriental Literary Record''. A third series was started in 1889, titled simply ''Trübner's Record''. It ceased publication in 1891.
''Trübner's Oriental Series'' was a hardback series of books in the field of Oriental studies launched in 1878 by Nicholas Trübner's firm Trübner & Co. in 1878. From 1890 it was published by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd.
[David Paul Wagne]
Publishing history of Trubner's Oriental Series
/ref>
Later life
Trübner associated with Douglas Jerrold, G. H. Lewes, Hepworth Dixon, W. R. Greg, John Doran, and Bret Harte
Bret Harte (; born Francis Brett Hart; August 25, 1836 – May 5, 1902) was an American short story writer and poet best remembered for short fiction featuring miners, gamblers, and other romantic figures of the California Gold Rush.
In a caree ...
. His services to learning were recognised by foreign rulers, who bestowed on him the orders of the Crown of Prussia, Ernestine Branch
The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its o ...
of Saxony, Francis Joseph of Austria, St. Olaf
Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpet ...
of Norway, the Lion of Zähringen, and the White Elephant of Siam.
He died at his residence, 29 Upper Hamilton Terrace, Maida Vale, on 30 March 1884, leaving one daughter. He was buried on the eastern side of Highgate Cemetery
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as ...
.
Works
His own works include, besides the catalogues and bibliographies already mentioned, translations from Flemish of Hendrik Conscience's ''Sketches of Flemish Life'', 1846, from German of part of Brunnhofer's ''Life of Giordano Bruno'', Scheffel's ''Die Schweden in Rippoldsau'', and Eckstein's ''Eternal Laws of Morality''; and a memoir of Joseph Octave Delepierre
Joseph Octave Delepierre (12 March 1802 – 18 August 1879) was a Belgian lawyer, archivist, diplomat, author and antiquary. He spent his later life in the United Kingdom, and is best known for his studies of macaronic language and literature.
...
, Belgian consul in London, whose daughter he married. He also collected materials for a history of classical book selling. In 1857 he edited and expanded his friend Hermann Ludewig's manuscript work ''The Literature of American Aboriginal Languages''.
References
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trubner, Nicholas
1817 births
1884 deaths
Burials at Highgate Cemetery
German publishers (people)
German orientalists
German booksellers
Businesspeople from Heidelberg
German emigrants to England
German male non-fiction writers
Publishers (people) from London
English booksellers
19th-century English businesspeople