Friedrich Adolf Ebert (July 9, 1791 – November 13, 1834) was a German bibliographer and librarian.

Biography

Ebert was born at

Taucha Taucha is a town in the district of Nordsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Parthe, 10 km northeast of Leipzig. Geography Taucha is part of the Leipzig Bay. The Parthe runs through the city, and its expansive floodp ...

, near

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

, the son of a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

pastor. At the age of fifteen, Friedrich was appointed to a subordinate post in the municipal library of Leipzig. He studied

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

for a short time at Leipzig, and afterwards philology at Wittenberg, where he received a PhD in 1812. While still a student in 1811, he had already published a work on public libraries. In 1812, he published another work entitled ''Hierarchiae in religionem ac literas commoda'', which roughly translates to "Hierarchy in religion and letters advantages." In 1813, he was attached to the

Leipzig University library Leipzig University Library (german: Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig), known also as ''Bibliotheca Albertina'', is the central library of the University of Leipzig. It is one of the oldest German university libraries. History The library was foun ...

, and in 1814 was appointed secretary to the Royal Library of Dresden. The same year, he published ''F. Taubmanns Leben und Verdienste'' and in 1819 ''

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' ( Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

'', a translation from Pierre Louis Ginguené with annotations. The rich resources open to him in the Dresden library enabled him to undertake the work on which his reputation chiefly rests, the ''Allgemeines bibliographisches Lexikon'', the first volume of which appeared in 1821 and the second in 1830. This was the first work of the kind produced in Germany, and the most scientific published anywhere. From 1823 to 1825, Ebert was librarian to the Duke of Brunswick at Wolfenbüttel. He returned to Dresden in 1827 and was made chief librarian of the Dresden Royal library. Among his other works are: *''Die Bildung des Bibliothekars'' (1820) ("The Education of the Librarian") *''Geschichte und Beschreibung der königlichen Bibliothek in Dresden'' (1822) ("History and Description of the Royal Library in Dresden") *''Zur Handschriftenkunde'' (1825–1827) *''Culturperioden des obersächsischen Mittelalters'' (1825) ("Cultural Periods of Medieval

Upper Saxony {{short description, Historic lands in Central Germany Upper Saxony (german: Obersachsen) was the name given to the majority of the German lands held by the House of Wettin, in what is now called Central Germany (''Mitteldeutschland''). Concept ...

")
''A general bibliographical dictionary, Volume 4'' (1837)
Ebert was a contributor to various journals and took part in the editing of Ersch and Gruber's great encyclopedia. He died in Dresden on November 13, 1834, due to a fall from a

ladder A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such ...

in his library.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ebert, Friedrich Adolf 1791 births 1834 deaths German bibliographers German librarians People from the Electorate of Saxony Leipzig University alumni University of Wittenberg alumni German male non-fiction writers

Biography

Further reading

Notes

References