Johann Ludwig Gottfried - Historical Chronicle

Johann Ludwig Gottfried - Historical Chronicle

This expansive survey of world history by Johann Ludwig Gottfried (1584-1633) was so popular that it was even used as a reference work by a young Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832). Work on the ambitious project was continued after his death by Johann Philipp Abelin. Both volumes of this text are printed in two columns with a Fraktur typeface that is adorned by hundreds of detailed copperplates by the master engraver Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593–1650). Gottfried’s illustrated historical chronicle is a true masterpiece in the spirit of the Enlightenment and a wonderful specimen of fine 18th century printing.

The Work of Two Great Minds

Born in Amberg, Johann Ludwig Gottfried began studying theology in Heidelberg in 1601 and was active as a Protestant deacon between 1603 and 1624 in the parishes of Gau-Odernheim, Eimsheim, Monzernheim, and Weinolsheim. He first came into contact with the publishing house of Johann Theodor de Bry (1561–1623) in Oppenheim in 1619 while working on Ovid’s Metamorphoses into Latin, which proved to be the beginning of a promising career due to his versatile language skills and education. De Bry’s son-in-law was Matthäus Merian the Elder, and thus it was through him that these two great minds came together.
The Swiss-born engraver was trained in Zürich before working and studying in Strasbourg, Nancy, and Paris, before returning to Basel in 1615. Merian moved to Oppenheim, where he met de Bry, the next year but after Oppenheim was burned by the Spanish in 1620, they eventually resettled in Frankfurt where he spent most of his career. It was in Frankfurt that Merian engraved the magnificent copperplates for Gottfried’s text between the years 1629 and 1634. The results of their collaboration are simply spectacular!