Brockhaus

Brockhaus, Friedrich Arnold, was born at Dortmund, N. Germany, in 1772, and well educated, especially in foreign languages. He first started a store for the sale of English goods at Dortmund, but in 1805 began business as a publisher in Holland. Political difficulties drove him back into Germany, and, settling at Altenburg, he took up the Conversations-Lexicon, as yet incomplete, and finished the first edition in 1811. This great encyclopaedia has since been through twelve editions. In 1817 he moved to Leipsic and founded a large establishment from which were issued many important historical and bibliographical works, as well as various periodicals. He died in 1823, but the business was carried on by his sons.