Friedrich Justin Bertuch

Prior to the 17th century the concept of childhood as an independent phase of life did not exist and it was not until the 18th century that education of children would dramatically improve. Pivotal to the alteration in attitude was the publication of the great Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Émile, or On Education in 1762; his ideas would critically influence European society during the Age of Reason and especially the Romantic movement of the latter part of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

In the same year Rosseau’s Emile was published, Frederich Bertuch’s father died and he moved to the home of his uncle the literary publisher Gottfried Schrön where he soon acquired a great love of literature and natural philosophy. In 1775 he issued his translation of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Qixote; a significant work to the Romantic movement. In that same year, he became private secretary to the Duke of Saxe Weimar who funded his Fürstliche freie Zeichenschule Weimar (Weimer Princely Free Drawing School), unusually accepting students on merit not status with the particular aim of teaching local craftsmen technical skills and aesthetics – the philosophy of beauty and taste. Under the Duke’s patronage Weimer became the intellectual hub of Germany and Bertuch one of its most important citizens, establishing an art factory and publishing many titles including Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, the most influential literary newspaper of its time with important philosophers such as Johann von Goethe and Frederich Schiller contributing.

From 1792 Bertuch issued in instalments the Bilderbuch für Kinder; a children’s picture book of coloured and uncoloured plates illustrating the arts and sciences with an emphasis on natural history, innovation and lesser known objects to inspire an enthusiasm for the unknown. Produced by the teachers and students of the Zeichenschule, the Bilderbuch was designed to be presented in unbound parts and treated more as a toy to play with; the uncoloured illustrations to be coloured, the images even cut out and pasted onto card. This was a substantial departure from earlier children’s books which emphasized saving souls through moral instruction and model behaviour.

In 1806 Bertuch’s aspirations for his enterprises were cut short by Napoleon’s defeat of Prussian forces at Jena and Auerstedt, bringing an end to the Holy Roman Empire and heralding the decline of Weimer. In that same year the Bohemian editors Pohmann and Hollaubeck ‘republished’ Bertuch’s Bilderbuch without permission but under his name; the ‘stolen goods’ were crude and ‘despicably’ inferior. Bertuch repeatedly issued angry denunciations but to no avail. Following the death of his only son and business partner Carl in 1815 and unable to establish consistent copyright legislation to protect his works, his literary enthusiasm faltered. He died in 1822 and was buried in his beloved garden.

In his lifetime Bertuch modestly described himself as a ‘literary midwife’ but his contribution to education, the arts and the dissemination of Enlightenment ideals was significant. His Bilderbuch für Kinder remains one of the best examples of illustrated children’s books and a delightful visualization of the individual endeavour and philosophical discourse that defined the Age of Reason.