Johann Christoph Weigel, known as Christoph Weigel the Elder (9 November 1654 – 5 February 1725), was a German engraver, art dealer and publisher. He was born at Redwitz, Free imperial city of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

in Egerland, and died in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, aged 70. Christoph Weigel the Elder learned the art of engraving in Augsburg. After various positions, including in Vienna and Frankfurt am Main, he acquired citizenship in Nuremberg in 1698. Weigel's first work from his own, successfully run publishing house in

was Bilderlust from 1698. Around 70 books and a series of engravings were published by this publishing house during his lifetime. One of his most important works is the Register of Estates from 1698. In it, Weigel described and described more than two hundred types of crafts and services, each illustrated by a copper engraving, based on life. Weigel visited almost all of the workshops himself, drew and observed on-site, coordinated the content of his articles with the master craftsmen, and copied important equipment from the original. Another important work by Weigel is the new edition of the Coat of Arms book by Johann Siebmacher. The work was published under the title The Great and Complete, initially

Siebmachers Wappenbuch () is a roll of arms first published in 1605 as two heraldry, heraldic multivolume book series of armorial bearings or coat of arms, coats of arms of the nobility of the Holy Roman Empire, as well as coats of arms of City state, city-states and ...

/ then Fürstischen and Helmerische / and now Weigelian Coat of Arms Book. In six parts with coats of arms, shields, helmets and jewels, numbering 14,767, prefigured in copper plates. It was first published by his widow with Lorenz Bieling in

; In 1734, it was published in two volumes by the company's publisher. Weigel worked particularly brilliantly in the scraping and line manner. He was the first engraver to use a type of machine for the underground. In

, he worked very closely with the imperial geographer and cartographer Johann Baptist Homann (1664–1724) when producing his maps. His younger brother Johann Christoph Weigel ran an art shop in Nuremberg around the same time and was also very successful. Weigel's publishing house was continued after 1725 by his widow, who published a number of her late husband's works, for example, his coat of arms book.

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* 1654 births 1725 deaths 17th-century German engravers Merchants from the Holy Roman Empire 17th-century German publishers (people) 18th-century German engravers German art dealers German publishers (people) {{Germany-publisher-stub