Theodor Stroefer, or Ströfer (27 March 1843, in

Bad Pyrmont Bad Pyrmont (, also: ; West Low German: ) is a town in the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont, in Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population close to 19,000. It is located on the river Emmer (Weser), Emmer, about west of the Weser. Bad Pyrmont is a popul ...

– 9 July 1927, 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 ...

) was a German publisher; specializing in illustrated books.

Biography

He learned the profession of publisher by working at in Munich. Then he was sent to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1866 to set up a commercial agency on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. There, he imported and exported pictures, creating illustrated books and albums from

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

s and photographs. In 1871 he teamed up with Georg Kirchner, who had emigrated from

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

; starting a publishing firm called "Stroefer & Kirchner". In 1876, he returned to Germany and opened a branch office in Munich. One of his first projects was a new edition of ''Viola Tricolor'', a collection of art and poetry by Franz Graf von Pocci. The following year, their company split into two divisions, with Stroefer operating "Theo. Stroefer’s Kunstverlag", dealing exclusively with Europe, and Kirchner operating "Geo. Kirchner & Co.", for North America. In 1893, he relocated his company's headquarters to Nuremberg and began a close collaboration with the ''Kunstanstalt für graphische Reproductionen'', owned by Ernest Nister, creator of the modern

pop-up book A pop-up book is any book with three-dimensional space, three-dimensional pages, often with elements that ''pop up'' as a page is turned. The terminology serves as an umbrella term for movable book, pop-ups, tunnel books, transformations, volvel ...

. After his death, his son August (1882-1945), took over the company. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, their offices and publishing archives were completely destroyed. In 1958, the company was officially deleted from the German Handelsregister. StroeferLogo

Theo. Stroefer’s Kunstverlag

His interests were wide-ranging. Some of his best known publications from the early period (1876-1890) included the first part of ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

'' by

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

(1876), and '' Das Lied von der Glocke'' by

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

, both with drawings by

Alexander von Liezen-Mayer Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are A ...

and ornamentation by

Rudolf von Seitz Rudolf (von) Seitz (15 June 1842 in Munich – 18 June 1910 in Munich) was a German Painting, painter, illustrator, and Interior design, designer. Career After early art instruction from his father, decorative painter and illustrator Franz von ...

. He also issued ''

Wilhelm Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

'' with "photographic prints" and

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s by (1879). A large part of his output consisted of children's picture books, often with illustrations chosen by Nister. The year 1880 saw the introduction of works by

Kate Greenaway Catherine Greenaway (17 March 18466 November 1901) was an English Victorian artist and writer, known for her children's book illustrations. She received her education in graphic design and art between 1858 and 1871 from the Finsbury School of ...

, including her now-classic '' Under the Window'', translated by Käthe Freiligrath-Kroeker, daughter of the poet,

Ferdinand Freiligrath Ferdinand Freiligrath (17 June 1810 – 18 March 1876) was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator, who is considered part of the Young Germany movement. Life Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher ...

. By the 1900s, he had effectively become a children's book publisher. One of his most popular authors was . He was also the first to publish

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

s by

Max Klinger Max Klinger (18 February 1857 – 5 July 1920) was a German artist who produced significant work in painting, sculpture, prints and graphics, as well as writing a treatise articulating his ideas on art and the role of graphic arts and printmakin ...

, issuing ''Intermezzi (Opus IV)'' in 1881.Max Klinger: ''Intermezzi, opus IV''
(1881) im

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

As a sideline, he published postcards, with images provided by ,

Raphael Kirchner Raphael Kirchner (5 May 1875 – 2 August 1917) was an Austrian artist, principally a portrait painter and illustrator best known for Art Nouveau and early pin-up work, especially in picture postcard format. His work served as an early inspiratio ...

Alexander Kircher Alexander Kircher (Trieste, 26 February 1867 – 16 September 1939, Berlin) was an Austrian-German marine and landscape painter and illustrator. Many of his paintings can be seen in museums in Germany, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia while others ...

and Carl Robert Arthur Thiele, among others

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stroefer, Theodor 1843 births 1927 deaths German publishers (people) Children's book publishers People from Bad Pyrmont

Biography

Theo. Stroefer’s Kunstverlag

References

Further reading

External links