FRIEDRICH

friedrich, freiherr cotta von cottendorf (1764-1832), who was born at stuttgart on the 27th of april 1764, to restore the fortunes of the firm. he attended the gymnasium of his native place, and was originally intended to study theology. he, however, entered the university of tubingen as a student of mathematics and law, and after graduating spent a considerable time in paris, studying french and natural science, and mixing with distinguished literary men. after practising as an advocate in one of the higher courts, cotta, in compliance with his father's earnest desire, took over the publishing business at tubingen. he began in december 1787, and laboured incessantly to acquire familiarity with all the details. the house connexions rapidly extended; and, in 1794, the _allgemeine zeitung_, of which schiller was to be editor, was planned. schiller was compelled to withdraw on account of his health; but his friendship with cotta deepened every year, and was a great advantage to the poet and his family. cotta awakened in schiller so warm an attachment that, as heinrich doring tells us in his life of schiller (1824), when a bookseller offered him a higher price than cotta for the copyright of _wallenstein_, the poet firmly declined it, replying "cotta deals honestly with me, and i with him." in 1795 schiller and cotta founded the _horen_, a periodical very important to the student of german literature. the poet intended, by means of this work, to infuse higher ideas into the common lives of men, by giving them a nobler human culture, and "to reunite the divided political world under the banner of truth and beauty." the _horen_ brought goethe and schiller into intimate relations with each other and with cotta; and goethe, while regretting that he had already promised _wilhelm meister_ to another publisher, contributed the _unterhaltung deutscher ausgewanderten_, the _roman elegies_ and a paper on literary sansculottism. fichte sent essays from the first, and the other brilliant german authors of the time were also represented. in 1798 the _allgemeine zeitung_ appeared at tubingen, being edited first by posselt and then by huber. soon the editorial office of the newspaper was transferred to stuttgart, in 1803 to ulm, and in 1810 to augsburg; it is now in munich. in 1799 cotta entered on his political career, being sent to paris by the wurttemberg estates as their representative. here he made friendships which proved very advantageous for the _allgemeine zeitung_. in 1801 he paid another visit to paris, also in a political capacity, when he carefully studied napoleon's policy, and treasured up many hints which were useful to him in his literary undertakings. he still, however, devoted most of his attention to his own business, and, for many years, made all the entries into the ledger with his own hand. he relieved the tedium of almost ceaseless toil by pleasant intercourse with literary men. with schiller, huber, and gottlieb konrad pfeffel (1736-1809) he was on terms of the warmest friendship; and he was also intimate with herder, schelling, fichte, richter, voss, hebel, tieck, therese huber, matthisson, the brothers humboldt, johann muller, spittler and others, whose works he published in whole or in part. in the correspondence of alexander von humboldt with varnhagen von ense we see the familiar relations in which the former stood to the cotta family. in 1795 he published the _politischen annalen_ and the _jahrbucher der baukunde_, and in 1798 the _damenalmanach_, along with some works of less importance. in 1807 he issued the _morgenblatt_, to which schorn's _kunstblatt_ and menzel's _literaturblatt_ were afterwards added. in 1810 he removed to stuttgart; and from that time till his death he was loaded with honours. state affairs and an honourable commission from the german booksellers took him to the vienna congress; and in 1815 he was deputy-elect at the wurttemberg diet. in 1819 he became representative of the nobility; then he succeeded to the offices of member of committee and (1824) vice-president of the wurttemberg second chamber. he was also appointed prussian _geheimrat_, and knight of the order of the wurttemberg crown; king william i. of wurttemberg having already revived the ancient nobility in his family by granting him the patent of freiherr (baron) cotta von cottendorf. meanwhile such publications as the _polytechnische journal_, the _hesperus_, the _wurttembergische jahrbucher_, the _hertha_, the _ausland_, and the _inland_ issued from the press. in 1828-1829 appeared the famous correspondence between schiller and goethe. cotta was an unfailing friend of young struggling men of talent. in addition to his high standing as a publisher, he was a man of great practical energy, which flowed into various fields of activity. he was a scientific agriculturist, and promoted many reforms in farming. he was the first wurttemberg landholder to abolish serfdom on his estates. in politics he was throughout his life a moderate liberal. in 1824 he set up a steam printing press in augsburg, and, about the same time, founded a literary institute at munich. in 1825 he started steamboats, for the first time, on lake constance, and introduced them in the following year on the rhine. in 1828 he was sent to berlin, on an important commission, by bavaria and wurttemberg, and was there rewarded with orders of distinction at the hands of the three kings. he died on the 29th of december 1832 leaving a son and a daughter as coheirs. his son, johann georg (4), freiherr cotta von cottendorf (1796-1863), succeeded to the management of the business on the death of his father, and was materially assisted by his sister's husband, freiherr hermann von reischach. he greatly extended the connexions of the firm by the purchase, in 1839, of the publishing business of g. j. goschen in leipzig, and in 1845 of that of vogel in landshut; while, in 1845, "bible" branches were established at stuttgart and munich. he was succeeded by his younger son, karl, and by his nephew (the son of his sister), hermann albert von reischach. under their joint partnership, the before-mentioned firms in leipzig and landshut, and an artistic establishment in munich passed into other hands, leaving on the death of hermann albert von reischach, in 1876, karl von cotta the sole representative of the firm, until his death in 1888. in 1889 the firm of j. g. cotta passed by purchase into the hands of adolf and paul kroner, who took others into partnership. in 1899 the business was converted into a limited liability company. see albert schaffle, _cotta_ (1895); _verlags-katalog der j. g. cotta'schen buchhandlung, nachfolger_ (1900); and lord goschen's _life and times of g. j. goschen_ (1903). johann friedrich cotta (1701-1779), the theologian, was born on the 12th of march 1701, the son of johann georg cotta (2). after studying theology at tubingen he began his public career as lecturer in jena university. he then travelled in germany, france and holland, and, after residing several years in london, became professor at tubingen in 1733. in 1736 he removed to the chair of theology in the university of gottingen, which had been instituted as a seat of learning, two years before, by george ii. of england, in his capacity as elector of hanover. in 1739, however, he returned, as extraordinary professor of theology, to his alma mater, and, after successively filling the chairs of history, poetry and oratory, was appointed ordinary professor of theology in 1741. finally he died, as chancellor of tubingen university, on the 31st of december 1779. his learning was at once wide and accurate; his theological views were orthodox, although he did not believe in strict verbal inspiration. he was a voluminous writer. his chief works are his edition of johann gerhard's _loci theologici_ (1762-1777), and the _kirchenhistorie des neuen testaments_ (1768-1773).