Publishing house
I would at least like to change the title, the publisher suggested. No! The title covers in three words the entire aim of the book. Not one single syllable in the title can be changed either. After issuing this ultimatum, Pierson acquiesced and ‚Die Waffen nieder’ (‚Lay Down Your Arms’) went out into the world. The publisher did not have to regret his daring.
Bertha von Suttner, Memoiren, 1909
Publishers are companies in the book trade that reproduce works of literature, art, music or science or articles in a journal or newspaper and sell these commercially (Trade). The publisher procures the rights of use to a work in the form of a contract, while the author or his/her heirs are the holders of the copyright.
The book trade and publishing experienced a continuing ascent in Germany in the 19th century as part of the progress in reproduction technologies (printing process) and the consumption of printed materials by the reading bourgeoisie. Sales were made not only in the emerging book trade, but also still by colporteurs (book peddlers). The large publishing houses that had expanded since the Napoleonic Wars included Cotta in Stuttgart, Reimer in Berlin, Brockhaus, Meyers Bibliographies Institut or Philipp Reclam jun. in Leipzig. The city of books, Leipzig, had more than 100 bookshops in the middle of the century.