Christian Bernhard Tauchnitz

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Christian Bernhard Tauchnitz (25 August 1816 – 13 August 1895) was a German publisher from near Naumburg. He was the nephew of Karl Christoph Traugott Tauchnitz. In 1837 he founded a Leipzig publishing house, known for accurate classical and biblical texts, dictionaries, and other reference works.

In 1841 he started the Collection of British Authors, which grew to about 3,500 volumes and was widely read in Europe. He paid royalties to English authors, helping to establish international copyright law. A similar collection of German authors translated into English began in 1866, and in 1886 the Students’ Tauchnitz Editions of English and American works appeared with German notes and introductions.

In 1860 he was made a baron by the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, a title recognized by the King of Saxony in 1861. Tauchnitz became British Consul General for Saxony in 1872 and a member of the Saxon House of Peers in 1877.