HIRTH Georg
Leipzig, Hirth, 1879. In-4 p. (mm. 300×220), mz. pergam. coeva con ang., dorso a cordoni con tit. oro su tassello al dorso, pp. (2),XIX (testo e numerazione su due colonne), con 154 (su 156) tavv. in b.n. f.t. Affascinante raccolta iconografica di opere relative alla decorazione, mobilio, ceram.

Georg Hirth published his ‘Der Formenschatz der Renaissance. Eine Quelle der Belehrung und Anregung für Künstler und Gewerbetreibende’ between 1877 and 1910 in 34 yearly installments, each installment subdivided in 12 monthly installments. During the years, he varied the title. Between 1879-1897 the first title was just ‘Der Formenschatz’ and it was probably also then that to the sub title the words ‘wie für alle Freunde stylvoller Schönheit, aus den Werken der besten Meister aller Zeiten und Völker’ were added. That same year 1879 Hirth added to the caption of the illustrations ‘L’art pratique’ and later also the English ‘Practical art gallery’.

Georg Hirth (1841-1916) started his carreer as an economist, was a journalist and finally became a publisher. This may have been the result of his marriage in 1870 with Elise Knorr, daughter of the Munich publisher Julius Knorr. Together with his brother in law Thomas Knorr, Hirth started a printing firm in 1875, Druckerei Knorr und Hirth, that printed also the ‘Formenschatz’. It was Hirth who in 1896 founded the periodical ‘Jugend’, subtitled ‘Münchner illustrierte Wochenschrift für Kunst und Leben’, that gave the name to the artistic style ‘Jugendstil’

Der Formenschatz 1879
Der Formenschatz 1881
Der Formenschatz 1885
Der Formenschatz 1886
Der Formenschatz 1887-1
Der Formenschatz 1887-2
Der Formenschatz 1888
Der Formenschatz 1890
Der Formenschatz 1890-1892
Der Formenschatz 1891
Der Formenschatz 1892-1
Der Formenschatz 1892-2
Der Formenschatz 1895
Der Formenschatz 1896
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