He is credited with popularizing lithography in British publications, with the invention of the literary annual, and with publishing some of the finest illustrated volumes to have been produced anywhere during the 19th century:
But he also invented a method for waterproofing paper and cloth, was one of the first businessmen in London to illuminate his premises with gas, and did much to document the changing fashions in dress and furniture during the British Regency (image below via the Smithsonian Libraries):
Not bad for a German-born former saddler and coach-builder whose family lacked the financial means to send him to college.
It was in fact his expertise in coach-building that first led Rudolph Ackermann to book publishing. As Margaret Culbertson relates the story,
carriage design required proficiency in art as well as technology. It also could lead to great rewards, when royalty or the nobility commissioned custom carriages. Rudolph Ackermann excelled in the field after he moved to England, around 1784. But his career path veered dramatically seven years later, when he prepared a book of his carriage designs. He became fascinated with the making of books. Within three years he'd transformed himself into a publisher.
With his background in design, Ackermann naturally gravitated to illustrated books. He produced technical and artistic works and commissioned many artists to create illustrations... Ackermann's attention to detail, eye for talent, and ability to coordinate authors, artists, engravers, printers, binders, and booksellers led to a huge body of work of extraordinary quality. After only seven years he'd published 63 books. When he died in 1834, the number was over 300:
One of Ackermann's most important publications, The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashion and Politics, has been mined by historians of art, costume and architecture for over 200 years. First published in 1809, evolving eventually into a ladies' magazine, this periodical (from whence are derived the image below and the two images immediately above) is, unbeknownst to most cinema fans, largely responsible for what moviegoers see in modern productions of novels by Jane Austen and her Regency contemporaries. As Culbertson points out (and as is true of most of Ackermann's best-known titles),
...illustrations were the highlight. In this age before photography, they were all hand-colored prints, at least four per issue, for an astounding total of over 1,400. They depict early 19th-century England with amazing detail and vibrancy -- at least the England of the upper middle class -- clothing, furniture, room designs, houses, and country estates. Even tiny samples of recommended fabrics and wallpaper are attached to the pages:
Even before commencing work on The Respository, though, Ackermann had begun to publish in parts one of the greatest color-plate books of the 19th century, the Microcosm of London, or, London in miniature:
This remarkable book, only 1000 copies of which were printed, contains 104 hand-colored aquatints that -- unusual for the time -- were drawn by two different artists. As Sarah Horowitz notes in an exhibition she curated for Augustana College,
[t]he illustrations were done by Thomas Rowlandson, who supplied the figures, and Auguste Pugin, who drew the architecture. The reason for using two separate artists is given in the books Preface, which explains that the objections made to engravings of architecture are generally due to the fact that "the buildings and figures have almost invariably been designed by the same artists. In consequence of this, the figures have been generally neglected, or are of a very inferior cast." The illustrations show all the well-known public buildings in London of the time, and represent scenes from both high and low life. In addition to their abundant aesthetic value, many of the places portrayed no longer exist, and the plates are thus valuable as historical representations. [Fleet Prison, a notorious London prison demolished in 1846, is depicted below.]
Ackermann produced many more seminal color-plate books before his death (a month shy of his 70th birthday). Among these are The history of the abbey church of St. Peter's, Westminster: its antiquities and monuments, a two-volume work published in 1812 (image via WikiGallery)...
...and the two-volume History of the University of Oxford: its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings published in 1814 (image via Peter Harrington):
Like most color-plate books, Ackermann's titles have suffered the depredations of book breakers. Finding a complete copy of any his titles can be difficult, and you can expect to pay accordingly. Most book collectors will have to satisfy themselves with one of the many reprints that have been published over the past two centuries....
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