Carl Duncker

Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Duncker (25 March 1781 – 15 July 1869) was a German publisher and bookseller. He played an important part in the early creation and growth of the publishing firm which became , more recently the publishers of the Neue Deutsche Biographie, a biographical dictionary.

Life and career

Family Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Duncker was born in Berlin; his parents' only recorded child. His father, the merchant Christian Wilhelm Duncker (1749–1783), died while he was still an infant. Their children included the historian Maximilian Duncker (1811–1886), the publisher and bookseller Alexander Duncker, the Berlin mayor (1817–1893) and the publisher-politician Franz Duncker (1822–1888). The novelist Dora Duncker was a granddaughter. Duncker was confident that he would be able to sustain the business, but Frölich's widow was vehemently of the opinion that he was too young and inexperienced to do so. They called in the author and book dealer Friedrich Nicolai, a venerated elder of the Berlin book world, to arbitrate. Nicolai came down in support of Duncker who was left in post, to manage the business through what proved to be an exceptionally difficult couple of years for those seeking to live through commerce. Berlin was occupied by French troops between October 1806 and December 1808, while intensified fighting persisted in Silesia and East Prussia, where the king had been obliged to move with his court and government following military defeat in 1806. International trade was also inhibited by the blockade of the Prussian ports imposed by the British navy in response to Emperor Napoleon's so-called Continental System. whom he had been able to get to know better while they were serving together in the National Guard. Duncker and Humblot agreed to acquire the business on a 50:50 basis, and to share profits and losses on an equal basis. Duncker was able to fund his share of the purchase price with a loan from his step-father, in return for a mortgage. They traded under the business name "Duncker and Humblot". Peter Humblot died in 1828, leaving Duncker as the sole proprietor: but the name of the business remained unchanged.

Beyond business In 1824 he became a member of the executive committee of the German Exchange Association of Book Dealers ("Börsenverein der Deutschen Buchhändler"), retaining his membership till 1866. He served as its first chairman from 1828 and 1831. He was also a Berlin city councillor for fifteen years.

Death Duncker died peacefully, surrounded by his children, on 15 July 1869. In January 1866 he had transferred the Duncker & Humblot publishing business to the Leipzig publisher . Despite the relocation to Leipzig, the name of the company was unchanged, both under Geibel and under his son (also called Carl Geibel).