Franz Gräffer

Franz Gräffer (6 January 1785 – 8 October 1852) was an librarian, bookseller and writer from the Austrian Empire. He was a founder of the Österreichische National-Encyklopädie, regarded as the first comprehensive reference work about Austria.

Life

Gräffer was born in Vienna in 1785; his father August Gräffer opened in 1790 a bookshop specializing in military books, and he wrote about military history.^[1] Franz in his early career joined his father's business. He later became librarian successively for Louis Bonaparte, for Moritz von Liechtenstein [de] and for Karl Borromäus von Harrach [fr]. Afterwards he opened an antiquarian bookshop and was a publisher, making unsuccessful plans to produce magazines. He also began the trade for autographs in Vienna.^[2][3][4]

He was a freelance writer, from 1812 writing numerous works about the cultural history and customs of Vienna, some published anonymously or pseudonymously. With Johann Jakob Czikann (1789–1855) he founded the Österreichische National-Encyklopädie (6 volumes, 1835–37), regarded as the first comprehensive reference work about Austria.^[2][3][4]

In later years he became mentally ill; he died impoverished in a mental hospital in 1852.^[2][3] His biographer in Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich wrote: "Gräffer was, in his innermost character, after all no businessman, but a scholar by calling, burdened with all the weaknesses and advantages of those often eccentric people."^[4]