Carl Faulmann
Johann Christoph Carl Faulmann (1835–1894) was a German pioneer in the study of scripts and stenography. His biographer, Harald Haarmann, wrote that "when Carl Faulmann published his Illustrierte Geschichte der Schrift in 1880, his work was the first universal history on the subject and stood alone on the academic landscape of the day."[1][2]
Life
Faulmann was born in Halle an der Saale, Germany, in 1835, and as a young man he trained initially to be a typesetter. In 1855 he received a posting as a "typesetter for foreign languages" at the court in Vienna. After four years of this he resigned from state service and worked as a stenography teacher and typesetter. Meanwhile he augmented his language skills autodidactically, learning Hebrew, Persian and Sanskrit, among others.[1][2]
He produced various works on languages and their writing scripts that were continually re-issued for decades. In 1878, Faulmann published his Das Buch der Schrift (The Book of Script), in which he undertook his first attempt at producing a systematic collection and representation of all known writing systems from around the world.[1][2]
It is in Das Buch der Schrift that Faulmann was the first to suggest a numerical origin to the Phoenician alphabet, saying:
It is worth noting that these phonetic signs are also number characters, which explains the faithful transmission of the character string. My guess is that the invention of alphabetic writing consisted in using these signs, which were known much earlier as numerals, to write words without mixing them with the syllable signs customary in Egypt or adding determinatives. Since this procedure did not result in the ambiguity that the Egyptians wanted to prevent with their determinatives, it was imitated by the neighboring peoples, who, however, mostly retained their usual numerals. In any case, this is the only way to explain the character change that is evident in some alphabets, since it cannot be assumed that civilized peoples would have dispensed with the use of writing at all, but rather knew communication by means of individual signs, albeit imperfect and ambiguous, the use of numerals for sound designation seems to have been an invention that is reminiscent of the well-known story of the Egg of Columbus.[3]
Two years later, he published his Illustrierte Geschichte der Schrift (The Illustrated History of Script), which was thought to be pioneering at the time, however it is criticised today as being steeped in the Eurocentric zeitgeist of his age. Faulmann made the error of attributing to Germanic runes the status of an ancient script, on par with Egyptian hieroglyphs. In the years that followed, he published further works such as the Illustrierte Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst (The Illustrated History of the Art of Printing, 1882) and the Etymologische Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (The Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, 1881-83). In 1884, at the age of 49 years old, Carl Faulmann was made a professor of stenography at the University of Vienna.[1][2]
145 years after its initial publication, Das Buch der Schrift is still bought and enjoyed in Germany today.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Haarmann, Harald (2009). Geschichte der Schrift: Von den Hieroglyphen bis heute (in Deutsch) (1st ed.). Munich: Beck. ISBN 978-3406592188. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Königliche Akademie der Wissenschaften (1875–1912). Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in Deutsch). Munich: Historical Commission at the Royal Academy of Sciences. ISBN 978-3750368781. Search this book on
- ↑ Faulmann, Carl (October 27, 2022). Das Buch Der Schrift (in Deutsch) (German ed.). Berlin: Legare Street Press. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-1016062145. Search this book on
Works
- Revision of the Gabelsberger system of stenography and the Dresden Commission resolutions . Rospini, Vienna 1861 digital copy. Digitalisat
- Stenographic dictionary of foreign languages according to Gabelsberger's system, edited . 2 parts. F. Raspini in Comm., Vienna 1862–1864.
- Development of the Gabelsber system of shorthand. A commitment . F. Klemm in Comm., Vienna 1868 digital copy. Digitalisat
- The Book of Script. Containing the characters and alphabets of all times and all peoples of the world. Publisher of the Imperial Royal State Printing Office. Vienna 1878, 2nd expected and related Edition 1880 digitized. Digitalisat
- Phonography in its relation to cursive writing and shorthand: three popular-scientific treatises . Bermann & Altmann, Vienna 1878 digital copy. Digitalisat
- Illustrated history of writing. A. Hartleben, Vienna/Pest/Leipzig 1880 digital copy. Digitalisat
- Illustrated cultural history for readers of all levels. A. Hartleben's publishing house, Vienna, Pest, Leipzig 1881 digital copy. Digitalisat
- Illustrated history of the art of printing. A. Hartleben's publishing house, Vienna, Pest, Leipzig 1882 digital copy. Digitalisat
- Historical grammar of shorthand. Clear presentation of the systems of shorthand from the earliest times to the present based on original studies. With many alphabets and script samples printed in the text. Bermann & Altmann, Vienna 1887.
- The invention of the art of printing according to the latest research. Hartleben, Vienna 1891 digital copy. Template:ULBDD
- Etymological dictionary of the German language according to own new research . 10 booklets. E. Karras, Halle aS 1891–1893.
- In the realm of the spirit. Illustrated History of Science . A. Hartleben's publishing house, Vienna, Pest, Leipzig 1894 digital copy. Digitalisat
- History and literature of shorthand. Bermann & Altmann, Vienna 1895 digital copy. Digitalisat
Further reading
- Christian Johnen: Faulmann, Karl . In: General German Biography (ADB). Volume 48, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, pp. 500-504.
- Leopold Elsinger: Professor Karl Faulmann's Life and Works . Vienna 1908
- Franz Kreuter, Karl W. Schmidt: Karl Faulmann, life and work. Commemorative Pages for the Centenary 1835–1935 . 2nd edition Apitz, Berlin 1935
- Laurenz Schneider, Georg Blauert: History of German Shorthand . Wolfenbüttel, Heckners 1936
- Centenary for Professor Karl Faulmann. Halle-Vienna. 1835–1935 . Vienna 1937
- Karl W. Schmidt: From apprentice to professor. Professor Karl Faulmann talks about his youth . Berlin, Apitz 1937
- Christian Johnen : General History of Shorthand . 4th, completely revised. Edition, Berlin Apitz 1940
- Rudolf Weinmeister: Faulmann, Karl. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 32 f. ( digital copy ).
- Eva-Maria Hanebutt-Benz, Dirk H. Veldhuis: From pictorial symbols to the alphabet. An afterword to Karl Faulmann's "Illustrated History of Writing" . In: Faulmann, Illustrated History of Writing , reprint Nördlingen, Greno 1989, pp. 633–940
- Bernd Zimmermann: Foreigners bring progress. On the 100th anniversary of the death of Karl Faulmann . In: Saat – Evangelical Church Newspaper for Austria, vol. 41, no. 17, Sept. 4, 1994, p. 7.
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