on the 10th of may 1842, his 25th birthday, the berlin bookseller julius springer opened his own bookstore and at the same time began a career as a publisher. the publishing program was extended over the following generations, and the company expanded to become the most important german scientific publishing house. the author describes this development, mostly using information from the springer archives. the addition of nearly 400 figures and tables makes this a highly informative document of the history of bookselling, publishing and science. a second volume contains the history of the publishing house from 1945 to 1992.