Franz Weisse
German, 1878–1952
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Franz Weiße was a German master bookbinder. He was best known for his work Die Kunst des Marmorierens, oder, Die Herstellung von Buchbinder-Buntpapieren mit Wasserfarben auf schleimhaltigem Grund (The art of marbling).
During his five-year apprenticeship, he initially worked as a bookseller, paper merchant, bookbinder, haberdasher, toy retailer, glazier, art dealer, hail insurance agent and much more. The shop where he worked also ran a lending library with around 4,500 volumes, which he had to maintain and re-bind if necessary. After five years, he went to an apprenticeship with a bookbinder to perfect himself in this craft, especially in hand gilding.
From 1912, he was the sole leading teacher of bookbinding at the State School of Arts and Crafts in Hamburg for many years.
Weiße is considered the driving force behind the split of the MDE (Master Bookbinders) association from the Jakob-Krause-Bund (Jakob Krause Association), the older association of German fine bookbinders, to form a competing organization.
In the 1930s, he was the editor of the journal Der Buchbinderlehrling (The Bookbinder's Apprentice).