 Since 1816, Tübingen had been home to H. Laupp'sche Buchhandlung, the publishing house of Heinrich Laupp.Coming out of the university bookseller Cotta'schen Verlagsbuchhandlung, it functioned as both a press and retailer of books, as was common at the time.Laupp's son-in-law – the Leipzig bookseller Hermann Siebeck – became partner in 1840 and sole proprietor in 1866.