Gottlieb Grimm was originally from Bottingen in the Kingdom of Württemberg, Germany. He was born in 1831 and learned the craft of bookbinding from his father, Gelasius Grimm. He emigrated to America in 1849 and settled in Madison, WI in 1850 where he began his life as a Bookbinder. It is reported that Gottlieb bound the first book ever in Madison. The book was actually a collection of back issues of Graham’s Magazine, which Madison banker Simeon Mills had saved and wanted bound. As a side note, Gottlieb was also a founding member of the Madison Maennerchor, a German singing society started in 1852 which patterned after the similar groups in the “old country”.
Here is a link to the Grimm Bindery in Madison, Wisconsin.
