Meyers Konversations-Lexikon was a major German encyclopedia that existed in various forms, titles and European editions from 1839 until 1984, when it merged with the Brockhaus encyclopedia. Joseph Meyer (1796-1956) was the founder and the principal who started the publishing house Bibliographisches Institut in 1826 with the intention of producing an encyclopedia for the general public as well as businessmen, technical personal and scholars.