Christian von Mechel (1737-1817) came from a wealthy Basel family of craftsmen. in 1753 he began an apprenticeship as an engraver in Nuremberg, which he continued in Augsburg and completed in Paris. in 1760, he set up his own business as a printer and publisher in Paris. in 1764 he returned to Basel and married Elisabeth Haas (1740-1786), the sister of the type founder and book printer Wilhelm Haas the Elder (1698-1764). In Basel, von Mechel founded his own publishing house and opened the first art shop in Switzerland.