[7][4][8] In 1785, with the financial backing of Christian Gottfried Körner, Göschen opened his own publishing house in Leipzig, the G. J. Göschen'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung [de].

[7] Göschen published numerous works for Schiller, including Don Carlos in 1787 and Geschichte des dreißigjährigen Kriegs (A History of the Thirty Years' War) in 1789.

[2] One of Göschen's early successes was Rudolph Zacharias Becker's Noth- und Hülfsbüchlein für Bauersleute (Emergency Advice Booklet for Peasants).

[9] Göschen has been lauded for his efforts to improve letterpress printing; with the best examples being deluxe editions of the Greek New Testament and Homer's works.

[2] Göschen assumed a leadership role among German booksellers on issues such as copyright law and fixed prices.

They had 10 children, six of whom survived into adulthood:[7][10][2] His third son Wilhelm Heinrich (William Henry) Göschen moved to England in 1814 and the next year co-founded the merchant banking firm ″Frühling & Göschen″, of Leipzig and London.