He began his career as proprietor of a silk shop in Berlin, which he moved to Gotha.
In 1749 he married the daughter of the bookseller Mevius and began running his shop for him.
[citation needed] In 1760 he started a new bookshop in Göttingen, printed a few books, and in 1770 established a publishing house.
Among the most famous authors whose works he published are Gottfried August Bürger and Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.
He was a close friend of the latter, and between 1776 and his death in 1799, Lichtenberg lived in the Dieterich family's house.