THE LIFE OF JOHN PHILIP SIEBENKEES, Ordinary Professor of Philosophy, and Occidental Languages in the University of Altdorf; Member of the Literary Society of the Volsci at Velletri. EXTRACTED FROM THE NEKRolog. for 1796, n. 1. SIEBENKEES lived only from the 14th of October, 1759, till the 29th of June, 1796; but, if we estimate the life of man by the actions that distinguish it, and not by its duration, we must allow that he lived long enough. The simple narrative of his literary life justifies the assertion. His father, John Siebenkees, (or as it is spelt in the Lit. Anzeiger, Siebenkas) organift of the St. Sebald's church, in Nürnberg, a virtuoso much esteemed in his day, was solicitous to give him such an education as would qualify him for becoming a worthy member of the church. His first instruction in the languages he received under the private tuition of dean Herold; his further proficency in them he acquired at St. Lawrence's school, and particularly from the instruction of the learned professor Lery, the rector This respectable man, both by his public and private lectures, inspired him with an ardent love and veneration for the works of Greece and Rome, and determined him in the resolution he had formed of making antient literature his chief study; but he was not induced by this to give up entirely that of divinity. He even applied himself to the Hebrew and Chaldean, which he cultivated under the tuition of Serg with ardour. Thus prepared for the university, he went in autumn, 1778, to Altdorf, where he continued, from the instructions of Nagel, Iäger and Will, to complete his classical studies. -Amongst the theological lectures then read, he attended chiefly those of Döderlein; he acknowledges, indeed, to have learnt the art of interpreting not only the sacred writers, but also the Greek and Roman classics from the exegetic lectures, in which Döderlein explained the old and New Testament in the same manner as the profane writers. Under Will, he diligently exercised himself in Latin disputation, and was afterwards admitted member of the Altdorf Latin Society. He instituted, in conjunction with several other students, a private literary society, the fruit of which was his first literary production on the religion of the ancient German and Northern Nations; Altdorf, 1781; and which Ernest of Coburg has judged worthy to be added to his translation of Tacitus, on the manners and customs of the Germans. Nor was he remiss in the practical exercises of theology; at least, he ap peared peared frequently in the pulpit, to the great satisfaction of his father. But now a new prospect opened for him; his near relative, Dr. Siebenkees, senior of the juridical faculty in Altdorf, whose lectures on the law of nature he had frequented, and who chiefly had excited in him a zeal for literary history, recommended him as tutor to the children of Reck and Laminit, bankers in Venice. This place he entered on in the year 1783, and held for almost six years, with great honour to himself and utility to the family in which he lived. The extent of his activity was not however circumscribed by his domestic business. Every moment which he could spare, without neglecting his duty to his pupils, he devoted to ancient literature, the fine arts, and history. In the library of the learned merchant Schweier, he found not only the best editions of the classics, but also a vast number of books and manuscripts, the most authentic sources of the Italian and particularly the Venetian history; there he had an opportunity of gratifying his thirst for knowledge, and of collecting excellent historical materials. As the result of his researches he published at Gotha, in the year 1798, his life of Bianca Capello, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, compiled from authentic records. He still however retained a greater predilection for ancient literature and the ancient arts. -The great manuscript treasure of St. Mark's library, from which so many classics have either been first printed or corrected, attracted him powerfully. The keeper of the library, Morelli, a man generally esteemed, both for his learning and humanity, allowed him not only at all times access to it, but was also of the utmost service to him in shewing him how to decypher and peruse the manuscripts, an art with which he was till that time unacquainted. For this he expresses his acknowledgement in the preface to the Anecdotes $6: Ad Bibliothecæ D. Marci thesauros vir humanitate, doctrina, et urbanitate omnibus, qui unquam ad + eum adgressi sunt, vero reverendus Morellius mihi non solum liberum præbuit aditum, sed etiam consiliis et doctrina sua me sæpius, ut peregrinantem et ne nomine quidem notum, stadium ingredientem, sustenavit, rexit. Here he examined the important manuscripts of Strabo, not with an intention of then publishing them, (this he was only prevailed on to do at an after period, by the repeated entreaties of several literati,) but with a view to discover in how far the works of that author could be completed from manuscripts. Here he studied the two celebrated manuscripts of the Ilias, of which he gave an accurate account in the library of ancient literature and arts (51. 53) before the Villoisonian edition appeared. It was from from one of those manuscripts of the Ilias that he transcribed the excellent extracts from Proclus's Chrestomathia, of which he gives an account in the Library of Ancient Literature $2. It was here that he collated the manuscripts of Hehodorus, and extracted Scholia to Plato, and other authors, which had never before been printed. With the same energy he studied those works of ancient art which he found in the Venetian Cabinets. Having become familiar with the pleasure to be reaped in literary pursuits, and the study of fine arts, he now longed for an opportunity of penetrating farther into the Holy Land of classical literature. In August, 1788, he set out from Venice and visited Vicenza, Spoleto, Florence, Siena, Loretto, Bologna and Ferarra, in his way to Rome; and afterwards Tivoli and Velletri, in his way to Naples. In Rome he remained 15 months, and devoted himself entirely to the observation of the works of art and the study of the manuscripts in the libraries. Here also, as in Venice, he was fortunate enough to find friends and patrons, who procured him access to every thing remarkable. Ibi (says he in the preface to the Anexdolis) ubi ut peregrinus, nullique cognitus fama sperare potui, in veni patronos studiorum inter viros clarissimas, inter quos emi nentissimum Bergiam et Regium solummodo nominare, tantisque nominibus testari liceat, quanta illis debeam. Reggio, the learned librarian of the Vatican, granted him, in the most friendly and liberal manner, the use of the manuscript treasure there contained in that celebrated library; the greatest part of which we regret have since been transported to Paris. From these Siebenkees made very valuable extracts for the completion of Strabo, Heliodorus, and other classical authors. If we except Strabo, there is no name more indebted to his labours than that of Theophrastus: he transcribed the more perfect Vatican manuscript; and in general he collected in this library a great store of critical materials for the elucidation of the classics, Excerpts, Fragments and Observations. Cardinal Borgia, that noble patron of the arts and sciences, whose name every one hears with veneration, and to whom the French Directory alone can be unjust, interested himself particularly for Siebenkees, and allowed him the most unlimited use of his excellent museum at Velletri. Here Siebenkees wrote his Illustration of a Tessera Hospitalis, which he found in the Cardinal's museum; and which has also been explained by Heeren and Show. It is intituled, Expositio tabulæ hospitalis ex ære antiquissimo in museo Borgeano Velletris asservate; Rom. 1789, 4. The literary society at Velletri shewed him their respect by admitting him among their honorary members, On On his return to his native country he visited the most celebrated libraries at Augsburg, Memmingen, and in several convents of Suabia. He also became acquainted with many of the German literati. Towards the end of the year 1790 he arrived in Nurnberg, and in the beginning of 1791, he received a call to Altdorf, as extraordinary professor of philosophy and occidental languages. In 1794, he was ap pointed inspector of the Alumneum; and on the death of Jäger he was appointed ordinary professor of philosophy, with a charge to supply the place of the valetudinary professor Will in the chair of history. We may form some idea of the unremitting diligence with which he studied, when we are informed that from the period 1791 till 1796, he not only delivered lectures on the occidental languages, chiefly Greek and Latin, on Mythology, Archæology, Geography, Universal History, Literary History, and the History of the German Empire, but also found leisure to write and publish the following works:-Versuch einer Geschichte der Venetianischen Staats Inquisition (Essay towards a History of the Venetian State-Inquisition) Nürnberg, 1791. Grundriss einer Anführung zum studium der römischen Statistik. (Introduction to the study of Roman Statistic; Altdorf, 1793. Ueber den Tempel und die Bildsaeule des Jupiter zu Olympia ein Antiquarischer versuch, (on the Temple and Statue of Jupiter at Olympia, an Antiquarian essay) Nürnberg, 1795. His principal literary production however, which chiefly will transmit his name to posterity, is the edition of Strabo. The first volume of it carefully revised and corrected from his valuable collection of manuscripts, with the different readings, and an improved translation, was published by Weidmanns, in the year 1796, under the title Strabonis rerum Geographicarum, libri XVII. Groeca ad opt. Codd. MSS. recensuit, var. lect. annotationibusque illustravit, Xylandri versionem emendavit, J. P. Siebenkees T. I. with a dedication to Cardinal Borgia. Still he had time enough left to com municate part of his extensive knowledge in periodical and other literary publications; for the Journal of Luxury he wrote the Description of Venice, contained in the volumes of the years 1788 and 1790, and to Harles's edition of Fabricii Bibliotheca, he contributed several pieces. In the 2d volume, he wrote a treatise on Plato from Scholia, which had never been printed; in the third he gave an index of the Roman Codd. of Theophrastus, and in the 5th a more complete Index of Plutarch's Writings, by Lamprias. Being long accustomed to live in the mild air of Italy, the more inclement and variable climate of Franconia proved prejudicial to his health; this, together together with the sedentary life which he led, threw him into frequent fits of melancholy, and at last brought on a swelling in his feet. He had spent the evening of the 4th of June, 1796, in conversing with his friends as usual, and on the following morning he was found dead in his bed, with the aspect of a person sunk in a sweet and peaceful slumber. Siebenkees was not a man of very striking or superior na tural abilities, but by dint of indefatigable diligence and ap plication to study, and with a more than moderate genius for science, he was deservedly considered as a man of the greatest knowledge and erudition. From the style and diction of his German composition we see, that his taste was by no means uncultivated. His predilection for the study of antiques may also convince us of this, although he prosecuted it more as a man of letters than an artist. He was a great proficient in the art of drawing, which was of essential service to him in the study of archeology, during his residence in Italy. There was a certain degree of elegance in his hand writing, a circumstance which deserves to be noticed in men of letters, who frequently write unintelligibly, and in critics whose manuscripts, by means of their illegible hand writings are often rendered useless. With respect to his method of expressing himself in Latin, he seems either to have been neglected in the elements of grammar and the theory of a good style, or, if he was ever master of them, he must have lost the elegance and purity of the language, which we so unwillingly miss in the works which he wrote during his residence in Italy, where good Latin, at this day, is no longer common. He was no critical genius; and yet, by an accurate judicious use of the manuscripts, and with a sound and penetrating judgment in comparing the different texts, or in amending the vitiated passages, the critical publication of the ancients must be regarded as his chief literary merit; and he certainly would have done more in this respect, had fate permitted him to finish his edition of Strabo, of which only the greater half of the second volume as far as the seventh book was printed in his life time. Neither did he live to see his other literary productions completed; his edition of Theophrastus from the Vatican codex, and his valuable Anecdota Græca e præstantissimis Italicar. bibliothecar. codd. descripsit I. P. Siebenkees; but Mr. Gretz gave to both works the last polish, and published them at Nürnberg, in the year 1798. This learned man, we hope, will also extend his care to the text of Helidoreus's romance, which Siebenkees corrected from the Venetian and Vatican manuscripts, to the Varie Lectiones and Fragments of unpublished Greek |