Karl Felix Halm (also ''Carl''; ''Karl Felix

Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "" (Baron). As with most titles and desig ...

von Halm'' after 1872; 5 April 1809 – 5 October 1882), was a German classical scholar and critic.

Life

He was born at

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In 1849, having held appointments at

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

and

Hadamar Hadamar () is a small town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Hadamar is known for its Clinic for Forensics, Forensic Psychiatry/Centre for Social Psychiatry, lying at the edge of town, in whose outlying buildings is also found th ...

, he became rector of the newly founded ''Maximiliansgymnasium'' at Munich, and in 1856 director of the royal library and professor in the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

. These posts he held until his death.

Works

Halm is known chiefly as the editor of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

and other

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

prose authors, although during his early career he also devoted considerable attention to

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and also authored an edition of Aesop's fables in the Greek. After the death of J.C. Orelli, he joined J.G. Baiter in the preparation of a revised critical edition of the rhetorical and philosophical writings of Cicero (1854–1862). His school editions of some of the speeches of Cicero in the Haupt and Sauppe series, with notes and introductions, were very successful. He also edited a number of classical texts for the

Teubner The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collections published of ancient (and some medieva ...

series, the most important of which are

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

(4th edition, 1883); ''Rhetores Latini minores'' (1863);

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

(1868);

Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Se ...

(1866); ''Minucius Felix'' together with ''Firmicus Maternus De errore'' (1867); '' Salvianus'' (1877) and

Victor Vitensis Victor Vitensis (or Victor of Vita; born circa 430) was an African bishop of the Province of Byzacena (called Vitensis from his See of Vita). His importance rests on his ''Historia persecutionis Africanae Provinciae, temporibus Genserici et Hunir ...

's ''Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae'' (1878). He was also an enthusiastic collector of

autograph An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Intern ...

Scholarly shorthand

Scholars of the period will sometimes talk of the "Halmian" edition, or even of the "Halmianam" edition if they are writing in Latin. By this they mean an edition authored or edited by Halm.

References

* *

Wilhelm von Christ Wilhelm von Christ (2 August 1831 – 8 February 1906) was a German classical scholar. Biography The son of a baker and a miller's daughter, Christ was born in Geisenheim in Hesse-Nassau. He attended the Gymnasium in Hadamar and studied in Mun ...

and Georg von Laubmann in ''Allgemeine deutsche Biographie'' *

Conrad Bursian Conrad Bursian (; 14 November 1830 – 21 September 1883) was a German philologist and archaeologist. Biography He was born at Mutzschen in Saxony. When his parents moved to Leipzig, he received his early education at Thomasschule zu Leipzig. ...

in ''Biographisches Jahrbuch'' *

John Edwin Sandys Sir John Edwin Sandys ( "Sands"; 19 May 1844 – 6 July 1922) was an English classical scholar. Life Born in Leicester, England on 19 May 1844, Sandys was the 4th son of Rev. Timothy Sandys (1803–1871) and Rebecca Swain (1800–1853). Livin ...

, ''History of Classical Scholarship'', iii. 195 (1908). {{DEFAULTSORT:Halm, Karl Felix 1809 births 1882 deaths German classical scholars Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich 19th-century German librarians