Philipp Karl Buttmann (5 December 1764 – 21 June 1829) was a German

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

French Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

ancestry (original family name "Boudemont"), born in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. He was educated in his native town and at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, where he was a student of

Christian Gottlob Heyne Christian Gottlob Heyne (; 25 September 1729 – 14 July 1812) was a German classical scholar and archaeologist as well as long-time director of the Göttingen State and University Library. He was a member of the Göttingen school of history. ...

. In 1789 he obtained an appointment in the Royal Library of Berlin, and for a period of time, edited Spener's ''Journal''. In 1800 he became a professor at the

Joachimsthal Gymnasium The Joachimsthal Gymnasium (German ''Joachimsthalsches'' or ''Joachimsthaler Gymnasium''), was a princely high school (German ''Fürstenschule'') for gifted boys, founded in 1607 in Joachimsthal, Brandenburg. In 1636, during the Thirty Years' Wa ...

in Berlin, a post he held for eight years. In 1806 he was admitted to the Academy of Sciences as a member of its historical-philological section. In 1811 he became first librarian at the Royal Library.

Published works

Buttmann's writings gave a great impetus to the scientific study of the

Greek language Greek (, ; , ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic languages, Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece, Cyprus, Italy (in Calabria and Salento), south ...

. His ''Griechische Grammatik'' (1792) went through many editions, and was translated into English.WorldCat Identities
Most widely held works by Ph Buttmann His ''Lexilogus'', a valuable study on some words of difficulty occurring principally in the poems of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

and

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

, was published in 1818–1825, and was later translated into English and published as ''Lexilogus: or, a critical examination of the meaning and etymology of numerous Greek works and passages intended principally for Homer and Hesiod'' (1861). Buttmann's other works were: * ''Ausfuhrliche griechische Sprachlehre'' (2 vols, 1819–1827). * ''Mythologus'', a collection of essays (1828–1829). * editions of some classical authors, the most important being

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; ; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide insight into the politics and cu ...

' ''In Midiam'' (1823). * the continuation of Spalding's edition of

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 ...

.A History of Classical Philology
by Harry Thurston Peck

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttmann, Philipp Karl 1764 births 1829 deaths Writers from Frankfurt University of Göttingen alumni German philologists German classical scholars German librarians