Christian Frederick Matthaei
Encyclopedia
Christian Frederick Matthaei (1744, Mücheln
– 1811), a Thuringian, palaeographer, classical philolog
, professor first at Wittenberg and then at Moscow.
. In 1803 he was appointed to the Professorship of Classical Literature at Moscow University. In Moscow he found a large number of Greek manuscripts, both Biblical and Patristic, originally brought from Athos
, quite uncollated, and almost entirely unknown in the West Europe. He collated seventy manuscripts of the New Testament. He also gave a big collection of biblical citations in the writings of Chrysostom
. He issued at Riga in 12 parts, between 1782 and 1788, an edition of the Greek text with the Latin Vulgate
. His printed text is of little value because it is based on manuscripts of recent date, but his apparatus is valuable.
Matthaei managed to steal a good many manuscripts of both the classics and the fathers. Some of these he kept in his own library, while others he sold to the libraries in Germany (Dresden) and Holland.
Mücheln
' is a town in the Saalekreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km west of Merseburg....
– 1811), a Thuringian, palaeographer, classical philolog
Classical philology
Classical philology is the study of ancient Greek and classical Latin. Classical philology has been defined as "the careful study of the literary and philosophical texts of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds." Greek and Latin literature and civilization have traditionally been considered...
, professor first at Wittenberg and then at Moscow.
Life
He was rector of the University of Halle-WittenbergUniversity of Halle-Wittenberg
The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany...
. In 1803 he was appointed to the Professorship of Classical Literature at Moscow University. In Moscow he found a large number of Greek manuscripts, both Biblical and Patristic, originally brought from Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
, quite uncollated, and almost entirely unknown in the West Europe. He collated seventy manuscripts of the New Testament. He also gave a big collection of biblical citations in the writings of Chrysostom
John Chrysostom
John Chrysostom , Archbishop of Constantinople, was an important Early Church Father. He is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and his ascetic...
. He issued at Riga in 12 parts, between 1782 and 1788, an edition of the Greek text with the Latin Vulgate
Vulgate
The Vulgate is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus I in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations...
. His printed text is of little value because it is based on manuscripts of recent date, but his apparatus is valuable.
Matthaei managed to steal a good many manuscripts of both the classics and the fathers. Some of these he kept in his own library, while others he sold to the libraries in Germany (Dresden) and Holland.
Works
- Lectiones Mosquenses (Leipzig 1779).
- D. Pavli Epistolae ad Thessalonicenses et Ad Timotheum Graece et Latine (1782-1785).
- D. Pauli Epistola I. et II. ad Corinthios, Graece et Latine (1783).
- Joannis Apocalypsis Graece et Latine (1785).
- Vetustum ecclesiae Graecae, Constantinopolitanae, ut videtur, Evangeliarum bibliothecae Serenissimi Ducis Saxo-Gothani. / Nunc primo totum ad cognoscendam liturgiam Graecorum accuratius examinavit et adjectis variantibus sacri contextus lectionibus edidit. Breitkopf, Leipzig, 1791.
- XIII epistolarum Pauli codex Graecus cum versione latina veteri vulgo Antehieronymiana olim Boernerianus nunc bibliothecae electoralis Dresdensis, Meissen, 1791.
- Novum Testamentum Graece et Latine (Riga, 1782-1788).
- Novum Testamentum Graece. Wittenberg 1803. tomus 1
Further reading
- Karl Heinrich Dzondi (Schundenius): Erinnerungen an die festlichen Tage der dritten Stiftungsfeier der Akademie zu Wittenberg. S. 89
- Neues Wittenberger Wochenblatt. 1803 S. 261
- Nikolaus Müller: Die Funde in den Turmknäufen der Stadtkirche zu Wittenberg. Evangelische Buchhandlung Ernst Holtermann, Magdeburg, 1912
- Oskar Leopold von Gebhardt: Christian Friedrich Matthaei und seine Sammlung griechischer Handschriften. In: Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen. O. Harrassowitz Verlag, Leipzig, 1898, S. 345
- Heinrich Johann Michael Doering: Die gelehrten Theologen Deutschlands. 4. Bd., Neustadt an der Orla 1831-35
- Walter Friedensburg: Geschichte der Universität Wittenberg. Verlag Max Niemeyer Halle (Saale) 1917
- Heinz Kathe: Die Wittenberger Philosophische Fakultät 1502 – 1817. Böhlau Verlag, 2002, ISBN 3-412-04402-4
- Белокуров С.А. О греческих рукописях Московских библиотек, похищенных проф. Маттеи. // Временник Общества истории и древностей Российских. Кн. 2. — 1899. — № 189.