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Karl August Bottiger

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KARL AUGUST BOTTIGER (1760-1835), German archaeologist, was born at Reichenbach on the 8th of June 1760. He was educated at the school of Pforta, and the university of Leipzig. After holding minor educational posts, he obtained in 1791, through the influence of Herder, the appointment of rector of the gymnasium at Weimar, where he entered into a circle of literary men, including Wieland, Schiller, and Goethe. He published in 1803 a learned work, Sabina, oder Morgenszenen im Putzzimmer einer reichen Romerin, a description of a wealthy Roman lady's toilette, and a work on ancient art, Griechische Vasengemalde. At the same time he assisted in editing the Journal des Luxus and der Moden, the Deutsche Merkur, and the London and Paris. In 1804 he was called to Dresden as superintendent of the studies of the court pages, and received the rank of privy councillor. In 1814 he was made director of studies at the court academy, and inspector of the Museum of Antiquities. He died at Dresden on the 17th of November 1835. His chief works are : - Ideen zur Archdologie der Malerei, i. (1811) (no more published); Kunstmythologie (1811); Vorlesungen and Aufsatze zur Alterthumskunde (1817); Amalthea (1821-1825); Ideen zur Kunstmythologie (1826-1836). The Opuscula et Carmina Latina were published separately in 1837; with a collection of his smaller pieces, Kleine Schriften (1837-1838), including a complete list of his works (56 pages). His biography was written by his son Karl Wilhelm Bottiger (1790-1862), for some time professor of history at Erlangen, and author of several valuable histories ( History of Germany, History of Saxony, History of Bavaria, Universal History of Biographies).