The New International Encyclopædia/Böttiger, Karl August

BÖTTIGER, bẽt'tĭ-Kẽr, Karl August (1760-1835). A German archæologist. He was born June 8, 1760, at Reichenbach, in Saxony, and studied in Leipzig. In 1791, chiefly through the influence of Herder, he was appointed director of the gymnasium, and consistorial councilor at Weimar. Here he enjoyed the stimulating society of Herder, Wieland, Goethe, and others. His literary activity at this period was prodigious. He edited several journals, and wrote multitudes of reviews, biographical notices, etc., for the Allgemeine Zeitung. In 1804 he was called to Dresden, where he began to deliver lectures on special branches of classical antiquities and art. In 1832 Böttiger was elected a member of the French Institute. He died November 17, 1835. Among his important works are: Sabina oder Morgenscenen im Putzzimmer einer reichen Römerin (Leipzig, 1803; 3d ed., Munich, 1878), a study of the household life of the Roman women; Die Aldobrandinische Hochzeit (Leipzig, 1810); Kunstmythologie (Dresden, 1811); Vorlesungen und Aufsätze zur Altertumskunde (Leipzig, 1817); Amalthea oder Museum der Kunstmythologie (3 vols., Leipzig, 1821-25); Ideen zur Kunstmythologie (2 vols., Dresden and Leipzig, 1826-36). His minor writings in Latin and German were collected by Sillig and published in 1837-38. Consult: Karl Wilhelm Böttiger, Karl August Böttiger. Eine biographische Skizze (Leipzig, 1837); and his Litterarische Zustände und Zeitgenossen (Leipzig, 1838); which he published from his father's papers.