Casaubon, I
Name: Isaac Casaubon
Achievements: 16th-century French classical scholar and theologian, one of the leading scholars of the era.
Born: February 18, 1559; Geneva, Switzerland
Died: July 1, 1614; Greenwich, London, England (Aged 55)
Field & Discipline: Classics; Scholar
Language: French; English
Father: Arnold Casaubon
Mother: Jehanne Rousseau
Siblings: Unknown
Spouse: 1) Mary Prolyot (m. 1583, d. 1585); 2) Florence Estienne (m. 1586, d. 1607)
Children: 18 children with second wife; John (eldest son); Philippa (favorite daughter)
Education: Largely self-taught; Academy of Geneva (1578-82)
Major Work:
Edition of the works of “Athenaeus” (1599)
Life & Times:
1582 Casaubon became professor of Greek at the Academy. In 1586 he married his second wife, Florence Estienne, daughter of the famous printer [father-in-law was] Estienne*.
Casaubon was an exceptionally gifted classical scholar and teacher, and also intensely religious, devoting much time to worship and theological study. In order to increase the prestige of company, Casaubon’s father-in-law Estienne included Casaubon's name on the Estienne editions of the Greek text of “Thucydides” (1588), the Latin “Dionysius” (1588), “Plinius” (1591), “Seneca” (1593) and “Diogenes Laertius” (1593), in spite of having excluded his son-in-law from any share in the translation of the texts, or from having any control over the contents of the volumes.
Casaubon stayed Geneva until 1596, while his name as an outstanding Greek scholar increased with the publication of a series of great Latin translations and commentaries on ancient Greek texts - notably those of the Greek historian and geographer Strabo (1587), Aristotle (1590), the Greek philosopher Theophrastus (1592) and the Roman biographer
and antiquarian Suetonius (1595). These works, particularly the last two, brought him important friendships, among others with statesman [a pal of] de Thou*.
In 1594, Casaubon also began corresponding with the leading classical scholar of the day [corresponded with] Scaliger*, a former professor at the Academy of Geneva and now professor of philosophy at the University of Leyden.
Casaubon remained desperate to leave Geneva, where his salary was small and the cost of living high. An offer of a professorship finally came from the Calvinist University of Montpellier in France in 1596, where he moved his family and was welcomed by a cortege of university officials and friends outside the city gates.
At Montpellier Casaubon lectured in Latin on Roman history and on Aristotle's “Ethics,” and continued his Greek studies independently. In 1597, Casaubon began his “Ephemerides,” a kind of diary in which he recorded the studies and religious devotions of every day, up to a few days before his death in 1614.
During his tenure at Montpellier, Casaubon also began what is considered to be his masterwork, his edition of and commentary on the works of the ancient Greek grammarian Athenaeus (published 1599), during which he developed his unique style of commentary. Although now receiving scholarly recognition and appreciation at Montpellier, Casaubon remained unhappy in his domestic arrangements which seldom allowed much time for private study.
In 1599, through the recommendation of Scaliger, Casaubon received a call to Paris from the French king Henri IV, and moved there with his family in 1600. Appointed as “lectureur du roi” and assigned a royal pension, his Protestantism prevented Casaubon from getting a job at the University of Paris.
In 1604 Casaubon was appointed to the salaried post of sub-librarian at the Royal Library in Paris. One of his first acts as librarian was to send off to Scaliger some excerpts of a Greek chronologer which he had discovered and thought might be of use. During these years at the Royal Library (1604-10), Casaubon was able to begin a major work of church history. In 1610 he decided to leave France for England, where he had been officially invited by the Archbishop of Canterbury in July, with a promise of a job and a pension from King James
Now relatively free from religious controversy, financially secure and with powerful
and influential friends, he quickly became a favourite of the king, and became a
naturalized Englishman in 1611. In England, he published several more works, including an edition and commentary on the works of the Roman satirist Persius (1605), the “De Libertate Ecclesiastica” (“On Church Freedom,” 1607), and an edition and commentary on the works of the Greek historian Polybius (1609). He also continued his project on church history, of which he managed to complete and publish only the first volume before his death.
Casaubon was apparently much worn out by his constant studying combined with
the travelling that was required by his position at court, and he died after a journey to Greenwich.
Extra Connections: Corresponded with map-maker [corresponded with] Camden*
Assessment: A major classical scholar.
Oneliner: Isaac Casaubon, outstanding 16th century scholar
Bibliography:
- Dictionary of National Biography.
- Encyclopedia Britannica.
- Pattison, Mark, “Isaac Casaubon,” Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982.