The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Burmann

BURMANN, the name of a Dutch family distinguished for learning. I. Franciscus, born at Leyden in 1628, died in 1679. The son of a Protestant minister who had been driven from France, he officiated as professor of theology at Utrecht, and became known by his writings, especially by his commentaries on the Old Testament. II. Pieter, son of the preceding, born at Utrecht, July 6, 1668, died in Leyden, March 31, 1741. He studied under Grævius and Gronovius, received his diploma of doctor at law in 1688, travelled extensively, gained distinction in his profession, and was successively professor of eloquence, history, Greek, and politics at Utrecht, and afterward at Leyden, where he was twice rector of the university, and became professor of the history of the United Provinces and of poetry, and keeper of the university library. His editions of Latin classics and of the works of George Buchanan gained for him a great reputation. He also published treatises on Roman antiquities and on the revenues of the Roman people, a dissertation on the Jupiter Fulgurator, the epistles of Gudius and other scholars, and a more elaborate work of the same kind, entitled Sylloge Epistolarum (5 vols., Leyden, 1727), which is of great usefulness from its literary anecdotes and critical disquisitions. He was frequently engaged in controversies with many of his learned contemporaries. His life was written by Dr. Johnson, who says of him that “if reputation be estimated by usefulness, he may claim a higher degree in the ranks of learning than some others of happier elocution or more vigorous imagination.” In the “Dunciad,” however, Burmann's name is coupled with those of several other scholars satirized by Pope. III. Pieter, nephew of the preceding, born in Amsterdam in October, 1713, died June 24, 1778. In 1735 he became professor of eloquence, history, and poetry at Franeker. In 1742 he was transferred to the Athenæum of Amsterdam, where he also taught Greek and officiated as librarian. He inherited the controversial disposition and also the literary tastes of his uncle, and published editions of Virgil, Aristophanes, and other classic authors, and four books of original Latin poetry.