Danish academic
Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer
(11 December 1753 ? 21 November 1823), was a
German
-
Danish
philologist
,
theologian
,
librarian
,
bibliophile
,
palaeographer
,
diplomat
, and
Bible
translator.
Early life and education
[
edit
]
The great hall in the Royal Library, as it was in the middle of the 1800s
Moldenhawer was born in
Konigsberg
,
Prussia
to Johann Heinrich Daniel Moldenhawer, a professor of theology at the
University of Konigsberg
, and Lydia Charlotte nee Trummer.
[1]
He was educated at the royal
Collegium Fridericianum
under
Johann Gottfried Herder
in Konigsberg, the
Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums
in
Hamburg
, and the
University of Gottingen
(with
Christian Gottlob Heyne
,
Johann David Michaelis
, and
Christian Wilhelm Franz Walch
).
Academic career
[
edit
]
In 1777 he became a professor of theology and oriental languages at the
University of Kiel
. On the recommendation of
Johann Andreas Cramer
he received a three-year scholarship from the Danish king's court. Moldenhawer and
Tychsen
were sent into Spain in 1783?1784 to examine and collate manuscripts. In 1784 he became a professor of church history and dogma in
Copenhagen
and contributed to the progression of
Rationalism
in Denmark. In 1784 he visited
Alcala
with hope of finding Greek manuscripts of the New Testament used in the
Complutensian Polyglot
. According to his relation he did not find any manuscript.
[2]
In 1786 Moldenhawer was sent again to Spain, this time on a confidential diplomatic mission.
Royal Danish Library Chief Librarian
[
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]
Otto Thott
From 1788 Moldenhawer was the chief librarian of the
Royal Danish Library
. His main interest was to increase the library's collection of recent scientific literature.
Under the management of Moldenhawer, the library's book collection reached 250 000 volumes,
[3]
and on Moldenhawer's death the library acquired a part of his 12,000 volume private library. Moldenhawer received numerous honors for his work. In 1809 he became a
Knight of the royal Danish
Order of the Dannebrog
.
Besides administrative talents Moldenhawer was also an author. He brought from his travels numerous excerpts and collations, including political history, church and literary history, theology and oriental philology. He was always heavily occupied with his work and duties, especially library work, which was his favorite duty.
[4]
At auction for the printed books he bought over 50,000 volumes for 10,000
thalers
from the former private collection of
Otto Thott
(1703?1785).
[5]
6159 books of this collection were printed before 1530. He made a second major acquisition in 1796 when he acquired the book collection of
Peter Frederik Suhm
. Moldenhawer purchased this collection on the condition that the payment would continue in the form of an annuity for Suhm and his wife, but both died shortly after the purchase was completed. In 1797 he purchased the collection of Mullerske Pinakothek (with annual payments to the collector's daughter).
[5]
In 1803
Peter Uldall
donated his manuscript collection to the library.
[5]
[6]
Allegations by Ada Adler
[
edit
]
Moldenhawer was a
Freemason
and is also known to have been a member of the
Illuminati
.
[7]
During his 35 years as the chief librarian the Royal Library flourished and the number of volumes increased through purchases and valuable donations. Moldenhawer himself donated many valuable manuscripts, letters and printed books, many of which he had acquired illegitimately during his travels in Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands, and many of which came from the libraries of old monasteries. According to
Ada Adler
, Moldenhawer robbed several libraries in Paris, particularly the library at
Saint-Germain-des-Pres
, from which Moldenhawer allegedly had acquired several manuscripts without payment. This has however never been substantiated.
[8]
Personal life
[
edit
]
He constructed the country house Vilhelmsdal at Strandvejen north of Copenhagen in 1806. It was designed by
Christian Frederik Hansen
. He sold the property to the
confererensraad
Peter Pedersen in 1831.
[9]
Works
[
edit
]
- Versuche uber das erste Buch Mosis
, 1780
- Das Buch Hiob ubersetzt und erklart
, 2 Vol., Leipzig, 1780/81
- Die Bibel in ihrer wahren Gestalt, fur ihre Freunde und Feinde
, 3 Vol., Halle, 1786/87 (anonym; Hartmut Hovelmann schreibt es in
Kernstellen der Lutherbibel
Moldenhawer zu)
- Prozeß gegen den Orden der Tempelherren. Aus den Originalacten der papstlichen Commission in Frankreich
, Hamburg, 1792.
- Uber den Ursprung und Fortgang der spanischen Inquisition, 1794
- Oratio, qua Andreae Petro Comiti de Bernstorff in Auditorio regiae Universitatis Havniensis superiori die 25 Martii 1798 parentavit D. G. M.
, 1798
- Uber den Ursprung der Bucherzensur und die Censurverordnungen
, 1802
- Uber den Einfluß, welche die den Juden in Spanien eingeraumten Rechte im Mittelalter auf die Staatsverfassung und das offentliche Wohl hatten
, 1806
- Hannibal Schestecks erste Ambassade in Frankreich
, 1806?1808
- Catalogue supplementaire des manuscrits grecs de la Bibliotheque Royale de Copenhague
. Par A. Adler.
Avec un extrait du catalogue des manuscrits grecs de l'Escorial redige par D.G. Moldenhawer
, 1916.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Christoph Schmitt (1993). "Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.).
Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL)
(in German). Vol. 6. Herzberg: Bautz. cols. 38?41.
ISBN
3-88309-044-1
.
- ^
S. P. Tregelles
,
An Account of the Printed Text of the Greek New Testament
, London 1854, p. 5.
- ^
Faktuelle noter om Det Kongelige Bibliotek
- ^
E. Gigas,
Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer
i 1. at the
Dansk biografisk leksikon
, p. 366.
- ^
a
b
c
E. Gigas,
Daniel Gotthilf Moldenhawer
i 1. at the
Dansk biografisk leksikon
, p. 365.
- ^
Det Kgl. Bibliotek:
Handskriftsamlinger og privatarkiver
(in Danish)
- ^
Reinhard Markner u.a. (Hg.): Die Korrespondenz des Illuminatenordens, Bd. 2, Berlin 2013, p. 184.
- ^
Erik Petersen,
Dominus Pastor Meus Om Det Kongelige Biblioteks Ældste Bibejhandskrft Og Dets Histoire
Archived
19 July 2011 at the
Wayback Machine
Fund og Forskning, Bind 43 (2004)
- ^
"Vilhelmsdal"
.
Østerbro Bladetdk
(in Danish). Archived from
the original
on 1 March 2017
. Retrieved
28 February
2017
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
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