Otto Keller (28 May 1838 in

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

– 16 February 1927 in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is ...

) was a German classical

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

who specialized in

Horace Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

. He also wrote a landmark two volume work on animals in antiquity. He was often called as "Horace Keller" to differentiate him from his father

Adelbert von Keller Adelbert von Keller (5 July 1812 – 13 March 1883) was a German philologist. Biography He was born at Pleidelsheim, and educated at the University of Tübingen, where, after study at Paris, he became Privatdozent and assistant librarian (1835) ...

who was also a philologist.

Biography

Keller was the son of Swabian philologist Adelbert von Keller. He went to study at the universities of

and

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and later specialized in the study of Horace. From 1861 he taught classes in classical languages in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

— in 1866 he was named

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of lyceums in

Öhringen Öhringen (East Franconian: ''Ähringe'') is the largest town in Hohenlohe (district) in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwest Germany, near Heilbronn. Öhringen is on the railline to Schwäbisch Hall and Crailsheim. With a population o ...

. He was a professor at

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

(1872–76), at

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

(1876-81) and from then until his retirement in 1909 he was at

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

where he worked for 28 years. Keller was elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

in 1875. He was awarded the Commanders Cross of the Order of the Württemberg crown in 1889. He also served as an Imperial council member in Austria. Keller was a defender of the findings of

Heinrich Schliemann Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (; 6 January 1822 – 26 December 1890) was a German businessman and pioneer in the field of archaeology. He was an advocate of the historicity of places mentioned in the works of Homer and an archaeologi ...

. Keller married Eugenie, daughter of Wilhelm Leube of Ulm, on 24 May 1869. They had two sons Sigmund Keller (1870-1943) and Wolfgang Keller (1873-1943) and a daughter Clothilde Schaar (1874-1958) who became a sculptor.

Works

Chief among his critical works on Horace are: * ''Horatii Opera Rec. Holder et Keller'', written with A. T. Holder (1864–70; Vol. I; 2d ed., 1899). * ''Epilegomena zu Horaz'' (3 volumes, Leipzig 1879-80). * ''Pseudoacrouis Scholia in Horatium Vetustiora'' (2 volumes, 1902–04). Other works: * ''Tiere des klassischen Altertums in kulturgeschichtlicher Beziehung'' (Animals of classical antiquity and cultural history; Innsbruck, 1887). * ''Tier- und Pflanzenbilder auf Münzen und Gemmen'' (Pictures of animals and plants on coins and gems; 1889). * ''Lateinische Etymologien'' (Latin etymology; 1893). * ''Grammatische Aufsätze'' (Grammatical papers, 1895). * ''Xenophontis Historia graeca'' (1898); part of series:

Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collection published of ancient (and some medieval) ...

– edition of

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Anci ...

. * ''Kulturgeschichtliches aus der Tierwelt'' (Animals and cultural history; 1904). * ''Die antike Tierwelt'' (The ancient animal world
Vol. I
1909
Vol. II
1914).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Otto 1838 births 1927 deaths University of Bonn alumni University of Tübingen alumni Academic staff of the University of Freiburg Academic staff of Charles University Academic staff of the University of Graz German philologists Members of the American Antiquarian Society