Alfred Holder

Alfred Theophil Holder (4 April 1840 – 12 January 1916) was an Austrian philologist, historian, and librarian. A specialist of Latin literature and Roman history, he is best known for his editions of Horace, Caesar, Tacitus, and Avianus, as well as for his three-volume lexicon of ancient Celtic languages entitled Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz (1891–1913).^[1]^[2]

Biography

Alfred Theophil Holder was born on 4 April 1840 in Vienna, the son of Gottlieb Holder (1806–1845), a painter, and Natalie Rheinboldt. He studied classical and German philology at the universities of Bonn and Heidelberg, then continued his education in Paris. From 1863, he worked as a schoolteacher in Rastatt, the Netherlands, and in Ladenburg. In 1867, he joined the Grand Ducal Baden Court and State Library in Karlsruhe, where he became a librarian in 1870. In 1904, he became head of the manuscript department, and in 1911, was appointed director.^[3]

From 1895 to 1918, he authored volumes 3, 5–7 of the Die Handschriften der Grossherzoglich Badischen Hof- und Landesbibliothek in Karlsruhe (The manuscripts of the Grand Ducal Baden Court and State Library in Karlsruhe).^[4] He died on 12 January 1916 in Karlsruhe.^[3]

Selected works

Opera recensvervnt O. Keller et A. Holder, 2 volumes, 1864-70 (with Otto Keller).
Altdeutsche Grammatik, umfassend die gotische, altnordische, altsächsische Sprache, 1870 (original author: Adolf Holtzmann) – Old Germanic grammar; Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon languages.
Waltharius: lateinisches Gedicht des zehnten Jahrhunderts (edition of "Waltharius", original author: Ekkehard I, Dean of St. Gall, with Joseph Victor von Scheffel), 1874.
De origine et situ Germanorum liber (edition of Tacitus) 1878.
Q. Horati Flacci opera, 4 parts (edition of Horace) 1878, with Otto Keller.
Einhardi Vita Karoli imperatoris, (edition of Einhard) 1881.
Beowulf, 2 parts (edition of "Beowulf") 1882-84.
Baedae Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorvm (edition of Bede, the Venerable), 1882.
Saxonis Grammatici Gesta Danorvm, (edition of Saxo Grammaticus) 1886.
Herodoti Historiae, 2 volumes (edition of Herodotus) 1886-88.
Rufi Festi Avieni Carmina (edition of Avienius), 1887.
Historiarum liber quintus, 5 volumes 1887-90.
Commentum in Horatium Flaccum, (edition of Pomponius Porphyrion) 1894.
Alt-celtischer Sprachschatz, 3 volumes. 1896-1919.
C. Iuli Caesaris belli civilis libri III, (edition of Julius Caesar) 1898.
Favonii Eulogii Disputatio de Somnio Scipionis, (edition of Favonius Eulogius) 1901.