DUNTZER

duntzer, johann heinrich joseph (1813-1901), german philologist and historian of literature, was born at cologne on the 12th of july 1813. after studying philology and especially ancient classics and sanskrit at bonn and berlin (1830-1835), he took the degree of doctor of philosophy and established himself in 1837 at bonn as _privat docent_ for classical literature. he had already, in his goethes _faust in seiner einheit und ganzheit_ (1836) and _goethe als dramatiker_ (1837), advocated a new critical method in interpreting the german classics, which he wished to see treated like the ancient classics. he subsequently turned his attention almost exclusively to the poets of the german classical period, notably goethe and schiller. duntzer's method met with much opposition and he consequently failed to obtain the professorship he coveted. in 1846 he accepted the post of librarian at the roman catholic gymnasium in cologne, where he died on the 16th of december 1901. duntzer was a painstaking and accurate critic, but lacking in inspiration and finer literary taste; consequently his work as a biographer and commentator has, to a great extent, been superseded and discredited. among his philological writings may be mentioned _die lehre von der lateinischen wortbildung_ (1836); _die deklination der indogermanischen sprachen_ (1839); _homer und der epische kyklos_ (1839); _die homerischen beiworter des gotter- und menschengeschlechts_ (1859). of his works on the german classical poets, especially goethe, schiller and herder, the following are particularly worthy of note, _erlauterungen zu den deutschen klassikern_ (1853-1892); _goethes prometheus und pandora_ (1850); _goethes faust_ (2 vols., 1850-1851; 2nd ed. 1857); _goethes gotz und egmont_ (1854); _aus goethes freundeskreise_ (1868); _abhandlungen zu goethes leben und werken_ (2 vols., 1885); _goethes tagebucher der sechs ersten weimarischen jahre_ (1889); _goethes leben_ (1880; 2nd ed. 1883; engl. transl. by t. lyster, london, 1884); _schillers leben_ (1881); _schiller und goethe; ubersicht und erlauterung zum briefwechsel zwischen schiller und goethe_ (1859); _herders reise nach italien_ (1859); _aus herders nachlass_ (3 vols., 1856-1857), and further, _charlotte von stein_ (1874).