FLECKEISEN

fleckeisen, carl friedrich wilhelm alfred (1820-1899), german philologist and critic, was born at wolfenbuttel on the 23rd of september 1820. he was educated at the helmstedt gymnasium and the university of gottingen. after holding several educational posts, he was appointed in 1861 to the vice-principalship of the vitzthum'sches gymnasium at dresden, which he held till his retirement in 1889. he died on the 7th of august 1899. fleckeisen is chiefly known for his labours on plautus and terence; in the knowledge of these authors he was unrivalled, except perhaps by ritschl, his life-long friend and a worker in the same field. his chief works are: _exercitationes plautinae_ (1842), one of the most masterly productions on the language of plautus; "analecta plautina," printed in _philologus_, ii. (1847); _plauti comoediae_, i., ii. (1850-1851, unfinished), introduced by an _epistula critica ad f. ritschelium_; _p. terenti afri comoediae_ (new ed., 1898). in his editions he endeavoured to restore the text in accordance with the results of his researches on the usages of the latin language and metre. he attached great importance to the question of orthography, and his short treatise _funfzig artikel_ (1861) is considered most valuable. fleckeisen also contributed largely to the _jahrbucher fur philologie_, of which he was for many years editor. see obituary notice by g. gotz in c. bursian's _biographisches jahrbuch fur altertumskunde_ (xxiii., 1901), and article by h. usener in _allgemeine deutsche biographie_ (where the date of birth is given as the 20th of september).