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).