Pieter Burman (6 July 1668 – 31 March 1741), also known as Peter or Pieter Burmann[1] (
Latin: Petrus Burmannus)[2] and posthumously distinguished from
his nephew as "the Elder" (
Latin: Senior), was a Dutch classical scholar.
Life
Burman was born at
Utrecht on 6 July 1668,[3] the son of Franz Burmann (Franciscus Burmannus; 1628–1679) and Maria, daughter of
Abraham Heidanus.[4][5] His father was the son of a
Protestant minister who had been
driven from France; he officiated as professor of theology at Utrecht, and became known by his writings, especially by his commentaries on the
Old Testament.[6] At the age of thirteen Pieter entered the university where he studied under
Graevius and
Gronovius. He devoted himself particularly to the study of the classical languages, and became unusually proficient in Latin composition. As he was intended for the legal profession, he spent some years in attendance on the law classes. For about a year he studied at
Leiden, paying special attention to
philosophy and
Greek.[7]
On Burman's return to Utrecht he took the degree of doctor of
laws (March 1688), and after travelling through
Switzerland and part of
Germany, settled down to the practice of law, without, however, abandoning his classical studies. In December 1691 he was appointed receiver of the tithes which were originally paid to the bishop of Utrecht, and five years later was nominated to the professorship of eloquence and history. To this chair was soon added that of Greek and politics. In 1714 he paid a short visit to
Paris and ransacked the libraries. In the following year he was appointed successor to the celebrated
Perizonius, who had held the chair of history, Greek language and eloquence at Leiden.[1]
Burman was subsequently appointed professor of history for the United Provinces and in 1724 he became the
9th Librarian of Leiden University. His numerous editorial and critical works spread his fame as a scholar throughout Europe, and engaged him in many of the stormy disputes which were then so common among men of letters.[7]
Burman also emended
Thomas Ruddiman's edition of
George Buchanan's Latin works,[21] continued Graevius's Thesauruses of
Italian[22] and
Sicilian history,[23] and wrote the treatise De Vectigalibus Populi Romani (1694)[24] and A Brief Description of Roman Antiquities (1711).[25] His Sylloge of Letters Written by Illustrious Men (1725–27)[26] contains biographical material on scholars.[7] He edited several other volumes of letters as well.[27]
The list of Burman's works occupies five pages in
Saxe's Onomasticon. His Latin poems and orations[28] were republished after his death.[29] There is an account of his life in the Gentleman's Magazine for April 1742 by
Samuel Johnson.[7]
Legacy
In his edition of Petronius's Satyricon, Burman demonstrated that the supplementary material recently added to the text by
François Nodot was in fact a forgery.[citation needed]
Greffe, Johann Georg [Joannes Georgius Graevius] (1722a), Burman, Pieter [Petrus Burmannus] (ed.), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, quo continentur Optimi quique Scriptores, qui Regionis Transpadanae et Alpibus Vicinae Confiniumque Populorum ac Civitatium Res Antiquas, aliasque vario tempore gestas, memoriae prodiderunt, vol. IV, Pieter vander Aa. (in Latin)
Greffe, Johann Georg [Joannes Georgius Graevius] (1722b), Burman, Pieter [Petrus Burmannus] (ed.), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, quo continentur Optimi quique Scriptores, qui Regionum et Urbium Juris Veneti Confiniumque Populorum ac Civitatium Res Antiquas, aliasque vario tempore gestas, memoriae prodiderunt, vol. V, Pieter vander Aa. (in Latin)
Greffe, Johann Georg [Joannes Georgius Graevius] (1722c), Burman, Pieter [Petrus Burmannus] (ed.), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, quo continentur Optimi quique Scriptores, qui Patavii, Fori-Julii, Istriae Confiniumque Populorum ac Civitatium Res Antiquas, aliasque vario tempore gestas, memoriae prodiderunt, vol. VI, Pieter vander Aa. (in Latin)
Greffe, Johann Georg [Joannes Georgius Graevius] (1722d), Burman, Pieter [Petrus Burmannus] (ed.), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, quo continentur Optimi quique Scriptores, qui Bononiae, Urbium Status Ecclesiastici et Aliarum ad Mare Adriaticum, Confiniumque Populorum ac Civitatium Res Antiquas, aliasque vario tempore gestas, memoriae prodiderunt, vol. VII, Pieter vander Aa. (in Latin)
Greffe, Johann Georg [Joannes Georgius Graevius] (1723a), Burman, Pieter [Petrus Burmannus] (ed.), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, quo continentur Optimi quique Scriptores, qui Etruriae, Umbriae, Sabinorum, Latii, Confiniumque Populorum ac Civitatium Res Antiquas, aliasque vario tempore gestas, memoriae prodiderunt, vol. VIII, Pieter vander Aa. (in Latin)
Greffe, Johann Georg [Joannes Georgius Graevius] (1723b), Burman, Pieter [Petrus Burmannus] (ed.), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, quo continentur Optimi quique Scriptores, qui Campaniae, Neapolis, Magnae Graeciae, Confiniumque Populorum ac Civitatium Res Antiquas, aliasque vario tempore gestas, memoriae prodiderunt, vol. IX, Pieter vander Aa. (in Latin)
Greffe, Johann Georg [Joannes Georgius Graevius] (1723c), Burman, Pieter [Petrus Burmannus] (ed.), Thesaurus Antiquitatum et Historiarum Italiae, quo continentur Optimi quique Scriptores reliqui, qui Cisalpinae Italiae, et Longobardiae res memoriae prodiderunt, quique Priorum Tomorum Supplementi Vicem Praestare Possunt, Secundum ordinem Regionum Italiae in illis dispositi, vol. IX, Pieter vander Aa. (in Latin)
Papy, Jan (2013). "Burmann, Pieter the Elder". Brill's New Pauly, Supplement I, Volume 6: History of Classical Scholarship. Stuttgart: Brill.
doi:
10.1163/2214-8647_bnps6_COM_00102.
Wiep van Bunge et al. (editors), The Dictionary of Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Dutch Philosophers (2003), Thoemmes Press (two volumes), article Burman Primus or Sr., Pieter, p. 193–195.