Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/692

 KELLNER

614

SELLS

His principal works are: " Tyrannicidium" (Mu- nich, 1611) and "Catholisch Pabsttumb" (Munich, 1614). The former, which appeared both in German and Latin, was an answer to certain calumnies printed by a Calvinist with reference to the teaching of the Society of Jesus on the subject of tyrannicide. Father Keller showed that the Jesuit teaching was no other than that of the greatest theologians, both Catholic and Protestant. The work on the papacy was a reply to aspersions cast on the Holy See by Jacob Heilbrunner, and is a veritable treasure-house of answers to the objections of Protestants. It was followed by a public debate between Keller and Heilbrunner, in which the latter was completely silenced. Keller published four other works which were the last word on the subject, and left his adversary utterly defeated. Among his other works are: "Ludovicus IV Impera- tor defensus contra Bzovium" (Munster, 1618), a work of real historical value; "Vita R. P. Petri Cani- sii". Of local rather than general interest are a num- ber of other polemical writings, e. g. "Litura seu castigatio Cancellarise Hispanicte a Ludovico Camer- ario, Excancellario Bohemico, Exconciliario Heidel- bergensi . . . instructje" ; " An der theil Anhaldischer Cancellay"; "Tubus Galilceanus"; "Rhabarbarum domandse bili, quam in apologia sua proritavit Ludov. Camerarius propinatum ". He published a large num- ber of other writings, sometimes imder his own, some- times under an assumed name, mostly controversial.

Dt'HR in Kirchenlex.. s. v.; Sommervogel, Bibl. de la C. de ./.,IV,981; RvnTRH, Nomenclator; Konversations-Lexicon.s.v. J. H. Fisher.

Kellner, Lorenz, educationist, b. at Kalteneber in the district of Eichsfeld, 29 January, 1811; d. at Trier, 18 August, 1892. He was the son of Heinrich Kellner who had been a pupil of Pestalozzi at Yverdon and had introduced Pestalozzi 's methods at the nor- mal school he conducted, the first of its kind in the Catholic district of Eichsfeld. Out of these private courses for the training of elementary school-teachers developed the still-existing seminary for teachers at Heiligenstadt. Lorenz Kellner graduated at the Gj-m- nasium Josephinum at Hildesheim, and then studied with great success at the evangelical seminary for teachers at Magdeburg, .\fter being a teacher at the Catholic elementary school at Erfurt for two years, he was made rector of the school ; in both positions he showed great talent for teaching and a genuine love of children. In 1836 his father's normal school was en- larged into a seminary for teachers, of which the elder Kellner remained the head while Lorenz was made his only assistant. In 1848 von Eichhorn, the Prussian minister of worship and education, called Lorenz to Marienwerder in West Prussia as member of the gov- ernment district council and of the school-board. .\fter labouring at Marienwerder for seven years Kell- ner was summoned to fill the same offices at Trier. As there were at this date no institutions for the train- ing of teachers in Trier, Kellner founded several semi- naries both for male and female teachers during the twenty-nine years of his official activity here. In his chief work, " Praktischer Lehrgang fiir den deutschen Unterricht" (18.37-40), the teaching of grammar was systematically connected with the reading-l^ook. This was, for that period, a very important advance when contrasted with the current methods of grammatical instruction. In 1S.">0 appeared his best-known work, "Zur Padagogik dcr Sch\ile und des Hauses. Aphor- ismen", which was translated into several languages. It contains altogothcr 178 essays which cover the en- tire field of training mid teaching. His "Skizzen und Bilder aus der I'lrzichungsgeschichte" (3 vols., 18G2) was the first and also the best treatment of the history of pedagogics by a Catlioli^ author. In 1863 the Academy of Munster in Westphalia m.ide Kellner Doctor of Philosophy /lonor/.s catisii, in recognition of

his services on behalf of the German language and of pedagogics. Kellner's " Kurze Geschichte der Er- ziehung und des Unterrichts " (1877) is a book of prac- tical suggestions for teachers; liis " Volksschulkunde " was a theoretical and practical guide for Catholic teachers of both sexes, school inspectors, and semi- naries. His " Lebensblatter, Erinnerungen aus der Schulwelt" (1891) is a work of great interest. After his death was published "Lose Blatter, Padagog. Zeit- betrachtungen und Ratschliige von Kellner " (1897).

Beck, Lorenz Kellner: Ein Blatt zur Erinnerung (Trier, 1S93); Oppermann in Rein, Encyclopad. Handbuch dcr Pada- gogik (2nd ed., Langensalza, 1903-), 3. v.

Karl Hoeber.

Eells, Book of, — an Irish manuscript containing the Four Gospels, a fragment of Hebrew names, and the Eusebian canons, known also as the "Book of Co- luniba", probably because it was written in the mon- astery of lona ill honour of the saint. It is likely that it is to this book that the entry in the " Annals of Ul- ster" under the year 1006 refers, recording that in that year the " Gospel of Columba ' ' w-as stolen. According to tradition, the book is a relic of the time of Columba (d. 597) and even the work of his hands, but, on palteo- graphic grounds and judging by the character of the ornamentation, this tradition cannot be sustained, and the date of the composition of the book can hardly be placed earlier than the end of the seventh or the be- ginning of the eighth century. This must be the book which the Welshman, Giraldus Cambrensis, saw at Kildare in the last quarter of the twelfth century and which he describes in glowing terms (Topogr. Hi- bern., II, xxxviii). We next hear of it at the cathe- dral of Kells (Irish Ccnannus) in Meath, a foundation of Columba's, where it remained for a long time, or un- til the year 1541. In the seventeenth century Arch- bishop Ussher presented it to Trinity College, Dublin, where it is the most precious manuscript (A. I. 6) in the college library and by far the choicest relic of Irish art that has been preserved. In it is to be found every variety of design typical of Irish art at its best.

Some small portions at the beginning and end of the MS. have been lost, but otherwise it is in a very good state of preservation. It was apparently left unfin- ished, since some of the ornaments remain only in out- line. It is written in part in black, red, purple, or yel- low ink, and it has been thought that the hands of two scribes, neither of whom is known to us by name, are discernible in the writing and illumination of the manu- script. The most characteristic ornaments of the Book of Kells, as of the other illuminated Irish MSS. of the period, are the closely coiled spirals connected with each other by a number of curves and often ter- minating in the so-called "trumpet pattern". Al- most equally characteristic are the zoomorphic inter- lacements, coloured representations of fanciful beings, or of men, animals, birds, horses, dogs, and grotesque, gargoyle-like human figures, twisted and hooked to- gether in intricate detail. Other frequently occurring designs are a S3'stem of geometrical weavings of ril>- bons plaited and knotted together, and a simpler ornamentation by means of red dotted lines. The ver- satility and inventive genius of the illustrator sur- passes all belief. Lines diverge and converge in end- less succession, and the most intricate figures, in lavish abundance and with astounding variety of ornament, are combined and woven into one harmonious design. In spite of the extent of the work and its thousands of exquisite initials and terminals, there is not a single pattern or combination that can lie said to lie a copy of another. The artist shows a womlcrful tecbni(|ue in designing and combining various cinblcnis, the cross, vine, dragon, fish, and .serpent. The drawing is per- fect ion itself. It has been examined under a powerful magnifying glass for hours at a time and found to lie, even in the most minute and complicated figures, with-